By Lisa A. Tyler
National Escrow Administrator

Mike Quinones, Title Officer for Chicago Title Company, was examining the chain of title for a cash out refinance. A mortgage broker opened the order. The new loan amount was $700,000. Usually this mortgage broker's deals are seamless with high credit rated borrowers. The chain of title revealed a tangled web of transfers, which prompted Mike to examine each document closely. Read "CLOUDY with a chance of fraud" for more information about this examination.

On September 12, 2019, Chicago Title Company issued a check in the amount of $292,092.69 that was directly deposited to the bank account of Chris P. Bacon, at his written direction. The check represented the proceeds from the sale of a vacant lot — lake front property in Montana — in the amount of $300,000. Fast forward eleven days later, the escrow officer heard from the surveyor, the seller did not have the right to sell the property. Read "DIRTY rotten grandson" to discover what happened next.

There are companies springing up across the nation providing real estate sellers with an alternate method for selling their homes. The companies use technology to estimate the value of the home and then make an instant offer. These types of companies are referred to as an "iBuyer." Read more about them in this month's cyber buzz article entitled "WHAT is an iBuyer?"