News By Edition

The latest fraud stats are here and it looks like things haven’t changed much. According to Interthinx’ annual Mortgage Fraud Risk Report, the Employment/Income Fraud Risk Index rose 14 percent during 2011 and has been on an upward trend for more than two years for a total increase of more than 45 percent. The Employment/Income Fraud Risk Index is particularly high for investor loans and is highest for high-value properties.

In Ohio, new drilling, along with the leases and reservations on the land from over 200 years of mineral excavation (thanks to coal production), have led to title issues that will need to be addressed in any state where oil, natural gas or other minerals are discovered and subsurface rights severed from the surface ownership. During a seminar put on by the Ohio Land Title Association, Samuel Shellhaas, underwriting counsel at First American Title Insurance Co., provided attendees with tips for navigating these issues.

Concern about escrow fraud has industry members and regulators searching for a solution that will protect consumers and industry members from losses. While many potential solutions, or pieces of solutions, have been suggested, one that is getting some traction is the use of closing protection letters to ensure that, should something happen at closing, the insureds can be made whole. Read on to find out about a movement toward closing protection.

First American Financial Corp., announced that its Chairman Emeritus Donald Kennedy passed away on March 24 at the age of 93.

Oakland County, Mich., taxpayers will be recovering as much as $1.5 million in transfer taxes a U.S. district court judge found that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac failed to pay the transfer tax on deeds recorded in the county. Read on for the details.

The Supreme Court of Hawaii recently decided whether a title company had a duty to defend an insured homeowner in a dispute with the state over the state’s claims on the property. Read on to find out what the court had to say.

Wyoming has become the latest state to ban private transfer fees. Read on to find out more about the state’s new law.

Two years after implementing the current HUD-1 and good faith estimate, closing agents are about to adapt to new, combined mortgage disclosures and the changes they will bring to the industry’s business models. The Legal Description’s sister publication, The Title Report was on hand at the 2012 American Land Title Association Business Strategies Conference to hear a discussion about what the new forms might mean for the industry.

A former Lee County, Ala., attorney pled guilty to engaging in a multimillion-dollar mortgage fraud scheme. Read on for more details.

In its latest annual Mortgage Fraud Risk Report, Interthinx noted that the Employment/Income Fraud Risk Index increased during 2011 and has been on an upward trend for more than two years. Read on for more details.

After being sued by a warehouse lender for breaching its duties as a bailee, a national underwriter sought a third-party complaint against the person who misappropriated the lender’s funds. The lender moved to strike the third-party complaint.

The Alabama legislature is considering a bill that would require anyone wishing to record a deed or other real property document to provide proof of the purchase price of the property. Read on to find out more.

Excitement is growing for the 2012 National Settlement Services and Compliance Summit, and October Research is pleased to announce that Early Bird prices remain open this week for all those registering for the Summit. But title and settlement services professionals wishing to benefit from this special Summit rate must do so by March 31.

To aid in its efforts to expand its leadership in notary education, the National Notary Association has named a new president and chief executive officer. Read on to find out more about the new appointee and the NNA’s efforts.

After being sued by the county for placing improvements on their property based on an incorrect survey provided at closing, homeowners in Texas sued their title company. They made claims for negligent misrepresentation and deceptive trade practices because the title company gave them the survey at closing. Read on to find out what the Court of Appeals of Texas had to say on the matter.

A bill amending Washington, D.C.’s current mechanic’s lien law to permit a contract to file a notice of mechanic’s lien during the construction of a project and make other changes, has passed through the D.C. Council and awaits the mayor’s signature. Read on for more details.

Members of the American Land Title Association submitted a letter to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau regarding the new mortgage disclosure form prototypes. High on their list of concerns were the cost of implementation and responsibility for completing the forms.

In an attempt to enhance consumer protections for homebuyers, the Louisiana legislature has introduced a bill that would prohibit the required use of settlement service providers in residential real estate transactions. Read on to find out more.

The question of what constitutes a thing of value, either under RESPA or state law, is something that has caused many in the title industry to question their marketing strategies and seek guidance from the agencies that regulate them. Title industry members in Louisiana are currently looking for guidance from the state’s department of insurance and legislature to determine whether certain practices are a violation of state law.

The U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts is asking the state’s Supreme Judicial Court to answer certified questions regarding whether a title insurer was obligated to defend a lender against all related claims after curing a title defect through litigation. This is a case of first impression in the state.

The Maine legislature introduced a bill that would prohibit any entity from reselling abstracts and deeds in digital form. Read on to find out more about the bill.

Taylor Bean & Whitaker Mortgage Corp.’s former chief financial officer pleaded guilty for his role in a more than $2.9 billion fraud scheme that contributed to the failure of TBW and Colonial Bank. Read on for the details.

A Sussex County, N.J., woman was found guilty of both counts against her, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Read on to find out more about the scheme and what sentence she may face when she is sentenced in July.

A federal district court ordered a plaintiff to join additional parties to a lien dispute case, saying the title insurer could not establish liability for loss or damage until there was a final determination of ownership and/or lien priority. Read on for details about the complicated land transaction that led to the dispute.

A district court denied a title insurance company’s motion to dismiss in an equity skimming case, saying the caselaw was unclear as to whether the plaintiffs could properly plead a violation of Pennsylvania’s Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law under the circumstances. The court also refused to dismiss a civil conspiracy claim, saying at this stage of the proceedings, the exact relationship of the parties cannot be ascertained for the purposes of determining the relevance of the intracorporate conspiracy doctrine.

A North Carolina county has filed suit against a host of banks, servicers and MERS, calling for the entities named to clean up the “mess” it alleges the entities created in the county’s public property records. Read on to see why the register of deeds believes his investigation “only found the tip of the iceberg” and the remedy he is asking the court to provide.

A State of Washington bill calling for the insurance commissioner to designate a statistical reporting agent to assist the department in gathering information on title insurance data has passed the House of Representatives and is up for consideration in the Senate. Read on to learn how the proposed law would address confidentiality.

The Mississippi Senate passed a bill that clarifies that public access to a public record will not be diminished because components of data are stored in a certain manner. Read on for the details of this important legislation, including the civil penalties for violations.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) has sent a final rule governing private transfer fees to the Federal Register. The rule limits Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Home Loan Banks from dealing in mortgages on properties encumbered by certain types of private transfer fee covenants and in certain related securities. Read on for a rundown on the exclusions to the rule, and to download a copy of the rule.