Common Sense Advise

According to real estate website Trulia, buying was cheaper than renting in 74 percent of the country’s 50 largest cities in July.

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The Internal Revenue Service is warning Californians about a ring of scammers who bilk people by posing as tax preparers.

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HomeSteps, the real estate sales unit of Freddie Mac, is offering “Condo Cash,” a special limited time offer that will provide eligible condominium buyers with up to $1,500 for standard condominium association dues.  

HomeSteps’ Condo Cash is limited to buyers who submit offers between Aug. 15 and Nov.15, 2011, and close escrow on or before Dec. 30, 2011.  HomeSteps’ Condo Cash offer is valid only on HomeSteps homes that have been on the market for at least 120 days and are sold to owner-occupant buyers.

HomeSteps Condo Cash is not available on HomeSteps condominiums purchased through auctions, sealed bids, bulk sales, or in areas where such offers are prohibited by law.

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The Federal Housing Finance Agency said Wednesday it is seeking input from investors on how to rent roughly 250,000 homes owned by government-controlled mortgage companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and the Federal Housing Administration.  All of the homes are foreclosures.

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And why are you not buying?????  Interest rates are at an all time low.

Housing affordability increased in California in the second quarter as prices dropped from the same period a year earlier, according to the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®’ housing affordability index.

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International fraud artists have invented an investment scheme that supposedly offers extremely high yields in a relatively short period of time. In this scheme, they claim to have access to “bank guarantees” that they can buy at a discount and sell at a premium. By reselling the “bank guarantees” several times, they claim to be able to produce exceptional returns on investment. Such a scheme is often referred to as a “roll program.”

To make their schemes more enticing, con artists often refer to the “guarantees” as being issued by the world’s “prime banks,” hence the term “prime bank guarantees.” Other official sounding terms are also used, such as “prime bank notes” and “prime bank debentures.” Legal documents associated with such schemes often require the victim to enter into non-disclosure and non-circumvention agreements, offer returns on investment in “a year and a day”, and claim to use forms required by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC). In fact, the ICC has issued a warning to all potential investors that no such investments exist.

The purpose of these frauds is generally to encourage the victim to send money to a foreign bank, where it is eventually transferred to an off-shore account in the control of the con artist. From there, the victim’s money is used for the perpetrator’s personal expenses or is laundered in an effort to make it disappear.

While foreign banks use instruments called “bank guarantees” in the same manner that U.S. banks use letters of credit to insure payment for goods in international trade, such bank guarantees are never traded or sold on any kind of market.

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HUD has reached a settlement with Bank of America, releasing the company from liability for failing to adequately provide alternatives to foreclosure on 57,000 delinquent government-insured mortgages.

The agreement was created on a separate but parallel track from continuing settlement talks between Bank of America, state attorneys general, and other regulators over alleged mortgage origination and servicing failures.

The agreement requires the bank to waive a minimum of $10 million in unpaid mortgage payments and vet each of the 57,000 delinquent borrowers for a possible loan modification, short sale, or other foreclosure alternative.

After such outreach, the settlement paves the way for BofA to foreclose on homes that borrowers could not afford even after a mortgage modification and those that have been left vacant by owners.

The agreement is HUD’s first involving settlement of claims in which a servicer failed to offer loss mitigation to borrowers. It does not, however, prevent HUD from seeking damages from BofA for unrelated origination and servicing failures.

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Distressed BofA homeowners in Calif. now have chance of principal reduction
Bank of America has joined the Keep Your Home California principal-reduction program, making it the largest loan servicer involved in lowering loan balances for those with economic hardships.

Making sense of the story

• Keep Your Home California is a program offered through the California Housing Finance Agency to help struggling homeowners avoid foreclosure.
• Bank of America, which services more than two million home loans in California, joins others servicers involved in the program, including: California Dept. of Veterans Affairs, the California Housing Finance Agency, Community Trust/Self Help, GMAC, Guild Mortgage Company, and Vericrest Financial.  Agency officials hope the list will continue to grow, and that the program will continue to gain momentum.
• Under the program, qualified homeowners may be eligible for up to $50,000 in assistance.  The program requires the mortgage investor to match dollar-for-dollar the amount provided by the program.
• Bank of America borrowers who do not qualify for the principal-reduction program will be evaluated by bank representatives to explore other options, including a loan modification.
• To be eligible for the program, applicants must: Own and occupy their homes as their primary residence; not exceed $729,750 in current unpaid principal balances on first mortgages; meet low- and moderate-income limits; complete and sign a hardship affidavit to document reasons for hardships; have mortgage loans that are delinquent or “in imminent default;” and have enough income to pay modified mortgage payments according to guidelines from servicers participating in the programs.
• For more information about Keep Your Home California, visit keepyourhomecalifornia.org or call (888) 954-5337(KEEP).

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Last Friday, Gov. Jerry Brown signed SB 458 (Corbett) into law.  SB 458 extends the protections of SB 931 (2010), to ensure that any lender that agrees to a short sale must….

At the Federal Trade Commission’s request, a federal judge has temporarily halted a European-based operation that has allegedly bilked small businesses and nonprofit organizations, including churches, out of millions of dollars by deceiving them into ordering and then paying for unwanted listings in online business directories. In addition to stopping the allegedly deceptive practices, the court also froze the defendants’ assets. The FTC seeks to permanently stop the illegal practices and to require that the defendants provide refunds to their victims.

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