Regulatory Updates

Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte has levied accusations of mortgage fraud against New York State Attorney General Letita James in a letter submitted to the Department of Justice.

Following the passage of a state senate bill implementing new pre-licensing and continuing education requirements for insurance producers, the Pennsylvania Insurance Department has updated its statutes to reflect the new law.

The Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance advised insurance entities in the state to issue attorney opinion letters in lieu of title insurance cautiously, as under current state law, the letters cannot offer the same types of protections as a title insurance policy.

Shortly after a federal court partially lifted a court order preventing mass firings at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Trump administration resumed its plans to gut the agency, prompting the courts to intervene again.

The Massachusetts Department of Revenue has proposed a new rule requiring taxes to be withheld on non-resident sellers’ capital gains from Massachusetts real estate sales of $1 million or more.

The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals partially stayed a preliminary injunction against the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and ordered the agency to fulfill its statutory functions. The district court that imposed the injunction in March intervened again in response to a reduction in force directive by the bureau following the appeals court’s ruling.

The U.S. Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network has again renewed geographic targeting orders requiring title insurance companies to identify the individuals behind shell companies involved in non-financed purchases of residential real estate.

The Government Accountability Office published a list of recommendations for how three federal agencies tasked with identifying and preventing scammers from harming consumers, companies and national security can better collaborate to accomplish certain shared objectives.

A federal judge issued a preliminary injunction against the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and Trump administration officials, ruling that recent staff cuts and other actions were part of an unlawful attempt to eliminate the CFPB, as argued by the union representing agency employees.

A state senate bill to modernize North Dakota’s insurance oversight laws has been enacted, requiring insurance producers in the state to maintain email accounts specifically for regulatory purposes, among other provisions.