Trump’s Title Insurance Waiver Order: What Title Agencies Need to Know

President Trump’s October 22, 2026 executive order conditionally directs FHFA to expand the title acceptance pilot for eligible refinances into an ongoing nationwide program. The provision concerns approved title risk assessments in place of a lender’s title insurance policy. Agency implementation will determine how the expansion operates.

For title agencies, the immediate job is to understand the scope, follow implementation, and be precise with clients. The longer term opportunity is operational: make it easier to see what work a search requires, what the findings support, and where production time goes.

What the existing pilot does

Fannie Mae’s published pilot inventory describes Title Acceptance as an active pilot for certain refinance transactions determined to have low title risk. Those loans may be sold to Fannie Mae without a lender’s title insurance policy or an attorney opinion letter.

That description establishes an important starting point. The policy discussion concerns a defined transaction pathway, with conditions attached. Agencies should distinguish the pilot’s published terms from the broader direction announced in the executive order.

When a lender asks about changes, start with the transaction, the applicable program, and the current requirements. A general news headline cannot establish eligibility for a particular file.

Keep insurance and title work distinct

A title search, title examination, and title insurance policy serve different functions.

A search gathers relevant records. Examination evaluates the findings in the context of the transaction and applicable requirements. Insurance provides contractual protection subject to the policy’s terms. California’s Department of Insurance explains that title companies search and examine records before issuing coverage, and that policies define covered and excluded risks.

The distinction matters when explaining an alternative transaction pathway. A change to an insurance requirement does not, by itself, describe every record, review step, or escalation that a particular transaction requires.

Ask what evidence supports the assessment and how unresolved findings are handled. The answers should come from the applicable program and transaction requirements.

Lender protection and owner protection serve different interests

The CFPB explains that lender’s title insurance protects the lender’s interest. It does not protect the homeowner’s equity. An owner’s policy addresses the homeowner’s interest, with protection subject to its terms.

Client communications should identify which policy or requirement is being discussed. Avoid collapsing both into a single reference to “title insurance.”

This is especially useful when a borrower forwards an article and asks whether title insurance is still needed. Establish the loan type and program first. Then explain the relevant lender requirement and any separate owner coverage question in the context of that transaction.

Four practical steps for title agency leaders

1. Give clients one consistent explanation

Prepare a short internal reference for sales, operations, and account management. Include the dated source, the distinction between the pilot and the announced expansion, and the person responsible for keeping the reference current.

Use the same explanation in client calls and written responses. If a question depends on implementation details, record it and route it to the appropriate lender or underwriter contact. Avoid letting an improvised answer become the team’s standing position.

2. Ask lenders about their actual plans

Build conversations around concrete workflow questions. Which transactions do they expect to route differently? What instructions will agencies receive? Who decides eligibility? What happens when the assessment identifies an issue?

Ask for written guidance before changing production procedures. Record effective dates and distinguish requirements already in use from changes still being considered.

This gives operations teams something actionable to work from and helps account managers avoid promising a process that has not been established.

3. Measure the work behind your search cost

Review a small sample of completed files. Track active work, waiting time, repeat entry, and reopened tasks. Record what caused each repeat touch.

Keep required review separate from avoidable repetition. An examiner revisiting an unresolved issue is different from someone entering the same property information twice because two systems do not exchange it.

Use the findings to choose one improvement. Give it an owner, measure the result, and check whether the change affected quality or downstream work. A lower task count is useful only when the file still gets what it needs.

4. Evaluate automation through a real file

Ask a prospective provider to walk through a representative search. Follow the source records, the extracted information, the findings, and the handoff.

Can your team understand why a record was included? Where do ambiguous matches go? How is missing information flagged? Who reviews the output before delivery? What happens when a file needs more work?

These are practical buying questions. They also help define the responsibilities your own team will retain. Write the answers into the evaluation rather than relying on a general promise of speed.

Where Dono fits

Dono brings AI powered record collection, extraction, and indexing into title production, with verification by title professionals. Its platform presents search sources and findings so teams can review the work.

For an agency reviewing its production process, that creates a concrete starting point: examine the preparation and handoffs around a search, then assess where automation can help.

The right conversation starts with your counties, order types, deliverables, and review requirements. Those details determine whether a workflow fits your operation.

Book a Dono demo to walk through your title workflow.