Special Alerts - Questions and Answers
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Special Alerts - Questions and Answers
[Rev 11-11-24]
Q: What are Special Alerts and why does Stewart Title issue them?
A: A Special Alert is a type of bulletin used to communicate Stewart Title’s requirement that a person, entity, or property requires special attention before deciding to proceed with a title product and/or to add additional requirements and/or exceptions.
Special Alerts are issued for a variety of reasons. They don’t necessarily involve suspected fraud. Nothing negative about a person, entity or property is intended to be inferred by the issuance of a Special Alert.
Q: What does Stewart Title require relating to Special Alerts?
A. Before closing a transaction, all issuing offices must search the names of the parties to the transaction, including the seller, buyer/borrower, payoff lender and new lender, using the Special Alerts Search Application.
Issuing offices are generally instructed not to accept any orders or close any transactions involving the Special Alert without the written approval of a Stewart Legal Services representative.
Q: What is in the Stewart Special Alerts Database?
A: The Special Alerts Database contains names from three sources:
- Special Alerts (“SA”) issued by Stewart Title Guaranty Company in Houston;
- Closing Alerts (“NYSA”) issued by Stewart Title Insurance Company in New York; and
- Patriot Act – the Stewart Special Alerts Database also contains names in lists created and maintained by the United States Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC):
Specially Designated Nationals List (SDN List); and
Foreign Sanctions Evaders List (FSE)
These are generally referred to as a “Patriot Act” search.
Q. How do I search a name?
A. Use the Stewart Special Alerts Search Application, available here:
Stewart Special Alerts Search Application
https://specialalerts.stewart.com/Search
Q: I used a third party search application (e.g., ResWare). It produced a spreadsheet. It doesn’t tell me anything about the potential match. It just states “Not Clear.” What do I do?
A. The results produced by third party search applications (e.g., ResWare) are insufficient to determine how a potential match should be handled. If you used a third party search application for your initial search, and if it produced a “Clear” result for all entries, you don’t need to search further or request clearance.
However, if you used a third party search application, and if it produced a “Not Clear” result (i.e., just a spreadsheet), you must re-run your search for that name using the Stewart Special Alerts Search Application before requesting clearance. This is the only approved search application. This application will help you to refine your results and determine the applicable procedure for clearance. Please read the results produced by the Stewart Special Alerts Search Application. Please also read the Alert. Please provide a copy of the required search results with your request for clearance. The Stewart Special Alerts Search Application is available here:
Stewart Special Alerts Search Application
https://specialalerts.stewart.com/Search
Q. What do I do if there is a potential match with a name?
A. Read the search results. If there is a reference to an Alert, click on the link and read the Alert. The Alert is also available in VU. If there is no linked Alert, you probably have a potential match with a government list.
Q: Why do I need to read the Alert?
A. Reading the Alert will enable you to discern if there is a potential match, or if it is a letter sequence “false positive” which doesn’t require clearance. See the Guidelines (linked below) for more about this. If there is a potential match, the Alert also contains information about who to contact for clearance. If there is no Alert, it will help you to understand that the potential match is with a government list.
Q. My property is in a different jurisdiction than the state shown on the Special Alert. Do I still need to request clearance?
A. In an attempt to avoid “bulletin fatigue”, Special Alerts are usually addressed to a state or states of particular concern, but they are not limited to those states. A potential match with a Special Alert needs to be cleared even if the name of the potential match or the subject property is in a location different than the state named in the Special Alert.
Q. Who clears a potential match?
A. A potential match is cleared differently, depending upon the source and nature of the potential match:
- Special Alerts (beginning with “SA”) are generally cleared by Stewart Title Guaranty Company Legal Services. Please send your request for clearance to SpecialAlerts@stewart.com. Sometimes a potential match is cleared by a specific person or office, for example, Stewart Title of California, if named on the Special Alert;
- Closing Alerts (beginning with “NYSA”) are cleared by Stewart Title Insurance Company Agency Legal Services in New York, as described in the Closing Alert. Please send your request for clearance to NYLegal@stewart.com; and
- Patriot Act (government list) potential matches (SDN List and FSE List) are cleared by the issuing office or whoever is handling the settlement function.
Q. How does Legal Services clear a potential match with a name on a Special Alert (issued by Stewart Title Guaranty Company)?
A. We ask questions and request documents. We start with a Preliminary Questionnaire. Often the initial answers and documentation are sufficient to clear the name. Sometimes we need to ask more questions and request more documents.
Q. There is a potential match with a name on a Special Alert (issued by Stewart Title Guaranty Company). What do I do?
A. If you have a potential match with a name on a Special Alert, please:
- Complete the Request for Clearance - Preliminary Questionnaire.
The Preliminary Questionnaire is revised from time to time. Please the most recent version, available on VU:
https://www.virtualunderwriter.com/en/forms/2022-2/special-alerts-preliminary-questionnaire.html; - Locate the number of the Special Alert. It usually begins with “SA”. If you can’t find a number, you may have a potential match with a government list, not an Alert;
- Attach the required documents, including:
(A) a copy of your search results from the Stewart Special Alerts Search Application,
(B) a copy of the contract, if the transaction is a sale,
(C) the last deed of record (if available), and
(D) your commitment or preliminary report, (if it has been prepared already); and - Email the completed Preliminary Questionnaire and the required documents to: SpecialAlerts@stewart.com or as otherwise directed on the Special Alert.
Q. I have the driver license, passport, date of birth and Social Security number of the potential match. Should I send it?
A. Please don’t send any nonpublic personal information (e.g., driver license, passport, date of birth, Social Security number, etc.) unless you receive a request for specific information.
Q. I have a match with a lender, mortgage broker, realtor or property insurance company. What do I do?
A: There is a list of pre-cleared entities, mostly banks, but others also, that have been previously reviewed and cleared. You don’t need to request or obtain clearance of a match with a name on the pre-cleared list. If you have a potential match with a lender, mortgage broker, realtor, or property insurance company, please check the pre-cleared list before requesting clearance of a potential match.
Special Alerts - Clearing a Potential Match with a Lender, Mortgage Broker, Realtor, Property Insurance Company or Other
Q: I have a potential match with a name on a government list. What do I do?
A. A potential match with a name on a government list is cleared by the issuing office or whoever is handling the settlement function.
You don’t need to request or obtain clearance from Legal Services for a potential match with a government list. You don’t need to submit the Preliminary Questionnaire. You clear the potential match.
This link may help:
Clearing a Potential Match with a Name on a Government List
https://www.virtualunderwriter.com/en/forms/2022-2/government-list.html
Q. What resources are available for me to learn more about Special Alerts?
A. There are Guidelines and a Special Alerts Resource page. They are available at the top of the Special Alerts list in VU and also in the STG Forms list in VU.
Special Alerts - Resource Page
https://www.virtualunderwriter.com/en/forms/2022-6/special-alerts-resource-page.html
Guidelines: Clearing a Potential Match with the Special Alerts Database
Q. I have a question about a Special Alert. Who do I contact?
A. Please send inquiries to SpecialAlerts@stewart.com, unless there is a specific contact named on the Special Alert.
Copyright 1970-2024 Stewart Title Guaranty Company. All rights reserved. The use of this form (or any derivative thereof) is restricted to Stewart Title Guaranty Company, its issuing agents, and affiliates in good standing as of the date of use. All other uses are prohibited.
For issuing guidelines on this form, see Guidelines.