Topics

The new mortgage disclosure forms and rule are out and the title industry members are sharing their views on the forms. Read on to find out what they have to say.

Thousands of Maryland consumers who were overcharged during real estate settlements should receive refunds from their title company in the coming months, following an investigation by the Maryland Insurance Administration. The agency is to repay 5,338 consumers approximately $2.3 million. Read on for more details.

The Alabama legislature has pre-filed a bill for its session beginning January 2014 eliminating the requirement that all fingerprint records for applicants for license as a title insurance agent be stored with the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. Read on for more details.

Ohio Lt. Gov. Mary Taylor announced the sentencing of an Avon Lake title company co-owner. The agent diverted escrow funds for his personal use and was sentenced weeks after his business partner.

Three Massachusetts counties filed suit against the Mortgage Electronics Registration Systems Inc., alleging MERS had been unjustly enriched through the system They sought restitution or disgorgement of the benefits. MERS moved to dismiss the action for failure to state a claim. Read on to find what the Superior Court of Suffolk County had to say when the case went before it.

When a mortgage lender decided to make its licensed escrow agent ineligible to do business with it, the escrow agent sued the bank for intentional interference with contractual relations and prospective economic advantage, unfair business practices, defamation and RESPA violations. The court determined that there could be a viable contractual interference claim but found no viable RESPA violation.

The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued a long-awaited decision in the case of Carter v. Welles-Bowen, in which plaintiff homeowners allege they received title insurance services from sham affiliated businesses who provided few substantive services during the transaction, in violation of RESPA. The homeowners’ argument hinged on the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s 10-factor sham affiliated business test, which was previously held unconstitutionally vague by the U.S. District Court...

The New Year is approaching. Are you ready for 2014’s regulatory environment? The legal publications at October Research, LLC have teamed up to host a 90-minute federal regulatory outlook webinar for mortgage, title insurance and settlement services professionals. Regulatory Outlook 2014: Compliance, Enforcement and Pressure Points airs Tuesday, Dec. 10 at 2 p.m. ET. This in-depth training features two top compliance attorneys who will educate participants on significant regulations impacting the industr...

A couple who owned a now-defunct suburban title company, a disbarred attorney and an attorney are among nine defendants who have been indicted in two separate mortgage fraud cases, federal law enforcement officials announced. Seven defendants were charged together in one case, and two in the second case, together alleging schemes to fraudulently obtain at least four residential mortgage loans totaling more than $1 million from lenders.

A Pennsylvania man, formerly an attorney practicing in Boston, was convicted of mortgage fraud. The man, a former real estate closing attorney in Boston, participated in at least 13 fraudulent real estate transactions involving triple-decker apartment buildings. Read on for more details.