Tag: real estate consumer protection
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Home Buyers Need Title Companies. Agents Shouldn’t Be Getting Paid to Select Them.
In a recently settled case, Maryland sued one of its title companies. The claim? That the company, together with a few affiliates, made kickbacks to agents. It’s a sad story of greed. It also offers some insights for our readers, and gives us a reason to talk about insuring our home titles—a precaution that should…
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A Title Agent Turned Swindler? It’s Not Unheard Of.
Ryan Goodrich, now a convict, used to be a trusted deed expert. For years, Goodrich ran a title company. Behind the scenes, Goodrich stole millions of dollars from home sellers and buyers, their mortgage lenders, and even peers in the title industry, said Utah officials. The activity, they alleged, involved sending people falsified receipts for…
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New Jersey Enacts a Raft of Reforms Impacting Deed Holders
To take action on the racial wealth gap, New Jersey’s lieutenant governor Tahesha Way signed an update to the Real Estate Appraisal Act, explicitly meant to stop race-based bias from influencing appraisals. As our readers know, appraisals often occur when a home seller transfers a deed to a home buyer. A 2022 study from the…
