The Securities and Exchange Commission sanctioned eight firms in three actions for failures in their cybersecurity policies and procedures that resulted in email account takeovers exposing the personal information of thousands of customers and clients.

The California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation will require licensees handling residential mortgages to provide information about the actions they are taking to help homeowners avoid foreclosure in an effort to avoid a repeat of the 2008 foreclosure crisis.

A Portland, Ore., man pleaded guilty to perpetrating a bank fraud scheme whereby he used a residential property he did not own as collateral for obtaining a bank loan worth more than $316,000.

A commercial real estate developer and its title insurers disputed whether the insurers are obligated to indemnify the developer for losses it claimed from a title defect affecting 2.36 acres of an approximately 60-acre site in Yonkers, N.Y. The developer filed suit, asserting a claim for breach of contract and the parties filed cross-motions for summary judgment.

New York Attorney General Letitia James reached an agreement with Old Republic National Title Insurance Co. to end the company’s use of no-poach agreements. Under the terms of the agreement, Old Republic will pay New York state $1 million, terminate any existing no-poach agreements, and cooperate with James’ ongoing investigations into no-poach agreements in the title insurance industry. Read on for more about the agreement.

Several industry associations, including the American Land Title Association, National Association of Realtors, and the Mortgage Bankers Association, wrote to the leaders of the House Ways and Means Committee and Senate Finance Committee regarding the provision in the budget reconciliation legislation to create new restrictions on Section 1031 of the tax code.

On Aug. 23, the U.S. Secret Service Global Investigative Operations Center thwarted a real estate related business email compromise attempt to defraud a purchaser out of more than $21 million.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott appointed Cassie Brown as the commissioner of insurance for a term set to expire on Feb. 1, 2023. She takes the role left vacant for a year after Kent Sullivan resigned to return to the private sector.

A Bergen County, N.J., man was sentenced to time in prison for his role in a scheme to defraud financial institutions of hundreds of thousands of dollars.