Data Breach Prep: Mississippi

When a data breach occurs, it’s an intense, frightening moment. Who you ‘gonna call? Ghostbusters aren’t the ones for this job, so the best way to make the specter of a breach less scary is to have an incident response plan in place; to know what your legal and regulatory requirements are; and to have the contact information that you …

A Contract for Deed: Who else may have an interest in the property?

A contract for deed agreement is nothing new. These agreements are between a current owner of the property (the “legal titleholder”) and a person who is interested in purchasing the property from the owner (the “equitable interest holder”) but may not be eligible for traditional financing (or for other reasons), and the owner agrees to finance the transaction. The equitable …

Conducting Valuable Market Research

After experiencing sustained growth, many businesses will begin to think about expansion. But while moving into new markets can be an exciting prospect, success often hinges on rigorous planning. Here, we will examine how market research is an important part of this process and how you can develop your own. Let’s jump in. Market research is key to successful expansion …

BEC Fraud Nears $3B Mark In 2023 In Latest IC3 Report

Calling cybersecurity “the ultimate team sport,” the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) emphasized its ongoing commitment to working with local law enforcement and private industry to combat evolving cyber threats in the U.S. in its recent 2023 Internet Crime Report. The report, released in March, highlighted investment fraud and business email compromise (BEC) fraud as the two most expensive fraud …

Beyond GTOs: FinCEN Proposes Expansion Of Industry Reporting Requirements

The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) on Feb. 7 to expand its efforts on a permanent basis to combat and deter money laundering through the residential real estate sector. According to the FinCEN announcement, the proposed rule would require professionals involved in real estate closings and settlements to report information …

Alliant National Welcomes Julie George as Underwriting Counsel

George will help support Alliant National’s underwriting operations throughout the Midwest. Longmont, Colo. – (May 16, 2023) – Alliant National Title Insurance Company, the title insurer that is uniquely responsive to the needs of independent agents, is pleased to announce the hiring of Julie George as Underwriting Counsel. A seasoned title insurance veteran, George has been a fixture of the industry since …

Email Newsletter Best Practices

Develop more valuable connections to your prospects with a well-written and optimized newsletter.  Are you looking to ramp up the marketing of your small agency? If so, consider making an email newsletter part of your toolkit. It may be tempting, especially these days, to think that email is no longer effective. Guess again. According to recent data, email marketing has …

Common Closing Issues – Part II

In the final part of our series, we explore some of the remaining routine scenarios agents will face when closing real estate transactions.  INTRODUCTION In the first two editions of this series, we tackled several scenarios faced by agents during the real estate closing process. These issues run the gamut, illustrating how potential problems can arise even when the finish …

Celebrating Donna More

Longmont, Colo. – (May 6, 2021) – Alliant National Title Insurance Company, a unique title insurance underwriter that partners with independent agents to improve their competitive position, announces the promotion of Donna More, Senior Underwriting Counsel, to the position of Vice President – Florida. More is a highly skilled and knowledgeable attorney who has been practicing law since 1985 and is licensed …

Celebrating Rayni Scott

Longmont, Colo. – (April 22, 2021) – Alliant National Title Insurance Company, a unique title insurance underwriter that partners with independent agents to improve their competitive position, announces the hiring of Rayni Scott to the position of Underwriting Counsel for the Southwest Region and Vice President. Rayni Scott is a highly skilled real estate and title insurance attorney with more than 20 …