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By Lisa A. Tyler
National Escrow Administrator

A woman represented by a real estate agent made an offer to purchase a home, signing both her name and her husband's name to the contract. Once the offer was accepted, she dropped off her earnest money deposit at an escrow branch near the home she was purchasing, not at the office in which her escrow officer was located. The escrow officer reviewed the documents and raised some concerns regarding a power of attorney and a doctor's letter stating the husband had dementia. Read the story entitled "ABUSE of veteran's benefits" for all the crazy details.

Nicole Andrews, an escrow officer with Chicago Title Company of Washington, in Tacoma, opened a sale transaction on April 3, 2020, with an anticipated closing date of May 15, 2020. The sale price was $369,000. The buyer deposited $1,000 earnest money at the time of opening by using what looked like a counter check, meaning the check appeared to be a personal check given over the counter at the bank. There was no remitter information at the top of the check and showed the check number of 0100. The buyer in this transaction was a limited liability company, purchasing jointly with its managing member as an individual. Read "DELAYS turn into dismay" to find out what happened next.

Think your password is up to par? Many of us use simple tricks to try and create a memorable password that meets security requirements. However, many of these add no real strength or security. Read this month's cyber buzz article "PASSWORD1?" as we review some password best practices.

 

 
 
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