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SEC investigating First American data exposure
Posted Date: Wednesday, August 14, 2019
The Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating the data exposure discovered at First American Financial Corp. An inquiry letter was provided to the real estate developer that initially discovered the exposure. Read on for more details.
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Good funds amendment now law in Illinois
Posted Date: Wednesday, August 14, 2019
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker signed legislation amending the Title Insurance Act to provide that an expansion of the definition of good funds. Read on for more details.
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Ohio department of insurance add new members
Posted Date: Wednesday, August 14, 2019
Ohio Insurance Director Jillian Froment announced the addition of three new members to the Ohio Department of Insurance senior team. All three bring significant experience to key positions at the department. Read on for more details.
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North Miami Beach man sentenced for fraud scheme
Posted Date: Wednesday, August 14, 2019
A North Miami Beach, Fla., man was sentenced to time in prison and ordered to pay more than $3 million in restitution to a mortgage fraud scheme targeting members of the Orthodox Jewish community in South Florida and New York. Read on for more details.
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Appellate court hears title-based non-compete suit
Posted Date: Monday, August 12, 2019
A North Carolina title company filed suit against its former employee and the title company she formed for breach of the non-compete agreement. The case eventually went before the Court of Appeals of North Carolina. Read on for more details.
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Court transfers First American data exposure case
Posted Date: Monday, August 12, 2019
A case filed against First American in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, regarding its recently discovered data exposure will be joining 18 others in the Central District of California. Read on for more details.
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Property owner sues title company over lake boundary issues
Posted Date: Monday, August 12, 2019
The purchaser of property on Lake Tahoe believed he had purchased a lackefront home. After discovering that Douglas County owned a strip of land separating the property from the shoreline, he filed a claim with his title insurer. The title insurer denied the claim and the property owner filed suit, alleging breach of contract and bad faith. Read on for more details.
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New York DFS announces executive appointments
Posted Date: Monday, August 12, 2019
New York Department of Financial Services (DFS) Superintendent Linda A. Lacewell announced new executive appointments to the External Affairs and Strategy team. Read on for more details.
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California man sentenced for foreclosure rescue scheme
Posted Date: Monday, August 12, 2019
A Vallejo, Calif., man was sentenced to time in prison for conspiracy to commit wire fraud in connection with a multi-million dollar mortgage and foreclosure rescue scheme. Read on for more details.
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New York court again annuls title insurance reg
Posted Date: Wednesday, August 7, 2019
On remand from the state’s Appellate Division, Justice Eileen Rakower again annulled title regulations set forth by the New York State Department of Financial Services. The New York State Land Title Association, along with two agencies, argued that the regulation’s provisions were arbitrary and capricious. Read on for Rakower’s reasoning for affirming her decision to annul the regulation.
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NAIC issues consumer wire fraud alert
Posted Date: Wednesday, August 7, 2019
The National Association of Insurance Commissioners recently issued a consumer alert warning against wire fraud, offering ways consumers can protect themselves. Read on for more details.
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Delaware Insurance Data Security Act signed into law
Posted Date: Wednesday, August 7, 2019
On July 31, 2019, Delaware Gov. John C. Carney, Jr., signed House Bill 174 into law. Titled the Delaware Insurance Data Security Act, this law is based on an NAIC Model Act, which establishes a comprehensive regulatory framework requiring insurers licensed to do business in Delaware to implement information security programs and report instances of data breaches. Read on for more details.
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NCUA issues BEC alert
Posted Date: Wednesday, August 7, 2019
The National Credit Union Association (NCUA) issued an alert to its members describing the increasing frequency and losses related to business email compromise fraud schemes. Read on for more details.
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Ocwen enters consent agreement over defective foreclosures
Posted Date: Wednesday, August 7, 2019
Ocwen Financial Corp. entered into a consent agreement with Maine’s Bureau of Consumer Credit Protection and the state’s attorney general, admitting that after July 2014, it pursued foreclosures against Maine homeowners using powers of attorney for mortgage originators that had been legally dissolved. Read on for more details.
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ALTA backs senators’ letter on wire fraud
Posted Date: Monday, August 5, 2019
The American Land Title Association said it stood behind a bipartisan group of senators who asked the Federal Reserve about its efforts to limit fraud and verify payee matching on wire payments. Read on for more.
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MBA offers Safeguards Rule suggestions
Posted Date: Monday, August 5, 2019
In the wake of the Capital One data breach which affected more than 100 million consumers, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) offered its thoughts to the Federal Trade Commission on proposed changes to the Safeguards Rule. Read on for highlights from MBA’s comment letter.
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Industry supports Texas paper out law
Posted Date: Monday, August 5, 2019
A bill to allow the recording by a county clerk of documents that are a tangible copy of an electronic record has been signed into law by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott. Read on for reaction from the Texas Land Title Association and NotaryCam founder and CEO Rick Triola.
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Report tackles legalities, issues around cyberinsurance
Posted Date: Monday, August 5, 2019
Where does a company’s cybersecurity coverage lie, and what kinds of risks are involved for companies issuing policies in the space? Those questions were among the insights tackled recently by Moody’s Investors Services in a report. Read on for details of cases in the court system today, and where your company might find its coverage, and limits, in your policies.
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NAIC revises reinsurance model law
Posted Date: Monday, August 5, 2019
The National Association of Insurance Commissioners approved revisions to the Credit for Reinsurance Model Law and Credit for Reinsurance Model Regulation earlier this summer in the hopes of harmonizing covered agreements with the European Union and United Kingdom. Read on for more details.
