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The Legal Description Edition
April 28, 2014
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CFPB unveils e-closing initiative, addresses consumer pain points
Posted Date: Monday, April 28, 2014
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) met with the public on April 23 to discuss the mortgage closing process. The agency announced that it will launch a new electronic closing (eClosing) pilot program in order to explore new avenues to make closings less complex for consumers.
Developing a more streamlined and efficient closing process is the next phase in the CFPB’s Know Before You Owe initiative that began in May 2011, when the bureau released its initial RESPA/Truth in Lending Act integrated mortgage disclosure prototypes.
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Homeowners accuse title insurer of violating RESPA with delivery companies
Posted Date: Tuesday, April 15, 2014
California homeowners sued their title insurer for violating RESPA when it received marketing fees from several delivery companies in exchange for referring overnight delivery business to the carriers via the insurer’s subsidiaries. The case went before the U.S. District Court on the title insurer’s motion to dismiss.
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Convicted fraudster sues title entities for $12M
Posted Date: Monday, March 17, 2014
A convicted fraudster sued a title agency, agency employees and a title insurer, arguing that it was the agency employees’ errors on closing documents that led to his conviction. He asked the court for $12 million in compensatory and punitive damages. After a trial court granted summary judgment in favor of the title entities, the fraudster appealed. Read on to find out what the Ohio Court of Appeals, 10th District had to say in the case.
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Pennsylvania federal court decertifies overcharge class action
Posted Date: Wednesday, March 19, 2014
Homeowners in Pennsylvania filed suit against their title insurer, claiming unjust enrichment, fraud and breach of contract, as well as violations of the state’s unfair trade practices act. They contend that when they went to refinance the mortgage on their property, they were charged the basic rate rather than the refinance rate. In the latest round of motions, the title insurer filed motions for summary judgment and to decertify the class. Read on to find out why the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania granted their motions.
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Missing judgments lead to title insurance suit
Posted Date: Monday, March 24, 2014
After judgments were entered against him for failure to pay two loans, a man purchased property in Mesa, Ariz. When acquiring a loan to build a home on the property, his title insurer issued a title commitment but failed to list the judgments as exceptions to title. He sued the title insurer for, among other things, breach of contract and breach of fiduciary duty. Read on for more details.
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Bipartisan legislation seeks voice for small business at CFPB
Posted Date: Wednesday, April 9, 2014
U.S. Representatives Robert Pittenger, R-N.C., and Denny Heck, D-Wash., have introduced a bill that would give small businesses a voice at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). The bill, HR 4383, creates a small business advisory board at the CFPB.
The advisory board would be similar to those established by the CFPB for outreach to community banks and credit unions. Advisory boards provide clear, formal and open channels of communication between bureau staff and industry.
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Maryland legislature votes to alter unearned premium reserves formula
Posted Date: Tuesday, April 8, 2014
The Maryland General Assembly has passed a bill that alters the formula in accordance with which a title insurer domiciled in the state shall reduce the reserves applicable to title insurance contracts for purposes of the unearned premium reserves. The bill now goes to the governor for his signature.
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Illinois General Assembly seeks to amend mechanic’s lien law
Posted Date: Thursday, April 17, 2014
The Illinois General Assembly is considering a bill that would amend the mechanic’s lien law by clarifying that an agreement to subordinate a lien under the Mechanic’s Lien Act is against public policy and unenforceable.
Under current law, any contractor or subcontractor who does work on a tract of land has a right to place a lien on the property for the amount due to him or her for the work performed on the property. The parties may not enter into an agreement whereby the contractor or subcontractor waives their right to enforce or claim the lien. The bill would now address the subordination of mechanic’s liens.
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Virginia adopts corrective affidavit for deed errors
Posted Date: Thursday, April 17, 2014
Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe has signed a bill that creates an affidavit to correct errors in deeds, deeds of trust and mortgages. The bill, SB 116, was introduced by Sen. John Watkins, R-Modlothian.
