CATIC/VATC Keynotes for Vermont

County Seminar Series

We wrapped our county seminar series in December. Thank you to those who were able to attend. We hope you found the material to be informative. If you have a topic of interest for future seminars, please send us an email.

In Need of CLE Credits?

CATIC Academy has dozens of online courses to help you fulfill your CLE requirements on-demand and on your own schedule. Check out our 2024 online CLE courses and explore CATIC Academy to see our full library of offerings here.

Can’t access CATIC Academy? That sounds terrible!

The solution is easy. All you need is a CATIC agent login.

Click here to create one today and start enjoying all the Academy has to offer!

Our annual day - long CLE will take place on June 10, 2025, at the Capitol Plaza in Montpelier.

Wire Fraud: Helpful Prevention Resources

Wire fraud continues to be a real threat to transactions in Vermont. Being aware of the red flags, employing best practices, and utilizing available wire fraud prevention services are critical to preventing these severe claims.

Should you choose to wire funds, please independently verify wire instructions and verify receipt of the funds immediately after wiring the funds.

CATIC has vetted a few vendors. Please click here for additional information.

Here are a few additional resources to keep you safe:

Wire Fraud Prevention Vendors Guide

ALTA Rapid Response for Wire Fraud Incidents

Vacant Land Scams Practice Guide & Underwriting Requirements

FBI Cyber Quick Bytes

Vacant Land Scams

Everything You Need for Your Next Transaction

As we have reported, vacant land scams are hitting our industry with significant impact and are happening here, in Vermont.

Here are three resources for your use when representing a buyer or borrower in a vacant land transaction:

Practice Tips:

Fraud Avoidance Letters: Send to sellers or borrowers at their last known address with a code to verify their identity. This is a great tool to mitigate this type of fraud.
Although the risk extends to both sides of the transaction, sellers’ counsels will likely receive many requests in this process to verify the identity of the sellers. We are confident that the Real Estate Bar will rise to the challenge to work together collectively and collegially to mitigate the risk of seller impersonation fraud.

Thank you for your continued vigilance in defending against fraud in our industry.

FHA Reports HUD Second Liens Are Being Missed

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has several tools to help borrowers avoid foreclosure. One of the resources is through an interest-free second lien - called a partial claim lien - that borrowers can use to pay down arrearages. FHA has reported persistent instances in all areas of the country in recent years where the lien is successfully recorded but not detected by title agents.

According to HUD, the best way to obtain payoffs for partial claims is through the SMART Integrated Portal (SIP). Title companies and attorneys with third-party authorization may create accounts to request and receive documentation online, often with a short turnaround.

Information about how to obtain payoffs and make payments can be found here:

Wire Transfers

As a reminder, HUD does not accept wire transfers for Secretary-held lien payoffs. The recipient of any Secretary-held lien payoff statement that contains wiring instructions should immediately contact the FHA Resource Center by email or by phone at 800-225-5342 to report that a possibly fraudulent payoff statement has been received and to obtain a correct payoff statement.

Agent Alert: 1099-S Filing Summary Chart

As the end of the year approaches, Form 1099-S filing season will begin. The Form 1099-S, along with the appropriate Form 1096 transmittal, must be submitted to the Internal Revenue Service no later than February 28, 2025, if filing by paper, or by March 31, 2025, if filing electronically.

Transferor copies should be mailed by February 17, 2025, unless you already provided one at the time of the closing. Please continue to read here for more detailed information.

February 15, 2025	Copy B or Substitute Form 1099-S to each transferor (if not given at the time of the closing)
February 28, 2025	Paper Filings to the IRS (anyone with less than 10 filings)
March 31, 2025	E-Filings to the IRS (anyone with 10 or more filings)

Vermont Contact List

Click here for the full Vermont staff directory.

Underwriting Questions?

Email UnderwritingVT@catic.com for a response from Liz or Steve.

Career Network

We often hear of firms who are hiring. While we welcome phone calls or emails, we have added a career network post under News and Announcements (bottom right-hand corner) on the VATC website.