A monthly briefing for the title industry — Michigan agents, out-of-state agents, and underwriting counsel.
Title Industry Pulse
Executive Order Pushes the FHFA Title Acceptance Pilot Toward a Permanent Program
An Oct. 22 executive order directs the FHFA director to convert the title acceptance pilot into an ongoing program, and calls for broader refinance eligibility, removal of the geographic limits, and the addition of title-assessment providers. ALTA's response: cost reduction cannot come by moving risk onto homeowners and taxpayers.
Source: ALTA.org, Oct. 22, 2026
Nakasone at ALTA ONE: Nobody Is Too Small to Be a Target
Retired Gen. Paul Nakasone told ALTA ONE attendees in Scottsdale, in a fireside chat with CEO Chris Morton, that a business of any size can be a target and that preparing has to happen before anything goes wrong. ALTA's follow-up is its AI and Fraud Defense Bootcamp, a one-day live and virtual program in November with federal law enforcement on emerging fraud schemes.
Source: ALTA.org, Oct. 20, 2026
GSEs Tighten Who May Handle Funding on Multifamily Loans
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have raised their requirements for which parties may perform funding functions on multifamily loans, with a $14 million Maryland mortgage-fraud suit cited as the driver. If you close multifamily, confirm you still qualify before you quote the next one.
Source: ALTA.org, Sep. 29, 2026
Transaction Spotlight
Details anonymized to protect client confidentiality.
Two cannabis farms in northeast Michigan, separately owned, closed together. Three things kept this off a generalist's desk: the cannabis use itself, access that was indirect and had to be insured through an access easement rather than excepted, and a mineral surface rights endorsement. Any one of those is enough to send a file out to a co-agent. All three on one closing is the work.
Commercial Title Insight
Insuring Over Recorded Restrictions and PUD Declarations on Michigan Commercial Parcels
Recorded building and use restrictions show up on almost every Michigan commercial commitment, and the reflex is to except to them and move on. That is defensible, but it is often not what the deal needs. A buyer taking down a pad in a recorded PUD or a parcel inside a 1970s-era subdivision declaration usually wants two things: comfort that the use it intends is not prohibited, and comfort that a past violation cannot unwind the title. Those are different asks with different answers. The ALTA 9 series is built for the second one - violation and enforcement coverage, with the 9.1 and 9.2 forms splitting unimproved and improved owner's land - and underwriting will generally look at it on a commercial parcel where you can show the declaration, the current condition of the improvements, and whether anybody with standing has ever tried to enforce. The first ask, whether a specific intended use is permitted, is a legal opinion about the declaration and the municipality, and it belongs with the buyer's counsel rather than on Schedule B.
What gets a request approved is the package, not the argument. Pull the full chain of the declaration and every amendment, not just the original instrument - amended PUD declarations and supplemental plats are where the surprises live, and a declaration that has been amended four times frequently has a reverter, an architectural-control committee, or an assessment lien provision that nobody flagged. Confirm whether the declarant's rights were ever assigned, whether the association still exists and is in good standing, and whether assessments are current, because an unpaid assessment with lien priority is a Schedule B item regardless of what the restriction itself says. Then send it up with a recommendation rather than a question. Underwriters make this call every week, and the agent who hands them the declaration, the amendments, the survey showing the improvements against the setbacks, and a short note on enforcement history gets a faster yes than the agent who forwards the commitment and asks what they think. On a multi-state portfolio with a Michigan leg, that difference is usually the whole critical path.
From Dave's Desk
ALTA ONE in Scottsdale was the best four days I spent this year. I sat down with First American's agency team, with Stewart's leadership at the CEO luncheon, and with Westcor at agent appreciation, and the conversation in every one of those rooms landed on the same two subjects in the same order: fraud controls, then AI.
So, I'm combining them. I'm running a round table at the MLTA Fall Education Event at Soaring Eagle on Nov. 4 and 5 - using AI to monitor and surface potential fraud issues. If you're there, come argue with me about it. Westcor also has a fall fraud CE webinar on the 10th.
-- Dave
Co-Agent and Referral Arrangements
We welcome co-agent referral arrangements on Michigan commercial transactions. If you are a Michigan agent without a commercial bench, an out-of-state agent with a Michigan leg, or an underwriter looking for a qualified Michigan specialist for a complex file, please reach out directly. We split fees on co-agent arrangements per underwriter rules and are happy to handle the Michigan portion of multi-state portfolio closings.
Stay Connected
Follow us on LinkedIn: Midwest Title Commercial | Dave Nykanen
About Midwest Title and Dave Nykanen
Midwest Title's Commercial Division is a Michigan title agency specializing in complex commercial closings - multi-parcel assemblages, entity-level acquisitions, co-insurance placements, multi-state portfolio legs, and the underwriting issues that benefit from a dedicated commercial bench. Founded and led by Dave Nykanen, a licensed Michigan real estate attorney with three decades of commercial real estate experience as both a practicing attorney and a title agent, the division regularly serves as Michigan co-agent for out-of-state agents and as a referral destination for residential-focused Michigan agents who don't carry a commercial desk.
Contact: commercial@mwtmi.com | Midwest Title | Commercial Division | Michigan-Licensed Title Insurance Agent
This newsletter is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.
