News By Edition

A title company which took over a development project from the former developer, was sued along with the city of San Bernardino, by a local HOA and others who argued that the proposed changes to the project violate the California Environmental Quality Act. Read on for more details.

The Nevada Commissioner of Insurance recently released a revised proposed regulation regarding the safeguarding of customer information. It would require licensees to implement customer information security programs, among other things. Read on for more details.

In a deal to sell an apartment building in Brooklyn, the buyer’s attorney gave the money it was holding in escrow until tenants in the building moved out to the buyer instead of the seller. The seller sued for breach of contract. Read on for more details.

During its legislative session, the Alabama Legislature enacted a bill that amends the foreclosure statute by changing the provision regarding the right-of-redemption period as well as the notice provision. Read on for more details.

Maine Gov. Paul LePage signed legislation designed to protect homeowners affected by tax lien foreclosure. Read on for more details.

A New Jersey man previously convicted in federal court in Massachusetts and incarcerated for masterminding a real estate fraud scheme, pleaded guilty in federal court in Providence, R.I., to charges that he again conspired to defraud financially distressed homeowners, investors, and financial institutions of fees, rental income, mortgage payment funds, property ownership and/or proceeds from the sale of their properties. Read on for more details.

The Sixth Appellate District Court of Appeal of California recently reversed a trial court decision in a class action suit that alleged that a national title insurer violated the state’s Unfair Competition Law by charging overnight mail delivery fees, courier fees and document preparation or “draw deed” fees that were not listed in the company’s rate schedule filed with the California Department of Insurance. Read on for more details.

Calif. Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation that would require supervised financial organizations that negotiate the modification of any of the terms of a loan or extension of credit secured by residential real property primarily in one of several languages and offers a final loan modification in writing, to deliver to the borrower, at the time of the final loan modification, a specified form summarizing the modified term in the same language as the negotiation. Read on for more details.

Modifications to the Connecticut foreclosure mediation statute, passed during the 2018 session, are set to go into effect Oct. 1. Read on for more details.

Three Massachusetts men were charged in federal court in Boston in connection with a 10-year mortgage fraud scheme involving at least two dozen fraudulent loan transactions and $4.3 million in losses to lenders. Read on for more details.

A Malibu, Calif., man was sentenced to more than seven years in prison and ordered to pay more than $3 million in restitution in restitution for his role in a fraudulent mortgage elimination scheme. Read on for more details.

When it sought to tear down a fence at the boundary between its property and the adjoining property, an insured property owner was denied the zoning permit because the adjoining property owner owned the portion of the fence that was on its side of the boundary. The property owner filed suit and both parties filed claims with their title insurer, which provided policies with both parties. It chose to defend the other insured and the property owner filed suit. Read on for more details.

Days after the House Financial Services Committee passed a companion bill, Sens. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and James Lankford (R-Okla.) introduced S. 3443, the Give Useful Information to Define Effective Compliance Act. The act is designed to enhance transparency and predictability to the rulemaking process of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Read on for more details.

California Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation that reinstates the state’s Homeowners Bill of Rights. Portions of the Homeowners Bill of Rights had been automatically repealed on Jan. 1, 2018. Read on for more details.

California Gov. Jerry Brown has signed legislation that exempts reverse mortgages from the state’s Survivors Bill of Rights (SBOR). The SBOR prohibits mortgage servicers, upon notification that a borrower has died by a person claiming to be a successor in interest, from recording a notice of default until the mortgage servicer gives an opportunity for the claimant to show that he or she is a successor in interest. Read on for more details.

A New York real estate broker and a Bergen County, N.J., homeowner were sentenced for their respective roles in a $3.5 million scheme to use false information and simultaneous loan applications at multiple banks to fraudulently obtain home equity lines of credit, a practice known as “shotgunning.” Read on for more details.

The final defendant in a high-profile north Texas “foreclosure rescue” case has been sentenced for his role in the scheme, which swindled nearly a quarter of a million dollars from at least 70 homeowners facing foreclosure. Read on for more details.

The House Financial Services Committee held a hearing on Sept. 13 to mark up several bills, including H.R. 6743, the Consumer Information Notification Requirement Act. Read on for more details.

The House Financial Services Committee passed H.R. 5534, the Give Useful Information to Define Effective Compliance Act (GUIDE Compliance Act) during a mark up hearing. The bill seeks to ensure that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has clearly defined procedures on how to issue guidance. Read on for more details.

After settling a lawsuit against his neighbor because his fence encroached on his property, the insured sought reimbursement of the cost of the suit from his title insurer. He filed suit against the insurer when the insurer didn’t reimburse him. The case eventually went to the Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District. Read on for more details.

Without his wife’s knowledge, an Alabama man obtained a reverse mortgage on their property, knowingly misstating that he was unmarried to avoid needing his wife’s signature. After he passed away, the reverse mortgage servicer began foreclosure proceedings against the property and the wife filed suit. Read on for more details.

An Arizona man was indicted on several felony counts for allegedly filing a series of forged lien release documents with the intent of freeing up equity in the homes he owned to take out new loans on those properties. Read on for more details.

CoreLogic’s latest Mortgage Fraud Report showed a 12.4 percent year-over-year increase in fraud risk at the end of the second quarter. Read on for more details.