News By Edition

As part of its appropriations bill for fiscal year 2023, the Massachusetts General Court passed legislation allowing for the use of remote online notarization.

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network issued a Financial Trends Analysis on patterns and trends identified in Bank Secrecy Act data relating to business email compromise in the real estate sector in 2020 and 2021.

After damage to his basement required him to get permits to address the damage, the owner of property in New Canaan, Conn., discovered the basement and third floor had been constructed without properly obtaining a building permit. He sued the seller and his title insurer for failing to disclose the deficiency.

Fidelity National Financial entered into an agreement with New York Attorney General Letitia James to end no-poach agreements. It will also pay $3.5 million for having made these agreements.

Several senators wrote to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) to voice concerns over the proposed rule risks undermining the law to prevent abuse of U.S. incorporation laws by kleptocrats and criminals.

The Nevada Legislature is considering legislation that would prohibit title insurers, title agents, escrow officers and certain real estate professionals from engaging in certain conduct.

After the foreclosure of a homeowner’s association lien on property in Las Vegas, a lender filed suit against its title insurer for failure to provide coverage for the lien. The title insurer moved to dismiss the case.

The New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance issued Bulletin No. 23-03 Re: Title Search Business Entity Registration Pursuant to P.L.2021, c.371 in support of Daniel’s Law, outlining the procedure for title search business entities to register with the department and provide guidance to ensure compliance with the act by impacted persons and business entities.

When it went to foreclose on property Corbin, Ky., a lender discovered the legal description for the property was not correct. It sued the law firm that conducted the title examination and title report, and the court granted in part its motion for summary judgment and denied the law firm’s motion for summary judgment. The law firm moved for reconsideration.

The Nevada Legislature is considering legislation that would amend the way discriminatory restrictions or prohibitions from real property documents are handled. It would authorize certain persons to file a petition requesting that certain restrictions be redacted from an original written instrument relating to real property and requiring the county recorder to redact these restrictions or prohibitions from the original written instrument.

The California State Legislature is considering a bill that would require county recorders to establish a procedure that redacts personal identifying information from property records and only allow access to an unredacted property record in person at the office.

The Arkansas State Legislature introduced legislation that would allow title insurance agents, title insurers and title companies to pay real property taxes in conjunction with the issuance of a title insurance policy.

The California Privacy Protection Agency finalized its first substantive rulemaking package to further implement the California Consumer Privacy Act, which was approved by the California Office of Administrative Law.

The Colorado General Assembly passed legislation prohibiting the inclusion of certain terms in a broker engagement contract. The bill awaits the governor’s signature.

The owner of a Pennsylvania realty company pleaded guilty in federal court to charges of bank fraud and conspiracy.

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network published its first set of guidance to help the public, particularly small businesses, understand upcoming beneficial ownership information reporting requirements that take effect Jan. 1, 2024.

North Carolina Attorney General Josh Steins has become the latest attorney general to file a lawsuit against real estate brokerage firm MV Realty for allegedly violating the state’s laws prohibiting unfair and deceptive practices, usurious lending, abusive telephone solicitation practices, and unfair debt collection practices by having homeowners sign 40-year real estate agreements.

The Federal Trade Commission seeks comments on business practices of cloud computing providers that could impact competition and data security.