County Effective Dates as of 10/31/07

The effective dates for Cook and surrounding counties are as follows:

Cook -12/17/07
Will - 11/27/07
Dupage - 12/14/07
Mchenry - 12/17/07
Lake - 12/18/07
Kane - 12/10/07
Kendall - 11/13/07

We will be closed 12/24 and 12/25

In observance of the holidays, Prairie Title offices will be closed Monday and Tuesday, December 24th and 25th.

We wish you and your families a safe, healthy and very happy holiday season!

Effective Dates at Counties

As of this morning, these are the current effective dates at Cook and surrounding counties:

Cook - 11/29/07
Will - 11/14/07
Dupage - 12/4/07
Mchenry - 12/3/07
Lake - 12/3/07
Kane - 11/27/07
Kendall - 11/13/07

Changes to Water Certification Process in City of Chicago

The City of Chicago has enacted an ordinance affecting the Water Certification process. As far as we know, this will be effective immediately and includes:

₪ Water Certifications will now be required for resales of condos and townhomes.

₪ There will be an increased application fee for Water Certifications: will be increased from $25 to $50 for all types of properties.

Read the Full Text of the Ordinance (PDF).

If you have any questions about this, or are interested in learning more about our service to obtain Water Certs, please contact our corporate office at 708-386-7900 or email us!

Current County Effective Dates

The current effective dates for Cook and surrounding counties are as follows:

Cook - 11/21/07
Will - 11/8/07
Dupage - 11/21/07
Mchenry - 11/19/07
Lake - 11/28/07
Kane - 11/20/07
Kendall - 10/30/07

Current County Effective Dates

Below are the effective dates at the county recorders' offices as of today:

Cook - 11/14/07
Will - 11/1/07
Dupage - 11/16/07
Mchenry - 11/15/07
Lake - 11/21/07
Kane - 11/13/07
Kendall - 10/3/07

Current County Effective Dates

As of this morning, the effective dates for Cook and the collar counties are as follows:

Cook - 11/6/2007
Will - 10/24/2007
Dupage - 11/07/2007
Mchenry - 11/08/2007
Lake - 11/13/2007
Kane - 11/2/2007
Kendall - 10/2/2007

Current County Effective Dates

The effective dates for Cook and the surrounding counties are as follows:

Cook - 11/2/2007
Will - 10/23/2007
Dupage - 11/2/2007
Mchenry - 11/5/2007
Lake - 11/5/2007
Kane - 10/30/2007
Kendall - 10/2/2007

Current County Effective Dates

The County effective dates, as of today, are as follows:

Cook - 10/31/2007
Will - 10/5/2007
Dupage - 10/31/2007
Mchenry - 10/31/2007
Lake - 10/31/2007
Kane - 10/23/2007
Kendall - 10/02/2007

Current County Effective Dates

As of this morning, the effective dates at the county recorders' offices are as follows:

Cook - 10/19/2007
Will - 10/5/2007
Dupage - 10/22/2007
Mchenry - 10/22/2007
Lake - 10/24/2007
Kane - 10/11/2007
Kendall - 9/25/2007

All things change, even title insurance

Who says things never change in the title insurance world? Last year the industry introduced brand new forms for our owners and loan policies. The new forms — created by industry experts through the efforts of the American Land Title Association — are recommended for use in all states and have been adopted by virtually all states that require regulatory approval. In those states that have not done so already, regulatory approval is expected soon.

Read More (PDF)...

Author: Frank Pellegrini, President, Prairie Title

TitleTalk Article originally published in November 2007 issue of Metro Chicago Real Estate Magazine.

Current County Effective Dates

The effective dates at each county recorder's office (as of this morning) are as follows:

Cook - 10/12/2007
Will - 10/1/2007
Dupage - 10/10/2007
Mchenry - 10/12/2007
Lake - 10/11/2007
Kane - 10/9/2007

Kendall - 8/29/2007

Cook County second installment of taxes will be due Dec. 3

Maria Pappas' office has posted to their website that the due date for the Tax Year 2006 Second Installment is Monday, December 3, 2007.

With tax bills going out at the end of next week, we will continue to monitor this and will begin processing all customer payments that we are holding as soon as possible.

Current County Effective Dates

As of this morning, the effective dates for each local county are as follows:

Cook - 10/5/2007
Will - 9/21/2007
Dupage - 10/2/2007
Mchenry - 10/5/2007
Lake - 10/2/2007
Kane -10/2/2007
Kendall - 8/20/2007

Current County Effective Dates

Below are the current effective dates for each county as of this morning:

Cook - 9/28/2007
Will -9/13/2007
Dupage- 9/25/2007
Mchenry - 9/27/2007
Lake- 10/1/2007
Kane - 9/24/2007
Kendall - 8/2/2007

Cook County tax bills to be released before Nov. 1

According to an article in the Chicago Tribune over the weekend, the Cook County Treasurer's office is expecting to mail the property tax bills for the second installment of 2006 taxes by the end of October. The Illinois Senate voted to extend 7% property tax cap for the next three years.

New office in Palos Hills has Opened!

Our newest location is now open for business. We're located at 9944 S. Roberts Road, Suite 203 Palos Hills, IL 60465.

For a complete list of our closing locations, please visit our website.

