Real Estate / Title / Mortgage Compliance

Regulations That Apply

Regulation	What It Covers
GLBA Safeguards Rule	Mortgage and title firms handle NPI — 30-day FTC notification for breaches affecting 500+ consumers
ALTA Best Practices 4.0	American Land Title Association — Pillar 3 covers information security and WISP
NAR Cybersecurity Guidance	Wire fraud and cybersecurity guidance for REALTORS
CFPB Regulations	Consumer Financial Protection — mortgage data
State Licensing	State real estate and title commission rules
RESPA / TILA	Real Estate Settlement Procedures and Truth in Lending

What You Need In Place

• Wire transfer call-back verification policy
• Email security (SPF, DKIM, DMARC)
• Multi-factor authentication on email and document portals
• Encryption of buyer and seller financial data
• Vendor due diligence on title software and escrow
• Phishing-resistant authentication for closings
• Incident response with wire fraud workflow

Common Threats In This Sector

Wire fraud at closing is the single most expensive threat in this industry. The FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center reports real-estate sector losses in the hundreds of millions annually, and small title and mortgage shops are disproportionately targeted because their security posture is thinner than the dollar value of a single transaction.

• Business email compromise diverting buyer wire transfers at closing
• Phishing for closing-software and document-signing credentials
• Ransomware against title-production and closing systems
• Email account takeover used to send fraudulent wire instructions from a real sender address
• Loan officer impersonation for fraudulent applications
• Compromise of consumer reports and credit data subject to FCRA obligations

Documentation You’ll Be Asked For

GLBA Safeguards Rule applies to mortgage originators and title companies as financial institutions. ALTA Best Practices Pillar 3 layers industry-specific data-security expectations on top, and lenders increasingly require attestation before approving title partners.

• GLBA Safeguards Rule program documentation (16 CFR Part 314)
• ALTA Best Practices Pillar 3 self-assessment or third-party certification
• Written wire-fraud prevention procedures requiring multi-channel verification of wire instructions
• Incident response plan with wire-fraud-specific playbook
• State wire-fraud disclosure compliance (multiple states now require written notice to consumers)
• Vendor management documentation covering closing platforms, e-signature providers, and cloud document storage
• Encryption evidence for email, document portals, and stored loan files

Where Most Small Shops Fall Short

The CFPB, state attorneys general, and underwriters keep flagging the same operational gaps. Each is fixable with process changes that cost less than a single fraudulent wire.

• No formal GLBA Safeguards Rule program
• Wire instructions sent and confirmed in a single channel (just email)
• MFA missing on email accounts and closing software
• Wire-fraud staff training is informal or absent
• No documented incident response covering wire-fraud scenarios specifically
• ALTA Best Practices not annually attested or kept current