🐐Title Underground📰:Congress Takes FinCEN To Task, Public Records Whack-a-Mole, and Fingerprinting for Closing
Plus: Fewer Subordinate Liens, New Pending Legislation, Deed Fraud Control Round Up, and more (26-July-26)
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Read the CFPB request and submit comments by August 10 →
TRID Is Back on the Operating Table—and Someone Brought a Chainsaw: What Title Agents Need to Know
TRID Data: Closing Costs, Consumer Confusion and Title Workflows
🕵️♂️Underworld Intel
In 2024, ALTA joined the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) and 13 leading industry stakeholders to form the CONVERGENCE Collaborative, a coordinated effort to identify and develop solutions to help close the racial homeownership gap. In July 2026, ALTA announced the launch of CONVERGENCE Baltimore. This puts initiative continues to put title professionals inside the coalition shaping solutions for underserved buyers instead of waiting for those solutions to arrive at the closing table.
🐐Wicked Trends & Forces🌳
The patterns worth paying attention to…
A 2026 deed-fraud control roundup
👀 Things Wandering Toward Your Workflow
New tools, vendor launches, and tech experiments making their way toward the closing table.
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Turn 7,500 Active Real Estate Investors Into a Title-Agency Prospect List —
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⚖️Legal
National
Congress Asks Whether FinCEN’s Reporting Haystack Is Burying the Money-Laundering Needle
At a July 21 oversight hearing, Rep. Warren Davidson challenged the cost and usefulness of FinCEN’s reporting regime and specifically cited the Residential Real Estate Rule as a nationwide burden on title agents. The hearing did not change any requirement, but it placed the title industry’s compliance costs directly into the congressional record as lawmakers press FinCEN to prioritize actionable risk over sheer reporting volume. I can’t help but wonder if this will have any impact on FinCEN’s regulatory direction moving forward or it’s all just a show.
FHA Wants to Eliminate the Separate Partial-Claim Mortgage
FHA posted a draft five-year Reinstatement Advance Payment demonstration that would secure partial-claim or payment-supplement debt through an agreement under the FHA-insured first mortgage instead of a separate note and subordinate mortgage. Participating loans would no longer create a separately recorded subordinate federal lien requiring search, payoff, release or resolution during a sale, refinance, assumption, transfer or nonjudicial foreclosure. With no subordinate lien to record, title agents will face fewer complexities in processing and documenting transactions related to FHA loans. This could streamline title searches and reduce the time and effort required to resolve title issues during sales, refinances, or foreclosures.
Some Homes Need to Be Built. Others Already Exist but Cannot Be Sold. Congress Is Looking at Both.
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FDIC reports fourth bank failure this year, second in July
Banking regulators have announced two bank closures in July, bringing the total number of bank failures this year to four. Estimates published by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. indicate these failures have cost the Deposit Insurance Fund approximately $123.6 million in total. - Submitted by Mark Nemetz, Residential Mortgage/Title Consultant
State
California Makes Changes to Parcel Mapping Rules
Arizona Wants Your Thumbprints
Michigan Has a Recording Problem
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Claims & Lawsuit Stories
Texas Supreme Court Pauses an Order That Could Make a Title Company Pay the Same $131,412 Twice
Rise Title followed the estate administrator’s wire instructions instead of a probate decree directing the sale proceeds into the court registry; after the administrator reportedly disappeared with the money, a lower court held Rise in contempt and ordered it to replace the funds. The Texas Supreme Court has stayed that order while Rise’s mandamus petition remains pending, leaving a consequential question unresolved: how directly must a court order address a settlement agent before the agent can be punished for disbursing around it? Read more ->
A Quiet-Title Case Became a Four-State Public Records Whack-a-Mole
After Defendants won a counterclaim quite title suit over easement rights, the Plaintiffs attempted to improperly move the case to federal court four different times over three different federal jurisdictions. A Maryland federal court remanded the fourth attempted removal, awarded fees and imposed a narrowly tailored prefiling injunction.
💸Business Growth
Marketing Done Right
Title Alliance had a great social media message recently. Professional, branded graphic, easy to understand consumer messaging. This is a great example of good marketing:
🔒 Locks and a good security system protect your home... a title search and title insurance policy from us make sure your ownership rights are protected now - and for years to come.
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Why Branding Moves the Needle for Title Agents
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🎟️Events
🎟️ Illinois LTA Annual Convention
📅 August 4th–5th | ⏰ Times Vary by Session | 📍 Chicago, IL
🎟️ Kansas Land Title Association Annual Convention
📅 Aug. 4–6, 2026 | ⏰ Times Vary by Session | 📍 Kansas City, KS
🎟️The 49 Advantage: Selling Fraud Protection
📅 Aug 10th | ⏰ 10:00am EST/7:00am PST | 📍 Las Vegas Register Here
📅 Aug 12th | ⏰ 10:00am EST/7:00am PST | 📍 Philadelphia Register Here
📅 Aug 14th | ⏰ 10:00am EST/7:00am PST | 📍 Atlanta Register Here
🎟️Navigating Complexity Without Losing Yourself, or Your Team
• 📅 August 11th | ⏰ 1:00pm EST/10:00am PST | 📍 Register Here
🎟️2026 DCLTA Home Run Summer: Washington Nationals vs. Chicago Cubs
📅 August 12th | ⏰ 6:45pm | 📍 DC: Learn More
🎟️ Minnesota LTA Annual Convention
📅 August 13th–14th | ⏰ Times Vary by Session | 📍 Prior Lake, MN
💼 Job Postings
Title Examiner — Williston Financial Group
Remote | $28–$33 per hour
Searches public records, examines chains of title, identifies defects and determines the legal condition of property titles.Senior Underwriting Counsel — First American
Tarrytown, NY | $141,000–$206,800
Provides underwriting guidance to title agents and develops legally sound solutions for complex title and insurability questions.Escrow Officer — GECU
El Paso, TX | $68,578–$102,856
Administers closings, collects signatures and coordinates title, lender and transaction documents with the parties involved.Senior Escrow Officer — Executive Title Agency
Houston, TX | On-site
Prepares closing documents, manages escrow requirements and funds, reviews lender instructions and coordinates Texas and Florida closings.Title Processor — ClearEdge Title
Clearwater, FL | $19–$25 per hour
Reviews title commitments, identifies defects, completes curative work and prepares files for compliant real estate closings.Agent Title Operations — Hilton Grand Vacations
Orlando, FL
Prepares, audits and records deeds, affidavits and other ownership-transfer documents while resolving title defects and recording rejections.Experienced Escrow Closer — Security Title Insurance Agency, LLC
Belleville, IL | $50,000–$70,000
Oversees escrow files, prepares settlement documents, clears title issues, balances funds and coordinates accurate disbursements.Independent Contract Closer — Landtrust Title Services
Chicago, IL | Contract
Conducts real estate closings, reviews title commitments and payoffs, balances files and ensures closing packages are properly executed.Title Abstractor Landman — Halo Land Management
Pennsylvania | Remote; full-time or contract
Researches mineral, surface and leasehold ownership, completes chains of title and prepares defensible reports for energy and land projects.Sr Title Processor — Marriott Vacations Worldwide
Lakeland, FL | On-site
Resolves title clouds and complex ownership issues, prepares corrective documents and coordinates curative work, buybacks and disbursement records.
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Stay Wicked,
Cheryl
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