|
|
 |
To: Jeremy Yohe
From: Diane Tomb, Chief Executive Officer
Subject: ALTA Advocacy Update - November 2, 2021
|
|
|
|
|
In the world of politics, all eyes are on my home state of Virginia, where the race for governor is neck and neck. Traditionally, this off-year election is seen as a messaging test case for the midterm elections. President Biden is in Glasgow this week for the UN Climate Change Conference (COP 26). It has been six years since the Paris Climate Agreement was adopted. With last year’s summit canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic, this year is the first-time countries will examine progress under the Paris deal and adjust.
The President had hoped to have secured a win on his signature reconciliation bill before heading to Europe. The deal he announced last week included roughly $500 billion in new spending for climate change. Additionally, it included $150 billion for affordable housing, funds for universal pre-kindergarten and child care and home health care subsidies as well as an expansion of Affordable Care Act and Medicaid subsidies. The $1.75 trillion reconciliation package is set to be funded by a new corporate global minimum tax—world leaders at the G20 agreed to the tax last weekend—a corporate alternative minimum tax and additional surtaxes on the wealthiest Americans.
Left out of the deal were a number of items that were seen as priorities for progressive Democrats, including paid family leave, free community college, prescription drug pricing reform and Medicare expansion. Also not included was a new tax on unrealized capital gains and a proposal requiring banks to provide total cashflow data on taxpayers to the IRS—this latter proposal was one which ALTA strongly advocated against in recent weeks alongside a coalition of partners.
While the White House touted the deal, the first test failed last week as the House backed off plans to vote for the bipartisan infrastructure bill on Thursday and instead passed a temporary extension of surface transportation funding through Dec. 3. Dec. 3 is also the date federal funding and potentially the debt ceiling converge.
Over the weekend, congressional leaders sought to shore up support for the reconciliation framework. At the same time, some Democratic representatives and senators are searching for opportunities to add the priorities left out of the framework. However, the clock is ticking.
House leaders are pushing for a vote this week. They aimed to finish writing a revised $1.75 trillion bill by Sunday, with the Rules Committee approving the proposal Monday night for a vote on Tuesday. The self-imposed deadline is an attempt to hasten the negotiations. However, there is pressure to slow down the process, with Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) asking for more time to have the Congressional Budget Office and Joint Tax Committee score the framework.
While things continue to look positive for 1031 like-kind exchanges, we are still vigilant given the negotiations. As legislators look to add more spending to the bill, they will need revenue. We want to make sure nothing gets slipped by the goalie in that fast moving (and less deliberate) environment.
We are closing in on the witching hour here in Washington. With the calendar getting shorter, there are only three opportunities to pass legislation this year: the reconciliation bill, the National Defense Authorization Act and the government funding bill. How Congress sets the tone for debate on these bills will determine our ability to push our priorities, such as the SECURE Notarization Act, marijuana banking and wire fraud awareness. While the prospects for these efforts might seem spooky now, hopefully by the end of the year we see a nice treat.
Chopra Discussed Agenda in Congressional Hearings
Newly installed Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Director Rohit Chopra outlined his main priorities for the agency during a series of hearings this week. The director testified before the House and Senate on the agency’s semi-annual report to Congress.
In his prepared remarks, Chopra outlined that his focus for the agency is to minimize foreclosures on struggling American homeowners and make consumer lending more competitive.
Democrats focused their questions on the need to protect consumer data and illicit debt collection practices. Republicans focused on the topic of “regulation through enforcement.” Additionally, there was significant discussion surrounding the recent data requests to tech giants like Apple, Facebook, Amazon, Google, Square and PayPal and regulations on small business lending, debt collection and “payday” lending.
During the House hearing, Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA) asked Director Chopra about real estate wire fraud and whether he would push the Federal Reserve on the topic of payee matching. Chopra responded, “I’m very happy to discuss this further with other parts of the Federal Reserve System. I take seriously we are there to protect consumers.”
On the topic of regulation by enforcement, in response to questions from Reps. Ed Perlmutter (D-CO) and Bill Huizenga (R-MI) about seeking large penalties in past RESPA enforcement actions against title companies, Chopra responded:
I’ve thought about this issue a lot. I think one of the things that drives me a little crazy is when federal agencies don’t focus their efforts on nationwide or systemic or severe harm. And instead—I saw this at the FTC. On one hand, the FTC is letting Facebook and Google off the hook. On the other hand, chase—you know, chasing after small businesses, many of them you know, with questionable strong-arming them into settlements.
