Industry News

Real estate transactions in Baltimore, which had come to a halt after the city’s systems were hit by ransomware on May 7, were set to begin again on May 20, thanks to a manual workaround developed by the city. Mayor Bernard C. “Jack” Young announced the workaround, as well as a general update on Baltimore’s technology outage. Read on for more details.

The City of Baltimore experienced a ransomware attack May 7, with systems expected to remain down for at least another week. This has caused havoc in the liens office and caused underwriters to prohibit agents from issuing title policies, suspending closings on city property. Read on for more details.

The American Land Title Association announced it has named a new CEO who will start July 1. Read on for more about the new hire.

Maria T. Vullo, former superintendent of the New York State Department of Financial Services, has joined the FinTech Innovation Lab New York as a regulator-in-residence. Read on for more details.

The Property Records Industry Association (PRIA) has approved and published a paper on Land Records Management Systems (LRMS) best practices. This publication, four years in development, is intended to help recorders evaluate their current LRMS, prepare an RFP for a new system and for LRMS vendors to understand the full scope of the recorders’ needs. Read on for more details.

How do title agencies market their companies to create new relationships to maintain their current level of business or spur growth? That’s one of the topics to be discussed during the National Settlement Services Summit (NS3) June 18-20 in Phoenix in a session featuring Rich Griffin, vice president, national sales manager of North American Title Insurance Co.; and James Schlimmer, managing partner of Cottrell Title & Escrow. Read on for more details about that and the other sales and marketing focused sessions on stage at NS3.

With reports of major companies’ abuse of personal information coming out constantly, and new laws emerging around the world and in various states, it’s important for those involved in the land records and real estate transfer industries to understand how these issues could impact how they operate. During the Property Records Industry Association’s Winter Symposium in Greenville, S.C. on Feb. 28, industry experts shared about land records history with data privacy, the potential impact of current laws on the books and the possible future of data privacy.

Missouri Republican Senator Josh Hawley wrote a letter to Joseph Simons, chairman of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), urging the FTC to do more to protect consumers’ data privacy and inform Congress of any gaps in its authority. Read on for more details.

Just weeks after leaving office, former New York State Department of Financial Services (NYSDFS) superintendent Maria Vullo wrote an op-ed in Crain’s New York Business, saying a bill being considered in the New York State Assembly essentially would legalize bribery by New York title insurers. Assembly member Kevin Cahill, chairman of the Assembly Standing Committee on Insurance, wrote a letter to the editor of Crain’s New York Business, calling Vullo’s attach out of line and promising the legislators have homebuyers’ interest in mind. Read on for more from these dueling op-eds.

Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont announced that he is nominating a seasoned professional with extensive insurance, regulatory, media, government and community relations experience as the next commissioner of the Connecticut Insurance Department.