News By Edition

The Third Appellate District Court of Appeals of Ohio reversed a lower court ruling in a case brought by a homebuyer who had sent money to scammers instead of an escrow agent after receiving fraudulent wire instructions. It said the lower court was wrong to dismiss the breach of contract and breach of fiduciary duty claims against the escrow agent because genuine issues of material fact remain as to whether an implied agreement for escrow services exists.

A coalition of numerous state and federal trade associations, underwriters and others wrote to U.S Sens. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) and Mark Warner (D-Va.) to voice their support for S. 1212, the Securing and Enabling Commerce Using Remote and Electronic Notarization Act (SECURE Notarization Act).

Property owners on adjacent lots sued their title insurer for failing to indemnify them in separate actions regarding the use of each property.

MISMO is seeking public comment on a new set of enhanced work products, created by the Closing Instructions Development Workgroup (DWG), that are designed to create a common format for closing instructions.

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee signed legislation that prohibits certain foreign ownership of real property in the state by nonresident aliens and foreign entities if certain conditions are met. The bill goes into effect July 1.

The Colorado Division of Real Estate issued a Broker Practice Advisory on fraudulent sellers.

During the 19th annual National Settlement Services Summit (NS3) in St. Louis, June 6-8, Ruth Dillingham, owner, Dillingham Consulting LLC, and a representative of the MISMO Title and Closing Community of Practice, will share about new initiatives MISMO is engaged in that will make a difference in the working relationship between and among mortgage and title professionals.

New York Department of Financial Services Superintendent Adrienne Harris announced OneMain Financial Group LLC will pay a $4.25 million penalty to New York state for violations of the department’s cybersecurity regulation. OneMain failed to effectively manage third-party service provider risk, manage access privileges, and maintain a formal application security development methodology, significantly increasing the company’s vulnerability to cybersecurity events.

The Connecticut General Assembly is considering legislation to establish a task force to study the online recording, indexing and searching of municipal land records and maps.

The Colorado Division of Real Estate issued a broker advisory addressing questions and concerns from real estate brokers and financial institutions regarding the requirements for engaging in property management or holding money belonging to others to establish a trust or escrow account.

A former Hudson County, N.J., Sheriff’s Officer admitted conspiring to make false statements to a bank in connection with an application to discharge a mortgage through a fraudulent short sale.

The North Dakota Legislative Assembly adopted legislation to prohibit local development by foreign adversaries and the ownership of real property by a foreign adversary.

Data privacy is an ever-evolving area of concern for any industry that handles personal data, and this is especially important for those industries that handle individual’s financial data. Data privacy experts Ryan Cabrita of The Gulotta Grabiner Law Group and Greg Szewczyk of national law firm Ballard Spahr will discuss some of the big up-and-coming topics. Read on for more details.

Several trade associations, including the American Escrow Association and American Land Title Association, wrote to Congressional leadership, urging them to raise the debt ceiling.

A Jayess, Miss., woman pleaded guilty to conspiring to steal houses from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

After an investigation by the Bergen County, N.J., Prosecutor’s Office, a Rochelle Park, N.J., man was arrested on charges of theft by deception, theft, and forgery regarding a real estate investment scheme.

After receiving what she felt to be discriminatory treatment after coming back from maternity leave, and ultimately being terminated, a female title company employee filed suit against her former employer for sex-based discrimination and retaliatory discharge in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

The Texas Legislature passed legislation relating to the release of a deed of trust or other contract lien securing a home loan after a payoff by the mortgagor. The bill awaits the governor’s signature.