I believe that we should focus most of our resources on the largest firms that are engaged in nationwide harm, that are really, you know, totally beyond the pale, where they should—where they clearly knew what the rules were off, and where they clearly knew what they were doing or they—you know, buried their head in the sand.
Focusing on larger participants in the market I think is one of the best ways we can accomplish our mission. I don’t know about the specific case you mentioned and, in fact, I don’t know the facts. It may have been very severe. I just don’t know. But that is generally my philosophy.
A last point of note came during the Senate Banking Committee hearing. In response to a question for Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA) about data privacy and fintech, Chopra responded, “I think that the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act’s (GLBA’s) privacy provisions are so outdated and almost useless to this point.” He then went on to suggest the need for a regulatory update on GLBA.
As I mentioned last week, ALTA sent an introductory letter to Chopra that provided an overview of the title industry and explained how ALTA members responded to the COVID-19 pandemic and helped close transactions. We are working on scheduling a meeting with ALTA leaders and Chopra.
FTC Updates Safeguards Rule
On Oct. 27, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced a final rule updating the Safeguards Rule under the GLBA. The years-long update is intended to strengthen data security protections in the wake of recent data breaches and cyberattacks. Of note, the Safeguards Rule applies to non-banking financial institutions like title companies.
ALTA’s Title Insurance and Settlement Company Best Practices were designed to help agents comply with the existing Safeguards Rule. The amendment includes five main modifications to the existing rule. The amendment:
- Adds specific criteria for conducting a risk assessment and developing a written information security program. These now include specific requirements around access controls, data inventory and classification, authentication, encryption, disposal procedures and incident response, among others.
- Notes that increased requirements on employee training and service provider oversight are effective.
- Requires financial institutions to designate a single qualified individual to oversee the information security program. Periodic reports also must be made to an institution’s board of directors or governing bodies.
- Reduces requirements for smaller companies that collect information on fewer than 5,000 consumers.
- Expands the definition of “financial institution” to include “entities engaged in activities that the Federal Reserve Board determines to be incidental to financial activities.” Included in the definition are “finders” (i.e., companies that bring together buyers and sellers of products or services that fall within the scope of the Safeguards Rule).
The new requirements will become effective one year after the date of publication in the Federal Register. The remainder of the provisions are effective 30 days following publication.
Additionally, the FTC issued a supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking requiring data breaches to be reported to the FTC when the financial institution reasonably believes the breach involves at least 1,000 customers and the data has or will be misused. Comments are due 60 days after publication in the Federal Register.
ALTA Insights: Changes to ALTA Policy Forms You and Your Customers Need to Know
ALTA’s Policy Forms are periodically revised to reflect changes in the marketplace brought about by evolving business practices, expectations of insureds, laws, regulations and legal decisions. Advancements in electronic notarizations, changes in certain consumer and creditors’ rights law and case law developments were primary drivers leading to the latest revision of the ALTA Loan and Owner’s policies and numerous other ALTA forms and endorsements. The revised collection was published in July and is being rolled out, so it’s important you understand the updates so you can educate your staff and customers about coverage changes.
What the webinar will cover:
- Reasons for revisions
- Key changes
- How to explain changes to customers
- How to prepare and when will new forms be used
Speakers:
- Dan Buchanan | Senior Title Counsel | First American Title Insurance Co.
- Wendy Gibbons | Deputy Chief Underwriting Counsel | Old Republic National Title Insurance Co.
- Jim Russick | SE Regional Regulatory and Underwriting Counsel | Old Republic National Title Insurance Co.
CE/CLE is available
Lastly, if you missed it, check out ALTA Past President Bill Burding’s op-ed in HousingWire about the important work ALTA is doing to explore issues with racial covenants in land records.
I hope this ALTA Advocacy Update is useful to your work this week. Your comments and questions are always welcome. I can be reached at dtomb@alta.org.
Best regards,
Diane Tomb
|
|
|
You are receiving this email because you are subscribed to one of ALTA's email listserves
Stay connected with ALTA
Copyright © 2004-2021 American Land Title Association.
All rights reserved.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
