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California Supreme Court gives homeowners OK to challenge mortgage assignments
Posted Date: Wednesday, March 2, 2016
In a recent case, the California Supreme Court addressed a key legal issue arising out of the mortgage crisis, whether and how defaulting homeowners could bring an action for wrongful foreclosure on allegations of defective assignments of the promissory note. The court of appeal had ruled that a homeowner could not state a cause of action for wrongful foreclosure because she lacked standing to assert defects in the assignment. Read on for more details.
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Owner seeks quiet title, alleges invalid refinance
Posted Date: Wednesday, March 9, 2016
A Pennsylvania man who had been living in his home without making mortgage payments for years sought to quiet title in his name when the mortgagee moved to foreclose on the property. He alleged that the refinance mortgage, which was in his former wife’s name, was invalid because his signature was forged on the deed transferring title solely in her name. Among other things, he sued the title insurer for failing to supervise its title agent. Read on for more details.
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Parties dispute coverage in foreclosure suit
Posted Date: Wednesday, March 9, 2016
After buying property at a foreclosure sale, a real estate developer’s ownership was challenged by a prior owner. It sought coverage under its title insurance policy, but the title company declined to defend it in the state court action. The real estate developer then sued its title insurer in federal court, where both parties filed motions for partial summary judgment. Read on for more details.
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Homeowner appeals title company award
Posted Date: Monday, March 14, 2016
After addressing a title insurance claim for its client, a title company filed suit against the owner of the property to recover the $85,000 it spent purchasing an assignment of the senior mortgage holder’s note. When the trial court ruled in its favor, the homeowner appealed. Read on for more details.
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Bank violated state law by garnishing funds
Posted Date: Monday, March 14, 2016
In a third-party complaint in federal court in Utah, a title agency said a national bank violated state law by relinquishing funds from its trust account after receiving notices of writ of garnishment in two state cases. Read on for more details.
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Coordination of cybersecurity exams requested
Posted Date: Wednesday, March 9, 2016
The Financial Stability Oversight Council and Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council should better coordinate regulators’ cybersecurity exams at financial institutions to prevent duplication of information, a member of the Senate Banking Committee wrote in a letter to Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew and Federal Reserve Gov. Daniel Tarullo. Read on for more details.
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Alabama may amend education requirements
Posted Date: Monday, March 14, 2016
The Alabama Legislature is considering a bill to amend the state’s continuing education requirements for title agent, allowing attorney agents to meet those requirements by providing proof of completing mandatory continuing legal education requirements. Read on for more details.
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Indiana approves good funds amendment
Posted Date: Wednesday, March 16, 2016
The Indiana General Assembly has approved a bill that would, among other things, amend the state’s good funds law. The bill awaits the governor’s signature.
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Colorado considers lien release amendments
Posted Date: Monday, March 14, 2016
The Colorado General Assembly is considering a bill that would amend its lien release law regarding lines of credit. Read on for more details.
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Woman sentenced to 14 years for fraud
Posted Date: Wednesday, March 16, 2016
A California woman was sentenced to 14 years in prison for multiple counts of mail and wire fraud, witness tampering and money laundering associated with her involvement in a mortgage fraud involving more than $30 million in loans on more than 30 properties in the Sacramento area.
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Builder indicted for mortgage fraud
Posted Date: Monday, March 14, 2016
A Greenwood, Mo., homebuilder was indicted by a federal grand jury for a multi-million dollar mortgage fraud scheme. The builder allegedly would recruit buyers to apply for mortgage loans on dozens of houses, ultimately leading to 61 foreclosures costing $4.5 million.
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Man, company charged with 35 felonies
Posted Date: Wednesday, March 16, 2016
Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette announced that his Homeowner Protection Unit has filed 35 felony charges against a 39-year-old Birmingham man and his company Modify Loan Experts, LLC. He allegedly stole money from Michigan residents facing mortgage foreclosures or needing help managing their credit card debt. Read on to learn more.
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Missouri looks to modify title insurance law
Posted Date: Wednesday, March 9, 2016
The Missouri House of Representatives is considering a bill that would modify title insurance law with respect to the performance of escrow, settlement or closing services by title insurers, agencies and agents. The bill has passed the House and now is being considered by the Missouri Senate. Read on for more details.
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The legality of electronic notarizations
Posted Date: Tuesday, March 29, 2016
Technology is evolving at a rapid pace. We can do many things virtually that in years past seemed impossible — banking, visiting, shopping, and the list goes on. For a significant amount of time, there has been a push to make the real estate closing process electronic as well. This is not as easy as it sounds, as there are many aspects of a real estate closing, from the receiving of the documents, the signing, the notarizing, to the recording. States have been drafting laws to address each of these aspects of the process and whether they can be done electronically. However, there are still questions out there about the legality of them. The Property Records Industry Association (PRIA) addressed issues regarding the legality of eNotarization in a recent white paper titled “Electronic Notarization: Traditional Assurances for Electronically Recorded Documents.” During PRIA’s Winter Symposium, several electronic notarization experts spoke on the topic as well.
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California title company sues competitor, former employees for unfair competition
Posted Date: Wednesday, March 16, 2016
After a competitor recruited a team of title and sales employees from it, a California title company sued the company and its former employees for intentional interference with prospective economic relations and unfair competition. The company claimed its former employees convinced several customers to move their business to the new firm. Read on to find out what happened when the case was appealed to the Second District Court of Appeal of California.
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Homeowners claim foreclosure sale purchasers’ title based on fraud
Posted Date: Wednesday, March 16, 2016
Homeowners in Montana challenged the foreclosure of their property, trustee’s sale and unlawful detainer proceedings, asserting that at the time the foreclosure sale purchaser bought the property, it already had been conveyed to a trust in their names and, therefore the sale was based on fraud. Read on for more details.
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TRID questions to be answered in CFPB webinar
Posted Date: Wednesday, March 16, 2016
Six months after the implementation of the TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure (TRID) rule, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced it will conduct a webinar to address questions about TRID. Read on for details.
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Florida adopts revised title insurer reserve requirements
Posted Date: Monday, March 14, 2016
Florida has adopted a bill that revises reserves that certain title insurers must set aside after certain dates and the manner in which reserves must be released, among other things. Read on for more details.
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Woman found guilty for lying about residence to banks
Posted Date: Wednesday, March 9, 2016
A Lakewood, Calif., woman has been found guilty of five felony charges for lying to banks that funded mortgages for three properties that later went into default, causing about $660,000 in losses to the lenders.
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