Bulletin: MD000017

Dear Associates:

1.This District Bulletin is a local supplement to the National Legal Department Bulletin number MU000019 dated July 17, 1996.

2.Effective immediately, no ALTA 10 or ALTA 10.1 endorsement will be issued to lender title policies covering land located in Maryland or the District of Columbia unless you do the following:

a.run the current and each prior assignor of record on the local Land Record grantor index and determine that none of them has previously assigned the insured Mortgage or Deed of Trust to a party other than the noted or current assignee(s); and

b.remit a fee of $50.00 per endorsement (net to Stewart) to this office along with a copy of the endorsement.

3.If the current assignor is a lender well known to you, you may, in lieu of a title search, accept an affidavit of non-assignment coupled with an indemnity from such lender to both Stewart Title Guaranty Company and your agency against all loss or damage we may sustain in the event the assignor has previously assigned to a party other than the insured.

4.Because of the labor intensive searches and high liability associated with the issuance of ALTA 10 or 10.1 endorsements every effort will be made to convince those lender customers who request them to accept a simple locally generated "succession" endorsement changing the name of the insured and supplementing Schedule A, Item 3 by referring to the recorded assignment but not advancing the policy date.

All questions will be referred to the District Counsel.