In The News

In the News  

Presented by Frank Pellegrini, CEO, Prairie Title     

August 15, 2018         

Bill to Amend Title Act Introduced in Springfield

A bill introduced by Illinois Rep. Jeanne Ives in late July  would amend the Illinois Title Insurance Act to allow the Secretary of Financial and Professional Regulation to refuse, suspend or revoke the authority of attorneys to act as title agents in the same transaction wherein they represent a party to the transaction. It is quite unusual for a new bill to be introduced during a veto session of the legislature. We all need to keep a close eye on how this develops. You may consider contacting your representatives in the General Assembly to voice your position.

Have you Visited our New Web Site? PrairieTitle.com has been revised and revamped, and we’re really excited about the new look and feel.  There’s great information for you and for home buyers and sellers. Take a look, and pass the Internet address on to your customers. There they will find answers to most of their closing and title insurance questions and a new rate estimator calculator that is under the Attorney and Consumer buttons.

Also in Springfield: The Illinois Department of Professional and Financial Regulation was set to implement its new rule regarding the Disclosure of Finan­cial Interest form in July  when the courts swooped in after a lawsuit was filed by Attor­neys’ Title and joined by ILTA. The Court will consider the case on the merits at a preliminary injunction hearing that is scheduled to begin on Septem­ber 26, ILTA noted.

Title Act task force: The Illinois Land Title Association recently formed a task force which aims to recommend changes to the Title Insurance Act, and I have been asked to play a part in the discussions. I will let you know when updates become available.

In Washington: ALTA recently issued a press release thanking the Treasury for making recommendations for improvements to the home closing process. Treasury consulted with ALTA leadership while preparing the report, which identifies hurdles in the market and offers recommendations to improve the electronic closing and recording process.

On a personal note: ALTA CEO Michelle Korsmo recently announced that she is leaving the organization after 10 highly successful years leading the title industry’s trade group. Under Michelle’s  leadership, ALTA has doubled its membership and revenue. Also, in the past few years, the association has instituted an industry-wide licensing program as well as a best-practices standard. Michelle will be missed.

In The News

In the News  

Presented by Frank Pellegrini, CEO, Prairie Title     

June 1, 2018    

New Disclosure Rule Delayed to July 1, at Least

The Illinois Department of Professional and Financial Regulation has announced implementation of a new rule on the Disclosure of Financial Interest form. Initially the change was to become effective in May. Following input from the industry, IDFPR has postponed implementation until at least July 1. For more information, click here to view the online form, and here for instructions on filling out the form.

Springfield update: Amazingly, the state legislature adjourned yesterday after passing a full budget on time, and Gov. Rauner has said he will approve it. Two bills of  interest to the real estate community were passed, one that legislates predictive recording fees for Cook County and another limiting the selection of title insurance and settlement services and the splitting of title policies in any residential transaction ("bifurcation"). The governor is expected to sign both.

In Washington: After many fits and starts, updates to Dodd-Frank are now law, to the applause of many in our industry. Unfortunately, there’s been no movement forward on the House-passed bipartisan ALTA-supported legislation that corrects the inaccurate disclosure of title insurance premiums on the TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosures. As we grind toward the November election, odds will fade that the Senate will take up and pass this bill, but there’s still hope.

Tech talk. The MReport recently published an article on homebuyers and technology, based on a survey by owners.com. The upshot? “Homebuyers are increasingly looking at their real estate agent for expertise and tech-based tools to keep them organized during their home search.” Read the full article here. I also recommend a recent article about how blockchain and cryptocurrency are changing commercial real estate published by REJournals.com. 

April existing home sales tumble. There’s no way to sugarcoat this: “The affordability issue is kneecapping strong demand,” declared Housing Wire in a recent story. The article quoted NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun, “The root cause of the underperforming sales activity in much of the country so far this year continues to be the utter lack of available listings on the market to meet the strong demand for buying a home.” Ugh.

Is Gen X making its mark on CRE? While homeownership among younger adults is not nearly as robust as we’d like in a vibrant economy, NAIOP recently published an interesting article noting that Gen Xers (born between 1965 and 1981) are helping boost commercial real estate develop-ment as companies strive to meet their preferences in housing, office space and entertainment options. I’m always looking for a silver lining.

