Executive Committee

AGENDA

10:30 AM

JUNE 14, 2016

NYSLTA

65 Broadway, suite 501

New York, NY

1. Call to order – President Mathieu
2. President’s Greeting – President Mathieu
3. Approval of May 2016 Minutes - Executive Director Treuber
4. Exec Director Report – Executive Director Treuber
5. Treasurer Report – Mr. Martinico
6. Title Section Report – Chair Bagwell
7. Agent Section Report – Chair Giliotti
8. Education Committee Report – Chair LaBar
9. Government Relations Committee Report – Chair Kelly
1. Progress report on further clarification of regulatory issues
2. Discussion of re-engagement with DFS & Superintendent Vullo
3. Discussion of a strategy for the Dept. of Taxation & Finance
10. Legislative Committee Report – Chair Keyse
11. City of Yonkers tax sale deeds – Ms. LaBar
12. New Business
13. Adjourn

Revealing a Powerful Washington Secret – Advocacy Puts Us in a Position to Make Changes…For the Better

Two weeks ago, I attended the American Land Title Association (ALTA) Federal Conference and Lobby Day in Washington, D.C.  And, while I have been a participant in prior activities on the state and local level – I left Washington with a sense that I needed to share with NYSLTA’s members a line of sight to my experience.

This wasn’t a weekend in Vegas - but rather three days on the Hill – and the opportunity to raise the voice of the Title Insurance Agent and Real Estate Professional directly with key members of Congress.  And, more importantly, what became crystal clear was this – advocacy works. 

Speaking directly to Members of Congress, and their key staff, allows us to inform their opinion, educate decision makers, and improve upon their understanding of what is important in our business.   

NYSLTA members joined forces with title professionals from across the country to help strengthen the industry and advance the interest of our membership as well as consumers.  Our colleagues included DeAnna Stancanelli of National Granite, Vince Danzi of First Nationwide, Deb Paoli of First Nationwide, Tony Maiocchi of Perfect Abstract, Bill Treuber of New York Metro, Ted Werner of Fidelity National Title Group, and Bob Treuber of NYSLTA. [See attached image]

Specifically, we spoke with members of Congress regarding the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) recent regulations issued on the Know Before You Owe mortgage disclosure rule. While we applauded the CFPB on collaborating with key industry stakeholders to make mortgage transactions easier for consumers to understand, we encouraged lawmakers to address the regulation’s requirement that prohibits our industry from disclosing the actual cost of the title insurance policies.

[ See attached letters to the CFPB ]

This requirement is causing consumers to receive incorrect title insurance premium disclosures, and at times creating even more confusion for consumers during mortgage transactions – defeating the rule’s intended purpose. What’s more, the rule as currently written, actively dissuades buyers from purchasing financial protection for their largest investment, their home.

Lawmakers have an opportunity to encourage the CFPB to fix this issue during the TRID review in July, ensuring all consumers receive accurate information about the true costs of buying a home.

Homebuyer Outreach Program (HOP)

Additionally, we discussed ALTA’s Homebuyer Outreach Program (HOP). Today, consumers want more information from expert sources about the real estate process (including title insurance and settlement services) and how to best protect their investment. ALTA members can educate homebuyers about what to expect when buying a home and how an owner’s title insurance policy helps provide peace of mind by reducing their risk and protects their property rights. We encouraged lawmakers to use the HOP as a resource and contact an ALTA member with any questions.

Traveling to Washington to connect with New York Representatives, Nydia Velasquez, Carolyn Maloney, Peter King and Lee Zeldin to make sure our voice is heard was a powerful experience. I highly recommend all NYSLTA members to get involved. 

If you’d like to learn more, please contact me (347-987-0677) or Bob Treuber of NYSLTA (212-964-3701).

- Marianne Mathieu, President, NYSLTA

The NYS Department of Taxation and Finance has announced changes to the STAR Program

This is a link to the STAR Home page.

This is a link to the announcement of the STAR Program changes.

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEETING

New York State Land Title Association

First Nationwide Title Agency

50 Charles Lindbergh Boulevard

Uniondale NY

April 12, 2016

10:30 AM

AGENDA

1. Call to order – President-elect Collins
2. President’s Greeting – President-elect Collins
3. Approval of March  Minutes - Executive Director Treuber
4. Exec Director Report – Executive Director Treuber
5. Treasurer Report – Mr. Martinico
6. Title Section Report – Chair Bagwell
7. Agent Section Report – Chair Giliotti
8. Education Committee Report – Chair LaBar
9. Land Records Committee Report – Chair Tafuri
10. Legislative Committee Report – Chair Keyse
11. Municipal Liaison Committee Report – Chair Carroll
12. Membership Committee Report – Chair O’Hara
13. Charitable Works Committee – Chair Roper
14. Newsletter Committee Report – Chair Schirtzer
15. New Business
16. Adjourn

The eleven voting members of the Agents and Abstracters Section will be:

The next Executive Committee Meeting will be held at 10:30 am on May 10, 2016 at Benchmark Title Agency, 222 Bloomingdale Road, White Plains NY.

And now, a message from the Chair of the Newsletter Committee, Sue Schirtzer:

New York State Land Title Association members,

Our next edition of the New York State Land Title newsletter (2^nd Quarter) is scheduled to be released on June 10, 2016.  Please submit any and all interesting news or articles which you would like to see published no later than May 28, 2016.  

 You may send these directly to sue.schirtzer@fnf.com or you may send them to news@nyslta.org.

We encourage you to forward any industry news, hot topics, announcements or your committee news by that date.  We will do our best to make sure we can accommodate these publications.

Let us know if you have any questions or suggestions.

The entire newsletter committee wants to thank you for your support each quarter in helping to make this a success.

Sincerely,

Suzanne Schirtzer

Newsletter Committee Chair