Title Industry Centralization: Is It the Future?

The recent announcement that First American Title Insurance Company and Lender Processing Services have reached an agreement to develop and implement a managed title and closing services platform should not surprise anyone. Title underwriters have for years grappled with the problem of how to manage and reduce the risk they face by allowing independent agents […]

Mortgage Lender Risk Management: What’s in Your MROM?

Increasing regulatory pressures on banks and lenders to adopt greater risk management systems and processes are aimed at establishing a more uniform approach to quality control industry-wide. At the same time these pressures seek to protect consumers from the type of non-managed business decisions that were at the root of the financial industry collapse several […]

Will Blockchain Technology Prevent Mortgage Closing Fraud?

Never heard of “blockchain” technology? Well then you better start Googling it, because like the fax machine, personal computer and the Internet, blockchain data authentication, storage and sharing technology promises to change the way financial transactions occur in a transformational way. Along the way the way banks make loans, and the way we access public […]

We Need More Than E-Closings to Improve the Consumer Mortgage Experience

In April last year I traveled to Washington DC to attend the CFPB forum on the mortgage closing process. The build-up to this event came on the heels of the open public comment period the Bureau established for consumers and industry participants to offer personal experiences, ideas, suggestions and comments about the residential mortgage closing […]

The Insured Closing Letter is Obsolete!

A recent panel on fraud issues included a healthy debate about the extent to which a lender can rely on the insured closing letter as a means to offset risk at the closing table. Advocates felt that ALTA’s best practice initiative backed by the letters should give lenders sufficient assurances that any bad act at […]

Data Privacy Can be a Mortgage Lender’s Nightmare and a Borrower’s Greatest Fear

The Consumer Financial protection Bureau (CFPB) now has rule writing authority and enforcement authority over financial institutions, with respect to the Graham-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA), the major federal consumer information privacy and data security laws. The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act requires financial institutions – companies that offer consumers financial products or services like loans, financial or investment advice, […]

Yes, Real Estate Attorneys are Consider Vendors in the Mortgage Industry!

For years real estate closing work has been the “bread and butter” of many small law practices. Representing buyers and sellers in sales and mortgage closing transactions can be a lucrative practice area, and because there are no significant rules and training or practice barriers as for example complex criminal defense or tax work, it […]

Third Party Vendor Risk: Not All Vendors are the Same

When the CFPB issued Bulletin 2102-3, forever changing the way that banks and lenders nationwide look at third party relationships, they offered only a bare outline of detail regarding what that risk management should include. The general directive included: risk evaluation, ongoing monitoring, and verification of internal controls. Since then lenders have tended to interpret […]

FBI Fraud Alert for Lenders on Wire Fraud Scams

Wells Fargo Bank and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) recently issued separate alerts throughout the industry regarding settlement agent wire fraud. The reports, circulated in September, provided details of a widespread scam whereby criminals are hacking attorney and title agent email addresses and changing wire instructions prior to closing. When the new instructions are […]

How Are You Protecting Borrower Data as a Mortgage Lender or Title and Settlement Agent?

“Data privacy” and “data security” are terms most lenders are hearing over and over again these days. The reasons for this are numerous but include the CFPB’s focus on the issue, increased publicity over data breaches in business and industry, and heightened concern by consumers about how their sensitive non-public information is being managed by […]