helping a consumer with a Good Faith Estimate error

I was recently contacted by a new title insurance consumer, a homebuyer, who asked if I had worked with the mortgage lender he had selected.  I didn't recognize the name of the company but assured him that we work with many diverse lenders and would help this lender with the nuances of Western Pennsylvania customs in real estate, if needed.  This homebuyer then said he had talked with some local

helping a consumer with a Good Faith Estimate error

I was recently contacted by a new title insurance consumer, a homebuyer, who asked if I had worked with the mortgage lender he had selected.  I didn't recognize the name of the company but assured him that we work with many diverse lenders and would help this lender with the nuances of Western Pennsylvania customs in real estate, if needed.  This homebuyer then said he had talked with some local

CFPB

CFPB

get to know Elizabeth Warren

get to know Elizabeth Warren

query: what is the difference between a title commitment and title insurance

If you have ever applied for a mortgage loan, then think of the title commitment as being the same as the mortgage loan commitment letter.  The purpose of the title commitment is to formally state that the property has been approved for title insurance subject to certain conditions.

A smart consumer will obtain a copy of the title commitment prior to closing and READ IT.  This is your chance to

query: what is the difference between a title commitment and title insurance

If you have ever applied for a mortgage loan, then think of the title commitment as being the same as the mortgage loan commitment letter.  The purpose of the title commitment is to formally state that the property has been approved for title insurance subject to certain conditions.

A smart consumer will obtain a copy of the title commitment prior to closing and READ IT.  This is your chance to

I watched this video this morning and tried to post a comment. I was blocked by the site's blacklist. WAH???

Here's my comment:


I hope for good results from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

In response to your video, the bigger issue with these so-called "in-house" providers is the underlying conflict of interest.

The consumer loses their position as owner of the transaction as providers are motivated to serve their customer, the source of referrals.

I've been in this industry for over 35

I watched this video this morning and tried to post a comment. I was blocked by the site's blacklist. WAH???

Here's my comment:


I hope for good results from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

In response to your video, the bigger issue with these so-called "in-house" providers is the underlying conflict of interest.

The consumer loses their position as owner of the transaction as providers are motivated to serve their customer, the source of referrals.

I've been in this industry for over 35

Google is cramping my blogging style.

For years I've been able to blog on the fly with two email browsers up and running.  One for dianecipa@gmail.com and the other for dcipa@tcsclosing.com.  They both sit on Google platforms.  The gmail account was based on my original tcsclosing email address and so now Google doesn't want to have conflicting accounts open at the same time.

Google - You're killing me!!!

My blogs are accessed

Google is cramping my blogging style.

For years I've been able to blog on the fly with two email browsers up and running.  One for dianecipa@gmail.com and the other for dcipa@tcsclosing.com.  They both sit on Google platforms.  The gmail account was based on my original tcsclosing email address and so now Google doesn't want to have conflicting accounts open at the same time.

Google - You're killing me!!!

My blogs are accessed

tsk tsk Mr. Allen ....bad CEO bad CEO

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The CEO of what had been one of the nation's largest privately held mortgage lenders was sentenced Tuesday to more than three years in prison for his role in a $3 billion scheme that officials called one of the biggest corporate frauds in U.S. history.

The 40-month sentence for Paul R. Allen, 55, of Oakton, Va., is slightly less than the six-year term sought by federal

tsk tsk Mr. Allen ....bad CEO bad CEO

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The CEO of what had been one of the nation's largest privately held mortgage lenders was sentenced Tuesday to more than three years in prison for his role in a $3 billion scheme that officials called one of the biggest corporate frauds in U.S. history.

The 40-month sentence for Paul R. Allen, 55, of Oakton, Va., is slightly less than the six-year term sought by federal

I want to teach the world to sing in perfect harmony. ;)

Hey, why not, eh?

