Ticor Title | Northern Nevada

Fraud Insights

Publisher: Fidelity National Financial. Editor: Lisa A.Tyler | National Escrow Administrator

September2020

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…
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Chris Champion, an escrow officer with Lawyers Title of Arizona, opened a sale escrow for $465,000. The buyers were a married couple supposedly moving from Colorado. The property was in Goodyear, Arizona. The wife signed the purchase agreement for…
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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 earnest money check in the amount of $1,000 was deposited and cleared…
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Passwords are frustrating. Many times the requirements placed on them make their creation — and more importantly remembering them — difficult. The most frustrating situation is when your password is not being accepted, then resetting your password and…
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August 2020

Myrna Espinoza, A.V.P. and Branch Manager with Alamo Title, worked on a sale transaction. The sellers had fallen on hard times. They had defaulted on their mortgage payments and foreclosure was looming. The commitment for title insurance revealed…
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A couple fell on hard times and needed to sell their home. They listed it for sale and a buyer agreed to pay $690,000 for the house. The commitment for title insurance revealed three clouds on title. In first position was their mortgage deed of trust, then…
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At the time of writing this article, 4.1 million homeowners had requested a forbearance plan from their mortgage loan servicer. Under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, also known as the CARES Act, homeowners can suspend their mortgage…
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An eClosing is the act of closing a mortgage loan electronically. This occurs through a secure electronic environment where some of the closing documents are accessed and then executed online. This is often a hybrid process in which certain key documents…
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July 2020

If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. We have published stories about romance scams and other ways fraudsters target people online. Recently, one of our offices identified another type of online scam, it is referred to as an inheritance…
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A woman named “Chilly Pot” owned her home and over the years had built up substantial equity. She was in the process of tapping into that equity through a cash out loan. Her lender was a private party investor…
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Ticor Title in Oregon opened a sale transaction. The sales price was $379,900. The buyer was purchasing the property for cash, no financing. The purchase agreement required an earnest money deposit in the amount of $5,000 but the buyer remitted…
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In 2000, the Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act (referred to as the ESIGN Act) was passed, which gave electronic signatures the same legal weight as handwritten ones…
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June 2020

Working from home? Getting used to a new work environment is stressful and somewhat overwhelming for settlement agents who are used to collaborating constantly with their colleagues and customers in their office space…
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The Company has put several securities in place so settlement agents who are permitted to work from home can access tools they need to conduct closings — such as email, production systems and document storage systems — using a virtual…
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InfraGard is a partnership between the FBI and members of the public. The InfraGard program provides a means for public collaboration with the FBI, resulting in the timely exchange of information. The group offers learning opportunities relevant to…
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The efficiency of computers has enhanced our productivity. Each day, there are new opportunities in our industry utilizing robots and technology. Let’s review the history of robots…
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May 2020

Social media offers opportunity to connect online with others anywhere in the world. People young and old use social media to meet other like–minded individuals. This virtual method also provides new ways for people to be taken advantage…
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Social media can provide opportunities for fraudsters to create online identities solely for the purpose of tricking victims. They use the information posted to victims’ profile pages to “romantically” manipulate them. They move quickly…
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A real estate investor we will call by the fictitious name of “Mac Aroni” contacted Tanya Banovac, V.P. and Branch Manager of Lawyer’s Title of Arizona, Inc. He needed her assistance with the purchase of several acres of vacant land in a remote…
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Bitcoins have come a long way since we first published an article on the topic in July 2013. At the time, bitcoin was only valued at $114.50. Since then, the value has jumped to an astonishing high of $19,650 in December 2017 and down to $3,400…
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April 2020

In 2019, we published a series of articles reinforcing the value of title insurance — our core product. Title insurance is an amazing, unique product which protects the American dream of homeownership. The national escrow administration team is… READ MORE>>

Gabriela “Gabby” Soto, Assistant Vice President, Assistant Branch Manager and Escrow Officer for Fidelity National Title Agency, was hard at work clearing title for a refinance. The Commitment for Title Insurance revealed the borrower had… READ MORE>>

Colorado residents can create an electronic version of their Colorado driver’s license or state identification card. They are available in Colorado through the mobile app, myColorado™… READ MORE>>

According to Cyber Security experts, when e–skimming occurs, an online shopper’s credit card information is skimmed from the merchandise checkout page. Then it is stored and sold in bulk on the dark web or used to make new purchases… READ MORE>>

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