News By Edition

Proposed Colorado Privacy Act rules were published in the Colorado Register and on the Colorado Secretary of State’s website, drafted according to statute by the Colorado Attorney General’s Office. The Colorado Privacy Act protects state residents’ privacy in part by granting them rights to access the data that companies have collected about them and to dictate whether and how companies can continue to collect, store, use or sell their personal information.

An insured that purchased property in Vancouver, Wash., to turn into a used car lot sued its title insurer. It claimed the title insurer was liable for the insured’s losses after discovering that a third party might own a section of the property the insured claimed was critical to its use of the property.

The Federal Trade Commission and state of California are taking action against home improvement financing provider Ygrene Energy Fund Inc. for deceiving consumers about the potential financial impact of its financing and for unfairly recording liens on consumers’ homes without their consent.

FundingShield’s Third Quarter 2022 Fraud Analytics showed that wire and title fraud reached a new record in the third quarter with 47.9 percent of transactions having at least one risk issue.

Six Clerks of Court in northeast Florida have joined forces to urge property owners in Baker, Clay, Duval, Nassau, Putnam and St. Johns counties to proactively protect themselves against scammers who would steal their homes, vacant land or business property through fraudulent deeds or other official records.

A Belgian and Lebanese national holding an Illinois law license was sentenced for his role in a scheme to defraud victims in multiple states, many of whom thought they were closing real estate transactions or sending money to romantic partners.

As cybersecurity month ended, Troy Downing, commissioner of securities and insurance, Office of the Montana State Auditor, warned that surge of Russian, Chinese, North Korean, and non-state actors committing cyberattacks against businesses, small and large, is resulting in dramatic premium increases for cybersecurity insurance.

A lender filed suit after its title insurer denied its claim, arguing that when a substitute trustee’s deed only described part of a tract, it created a title discrepancy it argued is covered by its title policy. The title insurer disagreed, arguing that the deed the substitute trustee’s deed is connected to was never valid, and thus there was no title defect.

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network announced the renewal and expansion of its Geographic Targeting Orders that require U.S. title insurance companies to identify the natural persons behind shell companies used in non-financed purchases of residential real estate.

: The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau outlined options to strengthen consumers’ access to, and control over, their financial data as a first step before issuing a proposed data rights rule that would implement section 1033 of the Dodd-Frank Act.

A title company moved to dismiss a lender’s claim for declaratory relief, breach of contract, and bad faith in addressing a homeowners association coverage dismiss, arguing that the lender did not timely notify the title insurer of its claim, thereby prejudicing the title insurer.

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) released its cyber insurance report, utilizing data found within the cyber supplement, as well as alien surplus lines data collected through the NAIC’s International Insurance Department. The 2021 data shows a cybersecurity insurance market of roughly $6.5 billion, reflecting an increase of 61 percent from the prior year.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security released Cybersecurity Performance Goals, voluntary practices that outline the highest-priority baseline measures businesses and critical infrastructure owners of all sizes can take to protect themselves against cyber threats.

U.S. Representative Emanuel Cleaver, II (D-Mo.), chair of the Financial Services Subcommittee on Housing, Community Development, and Insurance, along with Rep. Dwight Evans (D-Pa.), introduced H.R. 9192, the Good Documentation and Enforcement of Estate Deeds (Good DEED) Act.

Congressman Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-Mo.), the top Republican on the Subcommittee on Consumer Protection and Financial Institutions and Congressman Brad Sherman (D-Calif.), the top Democrat on the Subcommittee on Investor Protection, Entrepreneurship and Capital Markets, sent a letter to the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) regarding their concerns with title insurance alternatives.

A Salem, Mass., real estate developer was sentenced to four years in prison in connection with a decade-long mortgage-fraud scheme involving at least two dozen loan transactions, totaling $6.5 million, that resulted in more than $3.8 million in losses to lenders.

Zettaset, a provider of data protection solutions, in partnership with MeriTalk, a government IT news provider, released research findings that explore data protection utilization, best practices and challenges in the federal space.

As part of Cybersecurity Awareness Month, the Michigan Department of Insurance and Financial Services (DIFS) held a virtual cybersecurity event with more than 210 industry professionals in attendance.