Weekly Real Estate News
SALT LAKE CITY — A Utah title agency owner faces seven felony charges after prosecutors alleged that money entrusted to her company for real estate transactions was not used to pay off existing mortgages, leaving a title insurer to cover nearly $700,000 in outstanding loans.
Kimberly Mosby, 54, associated with Gateway Title Insurance Agency, was charged with one count of pattern of unlawful activity, four counts of unlawful dealing of property by a fiduciary involving more than $5,000, and two counts of insurance fraud, according to ABC4’s October 7 report describing the criminal charging documents. The allegations have not been proven in court.
Mortgage payoffs allegedly went unpaid
In one transaction, a Provo homeowner sold a property in October 2024, but Gateway allegedly failed to satisfy an existing mortgage of approximately $325,000. First American Title subsequently paid the loan under the seller’s title insurance coverage, according to the report.
A separate transaction involved a Midvale condominium purchased in November 2024. The buyer reportedly discovered a foreclosure notice in October 2025 after Gateway allegedly failed to pay off the prior owner’s mortgage. First American reportedly covered approximately $345,000 to resolve that outstanding debt.
Combined, those two reported mortgage payoffs total approximately $670,000. The figure represents amounts the insurer reportedly paid, not a court-established loss or an amount adjudicated as stolen.
State intervention began well before criminal charges
The criminal case follows regulatory action documented by the Utah Insurance Department. In an April 17, 2025 emergency order, Insurance Commissioner Jonathan Pike suspended Mosby’s individual insurance producer license and Gateway’s agency license, ordered the respondents to stop insurance-related business, and directed First Utah Bank to freeze the agency’s accounts.
The order said First American informed regulators in March 2025 that it had terminated its agency agreement after learning Gateway had closed. It also documented an April consumer complaint involving approximately $7,000 in escrow funds that the complainant said had not been returned. These were regulatory findings and reported complaints, separate from the later criminal charges.
State enforcement records subsequently listed Mosby and Gateway under a 2025 license revocation, docket 2025-4824. That administrative action is distinct from the criminal proceeding and does not establish guilt on the felony counts.
Why the case matters to real estate closings
Title and escrow agents hold funds that may be needed to extinguish existing liens when property changes hands. A closing can appear complete to a buyer even though a prior mortgage remains unpaid, potentially triggering collection or foreclosure activity. In the two transactions described in the criminal allegations, title insurance reportedly provided a remedy after the expected payoffs were not made.
The case underscores why lenders, agents, buyers and sellers need reliable escrow accounting, timely payoff confirmation and prompt investigation of unresolved liens. Title insurance can protect against certain covered losses, but it does not eliminate the disruption created by a failed payoff.
ABC4 reported that Mosby was not arrested and that a summons was proposed. WRE News has not independently obtained the criminal charging document or confirmed a subsequent plea, hearing or disposition. Mosby is presumed innocent of the criminal charges unless and until proven guilty.
