Issue No. 178 | July 1, 2020


EVENTS
Look For NEW Events Posted Since The Last Issue!
INDUSTRY NEWS
The American Land Title Association (ALTA), the national trade association of the land title insurance industry, announced it has developed principles for notarizations conducted remotely.

The factsheet on TRID title insurance disclosures addresses, among other things: (i) disclosure requirements for simultaneous title insurance on the Loan Estimate and Closing Disclosure; (ii) differences between state disclosure and TRID disclosure requirements for simultaneous rates; (iii) simultaneous issuance if the seller agrees to pay the amount of the full owner’s title insurance premium; and (iv) negative owner’s title insurance. The factsheet includes formulas and examples to assist lenders in disclosing the required rates.

Mortgage / Parcel Description: Because recorded mortgage sufficiently and unambiguously described subject property, purchasers had constructive notice that property was encumbered by the mortgage; trial court therefore erred by concluding that the purchasers were bona fide purchasers of the property without notice of the mortgage – Deutsche Bank Nat’l Tr. Co. v. Cope, No. 2D18-3696 (Fla. 2d DCA May 29, 2020) (reversed and remanded).

Telephone scammers posing as members of law enforcement are targeting Notaries across the country, threatening to jail them unless they pay a "bond" or "fine" of thousands of dollars.

Lawmakers were working on legislation to redirect the remaining funding to additional businesses, but no such deal was expected to be reached until late July, and meanwhile the money left in the program would be sitting unspent.

Several members of the Senate Banking Committee have reached a bipartisan agreement on anti-money laundering legislation that would introduce new transparency into the ownership of anonymous shell companies.

However, as the COVID-19 pandemic has spread over the past two months, buyers and sellers (and real estate professionals involved in the transaction) are looking for ways to avoid contact with others, which is why the option of remote online notarization is growing quickly.

LEGAL NEWS
However, times, they are a-changin’, and very recently it has become evident – due in large part to the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting difficulties in obtaining wet ink signatures – that we need to get with the times and take advantage of how technology has advanced and how the law has kept pace with it, even if the lawyers have not.

In Timberwall Land & Masonry Products, Inc., the Minnesota Court of Appeals affirmed the lower court’s summary judgment dismissing a masonry supplier’s lien enforcement action against a homeowner.

The global COVID-19 outbreak has encouraged widespread orders to protect renters and owners of commercial and residential real property. In this 50 state-by-state survey we offer a summary of cities and states that have enacted policies or implemented moratoriums for evictions or foreclosures due to COVID-19. 

Flashback: Five years ago, Money and Dirt covered the Salazar v. Thomas opinion from California’s Fifth District Court of Appeal holding that a Notice of Default does not “disturb possession” sufficiently to start the statute of limitations running on a claim for quiet title based on an allegedly void deed of trust.

TECHNOLOGY & SOCIAL MEDIA NEWS
Cookies are used by many websites in order to improve the browsing experience of their users. Too many of these cookies from various websites, however, could cause a slow Internet performance, which, opposite to what was said above, could lead to a poorer browsing experience.

“We are so proud of you for having worked through very tough circumstances and still creating real businesses,” said Steve Kaplan, Neubauer Family Distinguished Service Professor of Entrepreneurship and Finance and Kessenich E.P. Faculty Director at the Polsky Center, during the first-ever virtual finals on June 4.

WORLD NEWS
MANILA, Philippines — The World Bank Group has approved a $370 million loan for the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR)’s Support to Parcelization of Lands for Individual Titling Project (SPLIT), which is expected to help 750,000 individuals gain improved land tenure security and stable property rights.

There are various considerations like whether the property was self-acquired or passed on from generations, the will of the deceased, number of legal heirs, etc.

TITLE AGENCY & PEOPLE IN THE NEWS
JACKSONVILLE, Fla., June 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Fidelity National Financial, Inc. (NYSE:FNF) (the "Company") today announced the publication of its 2019 Sustainability Report. This initial report provides a comprehensive overview of the Company's policies, strategies, initiatives, and related performance.

Jo Zweerink started at Consolidated Title Services in 1986 at 19 years old as the front desk receptionist. At the time, the business was known as Consolidated Abstract Company. Now 34 years later, Zweerink is retiring .

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...

OTHER TRENDING NEWS
Like most business owners, real estate brokers around the country have had to get creative when it comes to marketing new developments in dense cities to buyers who are limiting travel and the brokers who work with them.

On June 27, the singer replied to a tweet posted by celebrity news website TMZ that explained that the Houston Association of Realtors will no longer use the term “master” to refer to bedrooms and bathrooms in homes because of the word’s connotations to slavery.

It was TTirado’s final day at work at the Indianapolis Airport, and his handler, Keith Gray, knew just the perfect way to give him a proper send-off towards his retirement — by surprising him with his favorite toy: tennis balls, which are given to dogs as a reward for doing a job well done at the airport.

Marianne Mathieu, NTP
Vice President/National Agency Accounts
Fidelity National Financial
(347) 987-0677