News By Edition

Ten months after Rohit Chopra was nominated to lead the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Senate confirmed his appointment 50-48. Now that he is taking his position, what can we expect from the CFPB under Director Chopra?

A real estate agent and her agency filed suit against their insurer, challenging its denial of defense in a suit against the agency after their clients were the victims of wire fraud.

Several industry associations, including the American Escrow Association, American Land Title Association, National Association of Realtors, and the New York State Land Title Association, wrote to the chair and ranking member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, urging Congress to pass national privacy legislation.

The Wisconsin Office of the Commissioner of Insurance issued a bulletin to all licensees, ensuring they are aware of the state’s new insurance data security law, which requires them to develop and maintain information security programs, promptly investigate cybersecurity events, and notify OCI and consumers when a breach has occurred.

The Washington Office of the Insurance Commissioner issued proposed rulemaking to add regulations for title agents to submit proof of ownership or leasing rights to the tract indexes for counties they apply to operate in on the initial declaration of title agent form.

In a post on its blog, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced the deadline to request initial forbearance for HUD/FHA, USDA or VA backed loans has been extended until the national emergency ends.

The North Carolina General Assembly is considering legislation that would allow remote electronic notarization.

Several industry associations, including the American Land Title Association, Mortgage Bankers Association and National Association of Realtors, sent a letter to Congressional leadership urging them to raise the statutory debt limit.

Several LLCs formed to purchase investment rental property sued the title company that conducted the transactions, claiming the company aided and abetted fraud by failing to prevent the company managing the transactions false statements and misappropriation of funds.

In a decade long foreclosure action, the purchaser of the property at a homeowners association foreclosure sale argued the bank that held the superior lien on the property had no standing to foreclose. The case was bounced between Florida trial and appellate courts.

A federal grand jury has returned an indictment charging two people from Brandywine, Md., with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud, the substantive charge of bank fraud, false statement in a passport application, and aggravated identity theft.

The Kansas Insurance Department announced digital fingerprinting services are available at testing centers for insurance agent applicants.

The General Court of New Hampshire adopted legislation that, among other things adopts the revised uniform law on notarial acts and the uniform real property electronic recording act. The majority of these provisions will go into effect Feb. 6, 2022.

The California Privacy Protection Agency invited preliminary comments on proposed rulemaking under the California Privacy Rights Act of 2020. Voters approved Proposition 24 in November 2020.

A New York state court addressed whether a title insurer was obligated to inform its agent of a title claim arising from a title policy it issued. Nor did the insurer have to seek its agent’s consent before settling.

As part of a settlement agreement, a plaintiff opened an escrow with a local title company to handle the transfer of real property and payment of settlement funds. It later filed suit against that company, arguing it breached the title policy by failing to resolve all title defects and not filing certain documents with the Nevada State Water Engineer.

The Maryland Insurance Administration announced effective Oct. 21, 2021, all state licensing examinations will be administered in one part which will cover both state and general content, rather than two parts. The current two-part licensing exams will no longer be offered after Oct. 13, 2021.

West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice appointed a new insurance commissioner. The former commissioner announced his resignation Sept. 3.