By Howard Goldman This Memorandum serves to outline and highlight the latest developments in the Real Estate Bar Association’s (“REBA”) unauthorized practice of law litigation against Pittsburg-based National Real Estate Information Services (“NREIS”).  NREIS, a multistate real estate services provider, outsources the vast majority of functions traditionally performed by attorneys during residential closing transactions by using non-attorneys to perform certain tasks, including certifying and analyzing title, preparing the deed, and conducting the closing.  REBA contends that these activities, when performed by

After years of experience handling a diverse number of claims arising under title insurance policies, Goldman & Pease LLC has developed a streamlined process aimed at resolving the particular title defects in a most efficient and cost effective manner.  What follows is Goldman & Pease’s “Best Practices” to resolve a title dispute, from the initial claim through the final resolution of the particular defect. You may download “Best Practices To Remedy Title Defects” (opens PDF document) Best Practices to Remedy Title

The Norfolk Superior Court recently awarded a verdict in the amount of Twelve Million Dollars ($12,000,000) in favor of our clients, two brothers injured in 2006 when a driver in a SUV owned by a third party crossed the double yellow lines and collided head on with the car occupied by the brothers.  The brother who was driving the car suffered traumatic brain injury in the collision and sustained a stroke leaving him partially paralyzed and unable to speak. Goldman &

June 10, 2010 Congress recently passed a federal law entitled Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act (“Foreclosure Act”) that supersedes state law and also amends existing federal laws. The primary focus of the Foreclosure Act is to provide protections to tenants of a foreclosed property related to a “federally-related mortgage loan” or a foreclosure on “any dwelling or residential real property.”  Broadly speaking, the Foreclosure Act requires that a party taking title to a dwelling or residential property pursuant to a foreclosure

June 1, 2010 A recent case decided in March 2009 by the Massachusetts Land Court invalidated two Massachusetts foreclosure sales based on whether the foreclosing entities had “the right… to foreclose the subject mortgage in light of the fact that the assignment of the foreclosed mortgage… was not executed or recorded until after the exercise of the power of sale.” This Land Court decision has caused havoc to the Massachusetts conveyance practice, causing the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (“SJC”) to bypass

April 1, 2010 Many landlords and property managers have access to precisely the kind of information identity thieves need to perpetrate their crimes, i.e., social security numbers, bank account numbers, birthdates, license numbers, and credit card numbers.  If this confidential material were to be obtained by an unscrupulous person, whether through the efforts of an aggrieved former property manager or through lax security, there may be liability and damages imposed.  This article shall review the identity theft problem in the real

March 15, 2010 The Massachusetts data security regulation compliance deadline was March 1, 2010. Are you in compliance? TJX, the parent company of T.J. Maxx and Marshalls, disclosed that hackers had accessed customer data from its computer system, exposing millions of credit cards and debit cards to possible fraud. This breach of security has cost TJX millions of dollars to date in settling the fall-out there from. As result of this breach, the Massachusetts legislature enacted legislation in an attempt to

February 1, 2010 This Memorandum serves to outline and highlight how Goldman & Pease LLC can assist in the prompt resolution of curative title actions in the Land Court throughout the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and to highlight the area of Adverse Possession in Massachusetts’ law as it relates to curative title actions.

January 1, 2010 This Memorandum serves to outline and highlight how Goldman & Pease LLC can assist in the prompt resolution of curative title actions in courts throughout the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and to highlight the area of Tax Takings and Right of Redemption under Massachusetts’ law as it relates to curative title actions.