Legislative Updates

Summary of important legislative updates regarding RPPTL, FLTA, OIR and DFS.

Dear Member,

The past two weeks have been filled with the annual legislative update and Executive Council meeting for the RPPTL…and then meetings in Tallahassee with FLTA and some representatives from OIR and DFS. The trip to Tallahassee included a hearing on the final rule on the re-disclosure of title insurance premiums under Florida law.

Here is a summary of important issues:

• RPPTL will be working with FLTA and other groups on legislation to amend provisions related to estoppel certificates from homeowners and condominium associations needed in connection with real estate transactions (sales and refinances). A bill almost passed last year and RPPTL will be working to give this legislation new life and improve it in the process. Note: the 2016 legislature meets in January and February (not the usual May and April).
• RPPTL will be seeking legislative support for new statutory provisions to clarify how title to homestead property owned by the trustee of a revocable trust is property transferred. That is a massive simplification of a fairly complicated proposal – I am just giving you a heads up on this issue. The proposal was passed unanimously by the Executive Council (after some debate) but there may be some controversy as this legislation moves through the process.
• FLTA and OIR are working on a revised CPL form. The final form should be approved by OIR soon. The underwriters are poised to incorporate the new form into their systems.
• The rule requiring re-disclosure or “correction” of title premiums as disclosed by a lender on the Loan Estimate and the Closing Disclosure is still not final. Additional comments were presented to the Department of Financial Services at an August 5, 2015 hearing. The final rule should be adopted soon and will be in place by the TRID implementation date of October 3, 2015.
• A hearing on the adoption of Florida’s version of “unlawful inducement for the referral of title insurance business” has been tentatively scheduled for October 22, 2015 at 2pm in Tallahassee. I will be sending out more information on this as we get closer to the hearing and this is yet another topic that deserves close attention by all of you.

Policy lag: This continues to be of significant concern to me and others at The Fund. It is very clear that lenders are monitoring this closely. There are two aspects to this:

• Closed files – your backlog of unissued policies MUST be addressed. I know it’s very busy and you are focused on the next closing, but it is essential that you have a plan to get policies issued to lenders immediately after closing (30 days is the magic deadline as far as we can tell). You do not want to get a “black mark” for being late. Why risk your business on something that is easy to do if you will just make the time to do it? If you have any questions or comments about this, please let me know.
• Future closings – change your systems to facilitate getting policies issued immediately. Consider issuing at closing. This requires only a slight change in your thought process and office procedures – and it solves what might be the part of the post-closing process that puts you at risk for losing business (after recording and sending payoffs of course!). More on this in a future email.

As always, thank you for your support of The Fund!

Best Regards,

Melissa Jay Murphy
Senior Vice President and
General Counsel