🐐Title Underground: FICO Falls, Redlining Calls, CFPB Just Threw a Stone
This Week in the Title Underground (16-Nov-2025): As Washington reshapes the rules of credit and discrimination, the path to homeownership bends, keep an eye on the trends
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📜Educational Resources
🌍 Foreign Tax CPA: New Proposed REIT Regulations Could Simplify FIRPTA Compliance
📄Anticipatory Repudiation in Real Estate Transactions Explained
🎥What Transactions Are Reportable Under FinCEN’s 2026 Residential Real Estate Rule?
🎥Title Basics: Understanding the Key Components of Title Searches
🎓 16th Section Lands and Tax-Forfeited Lands (MS) (CE) ($)
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🕵️♂️Underworld Intel
🎥 Bubble Busters – Debunking the Scariest Economic Housing Headlines
🎥 Can we all just De-stress about Distress in Commercial Real Estate?
🎥 John Williams of Bluegrass Land Title Most Memorable Closing
📰Lawsuit Claims Zillow Violated RESPA Anti-Kickback Rules by Requiring Agent to Use In-House Lender
📄American Land Title Association Welcomes End of Government Shutdown
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⚖️Regulatory & Policy Updates
National
Federal housing programs back online after government shutdown ends
FINCEN
CFPB
🐐CFPB Wants to Kill Disparate Impact. Will a Return of Redlining Shrink Homeownership for Millions? - The CFPB’s proposal to scale back disparate-impact enforcement under ECOA isn’t some boring procedural tweak — it strikes at the heart of how redlining is detected and prosecuted.
📢CFPB Seeks Comments on Proposed Modification of Equal Credit Opportunity Act (learn more)
CFPB Notifies Court it Cannot Lawfully Draw Funds from the Federal Reserve
State Regulatory Changes
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🤖PropTech, Cyber Security & Fraud
Cyber Security & Fraud
🎥🔒Closinglock: Uncover the Latest Tactics Used by Real Estate Fraudsters with April Gentry of ClosingLock
📄Protecting Against Counterfeit Wire Instructions and Wire Fraud in Real Estate
🎥Family sues after they say forged deed resulted in them losing their home
📄What to do if You Learn You Sent a Fraudulent Wire (page 6)
📰Michigan Woman Charged with 10 Felonies in Real Estate Fraud Schemes
🎥Unpack the difference between “fraud for money” and “fraud for housing,
AI
📅 Events
Educational Industry Events This Month:
Detecting Fraud in Mergers and Acquisitions
🎟️ Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE)
🗓️ Dec 9-10, 2025
📍 Virtual
Marketing & Networking Events This Month:
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🐐 This Wednesday’s Deep Dive:
The newest FBI/IC3 alert has a message most title agencies don’t want to hear: Akira ransomware isn’t targeting giant financial institutions — it’s going after small businesses that handle money and sensitive documents. In other words… companies built exactly like ours.
This week’s Deep Dive breaks down why title agencies are suddenly showing up in these federal advisories, what makes our workflows so attractive to attackers, and the practical, non-technical steps any shop can use to lower its risk. No scare tactics, no jargon — just a clear look at what’s happening and what you can control.
If you’ve ever wondered how exposed your operation really is, or how easily one bad email could shut down a closing day, this one’s worth your time.
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Cheryl
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The CFPB funding situation creates real uncertanty for M&A due diligence in title companies. The ACFE event on detecting fraud in mergers is especialy timely given how regulatory instability affects compliance frameworks during dealmaking. When enforcement priorities shift this dramaticaly, acquirers need to reassess target company exposure.