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“It’s too easy to forge a deed and record it,” Real estate attorney Richard Alembik told WSB-TV. “It’s a big problem nowadays, because of the fact that e-filing, the e-recording of deeds is so easy. It’s very easy to record forged deeds.” Alembik said notaries don’t check the identification of the people who submit the documents to verify if they are the rightful homeowners. Victims of fraud who have proof to be the rightful homeowners can still be ordered by a judge to move out and pay fines, according to the outlet. An elderly Georgia homeowner was forced out of...

An elderly Georgia homeowner was forced out of his house and arrested when an alleged swindler used fraudulent documents to claim ownership of the property. Charles and Charmaine Allman lived in the same Stone Mountain, Ga. home — located 16 miles east of Atlanta — for the last two decades before officials told the couple Tuesday that they no longer owned the house and had to vacate. “They made us feel like we were squatters,” Charmaine Allman told WSB-TV. “Just tossed my stuff out like it was trash.”

The Biden administration unveiled a new program on Thursday aimed at alleviating the financial burden on homeowners by slashing closing costs on select mortgages, reviving a proposal that faced opposition from the industry in the past. The initiative targets a significant expense associated with closing on a mortgage: title insurance. In a pilot program, Fannie Mae will waive the title insurance requirement on mortgage refinancings it acquires from certain lenders, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal. This move reignites a clash with the industry regarding the cost and necessity of title insurance and aligns with the White...

U.S. Mortgagegate Scandal Puts Taxpayers into the Title-Insurance Business Housing-Market / US Housing Oct 29, 2010 - 05:48 AM By: Money_Morning Shah Gilani writes: U.S. taxpayers already own pieces of such problem-plagued companies as General Motors Corp., Chrysler LLC, American International Group Inc. (NYSE: AIG), Fannie Mae (OTC: FNMA) and Freddie Mac (OTC: FMCC). Now the increasingly problematic "Mortgagegate" saga could land American taxpayers in the trouble-ridden title-insurance business. On Oct. 8, Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) indemnified Fidelity National Financial Inc. (NYSE: FNF) against any losses that Fidelity might sustain in litigation over title insurance it writes on...

Live now. BofA stopping all foreclosures, due to inability to sort out faulty documents, laws suits over documents, etc.

GAINESVILLE | It was supposed to be their retirement nest egg, an opportunity to come in off the road as long-haul truckers and finally spend time with their 11 grandchildren. Instead, Donald and Kim MacLeod were to lose their 70-acre Old Town farm at auction today through no fault of their own because a lien against the debt of a prior owner was not indexed in Dixie County records. On Friday, Dixie County Judge Frederick Koberlein turned down the MacLeod's motion that Orix Financial Services should first exhaust other opportunities to collect its debt, paving the way for the farm...

Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi said Wednesday he issued nine subpoenas to six companies -- including KB Home -- as part of a probe into illegal kickbacks in the title insurance industryGaramendi's office said the subpoenas come after four others were issued in February to LandAmerica companies and Fidelity National Title, two of the nation's largest title insurers. The nine subpoenas were issued last week. Other companies beside Los Angeles-based KB Home (NYSE: KBH) include William Lyon Homes (NYSE: WLS) of Newport Beach, Re/Max, United Home Mortgage Corp., Shea Financial Services of Aliso Viejo and Wells Fargo Home Mortgage. Garamendi...