American Land Title Association (ALTA), founded in 1907 and headquartered in Washington, D.C., is the national trade association and voice of title insurance and settlement agents, real estate attorneys, abstracters, and underwriters. Our members range from small, one-county operations to large national title insurers that conduct title searches, examinations, closings, and issue title insurance that protects real property owners and mortgage lenders against losses from defects in titles.