Yes, I know it is only May.  There is still a lot of time for our legislature to really do something stupid (and I'm sure they will), but I'm pretty confident that H.B. 201 will take the award for Worst Bill of the Year for 2014.  It seeks to greatly expand and codify equitable subrogation, which I have blogged about before. In 2010, I opined that Equitable Subrogation was an Over-used Remedy for Negligence and I applauded an Ohio Supreme Court decision that limited its applicability.  I was particularly pleased with the Court because more than a year earlier I questioned the lower court decision that applied equitable subrogation to bail out the negligent lender. 

I had the opportunity to attend the Ohio Association of Independent Title Agents (OAITA) Conference in Columbus, Ohio on Monday.  It was a great event with nearly 60 in attendance at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in the Arena District. If the independent agents have a future in the title industry, it lies with the OAITA and similar organizations.

For more than two years, I have been blogging about private transfer fee covenants and the group that is promoting them, Freehold Licensing.  Freehold has actually attempted to patent their business strategy of creating private transfer fee covenants (a separate act that I find offensive).  The group now has a new name and a new strategy, all evolving while several states and trade organizations are trying to put a stop to private transfer fee covenants.

Ohio independent title agents and abstractors should give serious consideration to attending the Ohio Association of Independent Title Agents' (OAITA) convention on April 19, 2010.  There is finally an association dedicated to addressing the unique concerns of the independent agents and it is worthy of your support.  I'll be there this year and I hope to see a strong turn out from Ohioans!

I dropped my membership in ALTA several years ago, but I hadn't completely given up hope on the organization.  I have been watching them to see if they could make me change my mind.  Unfortunately, they have not.  In fact, just the opposite... I am much less likely to re-join now than ever before. 

It appears that ALTA gave up on trying to reinvent itself and show us all that it could represent the small, independent agents along side the underwriters and large agencies.  Rather, they have decided to license the ALTA forms that we all need to conduct our business.  Surely, this is a blatant attempt to get money from agents after they have completely failed to give them any real reason to join. 

For those of you who may be unaware, the Ohio Association of Independent Title Agents (OAITA) really got something started with their recent petition for mandamus filed against the Ohio Department of Insurance.  Although the petition was dismissed by the Ohio Supreme Court, it really got people thinking about the state of the industry and the future of independent title agents.  People outside of Ohio even took notice and began to contact the OAITA.  Thus, the National Association of Independent Land Title Agents (NAILTA) was formed. 

As the OAITA prepares for the next step toward addressing the issues presented in the mandamus action, the NAILTA is preparing for its Spring Conference in Atlantic City.  Thus, I wanted to take a moment to let everyone know a little more about the NAILTA and encourage independent agents to attend the conference.