The National Association of Independent Land Title Agents (NAILTA – www.nailta.org), a non-profit national trade organization representing independent real estate settlement service professionals across the United States, announced today that it has formally adopted enforceable ethical standards of conduct for its members. NAILTA is now the only national land title insurance trade organization in the country to utilize a functioning and enforceable set of uniform professional ethics standards for its members.

“This is a significant accomplishment for our national land title association and the title insurance industry as a whole,” said Rob Holman, president of NAILTA. “Professional ethics is an aspirational pursuit that raises the bar for the entire title insurance industry. It is good for business and especially good for our reputation with the public.”

NAILTA’s “Professional Ethical Standards of Conduct” currently contain ten (10) separate articles of conduct that all NAILTA members must adhere to as part of their membership in the organization. Among the standards, the ethics rules include a duty to avoid conflicts of interest among parties in real estate transactions, a duty to cooperate in resolving clouds on title with other title professionals and an assurance that NAILTA members will promote the interests of their customer while treating all parties to the transaction honestly.

“It is amazing to think that this code is currently the only one of its kind at the national level, but we look at this project as an incredible opportunity to give land title agents a professional guide and a marketing tool they can point to in order to separate their good work from their peers who, for whatever reason, cannot,” said Holman. “It is critically important to make these provisions enforceable and to build trust with the public by showing them that we, as an industry, believe doing things the ‘right way’ is also synonymous with doing things the ‘ethical way’. This endeavor is more than basic industry best practices. It is the professional pledge our members make to their customers and to the public. It is long overdue.”

About NAILTA

The National Association of Independent Land Title Agents (NAILTA) is a non-profit trade association that represents the interests of independent title insurance agents and independent real estate settlement professionals from across the United States. It was created by independent real estate settlement professionals to further the agenda of small business owners from within the title insurance, abstracting, surveying, and real estate community who lack representation at local, state and national levels.

To contact NAILTA, please visit our website at www.nailta.org or email us at board@nailta.org.