Here's some news.  Yours truly, the Title Insurance Talk lady is looking for a new path, a new challenge.  I have a wonderful replacement, an employee who I trust implicitly, to buy my business so I can move on when I find that next thing I want to do.  It's time. ;)

What do I WANT to do?  I'd love to find a place in which to help restore good practices in mortgage lending and

I want to teach the world to sing in perfect harmony. ;)

Hey, why not, eh?

Here's some news.  Yours truly, the Title Insurance Talk lady is looking for a new path, a new challenge.  I have a wonderful replacement, an employee who I trust implicitly, to buy my business so I can move on when I find that next thing I want to do.  It's time. ;)

What do I WANT to do?  I'd love to find a place in which to help restore good practices in mortgage lending and

Life Line for New York SIGs Falling Short While National Attention on Funds Sharpens

It appears my recent story “A New Life Line for Group Workers’ Comp Funds in New York” was overly optimistic and the obituary for SIGs in that state may indeed be published in the not too distant future.

According to knowledgeable sources, preliminary discussions about finding a reasonable compromise to allow well run New York SIGs to continue to operate have not panned out. At issue has been the posting of security to satisfy regulator concerns about solvency going forward.

The state’s workers’ compensation board pushed back against formulas proposed by industry that would allow funds sufficient access to cash to pay claims and other operating expenses. As a result, a new law has been passed requiring funds to post security equal to 160% of expected claims. With such a high bar, it is likely that the baby will be thrown out with the bath water.

There is some uncertainty, however, as the regulations to implement the new law has yet to be written and industry continues to press its case to the Governor and the Legislature that this law will have significant negative ramifications for the state’s workers’ compensation system. So stay tuned as there may additional twists to this story in months ahead.

But while New York has been the epicenter of actual legislative/regulatory activity affecting SIGs, it’s worth noting that the New York experience has spurred discussions in national forums.

Just last month at the National Council of Self-Insurers (NCSI) Annual Meeting, representatives from the California Self-Insurers Security Fund presented a session on SIGs. Although some good objective data was provided, there was an obvious bias evidenced by the fact that they were quick to point out the isolated problems within the SIG industry without acknowledging that the overwhelming number of SIGs are well run and provide smaller employers an important risk financing option.

It should not be surprising that the presentation concluded with comments suggesting that national standards for SIG regulation should be considered.

This discussion promises to pick up again next month Southeastern Association of Workers’ Compensation Administrators (SAWCA) Annual Meeting as one of the featured sessions will discuss “warning signs for a SIG default.” This meeting typically attracts a large number of regulators so the meeting room is likely to be filled with those who may be inclined to make it more difficult for SIGs to operate.

While a serious regulatory push with national reach may not be right around the corner, those who have an interest in maintaining sensible SIG regulation should nonetheless pay attention to the discussions that are going on because developments can accelerate with little warning.

Not only do you have regulators encouraging each other to conform to group think about how to deal with SIGs, but the traditional insurance industry never misses an opportunity to stir the pot by trying to make funds look bad. The confluence of these dynamics should keep SIG industry stakeholders on their toes.

So we’ll watch to see how things continue to play out in New York while keeping an eye on other states who may not be able to resist on messing with a good thing.

Here's a fraud case to watch.

MURRIETA, Calif. (KABC) -- A family is being told the house they thought they bought in Murrieta actually belongs to someone else. The family says they can't stop making their mortgage payments. 
"Even though you've made your payments in full every month, you could get a knock at the door saying get out," said would-be homeowner Charlie Zahari. "If you look at it, we're renters in a house

Here's a fraud case to watch.

MURRIETA, Calif. (KABC) -- A family is being told the house they thought they bought in Murrieta actually belongs to someone else. The family says they can't stop making their mortgage payments. 
"Even though you've made your payments in full every month, you could get a knock at the door saying get out," said would-be homeowner Charlie Zahari. "If you look at it, we're renters in a house

Obsessed With Adverse Selection

In case you haven’t heard, self-insurance is the gateway to adverse selection in the health insurance marketplace. Federal and state regulators have been sending up warning flares on this subject, but not surprisingly, their aim misses the mark.

