Wisconsin Contact List
Put your trust in the professionals that put you first. Meet the key players who are committed to providing the necessary resources and underwriting guidance you need, and the service solutions that give you an edge.
Product, Service, and Administrative Support
Don Kennedy
Division Managing Director 714 788 4908 dokennedy@firstam com
Underwriting Support
Marv Ripp
VP, State Counsel
608 286 3202 mripp@firstam com
Allison Kalweit
Underwriting Counsel
608 346 5135 akalweit@firstam com
Ben Smaglick
Agency Representative 608 345 3902 bsmaglick@firstam com
Agent Underwriting Divisional Leadership
Len Prescott, Esq. VP, Director of Agency Underwriting
305 908 6252
305 900 8427
Steve Zablocki
Senior Underwriting Counsel
608 286 3224 szablocki@firstam com
Julie Angelakos
Regional Underwriting Director
630 799 7123 jangelakos@firstam com
Randy Paslay VP, Divisional Underwriting
714 250 8607
951 529 4664
Local News: Do you know any?
Steve Zablocki, Senior Underwriting Counsel
From Douglas to Kenosha, Door to Grant or somewhere in between, Wisconsin has quite a few counties; 72 counties to be exact. That’s 72 local requirements and possibly even more local issues.
Maybe the Register of Deeds is closed. Maybe the Sheriff is delaying or not conducting Sherrif’s Sales this week. While it might not seem important, it may have an impact on how we conduct business. We may encounter GAP issues where we must judge whether the risk is worth taking or whether certain policies must contain certain exceptions.
As such, we ask that if you do hear of anything happening on a county level, let us know. A closed register of deeds or a property lister having staffing issues can and will impact how closings happen. It may be a situation where we at underwriting can come up with a strategy or an approach to weather the storm. It may not. Whatever the case, we appreciate any head’s up that you might have on local issues.
Foreclosure – Ins and outs and everything bad that can happen.
Steve Zablocki, Senior Underwriting Counsel
While the foreclosure volume isn’t as much as year ’ s past, they still show up during our day-to-day examination Filing these foreclosures are some of the same lawyers and some new ones too Some are sophisticated and will likely conduct their action properly Others are just figuring it out As such, close attention is warranted
As a starting point, a foreclosure judgment may not be granted unless a lis pendens is filed for at least 20 days¹ What if it is not? The judgment is potentially void Why does this matter? First and foremost, the failure to follow the statutory requirement could render a sale and confirmation invalid Moreover, any judgments or liens against the owner would continue to attach to the property If you see a foreclosure without a recorded lis pendens and are asked to insure anything, contact underwriting immediately. We will need to understand what happened. We may require a supplemental order or we may have to decline insurance.
Next, what about other lien holders? For practical purposes, the only right a junior lien holder has is to redeem or payoff a senior lien² The junior creditor then steps into the senior’s position³ What if the lender has more than one mortgage on the property? If a senior interest is foreclosed, do the lender’s other liens “ go away”? As a practical matter, only if the lender names and foreclose themselves: strange but it makes sense
What if the lender forecloses from a second lien position? What happens to their senior lien? The answer is a frustrating only if they are the successful purchaser at sale All sales are sold subject to all legal encumbrances This would include a senior lien held by a plaintiff
When the author was in private practice, a certain lender would foreclose in this manner They would hold a first and second mortgage. They would foreclose from their second lien position. They would not disclose on any paperwork their senior lien.
Maybe their goal was to attract bidders to the sale because of the small amount Perhaps they knew that if someone purchased at their sale, the purchaser would take subject to their first mortgage That the purchaser would be saddled with the senior lien
This happened from time to time A third party purchaser would bid thinking they were purchasing all rights the lender had in the property Courts eventually caught on and, lenders began disclosing in their paperwork “subject to a first mortgage” While not a fix to the situation, the lender’s defense was that they disclosed same What does this all mean? It means that if there is another lien held by the plaintiff in a foreclosure, short of seeing specific language terminating their other mortgage, that lien will survive
Finally, what happens when a sale and confirmation take place and there’s an undisclosed bankruptcy filing? This may happen where the debtor or the bank neglected to tell the title company. What happens if the purchaser at sheriff’s sale took out a loan, the court confirms the sale and a deed is recorded, only the sale is invalid owing to a bankruptcy filing?
In a nutshell, it’s a bad situation If you run into this situation, first and foremost, take a deep breath Next, get us involved We might be able to give you timely advice on how best to approach the situation The foreclosure attorney would also be someone to contact Why didn’t they stop the court process? What happened? The focus should be less about blame and more about fixing the issue Make sure the new lender understands what happened and make sure that any money paid into the clerk of courts is refunded back to the lender Whatever the case, time is of the essence
Ultimately, foreclosure cases can and do go off the rails Our best advice is to remain calm but act quickly Give your First American Underwriter a call We have the experience to walk you to a quick resolution.
¹Wis. Stat. §846.01(2) ²Wis. Stat. §846.15 ³Id.
Paid too early - When your customer pays off the loan before closing.
Steve Zablocki, Senior Underwriting Counsel
You completed your search and prepared your commitment. You’ve listed requirements and exceptions Title shows a mortgage that will get paid at closing All is going according to plan
That is, until it doesn’t The homeowner on the eve of closing calls They have allegedly paid off their mortgage The Sellers believe the mortgage should not be shown To make matters worse, they recite that they should receive all the proceeds Yet the payoff is so new that a satisfaction hasn’t issued What now?
First and foremost, what did they or can they show that the mortgage was paid in full? If it was an electronic transfer, was there a statement showing sufficient funds in the account? Did they try and float a personal check with the expectation that they’d “make good” once closing takes place? The first question we must ask is what credible evidence is there that the loan was paid in full? Can we get something specific from the paid off lender acknowledging full payment? How confident are we that the lender was fully paid?
Next, how much was remaining on the mortgage? Did we have a verified payoff? In cases where the mortgage might have a low or nominal balance, it might be something where satisfactory proof of funds is given; we might look at insuring over That’s a big maybe On the other hand, if it is a large balance, it may be a situation where a holdback of one and halftimes the payoff as a more appropriate remedy Each scenario will vary
Finally, know your customer Is this someone that has a history of judgments and liens? Is it even likely that they will have the means to suddenly payoff their mortgage? If ever there was a time to be skeptical, it is now.
Whatever the case, if you do encounter a premature payoff situation, give underwriting a call. You are being asked to take everything at face value In a perfect world, that mortgage was rightfully paid off and a satisfaction should issue shortly Regrettably, we don’t live in that world Let us help you through the risk and let’s get the deal done
Upcoming 2025 Webinars – Save The Date
From Wisconsin Agency Underwriting
Divorce, Guardianship, and Minors
Wednesday, March 5, 2025
9:00am – 10:00am (CST) Register
Issuing Policies
Wednesday, April 2, 2025
9:00am – 10:00am (CST)
1031 Exchange
Wednesday, June 11, 2025
9:00am – 10:00am (CST)
To review previous webinar recordings, visit AgentNet® Knowledge
Link to Q4 2024 Eagle’s Nest - Click Here.
From Eagle Academy Live
Protecting Seniors: Spotting and Combating Financial Elder Abuse in Real Estate
Tuesday, March 18, 2025
11:00am and 1:00pm (CST) Register
Escrow, Closing, Settlement: The Role and Responsibilities of the Agent Tuesday, April 15, 2025
Claims: Lessons Learned Tuesday, May 20, 2025
Social Media: Sizzling Social Media Strategies Tuesday, June 17, 2025
Estates, POAs, Trust Tuesday July 15, 2025
