New 2011 ALTA Standards Require Title Insurer to Provide

That looks like an advertisement disguised as a news story...

Also, if the lender is requiring the title company to provide a zoning endorsement, they would already have this information in their posession.

I've already run into this issue with a title company. They were unaware of the new Minimum Standards and unwilling to provide zoning info. I notified the client, and they dropped Item 6 from their requirements. Fine with me...

I don't see the big deal here. It takes less than 5 minutes to find the current zoning on a parcel of land in my area. The zoning office is very near to the records vault. Copies of the current zoning map and regulations are not all that costly and most surveyors in my area already have copies on hand.
If the client does not want to provide the info, I can look it up for him for an "additional fee". 😉

Yiiiiiiiikes !!!!!

'Nuff said ?

DGG

You must have simple zoning in Clinton. Trying to figure out all of the zoning requirements in a place like Nashville, Tennessee, is a nightmare.

Finding out the Zoning designation should be pretty easy, but the zoning regulations as they apply to an individual parcel is often just about impossible no matter who provides the copies of the reg's. There may be structures that are non-compliant with current setbacks but OK for when they were built, there could be issues as to what is considered side yard, front yard, etc. depending on the proposed future use of a vacant site, parking requirements probably depend on the use of the property, etc., etc.

I think to get the zoning endorsement they need more information than what Item 6 from Table A gives anyway. Seems like most of the title companies with which I've worked will obtain/require some sort of compliance letter from the city/county when zoning is an issue.

Steve

How right you are. I would place a definate note on the ALTA about Item 6 describing different particulars, especially the point that what was once zoning permitted does not reflect what will be permitted and that violations may exist with current and prior zoning regulations that are not addressed on the survey.

BTW...Was it Contextual, Conceptual or Pontextual???

The Tucson zoning requirements are written in Mandarin Chinese. I've always thought they do that so only the COT can interpret them, as they wish.

Per Gary Kent from a Webinar

> New 2011 ALTA Standards Require Title Insurer to Provide Zoning Documents

I believe that per GK and others from a webinar I attended on the new standards, Item 6 is a different beast than simply looking up what your zoning department has and placing it on your survey. In fact it doesn't relate to that at all. (This is how I read it as well.)

As mentioned previously it is now related to a title company providing and or being paid to provide a separate zoning endorsement as part of the policy. If they are not doing this and or the client is not paying them for this additional endorsement then there is no need for certification to Item 6.

Sure one can add all of the zoning info you want to the face of the survey if your client pays you for it, or if that is part of your regular service but you still don't have to certify to Item 6 unless provided the Zoning info the Title co used in an additional endorsement.

My 0.02c

Since the purpose of this information is to secure a 3.1 Zoning Endorsement on the Title Insurance Policy, I can’t imagine any title insurers daft enough to rely solely on the surveyor’s information regarding zoning.

Showing the location of setbacks on the Land Title Survey could be considered a survey function. Gathering the information and showing the rest of it probably isn’t, so much.

With the new Standards, if the insurer doesn’t provide the information, it doesn’t get shown.

Simple…

Paul

Well, since pontextual doesn't seem to exist and we've been informed by a reliable source that it wasn't contextual, I guess that leaves conceptual. I'm not sure this engineer even knows how to run the fancy email machine himself, so I have not heard back anything from him.

Steve

Steve... Can I also get on your private email list? I kinda feel left out...

Pssst, Tommy. We have an office in Nashville too. And Birnmngham,Alabama. And Pompano Beach, Florida. And a branch in Atlanta.
Besides, Item is optional. If not checked, it does not exist. Title guys can make all of this as hard or as easy as they want.