Anyone who bought a home – or tried to – over the past couple of years knows that it was rip-roaringly competitive, with bidding wars and all-cash deals. But it actually could have been worse. One group all but disappeared from the market during the pandemic: foreign buyers with mega millions.

Sometimes the date above the seller's name on a loan document will be in the future. The realtor always tells me I do not need to change any dates except my notary venue dates. Is that correct?

Week Ending April 16, 2022

Jon Cobb was ready to buy his piece of the American dream. The Navy veteran moved into a 1,439 SF rental house in Powder Springs, Georgia, in 2019. Shortly thereafter, Cobb’s landlord asked if he wanted to buy the place for $175K. Cobb, an engineer at Georgia State University, spent the majority of his adult life saving toward one day becoming a homeowner and was finally ready to take that step.

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Connections are critical in the real estate industry, and few professionals are as plugged in as Michelle Korsmo. The National Restaurant Association President & CEO served in the same capacity at the American Land Title Association (ALTA), where she doubled membership and revenue during a decade in leadership. In this episode, FNF's Linda Grahovec connects with Korsmo for key takeaways on association engagement in Part 1 of our conversation.

In a July 15 published decision, the Fourth Circuit reversed a West Virginia District Court’s ruling against a mortgage servicer in a purported class action, holding that merely sending a notice of rescission under the Truth in Lending Act (TILA), 15 U.S.C. 1635, et seq., does not immediately rescind the loan and relieve the borrower of any obligation to tender the loan proceeds. The case is Lavis v. Reverse Mortgage Solutions, Inc., Record No. 18-2180.

If you’re a fan of Netflix’s “Ozark,” you might remember when eminent domain was featured as a major plot device in season two. (If you’ve not seen the second season, please be warned that the following contains spoilers.) As a fan and an appraiser, in this article I’d like to discuss how eminent domain was used in “Ozark,” and how it can be used in the real world, especially as it pertains to bodies of water, and how appraisers get involved.

Picture this: your family has a longstanding rumor that you are the child of an affair. Not only that, but it is an open secret who your family believes your other parent is. One day, you hear that the possible other parent has died. Your curiosity gets the better of you and you would like to find out once and for all if this person was your parent and, if so, whether they left you anything upon their death.

SM Energy and Union Pacific are parties to three oil and gas leases covering lands in Howard County. Each lease contains the same forum-selection clause providing for exclusive venue in “… Omaha, Nebraska and no other place.”

Fenton Township is taking legal action against the Fenton Orchards Condominium Association due to the association allegedly interfering in the sale of numerous tax reverted properties for $420,000. 

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Dave Aitel introduces a deliciously shocking story about lawyers as victims and – maybe – co-conspirators in the hacking of adversaries’ counsel to win legal disputes. The trick, it turns out, is figuring out how to benefit from hacked documents without actually dirtying one’s hands with the hacking.

Nearly a year has passed since the Cloudstar ransomware attack and Stephen Millstein says he still feels “something like PTSD” whenever he thinks about what went down that dreadful mid-July weekend. Millstein’s title firm, Certified Title Corporation, founded in 1994, was one of the hundreds of firms impacted by the cyber attack on the cloud storage provider.

The recent decision of the British Columbia Supreme Court in Frontier Kemper Constructors, Inc v Rio Tinto Alcan Inc clarified the timeline for filing a builders lien when the 45-day deadline falls on a weekend and revisits the limited scope afforded to the court under sections 24 and 25 of the British Columbia Builders Lien Act (BLA).

Residents of Ottawa's Barrhaven subdivision who have widened their driveways with interlocking stone have been instructed to return them to the approved width or face fines. However, it seems only those homeowners who have been the subject of specific complaints to the city's bylaw department will be required to make the costly changes.

Chellise Sexton, whose lawyers are preparing their final filings in her case against the town over ownership of 12 units of affordable housing on Fred Bell Way, doesn’t give up easily. She has a long history of protracted legal battles like the one she is now waging in state Land Court.

Here, where the Florida Citrus Tower offers panoramic views of big-box retailers and backyard pool cages built atop the former orange groves, the 19-year-old college student vexing the world’s richest man chose to meet at a Panera Bread. He dug into a bowl of macaroni and cheese.

For agents interested in growing their business 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.

In November 1965, Walt Disney gave a press conference in Florida. He announced his vision for the new amusement park and resort development he planned to build on an expanse of swampland twice the size of Manhattan near Orlando. Crucial to his project, Disney explained, would be his ability to have complete command over his surroundings."

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Police took no chances when an armed intruder barricaded himself in the home of an innocent bystander in McKinney, Texas. Following a seven-hour standoff, officers launched a shock-and-awe raid that ended with the suspect’s suicide. Then they closed the case without paying for property damage.

Tokyo-based architectural firm Jibun Haus takes the first part of its name from the Japanese word for “your own” and the second part from the German word for “house.” The company has done a little more linguistic fusion for the name of its newest offering, the Weekend Haus, but regardless of the language, the appeal of these stylish micro-houses speaks for itself.

Its terra nullius status results from a discrepancy between the straight political boundary between Egypt and Sudan established in 1899, and the irregular administrative boundary established in 1902.

It would be tremendously fun if American baseball fields had rivers, too--especially if they ran through the field in order to create additional obstacles.

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Amelia the chicken spends her day doing, well, what chickens do: digging up dirt; looking for dinner, bugs and grass mostly; or hanging with her feathered friends at her Hinesburg henhouse. But it seems Amelia got tired of the country life recently and flew the coop for a day in the city.

Check out the floating water sausages.