AGENCY BLOG

Issue No.311, December 28, 2022

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NEWS ARTICLES
INDUSTRY

CFPB Proposes Registry to Detect Repeat Offenders


Today, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) proposed requiring certain nonbank financial firms to register with the CFPB when they become subject to certain local, state, or federal consumer financial protection agency or court orders. 



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Title Insurer Stewart Agrees to $2.5M ‘No-Poaching’ Settlement With New York


New York Attorney General Letitia James announced a settlement with one of the largest title insurance underwriters, Stewart Title Guaranty Corp., ending non-competitive no-poach agreements between Stewart and its competitors. As a result of this agreement, Stewart said it will terminate any existing no-poach agreements, pay the state $2.5 million, and cooperate with the state’s ongoing investigations in the industry.



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HUD Seeks to Expand Homeownership for Native American Families


The U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) has proposed a rule for the Section 184 Indian Home Loan Guarantee Program, which will looks to modernize the program regulations and encourage homeownership opportunities in Indian Country.


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Will YIGBYs say ‘Hallelujah!’ in 2023?


Supporters of the Yes In God’s Back Yard (YIGBY) movement made a joyful noise this week when California State Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) announced that he was reintroducing legislation to allow by-right development of subsidized affordable housing on land owned by religious institutions. Following a press conference in San Francisco to announce the bill, Sen. Wiener said the measure would be “a game changer for affordable housing”



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LEGAL

Recent Cases Involving Decedents' Estates [Iowa, Kansas, South Dakota]


Unfortunately, litigation sometimes occurs after death and can involve family members. The issues can be unique and may also be the result of misunderstandings, the lack memorializing understandings, or simply family members not getting along. In today’s post, I highlight three recent cases involving the estate of a decedent. Hopefully, a review of these cases will provide some insight as to the issues that can arise at deaths in hopes of avoiding them in the future.



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Arkansas Court of Appeals Holds Insured’s Negligent Recording of Its Mortgage Can Trigger 3(A) Exclusion to Preclude Coverage


In the recently-decided matter of First National Bank of Izard County v. Old Republic National Title Insurance Company, No. CV-20-310, (Ark. Ct. App. Nov. 2, 2022), the Arkansas Court of Appeals (“the Court”) held that the negligent recording of a mortgage by the Insured, as to the timing of its recordation with other recorded instruments, precluded coverage under the Title Policy’s Section 3(a) “created, suffered, assumed and agreed to” exclusion. 



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Yellowstone Injunctions, Succession Rights, and Guarantees: This Week in Scott Mollen's Realty Law Digest [New York]


Commercial Landlord-Tenant—Yellowstone Injunction Denied—Tenant Failed To Demonstrate Ability To Cure—Hotel Located in Battery Park City—Tenant Alleged Landlord Wrongfully Denied Consent To Change Brand to a Marriott Brand—Tenant Could Have Sought Declaratory Judgment in 2019, Before the COVID-19 Pandemic, as to Whether Landlord’s Consent To Change Brand Was Required—Tenant’s Letters Purportedly Showing Ability To Obtain New Lines of Credit and Investors for Equity Were Inadequate



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Colorado Easement Law


Colorado defines an easement as “an interest in property which, though distinct from an ownership interest in the land itself, nevertheless confers on the holder an enforceable right to use the property of another for a specific purpose.” Wright v. Horse Creek Ranches, 697 P.2d 384, 387-388 (Colo. 1985).



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Arranging hard money trust deed mortgages [California]


Every recession for the past four decades saw a brisk cyclical upturn in hard money trust deed lending. As we head into the 2023 recession, this time around will prove no different as real estate loses liquidity and cash again becomes king. Most recently, low-interest rates ensured that mortgages for funding the cash needs of buyers and owners were exclusively originated through bond market mortgage pools and institutional investors. As rates jumped in 2022 — returning to a long-term cyclical rise that began in 2013 — a pivot occurred in both the nature of mortgage money sought by real estate owners and buyers and the source of cash to fund those mortgages.



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WORLD

First Registration Benefits [United Kingdom]


In a society where everything is instantly to hand the property transaction can be seen as a long winded old fashioned process. To ensure there is a prompt conclusion to a matter the Legal Title must be clear and precise for any lawyer to allow the matter to proceed with minimum enquiries raised.


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TECHNOLOGY

Webinar Recording: Navigating Today's Privacy Compliance Landscape

The privacy compliance landscape has changed significantly in 2022. These acronyms have joined the CCPA, HIPAA, and GDPR in the privacy alphabet soup: CPRA, VCDPA, CDPA, CPA, and UCPA. Do you know what they all mean for your company and what they will require in order to be compliant?


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Episode 434: ChatGPT Successfully Imitates a Talented Sociopath with Too Many Lawyers

It’s been a news-heavy week, but we have the most fun in this episode with ChatGPT. Jane Bambauer, Richard Stiennon, and I pick over the astonishing number of use cases and misuse cases disclosed by the release of ChatGPT for public access. It is talented – writing dozens of term papers in seconds. It is sociopathic – the term papers are full of falsehoods, down to the made-up citations to plausible but nonexistent New York Times stories. And it has too many lawyers – Richard’s request that it provide his bio (or even Einstein’s) was refused on what are almost certainly data protection grounds. Luckily, either ChatGPT or its lawyers are also bone stupid, since reframing the question fools the machine into subverting the legal and PC limits it labors under.



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PEOPLE IN THE NEWS

Danny Helms, President, BNT of Texas, Honored Among National Mortgage Professional’s 40 Under 40


Danny Helms, President, BNT of Texas (Boston National Title of Texas), headquartered in Frisco, has been recognized among National Mortgage Professional’s 40 Under 40. Individuals in this group, all age 40 and younger, are making an impact on the mortgage industry based on their “fresh perspective” and “new energy,” according to the trade publication.



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Title Agents Take Business to the Next Level

We're here to make the process simple and profitable for agents interested in growing their business by expanding into multiple states. We offer you one point of contact to streamline your options and solutions.


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OTHER TRENDING NEWS

Much hay is eaten after super-secret covert operation results in very mooooving reunion


It took a covert operation after nightfall and the help of freshly fallen snow to round up four cows from a herd of cattle that have been on the loose for months in central Quebec, an official with Quebec's farmers' union said Monday.



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This Beautiful Italian Town Will Pay You $30,000 To Move There


Welcome to the dream. Another Italian town wants to pay you to move to Italy—$30,000, to be exact. This time around, the deep-pocketed village is Presicce, a charming little hamlet that is known as the “city of green gold,” thanks to the surrounding olive groves. Presicce is set in Puglia, a southern region known for its whitewashed hill towns, lush farmland and pristine Mediterranean coastline.


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Recipes on Tombstones


I've never come across this in a graveyard, but apparently some people have their favorite recipe inscribed on their tombstone. This inspires other people, such as Rosie Grant, to cook the recipes they find on tombstones. 


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The rules of improv can make you funnier. They can also make you more confident


I started to take improv classes, which seemed like one of those New York things to do. For three hours every week, I learned the art of performing comedy without a script. And I found that the classes were helping to combat my anxiety and my tendency to overthink — not just onstage, but in daily life.



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Zavikon Island


The purported world's shortest international bridge connects a homeowner in Canada to his backyard in New York. 


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