On December 11, the Texas Land Title Association (TLTA) announced that the Guaranty Assessment Recoupment Charge (GARC) collected through 2018 will expire at the end of the year and should not be collected after December 21, 2018.

According to TLTA, there is no Guaranty Fee in place currently, so neither this nor the GARC fee should be charged as of January 1, 2019. Once the Guaranty Fee is approved by the Guaranty Association Board, however, title agents will be required to collect the fee in 2019. 

In regards to this charge, the most frequently asked question is: Do we have to remit the fees collected for a transaction that closed on December 31, 2018, but for which we didn't receive the money until January 2019 or later? The answer is yes. The Texas Title Insurance Guaranty Association (TTIGA) views the date of closing as the operative date—the date transaction documents are signed. 

To read more about this compliance update on the GARC fee, read the full article here.