TitleBytes News & Happenings

Education Committee, Our Work and Our Mission

The Michigan Land Title Association’s education committee has a job to do and we are on a mission to do it. The committee is responsible for organizing and developing the educational offerings of the association, long considered one of the major benefits offered by the MLTA. To accomplish this mission we work tirelessly to ensure that we are recruiting the best speakers, the most relevant topics and presenting those topics in the best locations and formats.

It can be a daunting task to come up with educational programs for the entire land title industry. Doing so requires that members stay abreast of latest news, new technology trends, legislative changes, and emerging market risks. Our most recent educational session in October and November of 2017 was no exception. The sessions we planned for our members in Grand Rapids and Livonia focused on several relevant topics including tax foreclosure properties, remote closings (also known as e-notary or e-closing), and ways to protect your agency from wire fraud.

Planning our educational programs also takes good foresight. In the spring of 2017, shortly after the repeal of dower in Michigan our committee devoted the keynote speaker to this topic to make sure members were most informed and up to date on the change to our industry.

In addition to the bi-annual spring and fall education sessions, the committee also plans other educational offerings during the year. These offerings include the stand alone seminars for newer employees called “Boot Camps” which focus on beginner and/or basic topics for training new and less experienced employees and other stand-alone programs when market forces or legislation requires such. Such an example is the ALTA Best practices programs held by MLTA in 2013 and 2014 to train title agents on the need for best practice programs within your agency.

Our committee has a diverse membership that includes underwriting attorneys, underwriter representatives, title agents from both the closing and title side of the business, and several vendors who provide services like title searches to our members. The committee meets in person or via phone up to 10 times a year and continuously welcomes new members. In fact our committee includes members of the Young Title Professionals, several 30+ veterans of the title industry, national industry speakers, newcomers and local experts from around the State of Michigan.

Heading into 2018, we have a big job to do, because in addition to the customary seminars and boot camp for 2018, the Michigan Land Title Association Board of Directors has asked the committee to enhance the MLTA educational offerings for 2019, by expanding the educational programs offered via a new format in the spring of 2019. This new format would bring challenging new material to the membership by offering multiple speakers from different disciplines around the land title industry. This grand undertaking would focus on our mission of bringing high quality education to our members in a well-planned and easy to access format.

Meanwhile, on the immediate horizon, we have the next Boot Camp: ABCs to XYZs of Title Examining – March 14 in Midland; and the Spring Education Seminars – April 18 in Grand Rapids and May 16 in Livonia. Watch for the notices to register for those in the near future. We are on a mission to make the educational offerings of the Michigan Land Title Association the best they can possibly be. It is our passion and we love the work. But, we also invite new participants, who would like to be a part of this effort and who might contribute their skills and ideas to this noble cause. If that interests you, contact anyone on the MLTA Board or committee chair, Debbie Haught (dhaught@lighthousegroup.net).