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Title Insurance Issues

Ted says the Recession is Over

Chief Economist at Stewart Title says the recession is over.  Good to hear.

From Ted Jones at Stewart blogs

While there are several definitions of a recession (a period of several months in which economic activity declines), I define a recession as an extended period when the country has job losses. Jobs are everything to the economy. Period. And when it comes to housing, other than retirees (which I call blue hairs, gray hairs and no hairs), very few people buy a home without a job. And I have gray hair, so my term is not derogatory. Retirement for me is hopefully a decade off.

The GREAT news is that, in the prior 12 months, from the end of January 2012 to the end of January 2013, not one state lost jobs. And I define losing jobs as more than 500 net job losses since I do not believe that the resolution of counting jobs is that precise. This now makes nine times in the past 17 months that no state lost jobs, assuming that 500 number. Hence a genuine trend.

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Title Insurance Issues

RESPA Rules on Agents

This article is a good summary what you need to ask yourself if there is a chance of a RESPA violation.  The article comes from Raealtor Mag

A home sale cannot be conditioned on the use of a specific title insurance company. Violators can face stiff penalties.
MARCH 2013 | BY PHILLIP L. SCHULMAN
It’s not unusual for a listing agent to have a favorite closing agent and want the buyer to close the transaction using that agent, along with the agent’s title insurance and settlement services. What many practitioners don’t realize, however, is that Section 9 of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act prohibits sellers from conditioning the home sale on the use of a specific title insurance company, and in fact violators can be subject to penalties, with the most -typical being a fine of up to three times the amount of the title insurance fee.

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