TitleBytes News & Happenings

MLTA 2016 Year in Review

By: Debbie Wiley, NTP, CLTP, MLTA President

2016 has certainly proven to be an exciting and busy year for the Michigan Land Title Association!

On March 18th the newly developed “Legal Description Basics Bootcamp” was presented to a packed house at the Kellogg Center in Lansing and proved to be a huge success.

We held our 2016 Legislative Lobby Day on April 12, 2016 in Lansing where MLTA members met with various Michigan House and Senate members to help them understand two very important bills that we wanted to see passed. Our efforts were rewarded with both bills being passed into law this year!!

1. SB 610 which amended the Michigan Condominium Act. This bill is now Public Act 233 of 2016 and became effective September 21, 2016.

2. Flat Rate Recording fee package legislation consisted of 9 bills with the heart of the package being Bill 599. These Bills are now Public Acts 224-232 of 2016 and went into effect October 1, 2016.

We are still tracking Senate Bills 558-560, which would change or eliminate Dower Rights in Michigan, and are hopeful to see some positive movement with them in early 2017.
The MLTA also held our two traditional Spring Seminars on April 13th at the H Hotel in Midland and on May 11th at the Marriott in Livonia.

The 2016 MLTA Summer Convention was held at the Boyne Mountain Resort on July 17th thru 19th and what an educational and fun Convention it was! John Hollenbeck, the 2016 ALTA President, brought us up to date on TRID and all of the happenings within the ALTA. He also was present to swear in the 2016/2017 MLTA Board of Directors during the banquet dinner on Monday night. We all had some fun while raising money for the MLTA PAC during a “Lip Syncing Competition”. Although each and every act did a phenomenal job of entertaining us the final winning vote went to the ladies at Fidelity for their rendition of the Bangle’s “Manic Monday.” Thank you to all of the acts and for all of those that contributed to the PAC for a banner year of contributions! On Monday we wrapped up the day of education with some fun and team building during a “Margaritaville MLTA Style” event.

This year the MLTA Board of Directors decided to replace our long time paper version of our Newsletter, The Title Examiner, with a new electronic version called TitleBytes. Thanks to the hard work of our Communication and Technology committees, the first edition of TitleBytes was sent out to our membership in August 2016. This is now our third edition of that new electronic Newsletter! If you have not had an opportunity to see any other editions of the TitleBytes, please check them out on our MLTA Website under the Members tab.

The Young Title Professionals held a “Night Out – Fall Mixer” on September 15th at the J Gardellas Tavern in Grand Rapids. The YTP committee is always looking for more members with innovative ideas for our organization. If you have been in the title business for less than 7 years or if you are 40 years or younger, you might want to reach out to this committee and see what they are all about.
Wrapping up our events for the year, our two Fall Seminars were held at the Crown Plaza in Grand Rapids on October 19th and at the Marriott in Livonia on November 9th.

As 2016 comes to a close we like to take the time to ponder as to all of the possibilities, successes and even a few challenges that 2017 might bring to our organization. On behalf of your 2016/2017 MLTA Board of Directors, I would like to take this opportunity to Thank You for being a member of our Michigan Land Title Association. Any organization is only as strong as its members, and we certainly have many strong and caring members who give of their time and their company’s support to help the MLTA grow and succeed. Thank you for that time and commitment you give to our organization. We truly appreciate each and every one of you!!

We wish you all a Very Happy and Safe Holiday Season to be enjoyed with your family, friends and maybe even an MLTA member or two!! We look forward to working with all of you in 2017!