The U.S. House and Senate this week passed the final GOP tax bill, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which now awaits President Trump’s signature. The legislation slashes rates for corporations, provides new breaks for private businesses and reorganizes the individual tax code. Specific to real estate, the new legislation will affect homeowners, homebuyers, real
There’s been a lot of buzz about online notaries and digital closings over the past year. While many states will start to consider online notary legislation, the fact remains there are four main ways closings can occur. Here’s a summary of the options: Traditional Wet Signing: These closings are handled in-person and all of the
Washington, D.C., Oct. 30, 2017 — Daniel D. Mennenoh ITP, NTP, the immediate past president of the American Land Title Association (ALTA), the national trade association of the land title insurance industry, will testify Wednesday, Nov. 1 before the Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit during a hearing titled “Data Security: Vulnerabilities and Opportunities
The average national closing costs totaled $4,876, according to a recent survey released by ClosingCorp. This data represents the average closing costs, including lender’s title, owner’s title, settlement, appraisal, transfer taxes (where applicable), recording fees and other costs including inspection (pest, roof and home) services and land surveys. This data is compiled using real rates
Source: ALTA Blog
For nearly a century, TitleNews has been the go-to source of information about the land title insurance industry. Iterations have evolved from an extremely text-heavy publication since the first edition in 1918 to a magazine that attempts to meet the needs of today’s readers. In the latest incarnation of one of the main ALTA member
The Recorder of Deeds has now posted the most current Application for First-Time Homebuyers (ROD 11) and OTR’s Notice regarding it (OTR Tax Notice 2017-07) on its website. We urge DCLTA members to download the necessary forms from ROD’s website in order to have the most updated versions in your systems. https://otr.cfo.dc.gov/book/recorder-deeds-tax-forms For settlements conducted
October 1 Implementation and Possible Corrective Legislation We previously let you know about the recently enacted First Time Homebuyer Tax Benefit Amendment Act of 2015 and the accompanying Application Form required by the D.C. Recorder of Deeds, which is available at https://otr.cfo.dc.gov/node/1272871. The DCLTA Board has been advocating for legislative clarity through the tireless efforts
Peter J. Birnbaum, president and CEO of Attorneys’ Title Guaranty Fund Inc. will jump in the boxing ring to help support Mercy Home for Boys & Girls, an organization that provides homes, education and support systems to Chicago’s most vulnerable and disadvantaged youth. Along with other contenders from the financial services and legal professions, Birnbaum
The risk of fraud in mortgage applications increased 16.9 percent in the second quarter compared to the second quarter of 2016, according to CoreLogic’s latest Mortgage Fraud Report. The analysis found that during the second quarter of 2017, an estimated 13,404 mortgage applications, or 0.82 percent of all mortgage applications, contained indications of fraud, as
