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Ohio passes Notary Public Modernization Act
Posted Date: Wednesday, December 19, 2018
The Ohio General Assembly recently passed the Notary Public Modernization Act. The bill seeks to simplify the notary public commissioning system and provide for remote online notarization. It awaits Gov. John Kasich’s signature.
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Superintendent Vullo to leave New York DFS
Posted Date: Wednesday, December 19, 2018
On Dec. 19, New York Department of Financial Services Superintendent Maria Vullo announced that she will leave the DFS in February. She has had an active role in several initiatives, including cybersecurity regulation and title insurance regulations that are the subject of a lawsuit in the state’s appellate court. Read on for more details.
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Missouri to consider certificate of value legislation
Posted Date: Monday, December 10, 2018
During the 2019 legislative session, the Missouri General Assembly will be considering a bill that would require a certificate of value to be delivered to an assessor before a recorder records any deed or instrument conveying property to any person. Read on for more details.
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Farmer to stay on as South Carolina Insurance director
Posted Date: Monday, December 17, 2018
South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster announced that Raymond G. Farmer will continue serving as director of the South Carolina Department of Insurance. He was first appointed by former Gov. Nikki Haley and recently was elected president of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. Read on for more details.
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Title company gets caught in financial elder abuse case
Posted Date: Wednesday, December 19, 2018
A senior man from Long Beach, Calif., filed suit against a title insurer which prepared a preliminary report and issued a title policy for a transaction in which a fraudster took the man’s property, alleging that the company assisted the fraudster in so doing. After a trial court ruled in favor of sustaining the title insurer’s demurrer, the case went before a California court of appeals. Read on for more details.
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Treasury report talks GTOs, cyber, beneficial owners
Posted Date: Wednesday, January 2, 2019
The Treasury Department recently issued the National Money Laundering Risk Assessment 2018, identifying money laundering threats, vulnerabilities and risks that the United States faces. Among other things, the report touched on the title insurance geographic targeting orders, cybertheft and the need to uncover beneficial owners of legal entities. Read on for more details.
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Wyoming to consider new title agent license bill
Posted Date: Wednesday, January 2, 2019
When the 2019 session convenes, the Wyoming Legislature will consider a bill that, among other things, will amend the title agent license expiration and renewal procedures. Read on for more details.
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Mortgage servicer settles foreclosure allegations
Posted Date: Wednesday, January 2, 2019
A national mortgage servicing company will provide $4 million in relief for Massachusetts residents to settle allegations that it failed to help homeowners avoid foreclosure. Read on for more details.
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South Carolina to consider derivation clause requirement bill
Posted Date: Wednesday, January 2, 2019
When the South Carolina Legislature returns, it will consider a bill relating to the derivation clause requirement on a deed or mortgage, which would require all mortgages executed after June 1, 2019, to include a clause setting forth the name of the party who prepared the mortgage or the attorney licensed in South Carolina who assisted in the closing of the instrument. Read on for more details.
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Defect risk rising due to California wildfires
Posted Date: Wednesday, January 2, 2019
The latest First American Financial Corp. Loan Application Defect Index for November 2018 showed a defect increase due to defect risk in the areas affected by the California wildfires. Read on for more details.
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Arizona man sentenced for short sale fraud
Posted Date: Wednesday, January 2, 2019
A Scottsdale, Ariz., man was sentenced to time in prison for his lead role in criminal activity related to the short sale of distressed mortgages. He previously pleaded guilty to one count of communication of unregistered securities, and a separate count involving the failure to notify the Treasury Department of his collection of more than $10,000 in cash from a real estate customer. Read on for more details.
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FEMA halts NFIP, then changes mind under pressure
Posted Date: Friday, December 28, 2018
Due to the partial government shut down that went into effect at 12:01 am ET on Dec. 21, the Federal Emergency Management Agency said it will not issue any new contracts for flood insurance under the National Flood Insurance Program during its lapse in authority. But after heavy criticism from industry members, who expressed concern over scheduled closings that could be delayed or canceled because of the policy, the agency reversed course a day later. Read on for more details.
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Kraninger’s first move: CFPB name stays
Posted Date: Wednesday, December 19, 2018
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Kathy Kraninger reached out to bureau staff for the first time this week, in an internal email the bureau provided to The Legal Description. In her email, Kraninger said she would halt efforts related to the name correction initiative started by her predecessor, acting director Mick Mulvaney.
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Senators ask Kraninger to consider simultaneous issue
Posted Date: Wednesday, December 19, 2018
Days after starting her new job, Consumer Financial Protection Director Kathy Kraninger received a letter from several senators congratulating her on her confirmation and requesting that she look into the issue of simultaneous issuance of title insurance. Read on for more details.
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New Jersey man admits to $6 million short sale fraud
Posted Date: Wednesday, December 19, 2018
A Hawthorne, N.J., man admitted his role in a scheme to defraud financial institutions and others of more than $6 million. He and others fraudulently induced mortgage lenders to participate in short sale transactions. Read on for more details.
