Fraud Protection

Fraud protection is essential in the title industry. Fraudulent wiring instructions have caused dramatic financial losses for title agents, realtors, homeownership, and homebuyers.

We want to keep you safe.

What we know:

    • Changes to wire instructions are not normal
    • Lender payoffs are being manipulated
    • Large losses are occurring in the industry
    • Payoff instructions are not verified

Safety Measures:

    • Question every single change to wire instructions, change requests are not normal and probably fraudulent
    • Do not reply directly to emails requesting the movement of money
    • Instead, use the “forward” option and type in the correct email address or select it from your email address book
    • Validate new payment instructions received via email—even if it is internal
    • Always verify the authenticity of each wire transfer request
    • Call, using a number you have previously called—not one from the current wire transfer request—to verify verbally
    • Verify payment instructions with any new vendor
    • Verify changes to payment instructions for an existing vendor
    • Verify pay-off account numbers before wiring funds

How can you avoid fraud?

  • Establish a verification protocol
  • Enforce the protocol with all employees
  • Re-review on a regular basis
  • Implement multi-factor authentication
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Recording fees set to increase October 17, 2019

Effective October 17, 2019, recording fees for most documents will increase by $6 due to the passage of HB 166 by the Ohio Legislature.

The new recording fee will be $34 for the first two pages and $8 for each additional page. Half of all recording fees collected are required to be submitted to the state to the credit of the Ohio Housing Trust Fund.

Ohio Revised Code 317.32 and 317.36

 

Sample Fee Chart

Number of Pages Fee*
1 page
2 pages
3 pages
4 pages
5 pages
6 pages
7 pages
8 pages
9 pages
10 pages
$34
$34
$42
$50
$58
$66
$74
$82
$90
$98
  • $4 marginal fees and standardization guidelines still apply.

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Long-awaited FHA condo rules | boost to affordability

 

The following news is shared from an announcement by the National Association of Realtors.

HUD to announce long-awaited FHA condo rules | will give affordability a boost

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is expected to release updated guidance tomorrow on FHA-insured condominium financing. The new rules should benefit real estate clients and customers by allowing more buyers to obtain low down-payment mortgages on affordable housing options.

Specifically, the new rules will:

  • Extend FHA certifications on condo developments from two years to three years, reducing the compliance burden on condo boards.
  • Allow for single-unit mortgage approvals-often known as spot approvals-which will enable FHA insurance of individual condo units, even if the property does not have FHA approval.
  • Secure additional flexibility in the ratio of investors to owner-occupants allowed for FHA financing in a condo building.

The full guidance will go into effect in mid-October, 60 days from publication.

“Condominiums are often the most affordable option for first-time homebuyers, small families, and those in urban areas,” said NAR President John Smaby, in a statement issued to the media Wednesday morning. ‘We are thrilled that (HUD) Secretary (Ben) Carson has taken this much-needed step to put the American dream within reach for thousands of additional families.”
Since 2008, NAR has championed policy changes in condo lending. NAR has sought rules that would allow the owner-occupancy level to be determined on a case-by-case basis and that
would extend the approval period for project certification to five years.

NAR’s existing-home sales report for June showed condominium and co-op sales at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 580,000 units, a decline of 3.3% from May and 6.5% from the same time last year. With more than 8.7 million condo units nationwide, only 17,792 FHA condo loans have been originated in the past year.

NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun recently noted that even though median prices for existing condos have risen slightly, their relative affordability means condominiums remain a natural answer to inventory shortages holding back home sales growth.

“Condos are typically more affordable than a detached single-family home, but only a small fraction of condos are FHA-certified,” Yun said last month.

NAR has advocated for changes to FHA’s condo policies that include allowing owner-occupancy level determination on a case-by-case basis, granting up to 45% commercial space without documentation and including a five-year approval period for project certification.

The FHA issued proposed changes to its condo rules in 2016 that would have allowed individual condo units to become eligible for FHA financing, but the proposed rules were never finalized.

HUD estimates that these new rules could cause anywhere from 20,000 to 60,000 condominium units to become eligible for FHA-insured financing annually.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

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