October Research Blog - Real Estate, Business, and For Fun

October Research welcomes Mary Schuster as Chief Knowledge Officer

August 14, 2023, Cleveland, Ohio October Research announces that 25-year title and settlement services industry veteran Mary Schuster has joined the company as Chief Knowledge Officer. In her new role, Schuster will help drive content across multiple channels, support the editorial boards and develop new educational tools for keeping the industry educated and informed throughout the year. “We are thrilled to have someone of Mary’s caliber and stature within the settlement service industry join the team,” CEO and Publisher Erica Meyer said. “She has hit the ground running, and we are grateful and excited that she chose October Research for [...]

October232026-03-23T13:26:40-04:00

Veteran appraiser still going strong, and loving it

Dear Readers, After a recent conversation with 71-year-old appraiser Alexander “Sandy” Grice, it is safe to say that this individual, who has spent almost a half century in the profession, has seen it all with assignments that have taken some very interesting and unusual turns. Homes with history attached to them fills Grice’s resume. One particular job dealt with property, as history would prove, belonging to a witch. “Having appraised dozens of historic houses, I have gotten pretty good at dating the structures, by looking at how the timbers were cut/milled and the fasteners holding everything together,” Grice, a Virginia [...]

October232026-03-23T13:26:40-04:00

Indiana governor signs lien removal fee bill

Dear Readers, Legislatures are moving through their sessions, with numerous bills becoming law. Among them is a lien removal bill in Indiana. Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb signed legislation establishing a fee for recording the release of a lien or liens on property held by a political subdivision. The bill, HB 1231, was authored by Rep. Thomas Saunders, R-Lewisville. The bill states that the county will charge “$25 per parcel for recording the release of a lien or liens of a political subdivision for a property sold or transferred under IC 6-1.1-24-6.1 or IC 36-1-11, regardless of the number of liens [...]

October232026-03-23T13:26:40-04:00

Closing the homeownership race gap

Dear Readers, As the housing market comes off a record-breaking year, it’s important to remember that not everyone has a seat at the table. Lenders deny mortgages for Black applicants at an 80 percent higher rate than for white applicants, according to a Zillow report, and the No. 1 reason that Black Americans are denied mortgages is the lack of a credit history. Around 15 percent of Black and Latinx Americans are considered “credit invisible,” meaning they have no credit score, according to the Zillow report. That hinders their ability to obtain financing. Considering that nearly three out of four [...]

October232026-03-23T13:26:40-04:00

What a long, strange decade…

Dear Readers, This month marks the tenth anniversary for the Dodd-Frank Update. While researching the Dodd-Frank Act for this month’s cover story, my mind was boggled by the breadth of the legislation, and all of the changes that have happened since it was enacted. It’s definitely been a game changer. As we have reported in recent months, more change is coming to the industry as the new Biden administration gains steam, and many predict a return to the perspective and goals that were held during the Obama administration for consumer protection and financial reform. “First and foremost, the message coming [...]

October232026-03-23T13:26:40-04:00

New York issues cybersecurity alert

Dear readers, Here is yet another reminder to constantly be vigilant when it comes to cybersecurity. The New York State Department of Financial Services (NYSDFS) issued an industry letter to its regulated entities following a discovery of cybersecurity vulnerabilities in Microsoft Exchange Server. The industry letter states, “In recent days, thousands of organizations were comprised via zero-day vulnerabilities in Microsoft Exchange Server. On March 2, 2021, Microsoft made patches available for these vulnerabilities but many organizations were compromised either before the patches were available or before the patches were applied.” The four vulnerabilities were discovered in the Microsoft Exchange servers [...]

October232026-03-23T13:26:40-04:00

Will COVID vaccine boost confidence, home ownerships?

Dear Readers, The COVID-19 coronavirus brought more uncertainty, confusion and fear to one’s personal and professional life than most people thought possible. As we have said from the start of this national pandemic, appraisers felt the full effects of this crisis, and then some. Not only from the standpoint of how they can do their jobs with restrictions in place, but the thought of “if” they could do their jobs again with income losses escalating to a point where homeowners may not be able to afford their current houses, or even new dwellings in the days to come. But with [...]

October232026-03-23T13:26:40-04:00

The calm before the foreclosure storm

Dear Readers, According to ATTOM Data Solutions, there were a total of 9,702 U.S. properties with default notices, scheduled auctions, or bank repossessions in January, down 11 percent compared with December and down 80 percent compared with January 2020. But anyone who watches television news or reads newspapers (yes, some people still do) knows there are millions of Americans struggling to keep their heads above water — people who have lost jobs and either haven’t replaced them or have replaced them with lower-paying jobs. So, what gives? Government forbearance programs have put a pause on many foreclosures throughout the nation. [...]

October232026-03-23T13:26:41-04:00

CFPB director nominee bashes FTC for ‘lax approach’

Dear Readers, Rohit Chopra — President Joe Biden’s nominee to replace Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Director Kathy Kraninger – has earned the reputation as someone who is not afraid to go after large corporations for wrongdoing. As one of five Federal Trade Commission (FTC) members, Chopra is widely known as the consummate consumer advocate. He recently showed a glimpse of his leadership style after the FTC sanctioned Amazon.com for expanding its business empire by allegedly cheating its Flex package delivery service workers out of more than $60 million in tips. In a Feb. 2 statement, Chopra chided the FTC [...]

October232026-03-23T13:26:41-04:00

Anything besides the pandemic

Dear Readers, For once, I don’t want to talk about the pandemic. For a year now, our world has revolved around the changes and restrictions that have come about because of COVID-19. With the vaccine roll out underway, there is finally light at the end of the tunnel of returning to a “new” normal. Acting Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Dave Uejio wrote in a recent blog post about the bureau’s work to address housing insecurity, promote racial equity, and protect small businesses’ access to credit. Though he did refer to easing the hardships consumers currently face because [...]

October232026-03-23T13:26:41-04:00

Blog – Tuesdays with Mary