APRIL 2019
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PRIA’s LRMS Best Practices paper has been finalized and published to the web Resource Library (key words: LRMS). This document, four years in development, has been completed. 
 
A dedicated team of seven PRIA members met twice each month throughout the four years to develop, question, probe, write and the rewrite this 40+ page document. The document's purpose is to help recorders evaluate their current LRMS or to help prepare an RFP for a new system and for LRMS vendors to understand the full scope of the recorders’ needs.
 
This paper, like all of PRIA’s publications, is an example of the value that the collective knowledge of committed volunteers can provide.


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Check out the PRIA Local Map which shows all the states that have chapters or are starting chapters. We are currently working on starting new chapters in Arkansas, Indiana, Michigan, Texas, and Wisconsin.

Feel free to get in touch with any of the contacts on the state page you're interested in to attend a meeting or to help start up the chapter. You can always contact the PRIA Local Coordinator at any time for more information about PRIA Local.


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PRIA’s 2019 Annual Conference, August 26-29, in Colorado Springs, CO, will capitalize on the informative programming offered previously in Greenville and Providence. At an elevation of 6,035 feet, Colorado Springs offers the grandeur of the Rocky Mountains. It lies near glacier-carved Pikes Peak, a landmark in Pike National Forest with hiking trails and a cog railway leading to its 14,114-ft. summit. The city's Garden of the Gods Park features iconic red-sandstone formations and mountain views.

Stay-tuned for more information about the Annual Conference in Colorado Springs in the coming months. To make a reservation at The Antlers in Colorado Springs, visit the Annual Conference page on the website. The PRIA group rate is $137.


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The Property Records Industry Association (PRIA), through the generosity of a grant from Ernst Publishing, offers a one-year scholarship, which includes membership in PRIA for the 2019-20 membership year, along with registration (travel and hotel included) for one PRIA conference (annual 2019 or winter 2020). You, or a colleague, either government or business, could be the beneficiary of this annual scholarship. 
  
Each scholarship recipient will be selected based on outstanding contributions to the property records industry, and will be deemed eligible in one or more of the following ways:
 
  • Not currently a PRIA Member.
  • Demonstrates exceptional accomplishments in his/her chosen field.
  • Demonstrates exceptional service in local, state and/or national affairs.
  • Demonstrates exceptional service consistent with the mission and values of PRIA.
 
Each award is valued at $2,000.
 
Previous scholarship recipient Danny Hester, register of deeds, Lincoln Co., NC, said this about his scholarship, “I was fortunate enough to be the recipient of the Ernst Scholarship for the 2017-18 membership year. As a result of this membership, I have gained valuable information from the conference educational sessions and benefited from networking with the business partners, as well as recorders and clerks from around the country.”
 
Scholarship recipients for 2018-19 were Erin NIemi, land recording deputy, Okanogan Co., WA; and Tyson Fettes, register of deeds, Racine Co., WI. Both used their scholarship award funds to attend the 2019 PRIA Winter Symposium in Greenville, SC.
 
Click here for an application form and then forward that application to one, or more, of your colleagues that meet the award criteria. Or you can complete the application for yourself and submit to coordinator@pria.us .
 
But hurry! Application submission deadline is June 15 .


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Synrgo

A taskforce of the Education Committee has produced a short, four-minute video focused on what a new recorder needs to know and remember during the early stages of their term.
 
Are you a newly elected or appointed recorder? Or, perhaps your state elected new recorders who have not yet joined PRIA. Whatever your circumstance or if you are just curious, be sure to take a few minutes to watch the video which is embedded on the landing page of the PRIA website in the bottom right quadrant.
 
PRIA will be reaching out directly to recorders and state associations in states that held elections for recorders in November 2018 and telling them about the availability of the video.
 
Did your state hold elections in 2018? If so, please send PRIA an updated list of recorders for your state, if you have not done so already.


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Join colleagues on May 9, 2019 at 3 p.m. ET for a repeat of the popular Remote Notarization webinar, presented by Michael Chodos, from Notarize. The webinar is complimentary for PRIA Members and is $25 for Nonmembers.

