The American Land Title Association (ALTA), a national trade association for the land title insurance industry, released a set of “Title Insurance and Settlement Company Best Practices” created to help members highlight policies and procedures used to ensure a “positive and compliant real estate settlement experience.”

“ALTA is publishing these best practices as a benchmark for the mortgage lending and real estate settlement industry,” said ALTA CEO Michelle Korsmo. “The best practices are voluntary standards professionals can adopt to protect consumers, promote quality service, provide for ongoing employee training, and meet legal and market requirements.”

The list includes seven “main” best practices for title and settlement professionals, including: establishing and maintaining current licenses as required to conduct title insurance and settlement services business; adopting and maintaining a written privacy and information security program to protect non-public personal information; maintaining appropriate professional liability insurance and fidelity coverage; and maintaining procedures for resolving consumer complaints.

A full copy of the document can be found at ALTA’s website.

“Providing professional service to customers and safeguarding the real estate transaction is paramount to the land title insurance industry,” Korsmo said. “ALTA is delighted to release our full ‘Title Insurance and Settlement Company Best Practices’ at a time of tremendous growth and change in the industry.”