🐐 TU🕵️♂️ : FinCEN Appeal, 43.7% of Mortgages Flagged for Fraud, Flying Squirrels and more!
This Week in the Title Underground (17-May-2026): Secondar Market Dynamics & Mortgage Myths creating opportunities, The Real Fix for Housing & How One Man Went from Addiction to Advocacy
🐐 About Wicked Title | 🔍 Search the Knowledge Base | 📢 Be a Sponsor
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🕵️♂️Underworld Intel
Market Shifts
Longbridge’s Tim Wilkinson on the secondary market dynamics reshaping reverse mortgages
Mortgage Myths Persist: Buyers Misjudge Credit Scores, Down Payments
A title agent can leverage the information from the article to enhance consumer marketing in several effective ways:
Educational Campaigns
Targeted Messaging
Content Marketing
Workshops and Seminars
Partnerships with Lenders
Utilizing Testimonials
Visual Infographics
By focusing on education and clear communication, a title agent can effectively address consumer misconceptions, build trust, and ultimately drive more business in the competitive real estate market
Other
⚖️Legal
Regulatory updates, Claims, Lawsuits, & Enforcement
National
🚨 BREAKING 🚨
Treasury has officially appealed the Texas decision vacating the FinCEN real estate reporting rule nationwide.
FinCEN isn’t backing down.
The appeal could decide far more than whether this rule survives — it may shape how much AML authority FinCEN has over real estate transactions going forward. Full breakdown coming Wednesday. 🐐
🎥 FINCEN’s New AML Proposal; What Escrow, Title, and Lending Professionals Should Understand
📰 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act update:
A bipartisan housing bill that passed in the Senate is facing significant revisions in the House, risking its chances of becoming law before the midterm elections.
The House has proposed changes that would reduce restrictions on institutional investors’ ownership of single-family homes, including redefining “single-family home” to allow more purchases by large firms. The definition of a single-family home now would exclude manufactured housing and homes that have been renovated for sale, among others.
Removes a provision that would require institutional investors to sell rental homes after seven years.
The legislation also maintains a five-year ban on the Federal Reserve issuing a digital dollar and includes provisions to support community banks.
However, it omits several Senate provisions aimed at enhancing affordable housing initiatives.
The bill must return to the Senate for final approval before reaching the president.
State
⚖️ Every business entity formed or registered in Minnesota carries a baseline set of compliance obligations regardless of size or industry. These include
Filing an annual renewal with the Minnesota Secretary of State
Maintaining a registered agent with a valid Minnesota address
Keeping corporate formalities current (meeting minutes, resolutions, and records)
Complying with Minnesota’s Wage and Hour Compliance Requirements (Minn. Stat. Chapter 181 and the Minnesota Fair Labor Standards Act)
Properly classifying workers
Maintaining an employee handbook
Retaining records
And more
Visit the Minnesota Business Compliance: A Legal Guide for more details.
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🤖PropTech, Cyber Security & Fraud
PropTech
Fraud Stories
📄 Portland Duo Sentenced for Running Real Estate Investment Fraud Scheme
🎥 How Cartels Launder Trillions Through the Financial System
Cyber Security
Tip of the Week: Preserve Original Documentation: Retain all original documents in their native formats. This includes saving full email files, downloading attachments directly, and keeping text messages with timestamps intact. Avoid forwarding or editing files that could strip metadata.
📄 43.7% of first-quarter mortgage transactions flagged for fraud risk
📄 FBI Report: Real Estate Fraud Losses Total $275 Million-Plus in 2025
AI
⬇️ AI Can Accelerate Title Workflows - download the white paper
📄Shadow AI and Corporate Policy: Investigating the Unauthorized Use of Generative AI - Shadow AI, however, represents an insider threat driven by a desire for efficiency rather than malice. Banning AI tools entirely often backfires, driving usage further underground as employees pivot to personal devices or hidden accounts.
Blockchain
🎟️Events
🎟️ VLTA Night at The Diamond: An Evening with the Richmond Flying Squirrels!
📅 May 20th | ⏰ 7pm-9:30pm EST | 📍 Richmond, VA
📅 May 28th-June 2 | ⏰ All day | 📍 Centennial, CO
💼 Job Postings
Thank you to our friends, contributors & sponsors:🔒 Closinglock, 🌍 Foreign Tax CPA, 🧱 Brickhouse Consulting, 🖊️Dotted Line Signings & Our Paying Readers
Stay Wicked,
Cheryl
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**DISCLAIMER**
Content is for informational purposes, operational awareness and workflow strategy. While every effort is made to ensure accuracy, it is not meant to be a compliance directive or replace the specific legal/financial advice of your retained experts. As always evaluate new information & tools with your underwriter/attorney, accountant/financial advisor, IT/security team, and internal policies, as needed, before implementation.
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