Fidelity National Financial - Fraud Insights

By Lisa A. Tyler
National Escrow Administrator

"$1.2 MILLION transaction in Beverly Hills" is a story involving outstanding teamwork by Western States Underwriter Eldred Sotello, Title Manager Michael Merlo and Title Officer Jennifer Tayco, in preventing a fraudulent transaction from closing. In addition to pointing out the great work by these individuals, the story serves three important purposes:

Stresses the importance of the Company's strong relationships with law enforcement agencies
Highlights the rise in identity theft in real estate transactions in Southern California
Reiterates there are procedures and safeguards in place that prevent the Company from being affected by this type of crime

Can you imagine owning your home long enough to pay the entire mortgage? The property owners in the story entitled "TALK to your neighbor" had owned their property for 45 years with no intention of moving. Then all of a sudden uninvited guests began appearing on their property — first a hazard insurance company inspector and then a buyer!

The property owners immediately went to their neighbor, a real estate agent, and told her about the uninvited guests. This story is another heroic tale of teamwork between departments and even between sister companies.

Wow! Was that just like the Y2K scare or what? August 1, 2015 came and went with no changes to the way we do business. As promising as that was, however, the changes are still on the horizon.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau delayed the effective date of implementation of the new mortgage regulations until Saturday, October 3, 2015. Now you have more time to discover the impact the new rules and forms will have on virtually every residential loan closing. In this edition find out what a variance is and if the settlement agent is responsible for discovering a variance at closing by reading "TOLERANCE violations = variances."

Be sure to answer the monthly CFPB question to make certain you understand the effects of the new rules and forms in your market area!