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.