Ohio's youngest county-elected recorder takes office
Gary Jenkins is 22-years-old and he's scheduled to be sworn in as the Scioto County Recorder and the youngest county-elected recorder in the state of Ohio this weekend. Jenkins won the general election vote against longtime incumbent Democrat Gail Alley. Even at such a young age, Jenkins says he's not new to the political world. "I worked for the trump campaign previously for the president of the united states as a regional field rep. I was the youngest in the entire country that worked on donald trump's campaign," Jenkins says.
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Mortgage rates hit highest level since July, crushing application demand
Mortgage rates last week moved higher for the fourth week in a row. That caused already very weak mortgage demand to drop even further. Total mortgage application volume fell 3.7% compared with the previous week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's seasonally adjusted index. An additional adjustment was made for the New Year's holiday.
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Trump's housing market conundrum
Now Trump, a billionaire property developer himself, faces a housing conundrum: Mortgage rates aren't falling, and home prices are expected to continue rising over the next few years. Many economists estimate that this year's housing market will not look dissimilar to the frozen-in-place housing market of the last few years. At the same time, many of Trump's proposed policies, including tariffs and mass deportations, could potentially exacerbate America's home affordability woes.
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Wexford County (MI) residents face financial turmoil as cyber-attack cripples deeds office
It's been more than two months since Wexford County experienced a cyber attack. Most departments have found workarounds to move forward, but the Register of Deeds Office is still offline. Pamela Duff isn't the only person in Wexford County juggling multiple properties. She's been trying to sell a piece of land in Buckley, and she needed a three month update on a title search to close the deal. "I just call every day and you get nowhere," said Duff. "My bank that I am selling this contract to calls every other day. They're frustrated too."
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Understanding the Surge in Title Fraud-And How to Prevent It
If Graceland can be targeted, is any property truly safe? Likely not. Title fraud is becoming more widespread, with perpetrators growing increasingly bold. Fortunately, there are ways to detect deed fraud attempts early, but mortgage professionals need to be well-informed to protect themselves and their clients.
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