By Lisa A. Tyler
National Escrow Administrator

At FNF we always want to keep our employees on guard and at the forefront of what is happening in the industry, especially when it comes to cybercrime. At all of the 2018 live onsite escrow training events, a local Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Special Agent came to share information about how their agency is investigating cyberattacks by criminals and what steps can be taken to thwart these crimes. For details about what we learned read "FBI knocks out cyber fraud."

National Escrow Administration is regularly asked what options are available for a signer located in another country, in another state, in prison, a signer who is blind, unable to sign their name and/or other issues. As a result, last year we featured twelve articles on "PROPER document execution for recording and insuring" describing the available options. To keep the article top–of–mind for our readers, we have published a "RECAP" indicating the solutions provided in each edition.

Every few years our offices see a flurry of new orders where the buyer has made an all cash offer to purchase a home, the seller accepts the offer and the principals attempt to open the new order with one of our offices. The problem is some of these orders are not legitimate because the buyer is attempting to purchase the property with fake monetary instruments, not even worth the paper they are written on. Recently several of our offices received a multi–million dollar order where the buyer deposits a Negotiable Banker's Acceptance to pay for the property. Read "MADDENING money of sovereign citizens" to see a sample of the fake instrument.

Throughout the year, we will publish examples of the values of title insurance. We will provide simple talking points which demonstrate the value, and even publish examples of claims submitted by owners. These examples will equip readers with useful information they can share with customers, consumers and even friends and family to explain what we do, where we work and how our industry protects ownership rights in America. This month's edition contains the "HISTORY of title insurance." It is a must read article.