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Court determines whether non-signatory escrow agent can compel arbitration
Posted Date: Monday, September 20, 2021
A federal court heard a title company and its escrow agent’s motion to reconsider its order granting the company’s motion to compel arbitration, but not the agent’s motion to compel arbitration because the agent was not a party to the policy itself.
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Parties dispute damages in fraud scheme
Posted Date: Wednesday, September 22, 2021
After a fraudster was convicted and ordered to pay more than $300,000 in victim restitution, a victim of the scheme filed a civil action and obtained a judgment. The fraudster appealed, bringing the case before the First District Court of Appeal of California.
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Borrower appeals decision in wrongful foreclosure case
Posted Date: Wednesday, September 22, 2021
A borrower appealed a judgment sustaining the demurrer of lenders to her fourth amended complaint. The complaint alleges the lenders wrongfully foreclosed on her property because the promissory note had been transferred to Fannie Mae, purportedly leaving the lenders with no interest in the property.
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Treasury announces actions to counter ransomware
Posted Date: Wednesday, September 22, 2021
As part of the whole-of-government effort to counter ransomware, the U.S. Department of the Treasury announced a set of actions focused on disrupting criminal networks and virtual currency exchanges responsible for laundering ransoms, encouraging improved cybersecurity across the private sector, and increasing incident and ransomware payment reporting to U.S. government agencies, including both Treasury and law enforcement.
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Insureds sues insurer over declaration limiting use
Posted Date: Wednesday, September 22, 2021
Insureds filed suit against their title insurer, seeking to recover under their title policy issued prior to purchase of property to be utilized as a golf course. They alleged the title report prepared on the property did not list the declaration limiting residential development.
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Parties dispute loan to defendant’s husband
Posted Date: Monday, September 20, 2021
The First District Court of Appeal of California recently heard a case involving a dispute regarding a loan signed by the defendant’s deceased husband and secured by a deed of trust to the home. The trial court granted summary judgment against the lender on the ground that a three-year statute of limitation barred its suit.
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Sisters dispute partition of property
Posted Date: Monday, September 20, 2021
Two sisters spent the last years of their lives in litigation over property in Pope County, Ark., regarding a dispute over how to divide the property. The case continued after their deaths.
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PRIA elects officers and directors
Posted Date: Monday, September 20, 2021
During its August 30-September 2 annual conference in Milwaukee, Wis., the Property Records Industry Association (PRIA) elected seven directors in three categories to serve two-year terms on its board of directors.
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Lender seeks dismissal of RICO claims in kickback class action
Posted Date: Wednesday, September 15, 2021
Mortgagors filed suit against their lender alleging a scheme in which the lender received illegal kickbacks in exchange for the assignment of business to a settlement services company. The mortgagors raised claims for violations of RESPA and the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act. The lender sought to dismiss the RICO claim.
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Associations urge extension of National Flood Insurance Program
Posted Date: Wednesday, September 15, 2021
Several industry associations, including the American Land Title Association, the Mortgage Bankers Association and the National Association of Realtors, wrote to congressional leaders urging them to extend the National Flood Insurance Program, which is set to expire on Sept. 30, 2021.
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SEC charges firms with deficient cybersecurity procedures
Posted Date: Wednesday, September 15, 2021
The Securities and Exchange Commission sanctioned eight firms in three actions for failures in their cybersecurity policies and procedures that resulted in email account takeovers exposing the personal information of thousands of customers and clients.
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California DFPI issues reporting requirements to avoid foreclosure crisis
Posted Date: Wednesday, September 15, 2021
The California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation will require licensees handling residential mortgages to provide information about the actions they are taking to help homeowners avoid foreclosure in an effort to avoid a repeat of the 2008 foreclosure crisis.
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Portland man pleads guilty to bank fraud
Posted Date: Wednesday, September 15, 2021
A Portland, Ore., man pleaded guilty to perpetrating a bank fraud scheme whereby he used a residential property he did not own as collateral for obtaining a bank loan worth more than $316,000.
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Developer, insurers dispute obligation to indemnify
Posted Date: Monday, September 13, 2021
A commercial real estate developer and its title insurers disputed whether the insurers are obligated to indemnify the developer for losses it claimed from a title defect affecting 2.36 acres of an approximately 60-acre site in Yonkers, N.Y. The developer filed suit, asserting a claim for breach of contract and the parties filed cross-motions for summary judgment.
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New York AG, Old Republic reach agreement on no-poach agreements
Posted Date: Monday, September 13, 2021
New York Attorney General Letitia James reached an agreement with Old Republic National Title Insurance Co. to end the company’s use of no-poach agreements.
Under the terms of the agreement, Old Republic will pay New York state $1 million, terminate any existing no-poach agreements, and cooperate with James’ ongoing investigations into no-poach agreements in the title insurance industry.
Read on for more about the agreement.
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Associations share concerns regarding 1031 exchange changes
Posted Date: Monday, September 13, 2021
Several industry associations, including the American Land Title Association, National Association of Realtors, and the Mortgage Bankers Association, wrote to the leaders of the House Ways and Means Committee and Senate Finance Committee regarding the provision in the budget reconciliation legislation to create new restrictions on Section 1031 of the tax code.
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Texas governor appoints new insurance commissioner
Posted Date: Monday, September 13, 2021
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott appointed Cassie Brown as the commissioner of insurance for a term set to expire on Feb. 1, 2023. She takes the role left vacant for a year after Kent Sullivan resigned to return to the private sector.
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New Jersey man sentenced for fraud scheme
Posted Date: Monday, September 13, 2021
A Bergen County, N.J., man was sentenced to time in prison for his role in a scheme to defraud financial institutions of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
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