Fund Alerts

The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) has delayed the implementation of the title insurance policy surcharge to May 6, 2013.

The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) has delayed the implementation of the title insurance policy surcharge to August 6, 2013. As The Fund previously alerted you, OIR has ordered a surcharge of twenty-eight cents ($0.28) to be collected on each title insurance policy issued in Florida. This now applies to policies with effective dates of August 6, 2013, and thereafter until further notice by OIR.

No. 2 The Three-Day Rule

The Fund is pleased to share with you this ALTA Advocacy Update addressing the vetting issue that is of great concern to many of you today. We believe that ALTA's newly developed best practices will satisfy lenders' needs to respond to regulatory and market pressures to "know your customer" when considering settlement agents to handle lenders' funds and closing requirements.

No. 1 Owner's Title Insurance - Optional?

The federal rules regulating the forms, processes and procedures employed for residential mortgages will be changing. The new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has published a proposed rule that seeks to radically change existing residential loan disclosure and settlement documents, processes and procedures.

In April, 2012 the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) released a bulletin regarding "service providers". The bulletin indicates that the CFPB expects lenders to "have an effective process for managing the risks of service provider relationships."

We have been advised that on Friday, July 20, 2012, the Florida Office of Financial Regulation closed The Royal Palm Bank of Florida and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) was named receiver.

Bank of America has notified the national underwriters that a short sale scam is being perpetrated involving properties on which Bank of America is the holder of a note secured by a mortgage or deed of trust. In its letter Bank of America has indicated that the perpetrators of the scam send approval letters to title companies that mimic legitimate approval letters from Bank of America, including the bank's logo, formatting and language.

The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation has completed the process of reviewing and approving revised ALTA Series 14 Endorsements for use in Florida by all title agents.