By Lisa A. Tyler
National Escrow Administrator

Personal representatives (PRs) to an estate of a deceased person usually act in the best interest of the estate's heirs. In the story of "LAST person standing," however, the property was owned by three persons – all as joint tenants and all deceased. The PR for the "last" of the three tenants refused to provide all the necessary documentation to prove the estate truly was for the last person standing.

It is not uncommon for lenders to include the requirement for certain unsecured debts to be paid on behalf of the borrower, as a condition of closing a loan transaction. The requirement is typically made in order to reduce the borrower's debt ratio. Since the lender includes this as a part of the instructions, settlement agents must ensure the payments are made. Find out what happened when the payments were not successfully delivered to the creditor at closing and instead delivered to the borrower by reading "PESKY credit card payoffs."

"OPERATION accounting center (OAC)" is a heroic story about a trust accounting manager who noticed an unusual disbursement during a routine audit and then ferreted out the unthinkable – a defalcation by one of our own long–standing employees. Find out what triggered Sandra Sidor's suspicion and what steps she took to stop the thief from continuing her crime spree.

What is the fastest way to send a last minute Christmas gift? Through online shopping! Read this month's SAFETY CORNER, "SAFE online shopping," to find out what you can do to protect yourself against crimes committed while Internet shopping.