Harford and Cecil County Homes

Last month, I briefly touched upon the findings of an investigation conducted by Washington's Insurance Commissioner, Mike Kreidler, into illegal marketing practices employed by the title industry.  See, Two Different Settlements Sheets?.  On November 21, 2006, Kreidler's office released a "Techn...

Yesterday, Slava Makler wrote an excellent post concerning identity theft and Florida refinances, "Homeowner Identity Thieves."  Last year I heard about a similar situation in Georgia.On May 30, 2006 a 30 year old Atlanta woman was arrested in connection with an FBI sting operation and charged wi...

I'm admittedly concerned about the real estate and mortgage fraud outlook for 2007 after considering the developments of the past year.  Real estate and mortgage fraud is a complicated issue presenting a spectrum of societal challenges in the form of costs and consequences.  Industry leaders expr...

In November, 2006 Forbes Magazine ran Scott Woolley's negative indictment of the title industry, "Inside America's Richest Insurance Racket".   Referring at different times to research, interviews and the findings of an 10 month investigation conducted by the Washington state insurance commission...

Last November, Susannah Frame, an investigative reporter for King 5 News in Seattle, Washington  broke a story that illustrates a concept and a phrase that may be unfamiliar to many, Affinity Fraud.   Affinity Fraud refers to a situation where a victim is preyed upon by a trusted member of a shar...

Consider if you will the number of different "hats" worn by a title agent during the course of any real estate transaction.   Title agents not only examine title, they are also responsible for facilitating the closing, managing enormous escrow accounts and for drafting an insurance policy that pr...

In Part 1 of the Series we touched briefly upon the "things" that corporate culture is not.What is Corporate Culture?Corporate Culture is the unspoken and unwritten rules of conduct that reflect a company's belief system.  A company's culture is best described as it's heartbeat; it's mantra.  It'...

Kelly Mitchell recently wrote a wonderfully informational post regarding residential leaseholds in Hawaii, Leasehold vs Fee Simple.  I'm from the Baltimore, MD area where leasehold properties are very common.  I appreciate Kelly's article because I've often heard rumors concerning residential gro...

We've been led to believe that quick innovation, particularly when driven by technological advancement, can result in increased efficiency, internal cost containment and enhanced client satisfaction.  We all feel the need to act quickly to changes of any type in our business environment for fear ...

Last year, every document ever recorded in the state of Maryland was made available to the public on a newly launched site, MdLandRec.Net.  The site is user friendly and free to anyone requesting a password.  Those of you located out of state, but doing business in Maryland might find the site in...