Title industry keeps wary eye on federal regulatory tsunami

By: Syndie Eardly, Seminars Director
As seen in: October Research Corporation
4/28/10

The title insurance industry continues to keep a careful watch on the dramatic changes that are being considered on Capitol Hill, knowing that anything that affects the lending industry is likely to have a residual affect on title agents.

K&L Gates Attorney Phil Schulman will be joined by Gary Cunningham, principal of The Collingwood Group, Washington, D.C., and former HUD Deputy Assistant Secretary for Regulatory Affairs and Manufactured Housing at HUD, and Don Partington, EVP, Legal and Strategic Affairs at Fidelity National Financial to take your questions about new and proposed laws and regulations at the National Compliance Summit in Cleveland, Ohio on June 15 and 16.

The June 16 session, Open Forum on Regulatory Realities, will follow Schulman’s opening keynote address, which will focus on the changes to RESPA, the proposed changes to TILA, the HVCC and the FHA.

“Congress, the regulators and the American public are interested in risk management and putting in place laws and regulations to limit losses and to make sure that people are dotting I’s and crossing T’s, whether that is on Wall Street or in the banks or lender shops,” Schulman said.

Schulman said these are times when companies need to be paying attention to what the regulators are asking for and make sure they have a high level of quality control in place in their processes.

During the open forum discussion, Partington will be addressing the impact of the TILA rules and the proposed CFPA as well as the tremendous regulatory and legislative activity at the state level.

“Agents need to pay attention to the new regulations being proposed concerning how rates are determined for title insurance,” Partington said. “The NAIC is looking to put the expenses for title agents into the computation and Washington State is leading the way in this effort.”

This year, the National Settlement Services Summit and the National Compliance Summit have been combined for a two-day extravaganza of information, education and networking at the Marriot at Key Center, Cleveland’s state-of-the-art conference facility.

The combined Summits are expected to attract nearly 400 industry professionals from across the country. More than 30 companies have signed on as sponsors for the 2010 National Settlement Services Summit and National Compliance Summit. Several sponsorships are still available. For more information contact Glen Stout at gstout@octoberresearch.com or (330) 659-6101, ext. 6556.

For more information about the Summits, visit: www.octoberseminars.com/ns3.

About October Research Corporation Founded in 1999 and located in Richfield, Ohio, October Research Corporation is the nation’s leading provider of market intelligence, industry news and regulatory information for professionals in the real estate, settlement services and mortgage industries. Publications include The Title Report, The Legal Description, Valuation Review and RESPA News. The company also has the October Seminars division, which produces educational audio seminars, Webinars, Podcasts, videos and live events.

Related link: www.octoberresearch.com/seminars/ns3/2010/index.cfm