News By Edition

While the federal eSIGN legislation was passed 20 years ago and the industry has made significant strides toward completely paperless transactions in the intervening years, some hurdles remain in the way of fully electronic transactions. But what are those hurdles and how can they be overcome?

A buyer purchased property through a trustee’s sale that was previously owned by an attorney who had deeded the property to someone else. The property was subject to a receivership when the buyer purchased it, and the buyer moved the court to direct the receiver to turn over possession and control of the property. The trial court ordered the turnover and the attorney appealed.

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners Title Insurance Task Force has proposed its 2022 charges.

The former president of First Mortgage Co. was sentenced to time in prison for defrauding banks, Fannie Mae, homeowners and others through a broad range of fraudulent conduct. He also was ordered to pay approximately $51.8 million in restitution to the victims of his scheme.

MISMO is seeking participants for a new initiative focused on standardizing pre-closing document datasets in order to streamline the business process and improve efficiency.

Wisconsin Insurance Commissioner Mark Afable is leaving his position and retiring from public service.

Two people have been indicted on federal charges stemming from a scheme in which they allegedly used fraudulent property deeds to steal residential real estate property in the District of Columbia. The indictment alleges the scheme generated more than $500,000 in illegal proceeds.

A former Richmond, Va., attorney was sentenced to time in prison and ordered to pay $10,000 for obstructing an official proceeding in connection with his attempts to thwart an investigation into his own fraudulent conduct as bankruptcy trustee for LandAmerica Financial Group.

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) issued a cybersecurity reminder for public and private sector organizations to remain vigilant and take appropriate precautions to reduce their risk to ransomware and other cyberattacks during the holiday season.

Ginnie Mae issued All Participant Memorandum (APM) 21-07, permitting the use of electronic signatures and remote online notarization for loan modifications on paper mortgages.

The Wyoming Department of Insurance issued a bulletin warning of a fraud scam targeting insurance licensees.

The Texas Department of Insurance named a new associate commissioner for the Customer Operations Division.

At a previous employer, an attorney was involved in a transaction where the seller was hacked and the seller’s proceeds were wired to a fraudulent account. The sellers filed suit and a complaint with the Maryland Insurance Administration (MIA). The suit was settled but the MIA complaint went forward and the attorney, and his previous employer were ordered to make an additional payment to the seller. The attorney started his own title agency, but claimed his company’s producer license was held up because the previous employer did not make the payment. The case eventually went to the Court of Special Appeals of Maryland.

The Federal Reserve Board, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency approved a final rule to improve the sharing of information about cyber incidents that may affect the U.S. banking system. It requires banking organizations to notify their primary federal regulator of any significant computer-security incident within 36 hours of discovering the incident.

The Washington Office of the Insurance Commissioner adopted a rule requiring title agents to submit proof of ownership or leasing rights to the tract indexes for the counties they apply to operate in on the initial declaration of title insurance agent form. It also will require title agents to report any expansions of business into additional counties.

When the lender issued a loan to purchase certain property in California, it was aware of assessments by the Rosamond Community Services District 1993-1 (RCSD), but ordered that all taxes be paid. The assessments were not and the RCSD eventually notified the lender of the assessments and its desire to take action to collect on them. The lender sought coverage from the title insurer, which denied coverage. The lender then filed suit against the title insurer.

The Alaska Division of Insurance issued Bulletin B 21-07, regarding changes in licensing processes and fees. It stated this is part of a continuing effort to update requirements that bring Alaska into greater conformity with national licensing standards and streamline processes to be more efficient.

A former Realtor and longtime fugitive was sentenced to 48 months in federal prison for scheming to defraud distressed homeowners out of nearly $4 million by falsely promising them help with their mortgages, but instead pocketing their money, causing many victims to lose their homes.

A man and his wife sued their title insurer, alleging the company had unlawfully charged them unfiled rates for certain escrow services. The case has been heard by several California courts and was most recently heard by the Court of Appeal of California, Sixth Appellate District.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom recently signed legislation making void and unenforceable CC&Rs restricting certain floor area ratios and regulating local agency adoption.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced the creation of a Housing Strike Force within the California Department of Justice (DOJ) and the convening of a series of tenant roundtables. Bonta also launched a housing portal on DOJ’s website with resources and information for California homeowners and tenants.

Gov. Gavin Newsom appointed a new commissioner of the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation. The new commissioner will take over for Acting Commissioner Christopher Shultz.

A Raleigh, N.C., man was sentenced to ten years in prison on charges of wire fraud, and possession of a firearm by a felon. The defendant was also ordered to serve three years of supervised release and to pay restitution to victims totaling more than $1.77 million.

New Jersey fraudsters were sentenced to prison terms for their roles in a mortgage-fraud scheme.