The American Land Title Association (ALTA), the national trade association of the land title insurance industry, commends the efforts of 14 state attorneys general to ensure that Americans’ property rights are protected. The coalition, led by Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti, penned a letter to the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) highlighting the critical role of title insurance in homeownership and urging the agency to terminate a pilot program that would waive title insurance requirements for certain loans sold to Fannie Mae.

“Title insurance is a state-regulated industry, and homeowners will be better served if it stays that way,” the state attorneys general wrote. “The affordable housing crisis is a nationwide problem in need of meaningful bipartisan solutions, not shortsighted regulatory overreach. Yet the Agency’s title waiver program is neither a meaningful nor bipartisan solution. We call on the Agency to terminate implementation of this misguided pilot program.”

“I applaud Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti’s leadership in speaking up about the potential harms from the administration’s title waiver pilot program,” said ALTA CEO Diane Tomb. “An attorney general's role is to enforce state consumer protection laws, and we at ALTA share the concerns raised by the 14 state attorneys general about the pilot program’s lack of transparency, the shift of title risk from state-regulated title insurance companies to Fannie Mae, and the impact on local economies. We applaud their call to terminate the pilot program.”

Other signers of the letter include Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall, Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin, Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr, Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita, Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach, Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill, Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch, New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella, Oklahoma Attorney General Genter Drummond, South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson, South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares. To read the full letter, click here.

The title waiver program has faced bipartisan backlash from state and federal lawmakers since being revived in March. Congressional Republicans and Democrats, along with state policymakers, have voiced concerns about how the title waiver pilot could pose an increased risk to both consumers and lenders and improperly expand the authority of Fannie Mae.

About ALTA

The American Land Title Association, founded in 1907, is the national trade association representing more than 6,000 title insurance companies, title and settlement agents, independent abstracters, title searchers, and real estate attorneys. ALTA members conduct title searches, examinations, closings and issue title insurance that protects real property owners and mortgage lenders against losses from defects in titles.