BEWARD TITLE INSURANCE COMPANIES – GAP PERIOD USED FOR FRAUD ON HELOC LOANS

Newark, N.J. A 35-count indictment charging 13 individuals in a scheme to fraudulently obtain more than $20 million in home equity and business lines of credit has been issued. Seven more people pleaded guilty in the scheme, whose victims include at least 16 different lenders. The indictment alleges that four of the defendants were [...]

Lawsuit for Fallen Real Estate Value – Are you protected?

The New York Times reported on January 22, 2008 that a buyer was suing her buyer agent because she believes that she paid too much for her house. She blames the agent for not disclosing information about similar homes in the neighborhood selling for less. Well, I think MOST people who bought last year feel [...]

Industry Stocks show plight of Title Business

Its a sign of the times, stock prices reflecting the woes of the industry. Fitch Ratings placed The First American Corp. on negative ratings watch Friday after seeing the company’s pre-announced fourth-quarter earnings. Fitch said the company’s title insurance segment would be negatively impacted by the mortgage industry’s ongoing woes.
Fitch put First American’s ratings [...]

New Orleans NALTEA Conference was Worthwhile

A group of about 40 interested abstract and title professionals from at least 18 states gathered in New Orleans for the 5th annual NALTEA conference January 18-20. The group discussed serious concerns about privacy issues relating to land records, and the outlook for the smaller title players the future.

Two particularly interesting speakers went through [...]

Does your Last Will and Testament cover email?

I received an email newsletter from an attorney colleague of mine, Darity Wesley, who owns a company called Privacy Solutions Because of her expertise in all the new Privacy Laws, (Gramm, Leach, Bliley, etc.) and the fact that she is an amazingly fun person, I pay attention to her emails. Her last one was [...]

Old Republic Stock drop is sign of the times

It is a sign of the times. As are going all Real Estate related stocks, it appears Investors are dumping Old Republic International Stock. In my opinion, it is likely with two significant concerns.
First, the mortgage market is nil, nada, zilch, meaning the expensive cost of all those bricks and mortar offices with heavy [...]