By Lisa A. Tyler
National Escrow Administrator

Great instincts and heroic acts have made our associates renowned crime fighters! Now, those acts can make employees and agents even wealthier! The Fraud Insights reward has increased from a cool grand to $1,500!!! If you or someone in your office has thwarted crime, be sure to share the details with us by calling 949.622.4425 or emailing the story to settlement@fnf.com. If the story is published in a future edition, the hero will receive a letter of recognition from the Company and $1,500 as a token of appreciation for protecting the Company from a potential claim or loss.

"MURDER mansion" is a story about a landmark property in Los Angeles County which was the subject of a new title order placed with Chicago Title's Oxnard, California office. The title officer received the documents and funds to close the transaction, but stopped just short of recording to investigate the independent escrow company which directed the transaction. During that brief moment the title officer uncovered a forgery and ended up saving the Company from a potential claim of $1.8 million.

In an effort to prevent their policy holders from further email hacking and cyber theft, an errors and omissions insurance carrier (for closing attorneys and title agents) published a notice sharing recent claims received by their offices. The claims stories they shared are all too familiar to the industry and our Company, and are worth sharing to raise awareness of the danger of accepting emailed wire transfer instructions from anyone. Be sure to read "E & O claims" to discover the types of crimes settlement agents are suffering from nationwide.

The crooks are always finding new ways to steal personal information. Read "POST–CLOSING requests" to discover an email received by a title agent in Northern Virginia from a crook who initially called posing as the original borrower on a transaction, and then sent an email requesting a copy of his loan application and other closing documents.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) introduced some new terms contained in the consumer finance laws that changes long–standing industry terms. Find out the newly defined words that will be flying out of our mouths after the new rules take effect on August 1, 2015 by reading "NEW vernaculars."

And be sure to answer the monthly CFPB question to ensure you understand the new rules!