News By Edition

An insured filed suit against its title insurer, seeking to recover damages due to its lack of right to access an enclosed parcel of land covered by the title policy. It filed suit after the adjoining homeowners’ association obtained an injunction preventing the insured from constructing a road through one lot of the enclosed parcel. Read on for more details.

The city of Baltimore announced it processed 42 applications for property deeds during the first day of a manual workaround designed to allow real estate transactions to proceed during the city’s technology outage.

South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster signed legislation adopting predictable recording fees for documents recorded with the register of deeds or clerks of court in the state. Read on for more details.

A property owner filed suit against its lender, demanding a statutory penalty of $1.025 million for allegedly failing to timely file a mortgage satisfaction piece. After a trial court granted the lender’s motion for summary judgment, the property owner appealed. Read on for more details.

The Illinois General Assembly has passed a bill to amend the Title Insurance Act to provide that the definition of good funds includes a check drawn on the fiduciary trust account of an independent escrowee. The bill awaits the governor’s signature.

A South Carolina accountant was sentenced to time in prison after pleading guilty to conspiring to commit bank fraud for producing false documentation in support of loan applications. Read on for more details.

Real estate transactions in Baltimore, which had come to a halt after the city’s systems were hit by ransomware on May 7, were set to begin again on May 20, thanks to a manual workaround developed by the city. Mayor Bernard C. “Jack” Young announced the workaround, as well as a general update on Baltimore’s technology outage. Read on for more details.

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) announced the renewal of its Geographic Targeting Orders (GTOs) that require U.S. title insurance companies to identify the natural persons behind shell companies used in all-cash purchases of residential real estate.

The House Financial Services Committee passed HR 2514, the Coordinating Oversight, Upgrading and Innovating Technology, and Examiner Reform Act (COUNTER Act), bipartisan legislation that closes loopholes in the Bank Secrecy Act, increases penalties for those who break the law, and helps provide financial institutions with new tools to fulfill their obligations under the law. The bill includes a provision to expand the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network’s real estate geographic targeting orders to include commercial real estate. Read on for more information and to see how that provision was amended.

A bill to amend the Illinois Mortgage Act to add “a person authorized by the mortgagor, grantor, heir, legal representative or assign” to the list of those who may request that the mortgagee of real property make, execute and deliver an instrument in writing releasing a mortgage or deed of trust, as well as other amendments passed both houses of the Illinois General Assembly. The bill now awaits the governor’s signature. Read on for more details.

Days after being indicted on charges of wire fraud, mail fraud and money laundering, Georgia Insurance Commissioner Jim Beck requested suspension from the department. Gov. Brian Kemp signed an executive order suspending Beck that day. Read on for more details.

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra announced the sentencing of the operator of a $2 million mortgage fraud scheme throughout Southern California. Read on for more details.

The City of Baltimore experienced a ransomware attack May 7, with systems expected to remain down for at least another week. This has caused havoc in the liens office and caused underwriters to prohibit agents from issuing title policies, suspending closings on city property. Read on for more details.

A title insurer filed suit against gold coin retailers that sold gold coins to identity thieves who had obtained a $2 million refinance loan on real property. The title insurer was seeking to recover the loan proceeds after paying out the lender’s title insurance claim. Read on for more details.

Montana Gov. Steve Bullock signed legislation to revise the tax lien and tax deed laws in the state. The new law revises the tax lien and tax deed process for residential, agricultural and forest property with a dwelling. Read on for more details.

The Alabama Legislature is considering a bill that would require a judgment creditor to file an acknowledgment of satisfaction of a money judgment with the court when a money judgment has been satisfied. It also would provide a procedure for the judgment debtor to demand that the judgment creditor file the acknowledgment of satisfaction after the creditor’s judgment has been satisfied. Read on for more details.

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signed legislation that will allow title insurance to be obtained on a lender’s security interest in personal property taken by the lender as collateral for a commercial loans. Read on for more details.

Georgia Insurance Commissioner Jim C. Beck has been indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of wire fraud, mail fraud and money laundering. The 38-count indictment alleges that Beck stole more than $2 million from his former employer, the Georgia Underwriting Association, during the five years just prior to Beck’s election to statewide office in November 2018. Read on for more details.

Nathan E. Hardwick IV, former LandCastle Title LLC CEO, was ordered to pay $40.3 million in restitution to victims of his scheme to defraud his law firm out of millions of dollars. Previously he was found guilty at trial of wire fraud, conspiracy and making false statements to a federally insured financial institution and sentenced to 15 years in prison. Read on for more details.

After the bank that is successor in interest to a set of mortgages under a mortgage backed security foreclosed on one of the mortgages purportedly in that security, the owners of the property questioned the validity of the assignment and therefore the bank’s right to foreclose. Read on for more details.

A group of Democratic senators and representatives reintroduced the Data Breach Prevention and Compensation Act, designed to provide robust compensation to consumers for stolen data, impose mandatory penalties on credit reporting agencies for data breaches and give the Federal Trade Commission more direct supervisory authority over data security at CRAs. Read on for more details.

Pennsylvania Auditor General Eugene DePasquale said that the York County Recorder of Deeds office could not explain the account balance of more than $2.14 million held in an escrow fund. Read on for more details.

Tennessee Department of Commerce & Insurance Commissioner Julie Mix McPeak announced she is leaving state government to pursue career opportunities in the private sector. The governor has announced her interim replacement. Read on for more details.

A 58-year-old man appeared in Houston federal court on allegations contained in a 10-count indictment to include conspiracy to commit bank and wire fraud, wire fraud and violations of a federal money laundering statute. Read on for more details.