The American Land Title Association (ALTA), the national trade association of the land title insurance industry, announced that the ALTA Registry, the national database of title and settlement agents, added a new feature that allows companies to quickly provide errors and omissions (E&O) policy information to underwriters.
The new feature allows title and settlement companies to upload their E&O information to the ALTA Registry. Underwriters can then access the data to quickly verify the information. This new tool includes document level automatic scrubbing using Deep Secure by Forcepoint’s malware removal technology and data extraction via AREAL’s artificial intelligence powered document processing technology.
“The ALTA Registry has evolved into a data clearinghouse for title underwriters, lenders and settlement agents,” said Jack Rattikin III, CEO of Rattikin Title and co-chair of the ALTA Registry Committee, in a statement. “The Registry provides an optimal way for underwriters to manage oversight of their agents’ E&O data.”
Nearly 8,800 title agents, settlement companies and real estate attorneys appear in the ALTA Registry. The ALTA Registry allows title insurance agents and settlement companies to communicate with underwriters to confirm their company name and contact information—providing mortgage lenders with a trusted industry online database to identify transaction partners.
The ALTA Registry also closes an access point for potential malware and drives down oversight costs by improving accuracy and automated data downloads.
“A secure and neutral data-sharing utility that benefits all title agents and underwriters will be a welcome solution to maintaining current E&O coverage details,” said Eddie Oddo NTP, vice president of Corporate Business Solutions for First American Title Insurance Company and co-chair of the ALTA Registry Committee. “The Registry standardizes the process and eliminates the need for title agents to send E&O information to multiple underwriters, allowing industry professionals to focus on the tasks that drive their business.”
The ALTA Registry confirms that mortgage lenders are working with the correct title agent, settlement company or real estate attorney. Every title agent office location is identified by a unique ALTA ID, allowing quick verification. Each entry is also fully confirmed by title insurance underwriters. Using the ALTA Registry, mortgage lenders can increase accuracy, reduce production expenses, combat fraud and improve compliance. The ALTA Registry is offered to mortgage companies on a subscription basis.
Last year, the Registry added an indicator to designate title and settlement companies that can perform remote online notarization (RON) closings. This helps mortgage companies identify closing companies that allow homebuyers to review, sign and notarize documents online.
Source: ALTA