ALTA Principles of Fair Conduct

The American Land Title Association has been working on developing a set of basic business principles which should govern all companies within the title industry. The result of that work are the "ALTA Principles of Fair Conduct". These principles have been announced very recently with much fanfare and have received great media attention. I have copied and included the final product below.

These principles do not strike any of us here at Prairie Title as something very new. I firmly believe that we have been conducting our business by these precepts for many years now. Nonetheless, it is good to have the fundamentals refreshed for us from time to time. And it is also good to see that the rest of the industry has realized that strong ethics are good for business. Something we have known for twenty five years.

ALTA PRINCIPLES OF FAIR CONDUCT
Preamble
The ALTA Principles of Fair Conduct represent the association’s commitment to promote behavior within the title industry that serves the needs and interests of consumers.

The Principles describe ALTA’s expectation of its Members to adhere to the highest standards of ethical behavior and the laws and regulations governing the business of title insurance.

The "Appropriate Steps to Implement the ALTA Principles" sets out specific actions that Members can take, and suggests what government can do to assist the title industry in this regard.

ALTA encourages all if its Members to pledge to support The Principles, and to incorporate them into their daily business practices.

ALTA pledges to assist its members in implementing The Principals through ongoing training on ethical standards and legal compliance.

ALTA has formed a special Committee for ongoing review of The Principles annually to ensure that they continue to address the needs and interests of the consumer public.

ALTA PRINCIPLES OF FAIR CONDUCT

1. To engage only in business practices that are lawful and consistent with a high standard of ethical behavior.


2. To encourage a culture of compliance within their organizations for federal and state laws that govern the title insurance business and for these Principles.


3. To treat consumers in a fair and ethical manner.


4. To provide consumers with timely and comprehensive information regarding their policies, services, products, and prices so as to enable consumers to shop effectively among providers of title-related services.


5. To encourage and assist consumers to be educated purchasers of title insurance and title-related services.

- Frank Pellegrini, President, Prairie Title

Title industry association hits the century mark

One hundred years ago, members of the national title insurance industry came together to form an association to promote the interests of title insurers and to educate the public about the importance of title insurance. At the same time, Illinois’ title insurers formed their own association — the Illinois Land Title Association (ILTA) — that has since worked on its mission hand-in-hand with the American Land Title Association.

Read More (PDF)...

Author: Frank Pellegrini, President, Prairie Title

TitleTalk Article originally published in October 2007 issue of Metro Chicago Real Estate Magazine.

Current County Effective Dates

The following are the current effective dates for each county, as of this morning:

Cook- 9/20/2007
Will- 9/11/2007
Dupage- 9/18/2007
Mchenry- 9/21/2007
Lake - 9/21/2007
Kane - 9/11/2007
Kendall - 7/26/2007

Current County Effective Dates

The effective dates for each county (as of this morning) are as follows:

Cook - 9/14/2007
Will - 8/28/2007
Dupage - 9/13/2007
Mchenry - 9/14/2007
Lake - 9/17/2007
Kane - 9/4/2007
Kendall - 7/26/2007

Current County Effective Dates

In continuing our effort to provide our readers with the current effective dates for the Recorder's Offices in each County in Chicago and Suburbs, below are the effective dates provided from each County as of this morning:

Cook 09/06/2007
Will 08/17/2007
Dupage 09/06/2007
Mchenry 09/07/2007
Lake 09/10/2007
Kane 08/29/2007
Kendall 07/26/2007

Coming Soon - New office in Palos Hills

We are happy announce that we will soon be opening of our newest location in Palos Hills, Illinois.

Prairie Title
9944 S. Roberts Road
Suite 203
Palos Hills, IL 60465


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We are planning to have this office up and running in the first half of October. For a complete listing of all of our locations, please visit our website.

ALTA Launches Educational Website

The American Land Title Association has launched a new website directed toward consumers. The goal with this new site is to communicate better with homeowners and sellers about title insurance and the closing process as a whole.

Current County Effective Dates

We will be making an effort to provide our readers with the current effective dates for the Recorder's Offices in each County in Chicago and Suburbs. As of this morning, these are the effective dates provided from each County.

Cook - 08/30/2007
Will - 08/07/2007
Mchenry - 09/05/2007
Dupage - 08/30/2007
Lake - 09/06/2007
Kane - 08/24/2007
Kendall - 07/26/2007

Closing Packages on CD

Did you know???

We now offer copies of closing documents to be provided to our borrowers on CD-ROM.

Benefits to the borrower:
- Reduce paper! No need to keep track of a huge stack of papers.
- Each CD includes additonal useful information relevant to the borrower's neighborhood.

Benefits to your business:
A great marketing tool for your business! Your company will have a page on each CD we create for one of your transactions.

This service is available now in our Oak Park headquarters, and many of our branch locations. Be sure to ask your closer about availability!

We've opened our newest location in Oakbrook Terrace!

We are pleased to announce the opening of our newest location in Oakbrook Terrace, Illinois.

Prairie Title
Summit Oaks Office Suites
1S450 Summit Ave.
Suite 210
Oakbrook Terrace, IL 60181
(630) 678-1600
(630) 678-1603 (fax)

For a complete listing of all of our locations, please visit our website.


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