Industry News

After the passage of SB 1110 earlier this year required county recorders in Arizona to provide a system for notifying people when any document is recorded in which the person is a named party to the instrument, several counties have begun rolling out their alert systems.

One of the fastest-growing real estate cyber fraud schemes in 2023 is seller impersonation fraud, where someone finds a vacant or non-owner-occupied property and attempts to impersonate the property owner and sell the property. Using public records, business email compromise and good old-fashioned persistence, these fraudsters try to trick the Realtor, title company and buyer into thinking they are the real owner of the property and can sell the property, all before the real owner gets wind that their property is being sold. You can be part of stopping this crime in its tracks.

Several U.S. senators sent a letter to MV Realty, a Florida-based real estate company, on accusations of predatory business practices. The letter seeks information about MV Realty’s “Homeowner Benefit Program”, which court documents have alleged misleads and unfairly targets consumers.

Several associations, including the Mortgage Bankers Association, National Association of Realtors and National Association of Home Builders, wrote to Congressional leadership to urge them to extend the National Flood Insurance Program before its Sept. 30 expiration.

MISMO published a new set of enhanced work products designed to create a standardized exchange for closing instructions information. The templates have reached “Candidate Recommendation” status, which means that they have been thoroughly reviewed by a wide range of organizations and industry participants and are available for use across the industry.

October Research announces that 25-year title and settlement services industry veteran Mary Schuster has joined the company as Chief Knowledge Officer. “Stay tuned for some exciting new developments we will be rolling out to assist our partners in the real estate transaction,” CEO and Publisher Erica Meyer said in the announcement. Read on for more.

A coalition of 13 associations, including the Mortgage Bankers Association, American Bankers Association, and National Fair Housing Alliance, wrote to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in support of the bureau’s proposed rule applying Regulation Z to residential Property Assessed Clean Energy Loans.

The Property Records Industry Association’s Board of Directors approved the release of the Property Recording Alert Systems paper for a 30-day comment period. The paper is designed to help recorders increase awareness of deed fraud and help constituents monitor activity on their property.

During the National Settlement Services Summit, four state regulators spoke about their efforts to work with industry members to educate consumers and each other on ways combat fraud and tackle other challenges being faced today. Regulators have been increasing efforts to educate consumers on what title insurance is, how it helps them, and what it covers.

While we have heard much about what Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and others will purchase, less is known about where or how attorney opinion letters (AOLs) are being used, who is providing them and who is using them.

Several companies have begun providing AOLs, particularly since Fannie Mae’s April 2022 announcement. Among them are Voxtur Analytics Corp., SingleSource Property Solutions, United Wholesale Mortgage and iTitleTransfer LLC.

Shortly after Fannie Mae’s announcement, Voxtur issued a release about its attorney opinion letter program.

“Voxtur AOL provides an attorney’s opinion of title backed by transactional liability insurance that follows the loan into the secondary market and is issued by AM Best A Rated carriers,” the release states. “Provided in partnership with established real estate law firms in the industry, this product allows lenders to offer a low-risk alternative to title insurance that supports Fannie Mae’s housing goals.”

The program was initially offered in select states through strategic partnerships with lenders and service providers. By September 2022, the company announced it rolled out its AOL program with multiple lenders and was available nationwide.

For the rest of this story, and all the stories included in the free Investigating Title Insurance Alternatives special report, click here.