This webinar will provide the following:
  1. An explanation of the mechanics of remote online notarization.
  2. A demonstration of remote online notarization

To register for this webinar, click here . Registrations will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis until all seats are filled.


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excerpted from DSNews, 4/1/19

In a hearing at Brooklyn Borough Hall (New York) residents and housing experts testified on deed theft, liens for minor unpaid bills, fraudulent documents, and other foreclosure-related challenges.

Catherine Isobe, Senior Staff Attorney at Brooklyn Legal Services, said, “We cannot meet the need of affected homeowners. I recently checked and we had about 6,000 foreclosures pending in Kings County and more are on the way. We have a huge number of pre-foreclosure notices filed.” Isobe noted that in order to address the property theft and foreclosure issues, amendments to the real property law concerning deed theft needed to be dealt with.

According to Sarah Ludwig, Founder and Co-Director of the New Economy Project, the New York State Senate had cut funding for foreclosure prevention services. “We cannot cut back funding. It would be devastating to go beyond $20 million, which is not in itself enough,” she said. In recent years New York has continued to struggle with lingering foreclosure issues and urban blight related to abandoned properties.

Foreclosures across New York have dropped by 46 percent since 2013, and the number of pending foreclosure cases in the state is down by half since 2014. However, New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli warned earlier this month that “the foreclosure crisis is far from over,” adding, “New York must continue to support the programs and reforms that have helped homeowners avoid foreclosure and communities reduce blight caused by zombie properties.” ( Read complete article . )


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excerpted from ALTA Advocacy Update by ALTA Interim CEO, Cornelia Horner, March 25, 2019

"On March 15, ALTA provided its thoughts to the Senate Banking Committee on the collection, use and protection of sensitive information by financial regulators and private companies. The letter was in response to a request for information issued by the committee's chair Sen. Mike Crapo (R-ID) and ranking member Sherrod Brown (D-OH) in February. ALTA's Liaison Committee to the NAIC and Information Security Committee provided technical help in drafting the letter.

In the letter, ALTA told Congress that title companies need (1) a uniform national standard to follow for their security and breach notification obligations; (2) security standards to be flexible and scalable based on the size of business and way it uses data. The letter also urged policymakers to consider the ways laws on data privacy connect with other laws such as record retention requirements.

"Data privacy, protection and collection standards should recognize differences in the sensitivity of the data, the risk of harm to the consumer if it's exposed and the reasonable ability of businesses, based on their size, to implement different safeguards," the letter says.

In the letter, ALTA also explains that information is frequently provided by the consumer to buy and sell real estate and obtain a mortgage loan. It is not feasible to provide consumers more control over the use and retention of their financial data. This makes the "opt-in" or an "opt-out" features of many proposed data privacy laws unworkable. However, ALTA says that legislation could require additional third parties to comply with the Gramm Leach Bliley Act (GLBA), including the Safeguards Rule. This existing regulation requires financial institutions--including title insurance companies and agents--to develop, implement and maintain a comprehensive information security program that consists of the administrative, technical and physical safeguards the financial institution uses to access, collect, distribute, process, protect, store, use, transmit, dispose of or otherwise handle customer information.

ALTA also supports a national standard to ensure consumers are notified of breaches in a timely and consistent manner. A single federal law will provide consumers with clarity regarding the scope of protections of their personal information and will eliminate disparity in consumer rights and protections based solely on the consumer's state or residence or location of the business. Data is now typically shared electronically across jurisdictional boundaries. Physical location of the consumer or the business should not be a factor in consumer protection. It is important for consumers served by the industry to have the same set of safeguards and protections in place, regardless of the state jurisdiction."

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CONTENT DISCLAIMER
The views and opinions expressed in the media, articles, comments, or links in this publication are those of the speakers or authors and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions held by PRIA or its members. PRIA does not warrant the accuracy, timeliness or completeness of the information contained in this publication. If you have a complaint about something you have found in this publication, please contact PRIA by email at info@pria.us .
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This publication may contain copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. PRIA believes this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material in this publication is distributed without profit, to those who have expressed a prior interest in such information, for comment and nonprofit educational purposes.
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