Month: November 2020

Huge Nexton project takes top Home Builders award

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Picture courtesy of Charleston Post and Courier

The Charleston Post and Courier is reporting that the 5,000-acre residential spread between Interstate 26 and U.S. Highway 176 in Berkeley County near Summerville received the Pinnacle Award from the Home Builder Association of South Carolina.

The size of this project, which supports the Boeing plant and related businesses, is staggering. The Post and Courier reports that it will one day have as many residents as Georgetown and Moncks Corner combined. It will also house as many residents as the current populations of Clemson, West Columbia or North Myrtle Beach (between 16,000 and 20,000).  Currently, according to the newspaper, the number of residences is 1,200. At full build-out, the project will encompass 7,000 homes.

The award is for the best master-planned community in the state. It recognizes homebuilders who have achieved the highest standards in customer satisfaction, quality craftsmanship and innovative problem solving.

Just take the trip from Columbia to Charleston to see this huge project. The future of the housing industry in our state is bright!

Heirs’ property symposium set for Wednesday

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South Carolina dirt lawyers: please take a look at this article from Charleston’s Post and Courier dated November 14. The article provides a free registration link for a symposium, entitled “All Land is not Created Equal; Unleashing Family and Community Wealth through Land Ownership.”

The symposium will take place this Wednesday 1-7 p.m. and is offered by the Center for Heirs’ Property Preservation and the Aspen Institute Community Strategies Group.

The article indicates the Center has helped families clear more than 200 titles and provides services in Allendale, Bamberg, Clarendon, Colleton, Darlington, Dorchester, Florence, Georgetown, Hampton, Horry, Jasper, Marion, Orangeburg, Sumter and Williamsburg Counties.

If you or your clients have an interest in heirs’ property, this may be an excellent seminar for you.

Rock Hill residential real estate lawyer gets five years in jail

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Thankfully, it has been ten years or more since we’ve heard word “defalcation” used in connection with a South Carolina real estate lawyer. Sadly, we have to use that word in 2020 because a Rock Hill lawyer was arrested in 2019 after funds allegedly went missing from a residential closing.

That lawyer, Thomas Givens, was suspended by the South Carolina Supreme Court on September 25, 2019. Earlier this month, the 67-year old pled guilty for breach of trust and was sentenced to five years in prison, five years’ probation, and restitution. 

The closing took place on July 15, 2019 but the $166,000 mortgage payoff was never made. Two months later, Givens was arrested and charged with breach of trust over $10,000. The arrest warrant reads that Givens failed to make the mortgage payoff and does not have the funds.

We usually do not experience defalcations when the economy is good. With the economic downturn that began in 2007, we learned the difficult lesson that attorneys who are prone to dip into their trust accounts often manage to keep the balls in the air as long as closings continue to occur. They typically steal from one closing to fund another. They rob Peter to pay Paul.

Like a game of musical chairs, when the music (and closings) stop, bad actor attorneys no longer have closings to provide funds for prior transgressions, and the thefts come to light.

This time, the economy was good. There are simply no excuses. It is a very sad commentary, and one I hoped not to see again.

Wire fraud advice from industry insiders

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Dirt Lawyers: educate your clients!

Please take a look at this article by Bill Svoboda of CloseSimple entitled “Wire Fraud in the Wake of COVID-19”. The article quotes some industry insiders, including Rick Diamond of our company. Rick was one of our speakers for our recent seminar and often advises real estate lawyers on issues including how to protect client funds.

The article also quotes Tom Conkright of CertifID, one of our office’s solution partners. CertifID has a proven success rate on protecting client funds, including returning client funds that go missing. We highly recommend that you take a look at what CertifID has to offer. Reach out to your agency representative to ask for a demonstration.

But the main purpose of this blog is to remind you to continually educate your clients about wire fraud. Like the victim in this article, many of your clients are pulling up roots and moving to sunny South Carolina. Many of your clients are retirees. The earlier you can give new clients advice about protecting themselves against fraud, the better. Give them advice in bright red, bold print in your engagement letters. Add bright red, bold print warnings under your email signature lines. If you protect one aging consumer by these methods, the effort will be worth it!

Speaking of aging consumers, many of you have heard that I’m retiring in February. One thing that concerns me about retirement is not being able to keep current on industry advice about fraud. If you hear something next year that I should know, give me a call!