Report Mortgage, Foreclosure and other scams to the FTC

UPDATE 3-16-2012:  If you’ve experienced difficulties with a financial product, the CFPB (Consumer Financial Protection Bureau) wants to hear from you. They’ll forward your issue to the company and provide you status updates. Contact the CFPB


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Webinar about foreclosure scams and frauds presente by HUD and the FTC representatives.

2-28-2012 Webinar presentation:  http://www.visualwebcaster.com/imageSlides/84977/Preventing%20Mortgage%20Fraud%20Foreclosure%20Scams%20Webinar%20(FINAL).pdf

FTC's Money Matters Scam Reporting Website:

http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/microsites/moneymatters/your-home.shtml

References to products and services are not a specific endorsement, but the user must perform their due diligence and investigate whether the product or service is right for them. I welcome any or all comments that would help others.

Fannie Mae plans to sell large pools of foreclosed properties to investors

I recently watched the movie "Animal House" and caught the scene where Dean Wormer, in his office, was telling Greg that the Delta house was on "Double Secret Probation".

This FHFA plan to rid Fannie Mae (and if this works, Freddie Mac and FHA properties too) of large pools of investment properties reminds me of what "Double Secret Probation" means to the common people like me....huh? what?

Here's a program that will offer large numbers of foreclosed properties at prices we won't know, to people we don't know in exchange for fixing the properties that we don't know if Fannie Mae will participate in the expense, and renting the properties for an unknown period of time, to an unknown pool of tenants....and never knowing the "true" cost to taxpayers.

Yep - potential double secret probation!

Sources: 

http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/02272012_foreclosures_reo.asp
Federal Housing Finance Agency, HUD, and Fannie Mae Press Release

FHFA REO Asset Disposition Program Summary
References to products and services are not a specific endorsement, but the user must perform their due diligence and investigate whether the product or service is right for them. I welcome any or all comments that would help others.

HUD's 2011 Annual Report on Fiscal Status to US Congress

Good bedtime (yawn) reading, but the part they really don't say (but the HUD Secretary's cover letter hints)  is "are they well funded for the upcoming disasters"?  Probably not as much in reserves as they should have or are supposed to have...

See the full report here:  http://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/documents/huddoc?id=FHAMMIFundAnnRptFY2011.pdf

References to products and services are not a specific endorsement, but the user must perform their due diligence and investigate whether the product or service is right for them. I welcome any or all comments that would help others.

Registering Home Alarm Systems

Unincorporated Cobb County has recently enacted laws to require home burglar alarm systems to be registered with the County Police Department - https://www.crywolf.us/cobbcountycrywolf/

Main reasons given to date include (1) cutting the cost of false alarms to the county taxpayers; (2)  having contact information to properly identify residents v. uninvited guests; and (3) to get instructions from homeowners how to properly secure the property.

Estimates are given that about 16,000 man hours, equating to an estimated $368,000 of taxpayer money that could have been used to better serve and protect residents - or setup speed traps to enforce traffic  laws (e.g., collect more revenue).

Bottom line:  False alarms do cost money and repeat offenders need to be charged fines, but did any of the false alarms help save lives or draw attention to other issues and problems in the community needing police attention?

Some fess from around metro Atlanta range from $25 for the first false alarm to $1,000 for the 4th false alarm.

Source:  http://eastcobb.patch.com/articles/register-home-and-business-burglar-alarms#photo-7148871

Source:  http://police.cobbcountyga.gov/alarms.htm


References to products and services are not a specific endorsement, but the user must perform their due diligence and investigate whether the product or service is right for them. I welcome any or all comments that would help others.

Housing market predictions - let's see who is right over time

I'll attempt to collect real estate market predictions from "experts" around the country.

My accurate prediction:  Some predictions will be right - some wrong - and some vaguely true.

My real prediction:  Two forces will continue to apply downward pressure on home prices
(a) the 4-10 million current homeowners who are behind on their mortgages or severely underwater, and their subsequent foreclosures;
(b)  the eventual future increase in interest rates (since they are artificially suppressed now) will need to be compensated by lower home prices. 

3-6-2012:  Headline and story - do they match? The article mentions Fitch says home prices expected to continue stabilizing?  Where did they get that title from Fitch's predicted drops in housing prices in the article? Source:  http://www.themreport.com/articles/home-prices-expected-to-continue-stabilizing-fitch-2012-03-05

2-26-2012:  Commercial Real Estate Prediction - NAR paints a rosy picture, especially with multi-family properties.  Source:  http://dcrealestate.citybizlist.com/5/2012/2/25/NAR-Commercial-Real-Estate-Fundamentals-Improving-Across-the-Board.aspx


2-23-2012:  A little doom and gloom for home prices - this article lo introduces the "real" mortgage rate combining interest rate and % drop in home prices.  Source:  http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/11/16/us-usa-housing-prices-idUSTRE7AF1Z820111116

