The Ohio General Assembly is considering a bill that would require counties to provide an electronic means of recording instruments and accessing recording instruments. It also would allow recorders to charge a document preservation surcharge. Read on for more details.

The New Jersey Legislature has amended a bill to prohibit deeds recorded after Jan. 1, 2021, from including a restrictive covenant regarding the ownership or use of real property. The current bill would allow owners of real property to release restrictive covenants by recording a certificate of release of certain prohibited covenants. The amendments would require homeowners’ associations, cooperative corporations, condominium associations and planned communities to review their governing documents to determine whether those documents contain restrictive covenants and amend those documents if requested. Read on for more details.

In a bulletin to insurance license registrants, the Wisconsin Officer of the Commissioner of Insurance said it is adopting electronic license/registration renewal notifications as of Feb. 1, 2021. Read on for more details.

A title agent sued its errors and omissions insurer for losses relating to an email spoofing scheme in which the agent was tricked into sending real estate loan proceeds to a fraudulent account. Read on to find out how a federal district court ruled on the parties’ cross motions for summary judgment.

An errors and omissions insurance provider filed suit seeking a declaration that it does not owe a duty to defend or indemnify a title agency in a pending putative class action. The underlying action alleges that the title agency improperly charged a buyer, and perhaps thousands of others, a closing fee that was supposed to be paid by the seller. Read on for more details.

The American Land Title Association and a coalition of associations representing banks, credit unions, financial institutions, nonprofits and businesses of all sizes sent a letter to Congress requesting they pass legislation to streamline Paycheck Protection Program forgiveness for small businesses. Read on for more details.

The Property Records Industry Association published a paper titled Electronic Notary: How Does It Impact Recording?, regarding the legal foundations of eNotarizations as well as its impact on recording. Read on for more details.

The Kentucky Department of Insurance reminded the insurance industry that it is subject to the mandate in the governor’s Executive Order 2020-968 that all professional services and other office-based businesses mandate all employees that are able to work from home do so and close their businesses to the public when possible. Read on for more details.

Nine individuals have been arrested an arraigned on 136 felony counts for allegedly operating an advance fee mortgage relief scam that claimed to prevent the foreclosure of properties throughout Southern California. The alleged scheme impacted multiple victims, resulted in a loss of approximately $6 million and affected more than 200 properties. Read on for more details.