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The Legal Description Edition
January 19, 2015
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Zillow target of multiple employee discrimination lawsuits
Posted Date: Monday, December 29, 2014
Online real estate marketplace Zillow Inc., is the target of several lawsuits filed in California federal court by current and former employees who allege they suffered age, racial, religious, sexual and other forms of harassment, and even faced retaliation by company managers and executives after complaining about workplace conditions and reporting illegal conduct, including unlicensed Realtor activity and violations of RESPA. Read on for more details of the employees’ allegations.
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Texas woman sues title agency for negligence over undiscovered tax liens
Posted Date: Thursday, October 2, 2014
A Texas woman sued a title insurer, alleging it negligently failed to discover tax liens on a property she foreclosed upon and subsequently attempted to resell. After the trial court granted the title insurer’s motion for summary judgment, she appealed.
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Bankruptcy trustee sues title insurer over utility easement
Posted Date: Tuesday, October 7, 2014
When a Connecticut man bought property in Greenwich, neither he nor his title insurer knew that the property was subject to a subterranean utility easement. The owner litigated the easement for 17 years before filing for bankruptcy. The bankruptcy trustee sued the title insurer, alleging breach of contract and bad faith.
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Insured, insurer dispute recovery of costs for moving gas main
Posted Date: Tuesday, October 7, 2014
After purchasing property to develop into a residential subdivision, the developer discovered an easement containing a 12-inch, high pressure gas main. When the title company refused to pay the cost of moving the gas main, the developer filed suit.
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FHFA warns of super-priority liens that threaten GSE status
Posted Date: Tuesday, December 23, 2014
Faced with the growing prospect of super-priority liens relegating Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans or guarantees to second-lien status, the Federal Housing Finance Agency came out with a strong warning to the industry that it would not sit by and watch as government-sponsored entities are relegated from first-lien status. Read on for the details.
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New York introduces mortgage assignment law
Posted Date: Wednesday, January 7, 2015
The New York General Assembly has prefiled a bill that would allow mortgagors to receive assignments of mortgage in lieu of a discharge of mortgage when the mortgagor is refinancing an existing loan. Read on for more details.
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Washington seeks to amend mortgage fraud law
Posted Date: Wednesday, January 7, 2015
The Washington State Legislature prefiled a bill that, among other things, would amend the state’s mortgage fraud law. Read on for more details.
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Agents alerted over closing scheme
Posted Date: Monday, December 22, 2014
The prosecutor’s office in Morris County, New Jersey, is warning settlement services professionals about a real estate closing scheme that involves emailed wiring instructions for banking transactions.
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North Miami Mayor convicted for mortgage fraud
Posted Date: Thursday, December 18, 2014
After a 12-day trial, a federal jury convicted former North Miami Mayor Marie Lucie Tondreau for her recruitment of straw buyers and other conduct in an $8 million mortgage fraud scheme. Read on for more details.
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Colorado AG sues law firms, affiliated title agencies for foreclosure fraud
Posted Date: Monday, December 29, 2014
Colorado Attorney General John Suthers announced civil law enforcement actions against two foreclosure law firms and their affiliated title companies. They are accused of inflating foreclosure costs charged to homeowners and others in violation of Colorado law. Read on for more details.
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Lender liability: Where is it coming from and how do you address it?
Posted Date: Friday, January 16, 2015
Over the last few years, the term lender liability has been floated around frequently among members of the title industry. Lenders are under immense scrutiny, while at the same time trying to implement policies and procedures to comply with an ever-changing regulatory landscape. It can be unclear what is expected of title agents who want to continue to receive business from their lender clients.
During a session at the Louisiana Land Title Association’s annual convention, Marx Sterbcow, managing attorney at the Sterbcow Law Group, and Charles Cain, senior vice president and agency manager for the Midwest region at WFG National Title Insurance Co., provided some insight into why lenders are concerned about their liability, what areas they are concerned about and what agents can do to alleviate those concerns.
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Attorneys tackle issues with new disclosures
Posted Date: Wednesday, January 7, 2015
Lenders and title companies have a lot to do before the new integrated mortgage disclosure rule goes into effect on Aug. 1. They have to deal with changes to their software and business practices and how to communicate with one another about the information on the forms. They are not the only ones who will have to implement these changes, however. Closing attorneys will have to tackle the same to-do list, all while addressing some unique issues.
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Mortgage fraud orchestrator sentenced for $5.7M scheme
Posted Date: Wednesday, January 7, 2015
Deirdre Daly, U.S. attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that Filippos Milios, also known as Filip Milios, 56, of Newington, Conn., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Alvin Thompson in Hartford to 97 months of imprisonment, followed by five years of supervised release, for orchestrating a mortgage fraud scheme that involved dozens of Connecticut properties and resulted in nearly $5.7 million in losses to lenders.
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Wyoming gets new insurance commissioner
Posted Date: Wednesday, January 7, 2015
Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead has selected Paul Thomas “Tom” Glause as the new commissioner of the Wyoming Department of Insurance. Glause assumed the duties of the commissioner on Jan. 3.
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Does right of access mean legal access?
Posted Date: Monday, December 29, 2014
Property owners sued their title insurer for negligence, breach of contract, negligent representation, breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing and insurance bad faith by failing to provide them legal access to their property. The case eventually went before the Supreme Court of Montana.
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