NEW DIGITAL PAYMENT OPTIONS, increasing fraud threats and new regulations and laws, as well as changes to business and market needs, led to recent revisions of the ALTA Title Insurance and Settlement Company Best Practices.

The changes, which went into effect May 23, focus on the continual improvement to operations and primarily involve escrow accounting, and privacy and information security programs to protect non-public information, as well as an overhaul to enhance the closing and settlement process.

Craig Haskins, chief operating officer for Knight Barry Title Group and a member of ALTA’s Board of Governors, said the original Best Practices that were written in 2013 were more of a defensive mechanism focused on compliance certification to help title agents retain lender business. Back then, lenders were concerned with assessing their title company partners after the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued a memo saying lenders were responsible for their vendors—which included title and settlement agents.

“The strategy is a bit different with these revisions,” said Haskins, vice chair of ALTA’s Best Practices Executive Committee. “While the Best Practices are still focused on agent certification, this version takes more of an offensive position and looks at things to help agents improve their company.

There’s a lot of risk in the functions title and settlement companies perform. By following ALTA’s Best Practices, including identifying and remediating any deficiencies, agents take active steps to protect the parties and the settlement process.

“The world has changed,” said Tara Smith, president of agency services for Stewart Title Guaranty Co. and an ALTA Board member. “The industry looks very different than it did 10 years ago when the original Best Practices were rolled out. Remote online notarizations were just a concept a decade ago, earnest money deposit apps didn’t exist, and most workers were in the office five days a week. In the last decade, we’ve seen an explosion of new technologies that are now integral in our day-to-day operations.”