🐐 TU🕵️♂️ : FinCEN Speaks, Expensive Mistakes, Growth Strategies, 2 New Executive Orders & the Search for Software
This Week in the Title Underground (22-March-2026): It's been a busy week on the regulatory front, but don't forget spring is the time to plan for growth
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Brought to you by: 🦅FinCEN Report,🔒 Closinglock, 🤖 Talos Title AI, 🌍 Foreign Tax CPA, 🧱 Brickhouse Consulting, 🖊️Dotted Line Signings, Razi Exchange & Our Paying Readers
🚨 Breaking News:
Flowers Just Blew Up FinCEN’s Real Estate Reporting Rule: On March 19, 2026, a federal judge in Texas didn’t just poke holes in FinCEN’s Residential Real Estate Reporting Rule…👉 He vacated it entirely.
Friday news and differing legal opinions spread - some agents were told to stop filing, some were told to keep calm and carry on.
Saturday, FinCEN finally spoke up and published the notice above on their website. It’s official, you can pause Real Estate Reporting - for now.
Personally, I’d recommend continuing to collect data while this plays out. As they say, it’s not over til the fat lady sings, and I don’t think she’s singing yet.
Geographic Targeting Orders are still in force and effect. The latest was issued on March 10th and runs until Sept 2nd. Your read the details here.
As of Friday, FinCEN was still accepting reports and this notice makes it sound like they will continue to do so should you chose to file anyway. 🦅FinCEN Report Company is standing by to assist you.
Learn more about what this means for you here…
Watch your email, more news and industry takes on the recent FinCEN developments coming soon.
📜Title Archive: Educational Resources
🦅FinCEN Report: Test Your Knowledge of the FinCEN Real Estate Reporting Rule: Residential Real Property Quiz
🖊️Dotted Line Signings: How Late is Too Late for a Title Agency to Request a Different Notary Closer?
📄 Delaware Real Estate Closings: Why Delaware Attorneys Are Always Required
🎓 Flow of a Standard Transaction (MS) (CE) ($)
📄 How to Outsource Title Production Search and Exam Work (Without Losing Sleep)
🎟️FLTA Webinar Series: That’s a Wrap: 2026 Post Session Breakdown on All Things Title
📅 March 26th | ⏰ 11:00am EST | 📍 Webinar
💬 Join the Conversation
Networking Events
📅 March 25| ⏰ 10:30am EST | 📍 Virtual
🎟️WIT Houston Gulf Coast Virtual Call
📅 March 25| ⏰ 10:30am EST | 📍 Virtual
📅 March 28th| ⏰ 1pm-3pm EST | 📍 Detroit, MI
🕵️♂️Underworld Intel
The Cutting Edge
🔒 Closinglock: 🐐Title Agents: Your “What’s the Status?!” Emails Might Be About to Die (And Honestly… Good.)
🤖 Talos Title AI: Announces Early Customer Adoption of “Hands On AI” Built to Standardize Title Search and Exam Workflows
Claims & Lawsuits
CRE
Other
⚖️Regulatory & Policy Updates
National
📰 Executive Order Seeks to Expand Mortgage Credit for Customers of Community and Smaller Banks (Read the Executive Order) (Timeline late 2026-2027)
📰 Trump’s mortgage order sets stage for regulatory shift, draws consumer backlash
Consumer advocates fear it could undermine protections, revive risky lending practices, cause discriminiation and lead to negative market conditions reminiscent of past crises.
📰 Executive Order seeks to remove regulatory barriers to affordable home construction.
📰 U.S. regulators propose lighter capital requirements for banks - If you’ve been in this industry long enough, your spidey sense is already tingling.
Because 2008 didn’t happen overnight—it happened through a series of “reasonable” steps:
Ease capital pressure
Expand lending
Increase risk layering
Normalize it
Then… boom
This proposal touches Step 1 and Step 2. Let’s not jump straight to doomsday.
Post-2008 Safeguards Still Exist
Underwriting Standards Are Still Tighter
The system is more data-driven than it was pre-2008 and regulators are still watching
Watch for these signals:
Aggressive Lending Products Creeping Back
Warehouse Lending Expansion
Commercial Real Estate Exposure (currently on shaky ground)
Mortgage Servicing Risk Repricing (enhanced monitoring coming soon)
📰 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act
Senate overwhelmingly passed the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act in an 89–10 vote on Thursday - The legislation aims to streamline federal housing programs, expand small-dollar mortgage access, and support manufactured and modular housing.
Realtor.com data challenges effectiveness of Senate ban on big home investors
The Senate approved the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, which includes a provision limiting institutional investors owning 350+ single-family homes from buying more.
Proponents claim this will enhance housing affordability, but economists argue data indicates minimal impact on the market.
A Realtor.com report shows institutional investors accounted for only 1% of all single-family home purchases from 2015 to 2025, and their market share has decreased from 12.2% in 2015 to 7.5% in 2025.
Small investors (owning less than 10 homes) represent 53% of investor purchases, while institutional investors’ activity is highly concentrated in specific metro areas.
Major concerns include a provision requiring institutional investors to sell newly constructed build-to-rent (BTR) homes within a specified timeframe.
Drafting errors in the Federal Housing Administration (FHA)’s multifamily loan limits could lead to reduced capital for new rental housing development.
The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) warns that certain amendments could raise lender costs and risk the FHA’s Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund.
Stakeholders warn that it could inadvertently limit the construction of rental housing and exacerbate housing shortages.
💸Business Growth & Operations
🔒 Closinglock: Launches automated closing updates to keep every party in a real estate transaction aligned
🎥 In-Person Marketing: Building Trust Through Authentic Brand Presence
📄 Maximizing Client Retention: How Title Agents Can Create Long-Lasting Relationships
🎥 Evolve or Be Left Behind: The New Rules of Title - What does it take to build a title company that doesn’t just survive market cycles but grows through them?
💼 Job Postings
Underwriting Counsel (NH)
Legal Intern- 1031 Exchange Company (Remote)
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Brought to you by: 🦅FinCEN Report,🔒 Closinglock, 🤖 Talos Title AI, 🌍 Foreign Tax CPA, 🧱 Brickhouse Consulting, 🖊️Dotted Line Signings, Razi Exchange & Our Paying Readers
Stay Wicked,
Cheryl
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