This discussion has heated up as policy-makers look ahead to 2014 when state insurance exchanges are slated to come on-line and they try to predict market conditions and that time. For PPACA supporters, there’s a lot riding on making sure the exchanges work as promised so they are taking aim at any real or perceived obstacles. Adverse selection drivers are at the top of the list.

We saw this first in the HHS Report on the Large Group Market, which was published in March. In the report HHS commented that if low attachment point policies in the reinsurance (read stop-loss) market become more widely available by 2014, a significant number of fully-insured employers with “low risk” employees will switch to self-insurance, therefore creating adverse selection in the marketplace.

This section of the report concludes that “these results highlight the importance of closely monitoring the availability and pricing of reinsurance (stop-loss insurance) and closely monitoring decisions made by small employers to self-insure.”

A working draft of a recent NAIC white paper on the subject of adverse selection also points the finger at self-insurance as contributing to adverse selection. The NAIC writes: “Employers with favorable risk demographics have an incentive to self-fund while those with less desirable risks would tend to opt for fully-insured plans either through the exchange or in the outside market.”

Neither HHS nor the NAIC acknowledges one very important fact as part of their analysis, which is that most companies with fewer than 100 employees simply do not know if their group is a good risk because claims data is generally not available to them. In this regard, their “premeditation” argument is compromised.

Now it’s true that employers that switch to self-insurance can often improve the aggregate risk profile of their groups over time, regardless of the baseline at the time of transition, through wellness programs and other innovative plan design strategies, but shouldn’t that be the objective of all group health plans?

Let’s also recognize the importance of the HHS comment about “closely monitoring” the stop-loss market as way to guard against adverse selection. As described in my previous blog posting, Treasury Department Gets Schooled on stop-Loss Insurance, federal regulators now have a keen interest in stop-loss insurance for a variety of reasons.

This new federal attention combined with the ongoing desire by state legislators to expand their authority over self-insured health plans creates a very uncertain environment for future legislative/regulatory activity that could affect the ability of small and even mid-sized companies to self-insure.

There’s one last development on this subject worth mentioning. Some key House Republican staffers have indicated a renewed interest in introducing association health plan (AHP) legislation, but are holding back because of anticipated criticism that self-insured AHPs would contribute to adverse selection. So the education process continues on multiple fronts.

There hasn't been too much to talk about in title lately.

Or maybe I'm just not feeling compelled to post.  Hmmm....what is an interesting case?

Well, here's an interesting situation.  It's not new but it's always good to do a repeat.

We have a terrific program called Choose and Save.  We're closing a transaction today in which the consumer found us and our program while shopping on the web.  He was  tough shopper and checked with  numerous title

There hasn't been too much to talk about in title lately.

Or maybe I'm just not feeling compelled to post.  Hmmm....what is an interesting case?

Well, here's an interesting situation.  It's not new but it's always good to do a repeat.

We have a terrific program called Choose and Save.  We're closing a transaction today in which the consumer found us and our program while shopping on the web.  He was  tough shopper and checked with  numerous title

Well, here's a case that will cause regulators to notice escrow accounts.

MINEOLA, N.Y. (CN) - TitleServ, one of the largest title agencies in the country, swiped $7.9 million from customers' escrow funds, the underwriter WFG National Title Insurance Co. claims in Nassau County Court.
     New Jersey Title Insurance Co. has filed a similar complaint against TitleServ, which "was authorized to write title insurance policies in at least 26 states, including New York

Well, here's a case that will cause regulators to notice escrow accounts.

MINEOLA, N.Y. (CN) - TitleServ, one of the largest title agencies in the country, swiped $7.9 million from customers' escrow funds, the underwriter WFG National Title Insurance Co. claims in Nassau County Court.
     New Jersey Title Insurance Co. has filed a similar complaint against TitleServ, which "was authorized to write title insurance policies in at least 26 states, including New York