The new law states that obvious description errors in a recorded deed, deed of trust or mortgage purporting to convey or transfer an interest in real property may be corrected by recording an affidavit in the land records of the circuit court for the jurisdiction where the property is located or where the deed, deed of trust or mortgage needing correction was recoded.
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Interthinx report shows increase in Mortgage Fraud Risk Index value
Posted Date: Tuesday, April 8, 2014
Interthinx, a subsidiary of First American Financial Corp. and a provider of comprehensive risk mitigation solutions for the financial services industry, has released its annual Mortgage Fraud Risk Report, which includes data collected in 2013 from loan applications processed by the Interthinx FraudGUARD system.
According to the report, the 2013 Annual Mortgage Fraud Risk Index value was 104, a 4 percent increase from 2012. This continues the gradually rising trend in fraud risk observed over the past three years as inventories shrink, prices rise and markets stabilize.
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Latest mortgage fraudster pleads guilty for role in KREW Settlement Services scheme
Posted Date: Wednesday, April 9, 2014
The latest mortgage fraudster pled guilty for his role in KREW Settlement Services scheme. Between May 2004 and February 2009, the fraudster and his co-conspirators inflated purchase prices on loan documents for more than 100 Philadelphia properties, resulting in more than $20 million in fraudulent loan proceeds.
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Clear To Close to implement CertainSafe secure file sharing platform
Posted Date: Thursday, April 17, 2014
CertainSafe, a secure file sharing platform, announced expansion into the title insurance industry through the signing of Clear To Close Services, a Virginia-based title and settlement sourcing provider.
This unique partnership will take security to the next level for an industry that has placed great focus on compliance and privacy within the last 3 years. CertainSafe’s proprietary MicroTokenization technology encrypts files so securely as to be virtually unhackable, a perfect addition in an industry where consumer and lender information is frequently shared and at potential risk.
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State agency says 500 Hawaii residents may be victims of mortgage fraud
Posted Date: Thursday, April 17, 2014
Hundreds of distressed homeowners facing foreclosure in Hawaii were likely misled by a loan modification program operated by the Homeowner Legal Assistance Association (HLAA), a Florida corporation, for approximately 17 months in 2009 and 2010, according to an investigation conducted by the Hawaii Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs’ (DCCA) Office of Consumer Protection (OCP).
The OCP believes more than 500 Hawaii homeowners may have claims against their New York-based attorneys and urges victims to file claims for reimbursement.
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Iowa modifies personal information security breach notification requirements
Posted Date: Monday, April 28, 2014
With all of the focus on non-public personal information (NPPI) and data security, this effort out of Iowa caught my attention.
Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad signed a bill that modifies the required notification requirements that holders of personal information must provide when there is a personal information security breach. The holder of personal information must now notify the state’s attorney general about the breach.
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NBA record-holder to share journey from auto mechanic to All-Star
Posted Date: Wednesday, April 23, 2014
At an age when most NBA All-Stars’ time in a garage is spent weighing what Lamborghini or Ferrari to add to their fleet, Mark Eaton was an auto mechanic talking to customers about whether they wanted regular or high-performance motor oil in their Fords and Chevys. However, the 7-foot-4-inch Eaton would go from a mechanic to a 12-year career with the Utah Jazz where he was named the NBA’s Two-Time Defensive Player of the Year and selected to play in the 1989 All-Star Game. Continue reading to see how Mark is bringing his lessons for personal and professional success to the 2014 National Settlement Services Summit (NS3) in June.
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Two Long Island attorneys indicted for short sale fraud
Posted Date: Tuesday, April 15, 2014
Queens District Attorney Richard Brown, joined by Superintendent of the New York State Department of Financial Services Benjamin Lawsky, announced that a Queens County grand jury has charged two Long Island attorneys with defrauding Queens homeowners, financial institution and real estate buyers out of more than $1 million through a short sale mortgage fraud scheme that occurred over a nineteen-month period between October 2008 and May 2010.
