|
A look back: The Legal Description celebrates 15 years
Posted Date: Friday, September 25, 2015
Every other week, for the past 15 years, The Legal Description has brought the best in news and legal coverage of the settlement services industry. What began at the dawn of a new millennium would see the housing boom and the Great Recession, the birth of RESPA reform, the dawn of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), and a host of lawsuits stemming from the aftermath of the housing crash.
|
|
|
Pinti decision pushes legislative action on foreclosure purchasers’ rights
Posted Date: Thursday, September 10, 2015
In light of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts decision that an improper notice of default voids a subsequent foreclosure sale to a bona fide purchaser, the state’s General Court introduced legislation to clarify the rights of third-party purchasers. Read on for more details.
|
|
|
National underwriters dispute reinsurance coverage
Posted Date: Wednesday, July 8, 2015
After providing title insurance to lenders of a construction project in West Virginia, a national underwriter turned to two other national underwriters to reinsure part of the policy. When a claim was submitted, the underwriter asked the others to pay their portions of an eventual settlement, and the following case resulted. Read on for more details.
|
|
|
Homeowner sues title company for unknown mortgage refinancing
Posted Date: Wednesday, July 8, 2015
A former Pennsylvania homeowner sued its title company seeking relief from a mortgage refinancing that occurred in 2007. He said he was unaware of the transaction, believing the documents he signed were merely a loan application. A few years after the transaction, the originating bank transferred the mortgage to another lender, who foreclosed on the property. Read on for more details.
|
|
|
Title insurer, seller dispute escrow disbursement
Posted Date: Monday, July 6, 2015
When selling property to another company, a developer and the buyer agreed to set up an escrow account to cover the cost of improvement to the property. After the title company disbursed the funds to the buyer, the seller sued the title company for wrongfully distributing the funds. Read on for more details.
|
|
|
Freddie Mac updates TRID requirements in latest bulletin
Posted Date: Thursday, September 17, 2015
As part of its latest bulletin, 2015-16, Freddie Mac issued some updates to an earlier bulletin regarding the TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure Rule. Read on to find out more about the updated requirements.
|
|
|
Amendments to California escrow law now before governor
Posted Date: Tuesday, September 8, 2015
A bill that amends California’s escrow laws, including the authorization to transact escrow business, has passed the state’s General Assembly and awaits the governor’s signature.
|
|
|
California governor bolsters cybersecurity
Posted Date: Tuesday, September 8, 2015
California Gov. Edmund Brown Jr. signed an executive order to bolster cybersecurity efforts in the state. Read on for more details.
|
|
|
|
Industry looks to FFIEC for TRID examination guidance
Posted Date: Thursday, September 10, 2015
Associations from every aspect of the real estate industry wrote to the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) seeking guidance regarding the policies FFIEC members will use in examining and supervising financial institutions during the initial months after the implementation of the TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure Rule. Read on for more details.
|
|
|
Nine sentenced in D.C-area mortgage fraud scheme
Posted Date: Thursday, September 10, 2015
Nine individuals have been sentenced on federal charges stemming from a mortgage fraud scheme involving 45 properties and $16 million in mortgage loans used for the purchase of residential real estate in the District of Columbia and Maryland.
|
|
|
Pennsylvania DOBS takes action against cyberthreats
Posted Date: Tuesday, September 15, 2015
Secretary of Banking and Securities Robin L. Wiessmann announced the formation of a Cybersecurity Task Force designed to provide resources to the financial services companies under its supervision to address cybersecurity issues to help ensure the integrity of Pennsylvania’s financial marketplace.
|
|
|
Louisiana attorney seeks reimbursement of fees after overturned conviction
Posted Date: Thursday, September 17, 2015
A Louisiana attorney who was sentenced to three years in prison for his role in a Nevada mortgage fraud scheme before the conviction was overturned by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals filed a motion for reimbursement of attorney’s fees and litigation expenses from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Nevada. Read on for more details.
|
|
|
Look how far we've come
Posted Date: Friday, September 25, 2015
An editor looks back on her time at The Legal Description and the changing real estate environment.
|
|
|
|
Fraudsters reach settlement with state regarding foreclosure rescue scam
Posted Date: Monday, September 21, 2015
New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman announced that he had reached settlement agreements with a disbarred attorney, an attorney and a mortgage broker, who along with others allegedly operated a mortgage foreclosure rescue scam on Long Island that robbed 14 Long Island homeowners out of their homes’ deeds and equity.
|
|
|
Insured lender seeks coverage after assessment lien placed on property
Posted Date: Thursday, September 17, 2015
After foreclosing on property in Utah, the lender learned about an assessment lien placed on the insured property to pay for improvements to the Jordanelle Special Service District. When its underwriter failed to indemnify and defend it against the assessment, it filed suit, alleging that the insurer breached the contract, failed to defend them and violated the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing. Read on for more.
|
|
|
|
City sues junior lienholder for equitable subrogation
Posted Date: Thursday, September 17, 2015
After purchasing property in Kent, Wash., the city of Kent paid off the first lien on the property, failing to discover junior lines until after the proceeds had been disbursed. The city sued, seeking equitable subrogation to the prior first position lienholder and the right to foreclose on the resulting equitable lien. Its motion for summary judgment was granted by a trial court before being appealed by the junior lienholders. Read on for more details.
|
|
|
Investor, loan officer sentenced for role in mortgage fraud conspiracy
Posted Date: Tuesday, September 15, 2015
Two Maryland men, an investor and a loan officer, were sentenced for their roles in a mortgage fraud conspiracy. Among other things, they falsified transaction documents and overstated downpayments and closing costs buyers brought to closing in order to enable prospective purchasers to qualify for loans. Sixteen of 18 loans eventually went into default. Read on for more details.
|
|