News By Edition

Californians approved a ballot measure that will increase consumer privacy in the state. Read on for more details.

Winners have been declared in five states where citizens determine who will run their insurance regulators. Read on to find out who won the insurance regulator races in Montana, Delaware, North Carolina, Washington and North Dakota.

Five federal financial regulatory agencies invited comment on a proposal outlining and confirming the agencies’ use of supervisory guidance for regulated institutions. The proposal would codify the statement, as amended, issued in September 2018 by the agencies that clarified the differences between regulations and guidance.

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee issued Executive Order 66, extending until Dec. 29, 2020, the ability for notaries to perform notarizations via real-time audio and visual communication means. Read on for more details.

The Virginia State Corporation Commission’s Bureau of Insurance announced it will introduce a new insurance license renewal application process fee and reduce existing processing fees for certain types of licenses. Read on for more details.

A Fort Myers, Fla., man was indicted for bank fraud for allegedly submitting false mortgage applications, as well as intentionally misrepresenting his liquid assets. He had previously been indicted for COVID-relief fraud. Read on for more details.

A dispute between a buyer and seller of commercial property turned on information regarding a lease of a convenience store on the property revealed in the title commitment. After the buyer discovered through the title commitment that the lease had been extended without his knowledge, he terminated the purchase agreement and sued the seller when it wouldn’t return his earnest money. Read on for more details.

The Pennsylvania General Assembly has passed legislation authorizing notaries to perform remote online notarizations (RON). Previously, the assembly passed temporary legislation allowing the use of RON until 60 days after the termination or expiration of the state’s COVID-19 disaster emergency. The new bill awaits the governor’s signature. Read on for more details.

The owners of hotel properties in Amarillo, Texas and Clovis, N.M., filed suit against parties to their loan transactions for the hotel construction project, alleging a variety of wrongs during the two transactions. Read on for more details.

After a woman’s marital property was foreclosed upon and purchased by the mortgage holder, the mortgage holder filed suit for possession of the property. When the lower court granted the motion in favor of the mortgage holder, the woman appealed. Read on for more details.

CoreLogic reports a 26.3 percent year-over-year decrease in mortgage fraud risk in the second quarter of 2020 in its latest Mortgage Fraud Report. Read on for more details.

A Louisiana man was sentenced to time in prison for wire fraud in connection with a fraudulent mortgage relief scheme. He marketed a fraudulent mortgage debt reduction scheme to distressed homeowners in the Filipino immigrant community in Hawaii. Read on for more details.

The Louisiana Department of Insurance issued an advisory letter providing guidance and instructions to individuals and agency producers on the procedures to demonstrate they comply with the requirements of the state’s new brick and mortar requirements. Read on for more details.

The enforcement staff of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has informed First American Financial it plans to recommend an enforcement action against it regarding its public disclosures following the exposure of consumer documents in 2019. This comes after the New York State Department of Financial Services announced cybersecurity charges earlier this year. Read on for more details.

After a man had a boundary dispute with his neighbor, he filed a series of cases against the neighbor, the local cities, his underwriter and mortgage lender. Read on for the latest decision in this winding case.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued an advance notice of proposed rulemaking requesting information related to consumer access to financial records. Read on for more details.

The Wisconsin Office of the Commissioner of Insurance (OCI) issued a bulletin providing an update for its agent licensing remote testing process now that three months have passed since it transitioned to its new agent licensing vendor. Read on for more details.

A Warrington, Pa., man was sentenced to time in prison and ordered to pay $2.85 million in restitution and $1.38 million in forfeiture, after being charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud, bank fraud, and loan fraud for scheming to defraud three financial institutions out of millions of dollars. Read on for more details.