The district attorney identified the defendants as attorneys Kenneth Schwartz, 64, of
Huntington, N.Y., and Helene Stetch, 50, of Lindenhurst, N.Y. Stetch worked with Schwartz at the law firm of Kenneth B. Schwartz, Esq., in Carle Place, N.Y., until her termination in mid-2010.
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Iowa modifies personal information security breach notification requirements
Posted Date: Tuesday, April 15, 2014
Currently, “breach of security” is defined as an “unauthorized acquisition of personal information maintained in computerized form by a person that compromises the security, confidentiality or integrity of the personal information. Senate File 2259 expands the definition to include the “unauthorized acquisition of personal information maintained by a person in any medium, including on paper, that was transferred by the person to that medium from computerized form and that was compromises the security, confidentiality or integrity of the personal information.”
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Nevada mortgage fraudster gets 20 years in prison
Posted Date: Tuesday, April 15, 2014
A Nevada man who was convicted by a jury in September 2013 of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud for his involvement in a scheme to obtain $35 million in fraudulent mortgage loans, was sentenced to 20 years in prison, announced Daniel Bogden, U.S. attorney for the District of Nevada.
Jabari Marshall, 36, of Las Vegas, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Gloria Navarro. Marshall was also ordered to pay approximately $250,000 in restitution and to forfeit up to $6.1 million in assets that were gained as a result of the crimes. Marshall has been in custody since his arrest in January 2012, and has a lengthy criminal history, including two prior federal convictions in Nevada for bank fraud/check fraud type crimes. Marshall was also on federal supervised release when he committed this crime.
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NS3 PREVIEW: Speakers to map out mortgage disclosure implementation
Posted Date: Monday, April 14, 2014
What should you know about the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s 1,888-page integrated mortgage disclosure form final rule? In general, you need to know what portions of the regulation apply to you and how you can become, and remain, compliant. The experts speaking at October Research, LLC’s 2014 National Settlement Services Summit in June can get you on track and help you prepare for the changes ahead.
The RESPA/Truth in Lending Act (TILA) rule is massive, technical and extensive. Narrowing in on all of the changes you need to make for your company may not be easy. If you don’t chart a detailed course for implementation now, the transition to the new disclosures could significantly disrupt your operations.
This is where the experts can help.
October Research, LLC’s session about the new forms — The New Mortgage Disclosure Forms: Chart Your Course for Implementation — focuses specifically on actions you can take to ensure the transition to the bureau’s new disclosure requirements is smooth and orderly.
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Maryland General Assembly passes refinance mortgage lien statute
Posted Date: Wednesday, April 9, 2014
The Maryland General Assembly has passed a bill to include certain escrow costs in the calculation to determine whether a refinance mortgage shall have, on recordation, the same line priority as the first mortgage or deed of trust that the refinance mortgage replaces. The bill now awaits the signature of the governor.
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SoftPro celebrates 30 years of unmatched innovation and service
Posted Date: Wednesday, April 9, 2014
A lot has changed in the 30 years since computer programmer and entrepreneur, Loren Harrell, launched SoftPro, the nation's leading provider of title, closing and escrow software. Its core philosophy has not changed, however. It is still dedicating to providing first-rate customer support and service to its end users.
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Virginia mortgage broker sentenced for identity, title theft
Posted Date: Tuesday, April 8, 2014
Kil Seok (Michael) Seo, 49, formerly of Fairfax, Va., was sentenced to 38 months in prison for engaging in bank fraud and aggravated identity theft as part of a mortgage fraud scheme. Seo also was ordered to pay restitution of $894,600 to several banks that were the victims of Seo’s criminal conduct.
Dana Boente, acting U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and Valerie Parlave, assistant director in charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Washington Field Office, made the announcement following the sentencing by U.S. District Judge James Cacheris.
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