|
Mindy Carr
Director of Government Affairs |
Breaking News . . .
A pre-hearing conference
will be held on October 31, 2003 at 2 p.m. in Room 102 of the William P. Hobby, Jr.
State Office Building, 333 Guadalupe St., Austin, Texas. The purpose of
the conference is to schedule testimony and address procedural matters
pertaining to the December 15, 2003 Rate Hearing.
Special sessions come to
an end . . .
for now
The redistricting battle is
finally over, at least at the legislature. Governor Perry signed the
redistricting bill last week; however several lawsuits have been filed by
Democratic Party supporters on grounds that the new plan is unconstitutional
and violates the Voting Rights Act. Procedurally, the next step in the process
is the pre-clearance of the plan by the U.S. Department
of Justice (DOJ). Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott met with DOJ attorneys to
present the plan for consideration. A decision is expected in 60 days.
More
story
This month's
political kudos go to . . .
Jack Rogers,
President of TICOR Title Agency of San Antonio, who recently attended a fundraiser
for his State Representative, Frank Corte. Jack also attended a local fundraiser
for Lt. Governor David Dewhurst. And thanks to Brad Hatfield with
Central Texas Land Title in Horseshoe Bay who played in Senator Troy Fraser’s
annual fundraising golf tournament on behalf of the TLTA PAC. Foster
Edwards, President of Stewart Title of Corpus Christi, attended a
fundraising event for Representative Gene Seaman and presented him with a TLTA PAC
check. If you or someone you know recently participated in a fundraising
event, please email
mindy@tlta.com.
Texas Voters
approve 22 Constitutional Amendments.
The measure
Proposition 16, one of twenty-two amendments approved by voters on September
13th, authorizes home equity lines of credit. The measure
also modified the rules for closed-end home equity loans, including a
rule for closed and open end loans that requires disclosure of all fees
one day in advance of closing. (Effective: 9/29/03)
More story
Board approves
appointment of a Master Indemnity Form Task Force
The TLTA Board of
Directors recently approved the appointment of a Master Indemnity Form Task
Force to study and possibly make the recommendation for adoption of a master
indemnity form by the TDI Commissioner. Several TLTA members had voiced
interest in a study of this issue.
|
|
TLTA
Web site
adds link to TDI’s
disciplinary actions
In keeping with TLTA Board policy, our Web site will now provide links to
reports on TDI's Web site regarding violations and enforcement actions. Click on
http://www.tdi.state.tx.us/commish/actions.html to view all disciplinary
actions from September 1996 through August 2003 as well as the
Guaranty
Association Quarterly Report regarding audits. For all future searches, the
“new” link will be available on the TLTA website at
www.tlta.com under the Regulatory section.
Texas tries to
fight Spam!
A new law became
effective September 2nd, requiring businesses that send unsolicited
e-mails to add “ADV:” at the beginning of the subject line.
Messages with obscene content will be required to have “ADV: Adult
Advertisement.”
More story
Support for
HUD’s RESPA proposal losing ground . . .
Sources report that
the Mortgage Bankers Association of America (MBA) has withdrawn its support of
HUD’s RESPA reform proposal.
More story
Recent changes
to IRS Form 8288
The IRS has
recently adopted changes to Section 1445 of the Tax Code with respect to
withholding and filing Form 8288.
More story
Consumers get
weapons to fight
identity theft . . .
The U.S. House of Representatives recently passed HR 2622, the Fair and
Accurate Credit Transactions Act, to protect consumers from identity theft.
The Federal Trade Commission estimates identity theft cost consumers and
businesses $53 billion last year.
More story
Treasury
announces results of
PATRIOT ACT 326 Notice of Inquiry.
The July Notice of
Inquiry sought comments on customer identification requirements for financial
institutions.
More story
|
