Industry & Technology news compliments of Marianne Mathieu
Title Insurance Industry & Technology News 01/16/19
Compliments of Marianne Mathieu
Industry Events
Look for NEW events posted since the last issue!
Industry News
'We can't close,' rural real estate at a standstill during shutdown
ABC 13 WZZM - Rural development loans through the U.S. Department of Agriculture are inaccessible due to the government shutdown.

Homeowners told their backyards are owned by canal company - ( Check back for updates as this story develops)
KUTV.com - Marcell Bobo has owned her home, and the land around it, for nearly 20 years — or so she thought. The company which owns the canal behind her home says, actually, much of her backyard belongs to them.

What Cross-Border Practitioners Need to Know about New York Mortgage Tax
JD Supra - The quirks inherent in New York State’s mortgage recording statutes often cause out-of-state practitioners some frustration, especially if they practice in a jurisdiction that does not have a mortgage recording tax. 

Feds Look to Give Ex-Firm Head 22 Years For $20M Theft
Law 360 - Atlanta federal prosecutors asked a judge to throw the book at a former name partner of defunct firm Morris Hardwick Schneider on Friday, urging a nearly 22-year sentence for his embezzlement...

Notice and opportunities to comment
CFPB (Consumer Financial Protection Bureau) - Check here for notices and opportunities to comment posted by the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (BCFP). These requests can include: proposed rules, requests for information, and Paperwork Reduction Act notices that give the public an opportunity to comment on certain planned or existing reporting, record keeping, and disclosure requirements.

Legal News
Title Insurance Coverage Changes that Relate to Declarations and Development Limitations
Mondaq - Court cases interpreting title insurance coverage originate in various jurisdictions around the United States and are typically relied on or distinguished readily by other courts that have not faced the same question before. 

NY Title Insurance Kickback Rule Revived on Appeal
Law 360 - A New York state appellate court ruled Tuesday that the state Department of Financial Services had the power to ban title insurance companies from wining and dining lawyers and others who...

Man Stole Nine Brooklyn, Queens Homes with False Documents: DA
Patch - The man illegally transferred titles to homes worth millions in Fort Greene, East New York, Bushwick, Bed-stuy, Jamaica and Hollis.

Super-Priority Issues Linger in D.C.
DS News - With the issuance of its decision in Chase Plaza Condominium Ass’n v. JP Morgan Chase Bank, N.A., 98 A.3d 166, (D.C. 2014), the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia upended the established manner in which condominium liens have been handled in the District.

Tech / Social Media
Live Commercial Real Estate Webinar: Exploring the Tokenization of the St. Regis Aspen Resort
Business Wire - Webinar to Highlight Disruption of Commercial Real Estate Financing Via Tokenization: January 16, 2019, 11:00 AM.

The Alibaba effect: Chinese e-tailer tightens grip over 600m lives
Nikkei Asian Review - Users sacrifice privacy for convenience of shopping, finance and health care.

Why wait? Here are some CES 2019 gadgets you can buy right now
Digital Trends - Generally speaking, CES is just a big, high-tech show-and-tell. A lot of the stuff on display is slated to hit the market in the coming year, and most of it won’t make it past the demonstration stage. 

World News
Did it just get easier for foreigners to own land in Indonesia?
Gapura Bali - Indonesia's Minister of Agrarian Affairs, Sofyan Djalil has announced that foreigners can now purchase land using the HGB (Right to Build) title in an effort to boost property investment in the country.

A fraudster tried to forge documents. His font choice gave him away. (Canada)
The Week - A Canadian businessman looking to avoid liquidation just got his hopes dashed by a font.

Establishing title (Canada)
The Lawyer's Daily - Appeal by the plaintiff from a summary trial judgment dismissing its action for breach of contract. The appellant had agreed to purchase the respondent’s shares in a company that owned riverside land on which a mobile park was situated. 

Title Agency & People in the News
Two appointed to North Dakota Board of Higher Education
Bismarck Tribune - Timothy Mihalick, of Minot, and Nick Hacker, of Bismarck, were appointed Friday by Gov. Doug Burgum to the North Dakota Board of Higher Education.

Title Agents Go Nationwide
For agents interested in growing their businesses by expanding into multiple states, we’re here to make the process simple and profitable. We offer you one point of contact to streamline your options and solutions.

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In Other News
What in carnation? This is not growing on me.
Terrible Real Estate Agent Photographs - If you stare for long enough you can just make out an absence of taste.

The 'Do Not Disturb' Movement is Spreading. Could NYC Be Next?
New York Law Journal - The New York City Council considered a proposal last March that would give private employees the right to ignore electronic work communications after hours and fine employees $250 every time they violated it.

I Can't Stop Watching This NYC Squirrel Enjoying an Egg Roll
Gothamist - As the first real workday of 2019 (for some of us, anyway) creeps to a close, I imagine you might be having a hard time focusing. Or perhaps I am projecting, because I have found my foggy brain unable to concentrate on anything except Egg Roll Squirrel since this morning

Upside-Down House of Trassenheide
Atlas Obscura - The first (but not only) upside-down house in Germany.  


Marianne Mathieu, NTP
Vice President/National Agency Accounts
Fidelity National Title Group
347-987-0677