Immediately after Donald Trump was elected President in November 2016, the election the mortgage industry was buzzing with articles predicting that a Trump Presidency would mean the death knell for the Consumer Financial...

For years real estate closing work has been the “bread and butter” of many small law practices.  Representing buyers and sellers in sales and mortgage closing transactions can be a lucrative practice area, and because...

For years notaries have found a profitable source of recurring business handing the witnessing and collection of closing documents at residential mortgage closing transactions.  Whether affiliated with escrow and settlement...

Now that 2017 has ended, many lenders are breathing a strong sigh of relief.  In the past few years regulatory and compliance directives from Washington have fueled increased loan costs, spurred the development of new...

For years credit unions have sent mortgage proceeds and loan documents to non-vetted and unsupervised men and women acting as “settlement agents” who appeared at the closing table, interacted with members and were largely...

Using data mining and intelligence for predictive behavior analysis can stop potential losses from mortgage fraud.  Today the technology, the analytics and the processes exist to deter bad acts and to uncover bad actors...

The recent announcement that First American Title Insurance Company and Lender Processing Services  have reached an agreement to develop and implement a managed title and closing services platform should not surprise anyone. ...

Increasing regulatory pressures on banks and lenders to adopt greater risk management systems and processes are aimed at establishing a more uniform approach to quality control industry-wide.  At the same time these pressures...

Never heard of “blockchain” technology?  Well then you better start Googling it, because like the fax machine, personal computer and the Internet, blockchain data authentication, storage and sharing technology promises...

In April last year I traveled to Washington DC to attend the CFPB forum on the mortgage closing process.  The build-up to this event came on the heels of the open public comment period the Bureau established for consumers...