A Few Reminders and Bits of Information

Dear Members,

Best wishes for 2020!  I will ease you into the new year with just a few reminders and bits of information.

New Notarial Certificates!  Don't forget that new notarial certificates are now required for Florida notaries - for acknowledgements AND jurats.  If you are a DoubleTime user, you have already received an email alerting you to the availability of the new release updating the forms.  If you can't find your email, call our Member Support Center (previously known as the Help Desk) at 1-800-421-9378.  For your documents outside of closing software, don't forget to update those forms!  Here is a link to a Word Document you can "cut and paste" to bring your forms into compliance. 

Ready to become a Florida online notary? Or just interested in learning more about the process involved? Then tune in for a RON Update: How to Become a Florida Remote Online Notary, a free Fund Town Hall premiering live tomorrow at noon. The link to the registration page can be found here.

New fraud scheme - BE ALERT!  Payoffs are the new target for fraudsters.  If you are handling a mortgage payoff, be very careful to verify and confirm that the payoff information AND the wiring instructions for the payoff are valid.  We have had several instances of Fund Members falling victim to falsified wiring instructions that appear to be coming from the mortgage holder.  BE SUSPICIOUS.  BE CAREFUL. STAY ALERT.

You can ‘lien’ on The Fund. You may have noticed that many of our January educational events involve the study of liens, starting with a detailed article in this month’s Fund Concept on PACE liens. Staying with that theme, the Legal Education Department is presenting a trilogy of lien-related live webinars, all of which are accredited, at noon on Jan. 14, 21 and 28. This is a great way to start accumulating CLE credit for the New Year. A link to the registration page can be found here.

Title Agencies: Update Your Info for the 2020 Administrative Surcharge
Subsection 624.501(27)(e)2, F.S., requires any title insurance agency licensed in Florida on January 1 of each year to remit an administrative surcharge of $200 to the Florida Department of Financial Services. Title insurance agencies licensed in Florida were emailed a reminder this month to the agency's email address on file with the Department. All title insurance agencies licensed in Florida on or around January 1 will be sent a courtesy email reminder in early January. To ensure you receive follow-up emails, please log in to the MyProfile account for your title agency and make sure the correct email address is on file.

Stay tuned for information on the legislative session (kicks off on January 14, 2020), Assembly 2020 (right around the corner!), implementation of Remote Online Notarization in Florida and other exciting stuff!

Let me know how we can help you.

Melissa Jay Murphy
Executive Vice President, Chief Legal Officer,
General Counsel and Secretary