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NASS tabs new leaders at annual meeting
Posted Date: Monday, August 5, 2019
Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate was inducted as the 2019-2020 president of the National Association of Secretaries of State at its annual summer meeting last month. Read on for more about the newly installed leadership and highlights from the event.
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Connecticut latest to pass data security law
Posted Date: Monday, July 29, 2019
Connecticut has signed into law a new Insurance Data Security Law as part of the budget bill, a law which will impact carriers, producers and other businesses licensed by the Connecticut Insurance Department. The law will take effect Oct. 1, 2020. Read on for details of the new requirements.
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FTC extends privacy standards in Facebook action
Posted Date: Monday, July 29, 2019
Following a yearlong investigation by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the Department of Justice will file a complaint on behalf of the FTC, alleging that Facebook repeatedly used deceptive disclosures and settings to undermine users’ privacy preferences in violation of its 2012 FTC order.
Although the top general headline was the $5 billion fine issued to the company, the details of a 20-year settlement order issued to change the privacy culture at Facebook was just as notable. Read on for more.
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Couple pleads guilty in real estate fraud
Posted Date: Monday, July 29, 2019
A Minnesota real estate company, its owner and its accountant pleaded guilty in the U.S. District Court in St. Paul, Minn., for their participation in a long-running fraudulent bidding and kickback scheme in connection with foreclosed properties, the Department of Justice announced. Read on for more details.
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Florida votes to fire OFR commissioner
Posted Date: Monday, July 29, 2019
The Florida Cabinet voted to fire Office of Financial Regulation Commissioner Ronald Rubin. The move came after a report from the department’s inspector general that found 10 incidents of sexual harassment from Rubin. Read on for more details.
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Seventh Circuit addresses agency case against Indiana insurance commissioner
Posted Date: Wednesday, July 24, 2019
The Seventh U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals recently heard an Ohio-based title agency’s suit against Indiana Insurance Commissioner Stephen Robertson, alleging that the insurance department discriminated against the company because of its out-of-state residency. Read on for more details.
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Surveyors move to dismiss title company’s allegations of negligence
Posted Date: Wednesday, July 24, 2019
On remand, a title insurance company sued a surveying company for negligence in conducting surveys.
The surveying company moved to dismiss, saying the title company failed to sufficiently allege subrogration and that its tort claims fail under the economic loss doctrine.
Read on to see why the district court denied the motions to dismiss.
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Indiana DOI orders First American to pay $3 million
Posted Date: Wednesday, July 24, 2019
The Indiana Department of Insurance market conduct examination of First American Title Insurance Co. resulted in findings that some Indiana consumers were being overcharged for their title insurance from 2006-2008. As a result, IDOI Commissioner Stephen Robertson ordered First American to pay more than $3 million. Read on for more details.
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Illinois adds to list of authorized persons in Mortgage Act
Posted Date: Wednesday, July 24, 2019
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed into law a bill to amend the Mortgage Act to add “a person authorized by the mortgagor, grantor, heir, legal representative or assign” to the list of those who may request that the mortgagee of real property make, execute and deliver an instrument in writing releasing a mortgage or deed of trust, as well as other amendments. Read on for more details.
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NYDFS establishes innovation division
Posted Date: Wednesday, July 24, 2019
New York Department of Financial Services Superintendent Linda Lacewell announced the establishment of a new Research and Innovation Division, as well as leadership appointments for the new division. She said the new division will strengthen the department’s mission as technology transforms the regulatory landscape. Read on for more details.
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New York man sentenced for mortgage fraud scam
Posted Date: Wednesday, July 24, 2019
A Dix Hills, N.Y., man was sentenced to time in prison for scamming 32 homeowners out of more than $600,000 in a mortgage modification scheme. Read on for more details.
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Equifax data breach settlement illustrates need for security basics
Posted Date: Monday, July 22, 2019
The Federal Trade Commission, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Maryland Attorney General announced that Equifax agreed to pay up to $700 million as part of a global settlement with the federal regulators and all 50 states, which alleged that the credit reporting company’s failure to take reasonable steps to secure its network led to a data breach that affected 147 million people. In addition to the announcement of the settlement, the FTC published a blog post regarding the lessons businesses can learn from Equifax’s breach. Read on for more details.
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Maryland rescinds licensing application process
Posted Date: Monday, July 22, 2019
The Maryland Insurance Administration issued Bulletin 19-13 on July 19, rescinding Bulletin 13-17 regarding the title insurance licensing application and approval process. Read on for more details.
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Couple seeks remand after insurers decline defense
Posted Date: Monday, July 22, 2019
In a dispute over property boundaries and harm to mature trees near the boundary between properties, a couple in Washington moved to remand their case against their homeowners’ insurance and title insurance providers, who did not agree to defend both of the couple in the property dispute action.
The district court in Washington examined whether the amount in controversy exceeded the jurisdictional requirement of $75,000.
Read on for more details from the court’s analysis.
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Nevada escrow licensure regulation now in effect
Posted Date: Monday, July 22, 2019
A regulation from the commissioner of mortgage lending relating to the requirements for licensure by endorsement as an escrow agent or agency is now in effect. Read on for more details.
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New York man sentenced for wire fraud conspiracy
Posted Date: Monday, July 22, 2019
A New York man who was convicted of conspiring to commit mail and wire fraud affecting a financial institution was sentenced for the fraud. Read on for more details.
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