IDFPR Disclosure Rule

 

April 6, 2018

         

New Guidance from IDFPR! 

Disclosure Rule Updated,  Effective May 15, 2018

In a surprise move, the Illinois Department of Professional and Financial Regulation on April 4 implemented a new rule on the Disclosure of Financial Interest form effective May 15, 2018. The crux of IDFPR’s new guidance is:

“The Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, Division of Financial Institutions announces that the Disclosure of Financial Interest form, also known as the DS-1 form, has been revised. This revised disclosure form is effective at 12:01 a.m., April 4, 2018 [now May 15, 2018], and the current form will no longer be used.

“The Title Insurance Act (Act) authorizes the Department to prepare the disclosure form so that a producer of title business (usually the attorneys, real estate brokers or lenders in transactions) discloses their financial interest to any home seller and buyer involved in the closing process. This includes the title insurer, independent escrowee or title agent/agency involved in the closing.” 

 

Note: As of this writing, the Illinois Land Title Association has requested that IDFPR delay implementation of mandatory use of the new form for 90 days. IDFPR has announced a new effective date of May 15, 2018.

Click here to go to the online form, and here for instructions on filling out the form.

What you need to know:

·         Compliance with this guidance is mandatory and effective immediately.

·         You must present the revised disclosure form to your client at the beginning of each transaction process, i.e. before the title commitment is issued.

·         For each transaction, the title insurer (underwriter), “Must review and approve the disclosure, including accurately verifying the percentage the agent will receive for statutorily authorized services that the agent will perform, including an estimate of the fee.”

How can Prairie Title help?

We are here to help you through the new process. Do not hesitate to reach out to your representative with any questions you have and for the assistance you need.

Upbeat Commercial Real Estate

In the News   Presented by Prairie Title  

February 22, 2018

         

Can CRE Lead the Way?

Last year’s federal tax legislation has begun to sink in, with employers adjusting withholding levels to match the new IRS charts and many employees seeing larger paychecks as a result. It’s hard to tell what effect the tax changes will have on the economy overall, and the real estate market in particular, but there is hope that changes affecting real estate LLCs will boost commercial real estate this year.

In a slideshow posted on nreionline.com, six economists give their generally positive views on the state of CRE in 2018. For instance, Ryan Severino, chief economist at JLL asserts: “The recent tax cuts are likely to benefit real estate significantly and should have a far more substantial impact than either changes to immigration policy or infrastructure policy."

We may need commercial to lead the way this year as housing continues to be a puzzle despite January housing construction news termed “terrific” by NAR Chief Economist Laurence Yun. “This rise in single-family housing construction will help tame home price growth,” Yun said.

As Reuters reported: “Housing starts jumped 9.7 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.326 million units in January. …Economists polled by Reuters had forecast housing starts rising to a pace of 1.234 million units last month after a previously reported rate of 1.192 million units. Building permits surged 7.4 percent to a rate of 1.396 million units in January.”

Will January’s construction numbers provide a push for housing? We hope so, but continued lack of inventory and high prices are keeping the overall housing market flat at best. And it remains to be seen if the elimination of federal deductibility of state and local taxes will negatively impact housing.

Good news out of Washington: The House recently passed bipartisan ALTA-supported legislation that corrects the inaccurate disclosure of title insurance premiums on the TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosures (TRID) form and will help consumers understand the true cost of their real estate transaction. Here’s hoping the Senate follows suit and the fix becomes law.

A final thought. We’re moving more and more toward a digital mortgage/closing process from start to finish. It won’t happen overnight but there are signs of movement. Just last month Chase announced its intention to soon offer digital mortgages on smartphones. Also, I found this article on operationalizing the digital mortgage process in Housing Wire to be an interesting read.

Finally, finally. I recently authored an article in an Illinois State Bar publication titled, “The Bond that’s not: How to convey real estate in an unprobated estate.” For those interested in the subject matter, or others who might suffer from insomnia, I thought you might find it helpful.

Let’s close out the first quarter strong!