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Nevada, Tennessee consider HOA lien legislation
Posted Date: Friday, April 24, 2015
Last year, courts in Washington, D.C., and Nevada made headlines for upholding a law that before now had been relatively unchallenged in these or other states in the country. The laws at issue allowed homeowners’ associations in each jurisdiction to have super-priority over even first deeds of trust, and even extinguish those mortgages. Now Nevada is looking to clarify its law, while another state, Tennessee, is looking to establish its own Homeowners Association Act.
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Industry voices concerns with implementation, oversight to Congress
Posted Date: Wednesday, April 15, 2015
During a hearing of the House Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit entitled Examining Regulatory Burdens on Non-Depository Financial Institutions, Diane Evans, vice president of Land Title Guaranty Co. and president of the American Land Title Association, spoke about industry concerns regarding the implementation of TRID, as well as additional ways Congress could ensure transparency in oversight by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Read on for more details.
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Michigan Supreme Court grants appeal of CPL dispute
Posted Date: Thursday, December 11, 2014
The Michigan Supreme Court agreed to hear a dispute between a bank, its title insurer and the title agent that conducted the closing, seeking to determine whether a separate contract between the lender and closing agent exists outside of a closing protection letter and whether the full credit bid rule applies. Read on for more details.
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Title dispute in development blamed for failure of project
Posted Date: Tuesday, December 16, 2014
A dispute over who holds title to common areas in an Oregon real estate development led to the delay in building of condominiums on the site, and to a lawsuit filed by the developers alleging the dispute caused the failure of the project. Read on to find out whether the Oregon Court of Appeals upheld summary judgment rulings in favor of the defendants.
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Open space easement leads to coverage dispute
Posted Date: Tuesday, December 9, 2014
After a title insurer defended its insureds through the process of addressing issues connected to a missing open space easement by the California Coastal Commission to keep most of the land as a native dune habitat, it denied defense of a suit brought by the commission for violation of the coastal act. The insureds filed suit against the insurer in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.
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Louisiana considers new recording requirements
Posted Date: Tuesday, April 14, 2015
The Louisiana State Legislature is considering a bill that would require that instruments and endorsement that transfer interest in a note that is secured by a mortgage or a deed of trust must be required. Read on for more details.
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Rhode Island General Assembly considering changes to conveyance statute
Posted Date: Thursday, April 9, 2015
The Rhode Island General Assembly is considering a bill that would require all transfers of an interest in a mortgage be recorded. The bill would prohibit the recording of mortgages and assignments in the name of a party other than the holder of the note secured by the mortgagee. Read on for more details.
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North Carolina considers title curative statute
Posted Date: Tuesday, April 7, 2015
The General Assembly of North Carolina is considering a bill that would amend the procedures for correcting minor errors in recorded instruments, as well as create a 10-year curative provision for certain defects in recorded instruments. Read on for more details.
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LandAmerica settles retirement plan dispute
Posted Date: Tuesday, April 14, 2015
After LandAmerica Financial Group and its 1031 exchange subsidiary filed for bankruptcy in 2008, employees filed suit under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, alleging several of the company’s directors and officers violated their fiduciary duties by allowing investment of LandAmerica Financial Group Employee Savings and Stock Ownership Plan assets in LandAmerica stock when they knew those investments would lose money. After a lengthy court process and settlement negotiations, the parties have reached a settlement.
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Connecticut attorney general creates data security department
Posted Date: Tuesday, April 7, 2015
Connecticut Attorney General George Jepsen announced the creation of a new department within the Connecticut Office of the Attorney General – the Privacy and Data Security Department – that will work exclusively on investigations and litigation related to privacy and data security.
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Michigan to get new insurance regulator
Posted Date: Thursday, April 9, 2015
Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder announced the appointment of a new director of the state’s Michigan Department of Insurance and Financial Services. The new director will take over for the outgoing director next month. Read on for the details.
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Owner of The Mortgage Store sentenced for conspiracy
Posted Date: Thursday, April 9, 2015
The part-owner of The Mortgage Store and president of Title America was sentenced to time in prison on charges of conspiracy to defraud the United States through his business in 2008. Read on for more details.
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Settlement agents can register with Closing Insight
Posted Date: Wednesday, April 15, 2015
Settlement agents who want to work with Bank of America after Aug. 1 will need to do so through RealEC’s Closing Insight loan origination software platform. Wells Fargo is among the other major lenders integrating with Closing Insight. We have the exclusive details on how to begin registration with Closing Insight right here.
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Mortgage Choice Act passes U.S. House
Posted Date: Wednesday, April 15, 2015
The U.S. House of Representatives has passed H.R. 685, the Mortgage Choice Act of 2015, which seeks to promote access to affordable mortgage credit. However, it may find roadblocks on its way forward. Read on for more details.
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Sentences, guilty pleas announced in mortgage fraud cases
Posted Date: Wednesday, April 15, 2015
U.S. Attorney Benjamin Wagner of the Eastern District of California, announced the guilty pleas of two defendants in one Bakersfield mortgage fraud conspiracy, and the guilty pleas of a Bakersfield couple in another mortgage fraud scheme. Read on for more details.
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Nevada amends super-priority lien statute
Posted Date: Wednesday, April 15, 2015
The Nevada Legislature is considering a bill that would amend the provisions governing a homeowner’s association’s lien on a unit for amounts due, as well as provisions governing the foreclosure of an association’s lien. Read on for more details.
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West Virginia adopts changes to statute on recording of deeds
Posted Date: Tuesday, April 14, 2015
West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin has signed a bill that permits the recording of a memorandum of deed of trust in lieu of deeds of trust and sets forth requirements for the content of the memorandum. Read on for more details.
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Defendants from Brazil, Miami indicted for mortgage fraud conspiracy
Posted Date: Tuesday, April 14, 2015
Six individuals, from Miami and Brazil, were indicted for participating in a mortgage fraud conspiracy. The indictment alleges that the defendants used their mortgage and closing companies to perpetrate a years-long scheme against several large lenders by falsifying loan applications and other documents. Read on for more details.
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Mortgagee sues title insurer over closing instructions
Posted Date: Thursday, April 9, 2015
After discovering that the borrower on a refinanced loan had taken out an additional loan on property in New Jersey, and that that property had first lien priority, the mortgage company and title insurer got embroiled in a dispute with the holder of the note. As part of the legal proceedings, the mortgagee sued the title company under the closing protection letter and title policy because it alleged the title agent missed the preceding mortgage and caused the losses it suffered. Read on for more details.
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Loan modification marketers banned by FTC
Posted Date: Thursday, April 9, 2015
Marketers who helped promote a Utah-based home loan modification scheme will be banned from the mortgage relief and debt relief industries under a court settlement resolving charges by the Federal Trade Commission that they violated the law by promoting the loan modification scam, which conned consumers into paying hefty fees for worthless mortgage relief services.
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Kansas looks to amend transfer-on-death deed statute
Posted Date: Tuesday, April 7, 2015
The Kansas Legislature has introduced a bill that seeks to amend the state’s statute regarding transfer-on-death deeds by addressing the lapsing or vesting of ownership in a grantee beneficiary. Read on for more details.
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Title insurers dispute responsibilities under reinsurance agreement
Posted Date: Tuesday, April 7, 2015
Two national title insurers entered into a reinsurance agreement after one of them provided an owner and a lender title insurance policies to finance the acquisition of property and the construction of a power plant on that property. Later the buyer and lender made claims under the title policies because mechanic’s liens recorded against the property had priority over their interests in the property. The title insurer who provided the policies entered a settlement with the parties and sought repayment from the other insurer for the insurer’s proportionate share of the sum.
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