EXCITING NEWS - The CATIC/VATC Office is Moving!

A new year and new digs! As of March 1st, our new office will be located at Post Office Square, 76 Pearl Street, Suite 203, Essex Junction, VT. We look forward to serving you from our new space and hope you will stop in to say hello. 

DFR License Renewal - Action Required!

Attention Title Producers (Licensed Agents): You should have received an email from the NAIC on behalf of the Vermont Department of Financial Regulation about renewing your Title Producer License (which is required if you sign title insurance policies). If you have not already renewed your license, NOW is the time to do so. Existing licenses expire on 3/31/23. The renewal period runs from 4/1/23 to 3/31/25.

You can renew your license now by going to Sircon or NIPR. Note: These are 3rd party sites over which we have no control. If you have problems renewing online, please reach out directly to DFR via email or by calling, (802) 828-3303.

For additional information please click here to visit DFR's website.

American Land Title Association - Policy Forms License

As of 2009, title insurance agents issuing more than 50 title insurance policies a year are required to hold a Policy Forms license ("License") granted by the American Land Title Association (ALTA). The License authorizes issuance of ALTA's copyrighted policy forms. Renewal is required every January and is based on the number of policies signed the prior year. Keep in mind that an MP and OP issued in the same transaction count as 1 policy only.

If you signed more than 50 title insurance policies in 2022, you are required to purchase a License ($195). Apply for a license online at the ALTA Store (login and password required; pay through the online portal). If you currently hold a license, you should have received an invoice in December prompting you to renew. You can also elect to become an ALTA member in which case the License is included.

If you issued 50 or fewer title insurance policies in 2022, ALTA still requires an Occasional Use Waiver. Once approved you will be granted a License at no cost. Please visit the ALTA site for more information. If you have questions or concerns, please contact ALTA Staff at 800-787-2582 x 333 or licensing@alta.org.

Convenient and Open Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) Methods!

While MFA’s abilities to prevent possible attacks may seem costly, it is quite the opposite. Fortunately, there are many free and reputable applications to download for MFA. In addition to applications, there are many inexpensive tools that can promote MFA as well. Even better, should one not want to download an application or purchase a device for MFA, most providers offer a text and/or call within their platform to authenticate one’s identity. Click here to continue reading this article and to review a list of reliable MFA providers, as well as quick guides on setting up MFA via Gmail, Yahoo, etc.

Upcoming Seminars & Events

We have resumed our in-person County Seminars! The topic of discussion will be Current Developments in VT Real Estate (2 hours of CLE including .5 hours of ethics for Attorneys licensed in VT). Please be sure to register several days prior to the event.

Please note that we are going green! Instead of providing printed materials at the seminar, we will email them the day before the event.

The following seminars have been scheduled:

Have a Topic of Interest?

We gain a lot of knowledge from your offices about what you are seeing out in the land records and experiences you are encountering with your transactions. Thank you for the valuable information! Please continue to email/call our office with anything you are hearing or experiencing. We love hearing from you!

1099 Season Is Here, Are You Ready?

The filing season for 1099-S forms is here. The Form 1099-S, along with the appropriate Form 1096 transmittal, must be submitted to the Internal Revenue Service no later than February 28, 2023, if filing on paper, or by March 31, 2023, if filing electronically. 

Click here to view our quick reference guide to the filing process.

**Important Reminder** When filing IRS forms, be sure to use "official forms or forms that meet the specifications for substitute forms." While CATIC's PrepExpress® software contains a Solicitation/Substitute Form 1099-S that form has NOT been approved by the IRS and therefore should NOT be used for official filing purposes.

Lau's Corner & Title Tips

HUD Payoffs & Discharges

To our knowledge, HUD is accepting payoff and discharge requests only via email, pcpayoffs@hud.gov.

Underwriting Question? 

Please email all questions to UnderwritingVT@catic.com. Thank you!

Career Network

We often hear of firms who are hiring. While we welcome phone calls or emails, we have added a career network post under News and Announcements (bottom right-hand corner) on the VATC website.