New Year, Old Issues.

Cyber fraud is a prominent issue for attorneys in 2017; expect TRID amendments midyear

Dear Members,

Greetings from Fund Headquarters and best wishes for 2017. So far, the year has not revealed any new challenges for the settlement industry and real estate attorneys… but it’s only January 4! The newly elected Florida Legislature is up and running… conducting committee meetings and filing bills. I am headed to Tallahassee later this month for meetings with our legislators and regulators and will report on what I learn. As I hear concrete information that is worthy of your attention, be assured I will share.

I spent an hour or so the other day reviewing my emails to members from 2016 and was surprised by how cyber fraud emerged as a prominent issue. This is not likely to change in 2017. Educating you and your staff AND giving you tools to raise awareness of buyers, sellers and real estate agents is one of our goals this year. To that end, we have developed flyers with tips and information you can provide to your staff, buyers and sellers. You can download and print these for distribution through this link. I hope you find these to be helpful in your practice.

The word from Washington, D.C. is that CFPB “expects” to finalize the TRID amendments midyear. Recall that most of these amendments will not affect your day-to-day operations or production of the CD; however, some tweaking of software (including DoubleTime®) will be required. Changes include  tolerance provisions for the total of payments, extension of coverage of the integrated disclosure requirements to all cooperative units, and guidance on sharing the CD with various parties involved in the closing (please excuse the significant paraphrasing).

Let me know how we can help you.