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Maryland federal court hears kickback case
Posted Date: Monday, December 17, 2018
The U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland heard a class action complaint alleging that a real estate office and a title company violated RESPA through an illegal kickback scheme by which the real estate agent received unearned fees for referring business to the settlement agent. More than three years after a filing for summary judgment, the district court ruled on the case. Read on for more details.
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Colorado reports decreased title-related complaints
Posted Date: Monday, December 17, 2018
The Colorado Division of Insurance (DOI), part of the Department of Regulatory Agencies (DORA), recovered $38,475,615 in the fiscal year 2017-18 (July 1, 2017 - June 30, 2018) for Colorado consumers. The report also showed the number of complaints opened against title insurers. Part of that total was $11,398,379 recovered through the DOI’s investigations of consumers’ complaints against insurance companies, highlighted in the DOI’s annual Complaints Against Insurers report.
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Michigan considering changes to foreclosure notice
Posted Date: Monday, December 17, 2018
The Michigan Legislature is considering a bill that would, among other things amend the state’s statute regarding notices of foreclosure by advertisement. Read on for more details.
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Finance of America reaches FHA fraud settlement
Posted Date: Monday, December 17, 2018
Finance of America Mortgage LLC has agreed to pay the United States $14.5 million to resolve allegations that Gateway Funding Diversified Mortgage Services, L.P. , which it acquired in 2015, violated the False Claims Act by knowingly originating and underwriting deficient mortgage loans insured by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Federal Housing Administration. Read on for more details.
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Title insurer, surety argue statute of limitation
Posted Date: Wednesday, December 12, 2018
A title insurer and the surety of a notary public argued over which limitation period was applicable to an action the title insurer brought against the surety based on the notary’s failure to personally witness the signatures affixed to a document upon which she had placed her notarial attestation and seal. Read on for more details.
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Title malpractice case remanded after judge’s denial
Posted Date: Wednesday, December 12, 2018
An appellate court reversed and remanded a title malpractice case, determining that the trial judge was wrong to deny reconsideration of his decision to grant the defendant title agency’s motion for summary judgment, saying “justice cried out for the extension” of reconsideration. Read on for more details.
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Missouri considers abandoned property legislation
Posted Date: Wednesday, December 12, 2018
The Missouri General Assembly will consider a bill that would allow a lien holder to enter property it believes to have been abandoned to inspect and secure the property. Read on for more details.
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Tennessee governor-elect to keep department heads
Posted Date: Wednesday, December 12, 2018
Tennessee Governor-elect Bill Lee announced four appointments to his cabinet, including keeping the heads of the departments of Commerce and Insurance and Financial Institutions. Read on for more details.
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Former mortgage owner to pay $11.5 million in fraud
Posted Date: Wednesday, December 12, 2018
After pleading guilty to 10 counts of wire fraud and two counts of bank fraud, the former owner of a Pennsylvania mortgage company was ordered to forfeit $1,969,312.02, and is jointly and severally liable to pay $9,567,074.56 in restitution. Read on for more details.
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Former Long Island mortgage lender COO sentenced
Posted Date: Wednesday, December 12, 2018
The former chief operating officer of a Long Island mortgage lender was sentenced to time in prison after pleading guilty to conspiring to commit wire and bank fraud in connection with the diversion of more than $8.9 million of warehouse loans that the company had fraudulently obtained purportedly to fund home mortgages and mortgage refinancing.
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Bankruptcy court determines enlargement of time
Posted Date: Monday, December 10, 2018
In a matter of first impression, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania determined whether to grant a creditor’s request for enlargement of time to file proof of claim on the ground that it did not receive notice of the debtor’s Chapter 13 case until after the deadline to file claims had passed. Read on for more details.
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FinCEN, fellow regulators encourage BSA/AML innovation
Posted Date: Monday, December 10, 2018
As a result of a working group established by the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence and the federal depository institutions regulators, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and its regulatory partners issued a joint statement to encourage banks and credit unions to take innovative approaches to combating money laundering, terrorist financing and other illicit financial threats. Read on for more details.
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Law firm, title company settle for defrauding Fannie Mae
Posted Date: Monday, December 10, 2018
The Department of Justice announced the settlement of a civil fraud suit against a New York foreclosure law firm and its wholly owned affiliates. It claimed that the firm used its affiliates to systematically generate false and inflated bills for foreclosure-related and eviction-related expenses, and caused those expenses to be submitted to and paid for by Fannie Mae. Read on for more details.
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Jury convicts real estate broker of mortgage fraud
Posted Date: Monday, December 10, 2018
A federal jury has found a Georgia real estate broker guilty of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and bank fraud for trying to sell condominium units to buyers at a Florida condominium. Read on for more details.
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