I am very honored and proud to accept the appointment of President of the CLTA. I wish to thank Steve Tjaden for his outstanding leadership of our organization this past year. ...

On July 6, Senate Bill 2 (Atkins), which would fund affordable housing through a substantial increase in recording fees, passed out of the State Senate on a party-line vote and moved to the State Assembly...

Governor Brown signed Assembly Bill 102 in June to drastically scale down the California State Board of Equalization and create a singular new state department and state office to handle taxpayer appeals and settlements. The Board of Equalization currently collects billions of dollars in state revenue each year...

The CLTA has joined a business coalition opposed to Assembly Bill 814 (Bloom), granting pre-litigation administrative subpoena powers to city attorneys.  The city attorney’s role is to provide legal advice to city government, prosecute criminal misdemeanors, defend the city on civil matters, and...

On June 29th, the California Supreme Court decided 6-1 that a change of ownership under Proposition 13 justifies charging a documentary transfer tax, even when there is no direct transfer of a real property interest. Even before the Supreme Court decision, some title companies were...

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau recently published two important notices regarding wire fraud.

Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval signed a state measure (AB 413) in June enacting new statutes regarding remote electronic notarization, including provisions allowing for the electronic notarization of wills and other estate-related documents. The bill is scheduled to go into effect on July 1, 2018...

The CoreLogic Housing Credit Index (HCI), covering mortgage credit risk, increased slightly in the first quarter of 2017 compared to the same time last year.  The increase brings the index in line with the average for the 2001-03 period, considered to be a normal baseline for credit risk...

Bankrate Inc. announced that it has agreed to be acquired by Red Ventures, a U.S. based data company, in a $1.2 billion deal.  Bankrate Inc. owns and operates Bankrate.com, best known in the title industry for posting state closing cost comparisons...

Real estate company Redfin, which started in 2004, has filed for an initial public offering in a bid to raise capital. The company has reportedly raised over $160 million in venture funding thus far; venture capital companies currently own over 40% of the company...

Last Thursday Freddie Mac released the results of its primary mortgage market survey, showing average mortgage rates rising across the board for the second consecutive week. Rates for a 30 year fixed-rate mortgage...

The court affirmed the appellate court, holding that documentary transfer tax is owed when there is a change in ownership or control of an entity that owns real property...

The court held that a trustee's acts in recording a notice of default, a notice of sale, and a trustee's deed upon sale in the course of a nonjudicial foreclosure are...