Fund Alerts

We have been advised that on Friday, June 20, 2014, Valley Bank, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, was closed by the Florida Office of Financial Regulation, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) was named Receiver. To protect the depositors, the FDIC entered into a purchase and assumption agreement with Landmark Bank, National Association, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to assume all of the deposits of Valley Bank.

Beginning on September 2, 2014, all Florida title insurance agents must collect a surcharge of $3.28 per policy and remit it to the insurer.  Please see the Fund Alert dated June 11, 2014 for information on the purpose and authority for the surcharge.

On June 4, 2014, the Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) ordered that a surcharge totaling $3.28 per policy be charged to reimburse the receivers assigned to administer the receivership of two underwriters who have gone out of business – National Title Insurance Company ($.28) and K.E.L. Title Insurance Group, Inc. ($3.00).

The Office of the Attorney General's Consumer Protection Division ('the Office”) has asked FLTA to alert our members and other title industry stakeholders that certain titles to homeowners' residences deeded to The Fidelity Land Trust Company, LLC ("Fidelity Land Trust"), an LLC unrelated to Fidelity National Title Insurance Company, may be clouded. Assistant Attorney General Fulvio Joseph Gentili reports that Final Judgment has been issued against Fidelity Land Trust in the case of Office of the Attorney General v. Edward Cherry, et al, Case No. 12-269807(12)(17th Jud. Cir.), a case which involves a scheme that resulted in the execution and/or recording of a large number of quitclaim deeds or warranty deeds that have since been declared null and void.

This year, The Fund and Old Republic National Title Insurance Company are leading the charge to support important legislation that will ensure Florida citizens have ready access to local title insurance agents, including attorney agents. As described in the February 2014 Concept, the need for this legislation was created by the Florida Supreme Court’s significant limitation of the economic loss rule and decades of precedent in its March, 2013 decision: Tiara Condominium Association, Inc. v. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc., 110 So.3d 399 (Fla. 2013).

In January 2014, the collection of the surcharge in  connection with the National Title Insurance Company receivership was delayed  until April 4, 2014.  The Office of  Insurance Regulation is currently in the process of combining the surcharge for  National Title Insurance Company with a surcharge for the new K.E.L. receivership  and determining the amount of surcharge to cover both.  Accordingly, the earliest that the surcharge  will be collected is June 13, 2014.

Wells Fargo, one of the nation's largest lending institutions released a newsletter to its network of settlement agents on March 6, 2014.  In this communication, Wells Fargo states "As expectations on lenders increase so will expectations on third party service providers."  Wells Fargo added they plan to "continue to expand and enhance third party oversight capabilities for title and settlement companies in order to monitor and measure performance."

Based on our research of the pertinent land records and court records in connection with insuring title to real property in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties, the following names have been red-flagged in ATIDS:

• Antoaneta Iatova
• Issak Almaleh
• Mihail Yotov
• New York Sport Foundation
• American Home Mortgage Servicing

What is the Data Call?
For many years, title insurers have provided financial information to state regulators. Beginning in January, 2014, licensed title agencies must start capturing certain information regarding their practices, income and expenses to be reported annually. The information captured in 2014 will be reported to the Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) in 2015.

We would like to alert you to a fraud scheme that could result in the theft of money from your accounts. Here is how the scheme works: