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Illinois state court rules in LTA suit against recorder
Posted Date: Monday, March 18, 2019
The Circuit Court of Cook County, Ill. County Department, Chancery Division, recently ruled in the Illinois Land Title Association’s (LTA) suit against the Cook County Recorder. The LTA had sued the recorder for refusing to record affidavits of heirship and affidavits of survivorship without also providing a copy of a probate court order. Read on for more details.
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Assignee seeks foreclosure against buyer after failed payoff
Posted Date: Wednesday, March 27, 2019
The assignee of a note and mortgage filed a foreclosure action against the purchasers of property in Wisconsin after repeated attempts to collect payment from the seller. The case was muddied because of the dismissal of a prior foreclosure action due to the payoff of the loan, which never actually occurred. Read on for more details.
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Seller sues title agency over missed lien
Posted Date: Wednesday, March 27, 2019
After not revealing a lien on the property she was selling, a seller got sued by the buyer’s title insurer and a jury found her guilty of breach of contract, fraudulent concealment and fraudulent misrepresentation. The seller then sued the title agency that conducted the closing, alleging negligence per se, breach of contract and negligent misrepresentation. Read on for more details.
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Illinois considers adding to list of authorized persons in Mortgage Act
Posted Date: Wednesday, March 27, 2019
The Illinois General Assembly is considering a bill that would amend the Mortgage Act to add “a person authorized by the mortgagor, grantor, heir, legal representative or assign” to the list of those who may request that the mortgagee of real property make, execute and deliver an instrument in writing releasing a mortgage or deed of trust, as well as other amendments. Read on for more details.
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Two more indicted in Massachusetts real estate scheme
Posted Date: Wednesday, March 27, 2019
Additional indictments have been issued against two men in connection with a scheme to defraud homeowners and mortgage lenders by providing fraudulent documents in legal and real estate transactions in Massachusetts. Read on for more details.
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Eleven charged in foreclosure relief conspiracy
Posted Date: Wednesday, March 27, 2019
A federal grand jury has charged 11 people from across the country with conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud in a scheme to defraud distressed homeowners by falsely representing that they could help the victims save their homes. Read on for more details.
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First Circuit hears case against title insurer, escrow agent
Posted Date: Monday, March 25, 2019
A mortgagee filed suit against a closing agent and title insurer, seeking to recover for negligence in connection with a mortgage on the wrong property. The mortgagee filed suit for wrongful denial of claim in violation of the Unfair Claims Settlement Practices Act. The case eventually went before the First U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Read on for more details.
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Supreme Court determines foreclosing entity not ‘debt collector’
Posted Date: Monday, March 25, 2019
After a law firm began carrying out a nonjudicial foreclosure on a Colorado home, the homeowner filed suit, alleging that the firm failed to comply with the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. The case eventually made it before the U.S. Supreme Court, which affirmed lower courts’ rulings that a business engaged in no more than nonjudicial foreclosure proceedings is not a debt collector under the FDCPA. Read on for the court’s reasoning.
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New Orleans man brings amended title insurance suit against Treasury Secretary
Posted Date: Monday, March 25, 2019
After being given the chance to cure the jurisdictional defects in his case, a New Orleans man filed an amended complaint against Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, arguing that the secretary violated the Administrative Procedures Act by refusing to declare that title insurance is not actually insurance and by failing to include the industry in an annual report to Congress. The case began after a project his real estate development company was conducting was halted because of faulty title insurance. Read on for more details.
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Vermont appoints head of insurance division
Posted Date: Monday, March 25, 2019
Vermont Gov. Phil Scott and Financial Regulation Commissioner Michael Pieciak announced the appointment of Kevin Gaffney as deputy commissioner of the Vermont Department of Financial Regulation’s (DFR) Insurance Division. Read on for more details.
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Jury finds California man guilty of mortgage fraud
Posted Date: Monday, March 25, 2019
After a seven-day trial, a federal jury found Erik Hermann Green, 37, of Roseville, Calif., guilty of three counts of wire fraud in a mortgage fraud scheme. Read on for more details.
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Tenth Circuit finds title insurer did not breach duty to insured
Posted Date: Wednesday, March 20, 2019
A bank filed suit against its title insurer, asserting claims for breach of its duties to defend and indemnify it in an underlying suit regarding a fraudulent transfer. While the trial court found in the bank’s favor and awarded damages and fees, the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed and remanded the decision. Read on for more details.
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Connecticut considers real estate contract statute
Posted Date: Wednesday, March 20, 2019
The Connecticut General Assembly is considering a bill that would “declare void as against the public policy certain real estate contracts” that encourage a buyer of real property to use the real estate closing services offered by a financial institution that is the seller of the real property. Read on for more details.
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ALTA letter requests uniform privacy, protection rules
Posted Date: Wednesday, March 20, 2019
In a letter to Senate Banking Committee Chairman Mike Crapo, R-N.D. and Ranking Member Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, American Land Title Association Senior Vice President of Policy Justin Ailes wrote about the need for national, uniform rules to guide businesses about how to address consumers’ data privacy and protection concerns. Read on for more details.
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North Carolina Register back after breach
Posted Date: Wednesday, March 20, 2019
Orange County, North Carolina, has its computer network up and running after an encryption virus was detected early March 17, forcing the county to shut down all its internal servers and leaving much of its services – including all closings processed by the Register of Deeds – unavailable until at least March 18. Read on for more details.
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Arkansas passes agricultural disclosure requirement
Posted Date: Wednesday, March 20, 2019
The Arkansas General Assembly has passed a bill that would require the disclosure on real estate transactions of any agricultural operations near the real property located in a rural area. The bill awaits the governor’s signature.
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New Jersey men arraigned for reverse mortgage fraud
Posted Date: Wednesday, March 20, 2019
A Passaic County, N.J., man and a Bergen County, N.J., man have been arraigned for their respective roles in a reverse mortgage scheme that took advantage of several elderly homeowners. Read on for more details.
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Data privacy and the land records system
Posted Date: Monday, March 18, 2019
With reports of major companies’ abuse of personal information coming out constantly, and new laws emerging around the world and in various states, it’s important for those involved in the land records and real estate transfer industries to understand how these issues could impact how they operate. During the Property Records Industry Association’s Winter Symposium in Greenville, S.C. on Feb. 28, industry experts shared about land records history with data privacy, the potential impact of current laws on the books and the possible future of data privacy.
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Couple sues over release of funds in wire fraud
Posted Date: Monday, March 18, 2019
In a case involving wire fraud in a real estate transaction, a couple buying a retirement home in Arizona sued the bank which released funds in the fraudulent transaction, alleging that the bank aided and abetted the fraud by releasing the funds when it knew of potential fraud. The bank moved to dismiss, arguing that the wire transfer had been completed before the bank was put on notice. Read on for more.
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FTC issues annual report on data privacy, security
Posted Date: Monday, March 18, 2019
The Federal Trade Commission, the nation’s primary privacy and data security enforcer, released its annual report highlighting its privacy and data security work for 2018. Read on for more details.
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Appellate court makes quick work of pro se case
Posted Date: Monday, March 18, 2019
A pro se defendant who lost his trial court lawsuit against servicers appealed to the Court of Appeal, Second District, Division 1, in California, alleging the lower court improperly dismissed his case concerning notice of the transfer of his loans.
The appellate court upheld the lower court’s ruling, saying the borrower confused transferring responsibility for servicing the loan with assigning the beneficial interest in the loan.
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