Industry News

The Escrow Institute of California (EIC), the professional trade association for the California licensed escrow settlement service providers, released a statement from President Nancy Silberberg in response to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Richard Cordray’s speech at the Brookings Institution on Jan. 13.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Maryland Attorney General announced actions against Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase for engaging in illegal marketing services with a now-defunct title company, Genuine Title. In addition to the banks, the bureau and Maryland took action against a former Wells Fargo employee and his wife for their involvement. In all, the penalties for the enforcement total more than $35 million.

The buzzword around the industry for the last few years has been lender liability. What does that mean, however? What areas lenders are concerned about and what can agents do to alleviate those concerns?

Over the last few years, the term lender liability has been floated around frequently among members of the title industry. Lenders are under immense scrutiny, while at the same time trying to implement policies and procedures to comply with an ever-changing regulatory landscape. It can be unclear what is expected of title agents who want to continue to receive business from their lender clients. During a session at the Louisiana Land Title Association’s annual convention, Marx Sterbcow, managing attorney at the Sterbcow Law Group, and Charles Cain, senior vice president and agency manager for the Midwest region at WFG National Title Insurance Co., provided some insight into why lenders are concerned about their liability.

I think it’s safe to say that state legislators and regulators are back to work.

Over the last few years, the term lender liability has been floated around frequently among members of the title industry. Lenders are under immense scrutiny, while at the same time trying to implement policies and procedures to comply with an ever-changing regulatory landscape. It can be unclear what is expected of title agents who want to continue to receive business from their lender clients. During a session at the Louisiana Land Title Association’s annual convention, Marx Sterbcow, managing attorney at the Sterbcow Law Group, and Charles Cain, senior vice president and agency manager for the Midwest region at WFG National Title Insurance Co., provided some insight into why lenders are concerned about their liability, what areas they are concerned about and what agents can do to alleviate those concerns.

A lot of new regulations and business practices have come at the entire real estate industry in the last few years. Everyone has had to adjust to different economic practices and new regulatory scrutiny. None have been impacted more than the lending community. After all these changes, a new, dramatic shift in how the real estate business is done is again on the horizon with the implementation of the integrated mortgage disclosure rules. Again, the biggest impact is beginning to be felt on the lending community as they attempt to address many business decisions while the rest of the industry waits for their decisions to be made.

This year, perhaps more than others, will be a year of new. Many are telling me that the industry will look dramatically different after Aug. 1. With new forms, the policies and procedures to go with them, and the costs associated with all of it, some may exit the industry, like we saw after the 2010 changes.

Faced with the growing prospect of super-priority liens relegating Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans or guarantees to second-lien status, the Federal Housing Finance Agency came out with a strong warning to the industry that it would not sit by and watch as government-sponsored entities are relegated from first-lien status. Read on for the details.

 

The prosecutor’s office in Morris County, New Jersey, is warning settlement services professionals about a real estate closing scheme that involves emailed wiring instructions for banking transactions.