|
Industry continues evolving under CFPB jurisdiction
Posted Date: Friday, July 31, 2015
July marked the five-year anniversary of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and four years since the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau opened its doors. At the time, the market was still reeling from the crash and figuring out what the market would look like in recovery.
All these years later, it’s safe to say that things look a lot different. Numerous new regulations are on the books, preparations are being made to implement others and the CFPB has made its mark on the industry.
|
|
|
Seller sues title company over title search charge
Posted Date: Thursday, May 14, 2015
The seller of property in Tennessee sued the title insurer in the transaction, alleging that the company’s fee structure for title searches violated Tennessee law. The case eventually went before the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on the title insurer’s motion for summary judgment.
|
|
|
Insured sues title insurer over inadequate claims handling
Posted Date: Tuesday, May 19, 2015
After beginning development, the owner of property in Lake Winnebago, Mo., discovered someone else held title to a crucial 1-acre tract on the property. When the title insurer paid the loss suffered by its insured, the insured sent the money back, arguing that it wasn’t adequate compensation. When the parties couldn’t come to an agreement, the insured property owner sued for breach of contract and vexatious refusal to pay. Read on for more details.
|
|
|
CFPB makes TRID extension official, rejects delayed enforcement, other comments
Posted Date: Wednesday, July 22, 2015
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued a final rule moving the effective date of the Know Before You Owe mortgage disclosure rule, also called the TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosures rule, to Oct. 3, 2015. Absent from that final rule was any provision regarding delayed enforcement or any number of changes industry members requested in the comments. Read on for more details.
|
|
|
California aims for consistency in county recorder fees
Posted Date: Tuesday, July 21, 2015
Assembly Bill 661, sponsored by the County Recorders Association of California, clarifies language in state law that has resulted in some county recorders imposing different fees for recorded real estate documents. The bill was signed into law by Gov. Jerry Brown. Read on for the details.
|
|
|
|
Illinois amends Common Interest Community Association law
Posted Date: Tuesday, July 21, 2015
Illinois has passed a bill that impacts the eviction rights of certain common interest community associations, which are similar to condominiums. Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner signed it into law July 14. Read on for details of the bill.
|
|
|
Texas adopts state disclosure form
Posted Date: Monday, July 13, 2015
The Texas Department of Insurance has adopted a new procedural rule and form as an addendum to the new federal Closing Disclosure form to help consumers in Texas understand the costs associated with closing on mortgage loan. Read on for more details.
|
|
|
New Jersey names acting insurance commissioner
Posted Date: Tuesday, July 21, 2015
The New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance has an acting commissioner. The acting commissioner will serve the remainder of July until the governor’s new appointee starts on the job. Read on to find out who is in charge in New Jersey.
|
|
|
Three indicted for $1.7 Baltimore mortgage fraud
Posted Date: Thursday, July 16, 2015
A federal grand jury indicted three defendants on charges arising from the fraudulent purchase of seven properties in Baltimore, using fraudulent loan documentation and straw purchasers, resulting in losses of more than $1.7 million. Two of the defendants were real estate agents, the other was an accountant. Read on for more details.
|
|
|
HUD OIG takes agency to task
Posted Date: Thursday, July 16, 2015
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Office of Inspector General released a report that has determined that a program overseen by HUD was improperly underwriting millions of dollars in loans. Read on to find out where the bad loans were going and what the report suggests HUD should do to correct the problem.
|
|
|
Changing leadership at the CFPB
Posted Date: Friday, July 31, 2015
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Deputy Director Steven Antonakes may have surprised some when he announced in an internal memo that he will be leaving the bureau for family reasons.
|
|
|
eClosings, the next frontier
Posted Date: Thursday, July 30, 2015
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 integrated mortgage disclosure prototypes. Read on to for more on what’s next and how it may benefit consumers.
|
|
|
CFPB chooses interim deputy director
Posted Date: Wednesday, July 22, 2015
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has found interim replacements for the roles being vacated by Deputy Director Steve Antonakes, who also serves as an associate director for the Division of Supervision, Enforcement, and Fair Lending. Read on to find out more about these familiar faces.
|
|
|
|
Maryland man indicted for identity theft, mortgage fraud
Posted Date: Wednesday, July 22, 2015
A Maryland man pleaded guilty to conspiracy, wire fraud, and aggravated identity theft, arising from a mortgage fraud scheme in which he used the names of immigrants and students, along with false financial information, to obtain approximately $3.8 million in home mortgage loans to buy approximately three dozen row houses in Baltimore, all of which are in default or foreclosure.
|
|
|
Bureau announces forum for eClosings
Posted Date: Tuesday, July 21, 2015
Five months after the end of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) eClosing pilot program, it appears the industry will get some insight on the bureau’s findings. The CFPB has announced a forum focused on eClosings. Read on for details.
|
|
|
CFPB losing No. 2 man
Posted Date: Tuesday, July 21, 2015
Once viewed as a potential successor to Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Richard Cordray, the No. 2 man at the CFPB said he will be leaving the bureau after five years on the job. Read on for details of the announcement.
|
|
|
Cordray details TRID enforcement
Posted Date: Thursday, July 16, 2015
After months of discussion with industry participants, and repeated discussions of enforcement activities that have been characterized as vague guidance by many, Consumer Financial Protection Director Richard Cordray went before the Senate Banking Committee and detailed all regulators’ plans for enforcement of the TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure rules. Read on to find out what Cordray wanted to tell senators “on the record” about enforcement.
|
|
|
Cybersecurity: Protecting your network and your office
Posted Date: Thursday, July 16, 2015
In this increasingly tech-savvy world, cybersecurity is more important than ever, especially in the settlement industry, where nonpublic personal information and money are exchanged so frequently in high volumes. It’s important to be proactive rather than reactive. During the National Settlement Services Summit, attendees were provided with tips to protect your network and your office from being breached.
|
|
|
Case arising from LandAmerica bankruptcy has winners and losers on both sides
Posted Date: Thursday, July 16, 2015
A Pennsylvania federal court ruled May 27 on motions filed in a case involving a couple who lost their 1031 exchange funds in the 2008 bankruptcy of LandAmerica Financial Group Inc., and its various subsidiaries. The couple alleged a Ponzi scheme in which LandAmerica and its companies lured them into their transaction, knowing full well that they were about to go insolvent — but the court battle has winners and losers on both sides. Find out who prevailed on their motions.
|
|
|
Senate increases pressure with own hold-harmless bill
Posted Date: Monday, July 13, 2015
Without a hold-harmless period adopted by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, despite industry pressure and letters from House and Senate members urging so, the Senate has looked to increase pressure on the bureau. Two senators introduced a hold-harmless bill this week. Read on to find out how this move could affect the CFPB’s decision.
|
|
|
The latest threats in cybertheft
Posted Date: Monday, July 13, 2015
Cyberthieves are constantly adapting their schemes to keep in front of the protections people put in place. It’s important to know as much as you can about emerging schemes to better protect your company and your clients. During the National Settlement Services Summit, an agent with the FBI shared some of the declassified trends written about in an internal report sent to all 56 of the FBI’s field offices.
|
|
|
Court derails Chicago Title’s dispute over policy protection on former railroad properties
Posted Date: Monday, July 13, 2015
A New Jersey federal court recently ruled that Chicago Title Insurance Co. must pay the attorney fees of its policyholders who had to defend their property rights to a former railroad in dispute with local government. The title insurer argued that certain policy exclusions negated its duty to defend the plaintiffs, but the court called its description of the policy “a tortured reading.” Find out why the court considered the title policy’s language to be crystal clear.
|
|
|