April 15, 2004

Dear TLTA Member:

We're enjoying a beautiful spring in Texas this year, and the wildflowers along the side of the road give me a positive jolt on the commute to work each morning. I'm definitely on the run these days, and I know you are, too. In the midst of all of it, we've had some great developments for TLTA and for the title industry, particularly HUD's recent withdrawal of the RESPA rule.
 
I would like to personally thank all of the TLTA members who worked so hard at the grassroots level over the past year to bring about the withdrawal of the revised RESPA rule. Many of you traveled to Washington D. C., wrote letters, and met with your congressmen and senators to represent our industry on an issue of national scope and importance. Your commitment of time and energy illustrates the impact we can have when we work together to bring about the desired result. Strength in numbers does make a difference!

Within a few days your company will receive its 2004-2005 TLTA dues statement. We are pleased to let you know that for this year only, the TLTA Board of Directors has voted to increase the early bird dues discount to 10% for all title insurance underwriters and agents. This is double the discount offered last year. We have worked to reduce expenses, maximize our productivity, and taken other actions that have enabled us to pass this additional savings on to you.

On another important subject, Rule and Home Equity Updates to the Texas Title Insurance Basic Manual are now available for purchase. Orders that were received prior to the April 1, 2004 effective date have been shipped, but there are still many of you who have not ordered your updates. Just as a reminder, with the new Basic Manual procedure, you must purchase updates as they are approved. They are not shipped to you automatically. Click here if you need to place an order for your Basic Manual update.

We have created a P-53 page on the TLTA Website in order to provide information on the new rule that became effective April 1, 2004. Thanks to Rob Carter at Texas Department of Insurance for participating in the TLTA Rules teleconference on March 23, which gave an overview of the new Rules, including P-53. If you missed the teleconference, you can order an audio tape of the presentation. Click here to order the Rules Teleconference Audio Tape.  We will continue to keep this page current as information becomes available. 

If you haven't been to the TLTA Web site lately, we have made some major changes this month. We are now offering on-line registration for seminars and other events, as well as on-line shopping to purchase the Membership Directory, Basic Manual, Basic Manual Updates, and other publications. This new E-commerce feature is just another member benefit that we hope will save you time as you register for seminars or purchase publications. To go to the E-commerce portion of the Web site, click here.

We are down to the last few educational offerings on the calendar for the year. If you are in need of CEUs, please plan to attend one of the following seminars or the TLTA Annual Conference. The schedule of seminars for 2004-2005 will be developed in the next few months.
 
Upcoming on the Education Schedule
South Texas Regional Seminar – April 24, South Padre Island
Statistical Report Teleconference - April 28
For information on upcoming educational programs, click here.

Register now for the TLTA Annual Conference in Corpus Christi June 4-6. This year we are planning an excellent line-up of educational sessions, as well as some unique social events, including an off-shore fishing excursion.  This is your opportunity to network with business associates as you relax and enjoy the Texas Gulf coast. If you haven't received a conference brochure in the mail, call the TLTA office to have one mailed to you or click here for more conference details and registration form.

The TLTA Individual Membership program has been an incredible success this year. We now have 568 new Individual Members and more are being added every week. Click here to see a complete list of Individual Members who have joined since September 2003. We've received some great comments on how much our new members appreciate the information and updates from TLTA.

As you can tell, it is a very busy time of year for TLTA. Our staff, committees and board have been working to represent your interests on a number of issues of concern to you and your business. As always, if you have comments or suggestions, don't hesitate to contact me or a TLTA staff member. And if you haven't attended a TLTA event this year, make plans to do so soon.

Kindest regards,


Dave Ginger
TLTA President