TitlePLUS Times
Vol 7. no. 1
February 2004

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Articles

Fraud Alert
Incidents of real property fraud are currently being reported at an unprecedented rate. One title insurer recently reported that fraud claims in the month of January of this year alone comprise greater than 25% of all fraud claims it has received since the early 1990s. The TitlePLUS program is certainly not immune to these types of claims and we are constantly striving to reduce the risk to our purchaser and lender insureds.

Depending on the circumstances, lawyers and their staff can play a role in protecting clients (and themselves) from fraud. As such, we urge you to review the "Fraud Tips" article available at titleplus.lawyerdonedeal.com or lawyermortgage .com in the "Documents" drop-down menu. You may also obtain a copy of the Special Report on Fraud from these sites.

As always, please bear in mind that if the client or the source of the client referral seems too good to be true, it probably is. The same reasoning applies to your legal fees. If you have any suspicions regarding the circumstances of a transaction, please contact the TitlePLUS Underwriting Group at 416-598-5899 or 1-800- 410-1013. We can help.

Value Fraud
"Value fraud" involves a lender being induced to loan more against a property than its true value would justify. Watch out for new requirements appearing in lender instructions, as lenders work to combat value fraud. Depending on the lender, you may now be required to:

• review the stated property value in past transfers;
• watch for particular types or numbers of transactions affecting the property; and/or
• provide a list of inactive instruments.

TitlePLUS GoodMortgage® Program
The GoodMortgage program is a fixed-price, Web-based Ontario refinancing package.

This innovative program provides:

• faster, more convenient service for borrowers;
• better coverage for lenders; and
• online access to title insurance and document production for mortgage transactions involving specific financial institutions.

RealtiPLUSWeb™
The transfer of RealtiPLUS® from desktop software to a Web-based platform is nearly complete. Currently, a group of lawyers from across Ontario is participating in a pilot project to test the new RealtiPLUSWeb program.

RealtiPLUSWeb offers lawyers a single, unified program from which they can perform all of the functions involved in purchase, sale and mortgage transactions.

It enables users to apply for TitlePLUS coverage while performing other tasks related to the real estate transaction. There is seamless preparation and no duplicate entry for TitlePLUS applications.

RealtiPLUSWeb is a complete and flexible system designed to make your practice more profitable/cost effective. You can benefit from an automated, standardized approach while retaining the ability to produce documents to your specifications.

Please call LawyerDoneDeal Corp. at 1-800-363-2253 for more information.

TitlePLUS News from LAWPRO

TitlePLUS will be hosting four regional seminars in 2004. The dates and locations of the sessions are as follows:

May 6 Toronto June 2 Sudbury
May 19 London June 17 Ottawa

The agenda for all of the seminars will be identical, with a focus on technology, fraud and underwriting.

Watch for more information, which will be sent to you soon. We look forward to seeing you there!

TitlePLUS Continues to Grow
Congratulations to the following TitlePLUS employees on their recent appointments:

TitlePLUS will be hosting four regional seminars in 2004. The dates and locations of the sessions are as follows:

• Chris March, Sales Manager
• Tim Anningson, National Consultant

• Nancy Mendonca, Analyst
• Christine Cieslak, Lender Consultant

Tips for TitlePLUS Users

Payment for TitlePLUS Policies
As we have for more than a year, we continue to accept payment for TitlePLUS policies by credit card or pre-authorized debit from your bank account. Payment is taken automatically on the fifth business day of the month following issuance of the policy.

Obtain Approval of your TitlePLUS Application Prior to Closing
Please remember to submit your TitlePLUS application for pre-approval before closing the deal.

If the application is submitted for pre-approval after closing, TitlePLUS may not provide coverage for the transaction. It is completely within TitlePLUS' discretion to deny coverage as the application was submitted for pre-approval after the closing date.

TitlePLUS
One Dundas Street West
Suite 2200, P.O. Box 75
Toronto, ON M5G 1Z3
Tel: 1-800-410-1013 or (416) 598-5899
Fax: 1-800-286-7639 or (416) 599-8341
E-mail: TitlePLUS@LAWPRO.ca
www.TitlePLUS.ca
www.LawyerMortgage.com
titleplus.lawyerdonedeal.com

The material presented does not establish, report or create the standard of care for lawyers. The material is not a complete analysis of any of the legal topics covered and readers should conduct their own appropriate legal research.
® TitlePLUS, LAWPRO, GoodMortgage and RealtiPLUS are registered trademarks of Lawyers' Professional Indemnity Company.
™ RealtiPLUSWeb is a trademark of LawyerDoneDeal Corp.

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