We know our members are monitoring the COVID-19 situation and taking the proper steps to ensure the health and safety of customers and employees. Earlier this week, ALTA launched a dedicated webpage (www.alta.org/coronavirus) with several resources to help title companies during this time. While the full impact on business is still unknown, our leadership wants to make sure SLTA’s members have what they need to stay informed as things change. The National Association of Realtors is maintaining a similar page if you’d like to pass it along to your real estate agents.
Here is an ALTA blog post about some of the measures Knight Barry Title, which is based in Wisconsin, has implemented. The piece included a list of precautions all title companies can implement as well. Some of those included:
- Encouraging all customers and visitors to use hand sanitizer and/or wash hands upon arrival and providing hand sanitizer in closing spaces and other common areas.
- Telling employees who feel sick to stay home and informing customers who are ill to either reschedule a closing or ask for a private closing room ahead of time.
- Disinfecting all items in closing rooms, such as chairs, tables, and door handles, in between closings.
- Using new pens for each transaction and making sure to remove any pens, papers or other items from the table after a closing is completed.
- Removing all reading materials, ceramic mugs and other re-usable items from your lobby or waiting area.
- Practicing social distancing whenever possible by staying at least six feet away from others. Some companies are offering separate closing rooms for buyers/sellers and trying to minimize the number of people physically at a closing.
- Enhancing general environmental sanitizing practices and making sure after-hours cleanings are utilizing the appropriate germ-killing solution.
- Allowing employees who can work from home without disrupting production and service continuity to do so.
ALTA also has a running list of counties that have stopped recording due to COVID-19 and screening questionnaires developed by the National Notary Association on its page. And as always, please reach out to the Southeast Land Title Association if we can be of assistance to you during this time.