2-22-2012:  He raises good points (future inflation, building costs, rent level, etc - he failed to mention the historically low interest rates) but I wouldn't run to buy a house unless it's a place you want to live - for a number of years and it makes sense to your work life, lifestyle, and budget.
Source:  http://seekingalpha.com/article/315237-now-s-the-time-to-get-back-into-real-estate

2-22-2012: Housing market showing signs of a turnaround? I wonder if the 10-15 year struggle in Japan started like this with good news, followed by bad news, followed by good...and so on...
Source:  http://www.csmonitor.com/Business/2012/0222/Housing-market-showing-signs-of-turnaround

2-20-2012:  Prediction # 2137=Housing Crisis ends in 2012 when lenders loosen mortgage qualification standards and when pigs fly! - Source:  http://www.linkedin.com/news?actionBar=&articleID=5567733516482908167&ids=e3wOd3ASc3oVdzAVczASdzsRdiMRdjoRdPAScP0UcjAOc3oSdPkRb3cOdzkTe3kPdPkTe34Ue3gTdjkIejcMc3cQdPASd38Ud3cNdjsRdiMTdz4Uc3AOe3gScjkPcPsTdzkR&aag=true&freq=weekly&trk=eml-tod2-b-ttl-0&ut=0PYQecOZd0b581

There - the ugly truth is revealed.

Here's one prediction from Illyce GLink in 2011: http://blog.equifax.com/real-estate/housing-market-predictions-more-foreclosures-on-the-market/

References to products and services are not a specific endorsement, but the user must perform their due diligence and investigate whether the product or service is right for them. I welcome any or all comments that would help others.

Going green in real estate - is it just more Government control?

Fremont California near Oakland is considering making energy improvements and water saving features in houses mandatory before you can sell your property.  Source:  http://www.insidebayarea.com/news/ci_19844726

The unicorporated (non city) area of Dekalb County Georgia has a similar provision in which you can't connect to the municipal water supply or start a new account unless a licensed plumber has certified that you have installed low flow water fixtures in your home.  This stems from an EPA regulation in 1994 that new homes must be fitted with toilets that use a maximum of 1.6 gallons of water per flush.  With the older 1.6 gallon flush toilets, that meant that you flushed twice to get the same impact and disposing of waste, which resulted in more water usage.

Sure, the extra water usage from growing populations probably taxed the watershed system of each municipality, but isn't that what the Government planners are supposed to keep in mind when approving residential/commercial real estate development?  Aren't you glad we've elected smart people in Government to make those decisions for us?

References to products and services are not a specific endorsement, but the user must perform their due diligence and investigate whether the product or service is right for them. I welcome any or all comments that would help others.

Is FHA running out of reserves to back FHA loans?

FHA is running out of their $4.7 billion reserves -  soon they plan to raise insurance premium rates, again (they just did so in the past few months) - FHA backs $1 Trillion in mortgages and almost 10% are behind on payments. (Who knows what the normal % is..)

Will this mean a relative slowdown in FHA mortgage lending?

Will the US have enough to back FHA loans?

Will President Obama's refinancing plans of having the FHA back millions of loans backfire on taxpayers?

Source:  http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204795304577221222265037002.html


References to products and services are not a specific endorsement, but the user must perform their due diligence and investigate whether the product or service is right for them. I welcome any or all comments that would help others.

FHA Monthly Mortgage Insurance Premium Calculation - Y so Difficult?

If you thought nuclear science was difficult to understand, try calculation of HUD's annual/monthly FHA Mortgage Insurance Premium on just a 30 year loan ...

Basically take .005 times average 1st year mortgage and then 1.225 times that result to get annual divided by 12 to get monthly...

I'm sure it makes sense, but why don't they just say $6/$1,000 of final mortgage amount and be done with it?

Source:  http://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/HUD?src=/program_offices/housing/comp/premiums/sfpcalc

References to products and services are not a specific endorsement, but the user must perform their due diligence and investigate whether the product or service is right for them. I welcome any or all comments that would help others.

Loan modifications - avoiding state intangibles taxes?

President Obama's commitment to have 1-4 million loan modifications prevent foreclosure raises a related issue of intangible tax avoidance.

Currently in the state of Georgia, as well as other states, there is a charge to those individuals who refinance one loan and replace it with another.  This charge is called an intangibles tax in Georgia and is $1.50 for every $500 of "new" loan.

However, under current Georgia Code 560-11-8-.05(1), if a new instrument between original borrower and lender is involved that was originally taxed, then not intangibles tax is charged.  However, will the loan be modified with the same lender or with Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac and get charged for an intangibles tax?

But don't tell the Georgia General Assembly to change it or there may be more state revenue to gain - shhhhh!

Source:  http://www.htrnews.com/article/20120205/MAN04/202050430/Real-Estate-column-loan-modification-isn-t-new-mortgage?odyssey=mod%7Cnewswell%7Ctext%7CFRONTPAGE%7Cs
References to products and services are not a specific endorsement, but the user must perform their due diligence and investigate whether the product or service is right for them. I welcome any or all comments that would help others.