DSNews delivers stories, ideas, links, companies, people, events, and videos impacting the mortgage default servicing industry.
Issue link: http://digital.dsnews.com/i/920498
38 LEGAL INDUSTRY UPDATE NATIONAL FOCUS I N D U S T R Y I N S I G H T / D A V I D W H A R T O N With thousands of cases unfolding across the country, keeping track of the ones that most impact your business can be a full- time job. Knowing what's happening in the legal sphere as it pertains to your industry can be crucial, and can make the difference between success and failure. But where to begin? DS News spoke to a half dozen lawyers specializing in mortgage law and servicing to get the lay of the land as one year winds down and another looms ahead of us. What 2017 court cases set precedents that will impact the industry in 2018? Which still unsettled cases have the most potential to shape the servicing landscape in the years that follow? What issues were facing these attorneys in the past year, and what lessons have they taken away about how law firms and servicers can best work together to meet common goals? Read on to learn what was on the radar in 2017 for these legal professionals. STORMS AND STATUTES e damage unleashed by natural disasters has been one of the defining stories if 2017. California has been swept by massive wildfires, and an unrelenting hurricane season brutalized locales such as Texas, Florida, and Puerto Rico. As Matthew R. Reinhardt of Quintairos, Pri- eto, Wood & Boyer, P.A. pointed out, the U.S. Virgin Islands also took severe hits, with both Hurricane Irma and Hurricane Maria steam- rolling the islands while each storm was still at a Category 5. Initial estimates claimed that as much as 80 percent of the islands' properties were affected by the twin hurricanes, so natu- rally that toll also extended to the court system, resulting in closures and delays. President Trump's disaster declaration for the region also kicked off a 90-day moratorium on foreclosures of FHA-issued mortgages, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development recently extended that moratorium until March 9, 2018, for Hurricane Irma, and March 19, 2018, for Hurricane Maria. "Although all U.S. Virgin Islands courts have reopened and recovery efforts are progress- ing, the long-term effects of the hurricanes will continue to be felt in 2018," Reinhardt said. ON THE RADAR: LEGAL EXPERTS ON THE CASES SHAPING THE INDUSTRY