This Week in the Title Underground (23-November-2025): Notaries guessing, feds progressing, underwriters stress-assessing, and the regulators still coalescing

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📜Educational Resources

• 🐐Akira Ransomware Is Coming for Small Title Agencies

• 📄Idem Sonans: Why Misspellings Don’t Invalidate Legal Documents

• 📄Can You Probate an Estate in Texas After Four Years?

• 📄Holy Moly, Who Will Sign the Deed? An Overview of Real Property Conveyances by Religious Organizations

• 📄How to Calculate Notary Fees the Smart Way (With a Simple Worksheet)

• 🎥Understanding Real Estate Contracts

• 🎓Abstract and Examination (MS) (CE) ($)

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🕵️‍♂️Underworld Intel

• 🌍Foreign Tax CPA: IRS Activity Resumes: Confirmed Updates on FIRPTA and ITIN Filings

• 🎥Amy Gregory, President of Florida Agency Network discusses company culture and expansion

• 🎙️What $4,000 Gold Means for Real Estate Investors

• 📅 Webinar – Tax Sales in Mississippi: From Notice to Policy—Avoiding the Landmines – December 11, 2025

• 📅 Save the Date: DCLTA is joining the Maryland Land Title Association to hold a joint seminar at The Great Room at Savage Mill in Savage, MD February 11th

• 📄Mortgage borrowers still crave some hand-holding, survey finds

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⚖️Regulatory & Policy Updates

National

• 📢FinCEN Seeks Comments on Proposed Survey of the Costs of AML/CFT Compliance for Insurance Companies (Comment period closes Dec 1, 2025)

• 📢CFPB Seeks Comments on Proposed Modification of Equal Credit Opportunity Act (learn more) (Comment period closes Dec 12, 2025)

  • Regulation B Revisited: CFPB Proposes Amendments Addressing Disparate Impact, Discouragement, and Special Purpose Credit Programs

• CFPB

  • 📰Trump nominates new CFPB director — despite plans to shutter the agency

  • 📰Mortgage fraud risk spikes amid White House efforts to close down CFPB

• FHA, Fannie & Freddie IPO

  • 📰Senate committee advances Trump nominees to lead FHA, Ginnie Mae

  • 📰Ackman urges Trump to delay Fannie and Freddie IPO

  • 📰Bill Ackman’s GSE proposal faces hurdles on capital, Treasury forgiveness

  • 📰‘Portable Mortgage’ Proposal Gains Attention

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💸Business Growth & Operations

• 🎥Keys to the Success of Building a Law Practice

• 📄Why these 10 overlooked real estate niches are goldmines

• 📄Building Your Brand: How Title Agents Can Shine in a Competitive Market

• 📄7 Steps to Develop a Succession Plan for Your Title Company

• 📄LLC vs. S Corp in Texas: A Fundamental Distinction

• 🎥One of the Biggest Title Sales Rep Mistakes!

• 📄Be Memorable, Not Mechanical: The Secret to Selling Yourself in Every Interaction

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🐐 This Wednesday’s Deep Dive:

Wire fraud isn’t slowing down, but the tools and tactics to fight it are getting sharper—and one vendor in particular has been quietly building a whole library of resources for the title industry.

This week, we’re digging into Closinglock: what it actually is (beyond the buzzwords), why so many title teams are adopting it as their “don’t-mess-with-my-escrow” shield, and the educational vault they’ve built to help agents stay ahead of fraud without needing to become cybersecurity experts.

If you want a one-stop roundup of wire-fraud training links, practical tools, and real-world case studies you can plug into your next team meeting, this is the one to bookmark.

Stay tuned—your closings will thank you.

Stay Wicked,
Cheryl
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**DISCLAIMER**
The Wicked Title Forum is a crowd-sourced resource. If you spot outdated or incorrect info, drop a comment and we’ll update the article.

All sample forms must be reviewed for federal, state, and underwriter compliance.

This content is for general guidance and educational purposes only. I am not an attorney and this is not legal, financial, or underwriting advice. Use at your own risk, and always consult your attorney and/or underwriter for advice specific to your situation.

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