News By Edition

The North Carolina General Assembly is considering a bill titled the Notice of Settlement Act, designed to modernize the law governing the transfer of a legal or equitable title to real property “by providing advance notice of transactions and facilitating electronic recording of documents, and disbursement of funds in connection with the settlement of real property transactions.” Read on for more details.

The Iowa Legislature is considering a bill that would provide for notarial acts, including providing for the use of electronic media. Read on for more details.

Acting as receiver for a bank, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. sued a title insurer for breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, negligence and negligent misrepresentation based on the company’s actions when acting as escrow agent for four fraudulent transactions funded by the bank. The case went to trial where the jury found the insurer liable on all counts. The title company then filed a post-trial motion for a new trial. Read on for more details.

A homeowner sued the beneficiary of a deed of trust on his property as well as the trustee of the deed of trust, alleging that they knowingly used the services of a notary whose commission was revoked to execute and record an assignment of deed of trust and notice of trustee’s sale that were used to initiate a trustee’s sale after he defaulted on his loan. Read on for more details.

The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) released its annual report for 2018. The statistics gathered by IC3 show that Internet-enabled theft, fraud, and exploitation remain pervasive and were responsible for a staggering $2.7 billion in financial losses in 2018.

A bill titled the Blockchain Business Development Act is moving forward in the Illinois General Assembly. Having passed the House, the bill is now making its way through the Senate. Read on for more details.

The seller of property in Utah, who provided seller financing for the sale, executed a recovneyance to the first position lender after the buyer defaulted on all four loans on the property. It later claimed that the reconveyance was ineffective because it never provided the first priority lender with an original copy, and that the title agency wrongfully recorded the reconveyance based on an electronically transmitted document. Read on for more details.

The United States sought to enforce a tax lien on property in Mundelein, Lake County, Ill. The lien did not spell the debtor’s name correctly or include a legal description or permanent index number for the property, but was identifiable by the address. The debtor had passed away and his heirs conveyed their interest to a land trust company. When the government sought to foreclose on the tax lien, the company moved for summary judgment, arguing that the lien was unenforceable. Read on for more details.

Attorneys Sean Burke and Marx Sterbcow have worked closely with regulators, having been involved representing an individual or company in a number of title-related cases that agencies have brought. The highlight of their lessons: That technology is the way forward for compliance management in the industry.Burke and Sterbcow will be speaking at the National Settlement Services Summit (NS3) this summer in Phoenix on “Compliance Management Systems for Tomorrow.” Read on for a session preview.

The New York Assembly is considering a bill that would prohibit mortgagees from requiring mortgagors of certain real property to purchase flood insurance exceeding certain limits. Read on for more details.

A New York City settlement attorney was sentenced for his role in closing eight real estate transactions designed to fraudulently obtain FHA-insured mortgages. Though unaware of the full extent of the fraud, he knew he was being used to defraud financial institutions. Read on for more details.

In three separate orders, the Illinois Department of Financial Services has ordered Illinois agents to cease and desist from practices it considers illegal inducements for business under the state’s title insurance act and RESPA. Read on for more details.

The Texas Legislature is considering a bill regarding certificates of authority that identify who has the authority on behalf of a partnership or corporation to sell property. Read on for more details.

After meeting the terms of a temporary mortgage modification, a Michigan homeowner believed the loan modification would become permanent. However, the assignee in charge of the loan after the modification agreement was made denied the permanent modification because of federal tax liens on the property and moved for a foreclosure sale.The homeowner eventually moved in court for summary disposition in her favor. Read on for more details.

The Alabama House Financial Services Committee provided a substitute for HB 218, which seeks to expand the state’s mortgage satisfaction act to non-residential mortgages. Read on for more details.

The Montana Legislature is considering a bill that would revise the tax lien and tax deed laws in the state. It would specifically revise the tax lien and tax deed process for residential, agricultural and forest property with a dwelling. Read on for more details.

A Houston man was ordered to prison after being convicted of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. A co-defendant who was a Nigerian citizen pled guilty in October to hacking into victims accounts and sent what appeared to the victims to be legitimate emails from banks or title companies, who then transferred money into accounts they controlled. Read on for more details.

A national bank filed suit against a title agent’s insurance provider for failing to provide coverage to the agency arising out of a lawsuit filed by the bank against the title agency and others to recover losses as a result of a mortgage fraud scheme. Read on for more details.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) issued Financial Institution Letter FIL 19-2019, making financial institutions aware of examiner observations that financial institution contracts with technology service providers that may require financial institutions to take additional steps to manage their own business continuity and incident response. Read on for more details.

During a speech at the Bipartisan Policy Center, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Kathy Kraninger outlined her vision for the bureau, crafted after her months-long listening tour shortly after taking the job. Read on for more details.

The Oklahoma Legislature has re-created the Oklahoma Abstractors Board, modifying the termination date. The board was to sunset July 1, 2019, and has the responsibility to administer and enforce the Oklahoma Abstractors Act. Read on for more details.

A Santa Monica, Calif., man was sentenced to time in prison after pleading guilty to mail fraud and identity theft charges in connection with a mortgage fraud scheme involving two waterfront residential properties in Broward County, Fla. Read on for more details.

During the National Settlement Services Summit (NS3) June 18-20 in Phoenix, SafeChain co-founder and CEO Tony Franco and Fidelity National Financial’s Jason Nadeau will discuss the practical applications of Blockchain. Read on to learn what session attendees can expect to learn.

Maria T. Vullo, former superintendent of the New York State Department of Financial Services, has joined the FinTech Innovation Lab New York as a regulator-in-residence. Read on for more details.

The Property Records Industry Association (PRIA) has approved and published a paper on Land Records Management Systems (LRMS) best practices. This publication, four years in development, is intended to help recorders evaluate their current LRMS, prepare an RFP for a new system and for LRMS vendors to understand the full scope of the recorders’ needs. Read on for more details.

A Drexel Hill, Pa., attorney was indicted for attempted ban fraud and aggravated identity theft charges. Read on for more details.