|
Short Sale Fraud Schemes on FBI Radar November
2009 The FBI website provides a great deal of information regarding
real estate fraud. It lists Minnesota as one of the states with the rate of fraud, and shows Minnesota to be located
in a region that has the second most ongoing investigations in the country. In one section they describe various forms
of real estate fraud that they recognize and are actively investigating, one of which is short sale fraud that I wrote about
in the October update. To read what
the FBI is saying about short sale fraud, click here.. Short Sales and Loan Modifications:
Are You Allowed to Do Them? January 2009 Who can do loan modifications? How about short sales? A real estate broker/agent?
A loan officer? Do you even need a license? Many real estate broker/agents, lenders and others are negotiating loan modifications
and short sales with no thought as to whether they are allowed to do so under the existing laws and regulations. Are you possibly
violating the law? Find out what the Department of Commerce has to say, click here. To read the rest of this article click here
Short Sale Revisited: Avoid the hidden bomb of a short sale without a written agreement to satisfy
the underlying loan August 2008 In the May, 2008 NL E-mail Update I wrote about a potential change in the short sale marketplace – agents were
reporting that Wells Fargo and Countrywide had taken new positions and were refusing to accept any short sales. At the time, I pointed out that nothing was set in stone when it came to lenders and it remained to be seen whether
this was a temporary or permanent change. Well, the short sale world has not stopped changing. To read more about short sale changes, click here.
Government and Lender Initiatives: What
Do They Mean to the Real Estate Professional? November 2008
The Home for
America program was designed to save 400,000 people from foreclosure kicked off in October. This month a number of major
lenders announced their own programs to help borrowers modify their loans. Freddy Mac and Fannie Mae have announced a
temporary moratorium on foreclosures. Does this mean that real estate professionals no longer have to deal
with foreclosure issues? Should the homeowner go for a modification or a short sale? Click here to read the rest of the article Short
Sale Fraud: Its Sold As A "Win-Win" But Instead It May Land You in Jail! October 2009 In March I wrote an article entitled, "Is it a Win Win"
or a Scam?" about a method that real estate investors and agents were using to avoid some of the problems associated
with short sales. The plan involves the creation of a straw transaction whereby the purchase agreement or option agreement
is submitted at a below market price. If the lender approves the short sale at the below market price, the real estate
agent and/or investor markets the property to home purchasers. If a buyer can be found at a higher price, two closings
will take place, the first to the straw buyer and the second from the straw buyer to the ultimate purchaser. The lender,
of course, does not know that the price approved was below the true value of the property and is not made aware of the second
closing. To read more about short sale fraud click here. How
to Avoid a Short Sale: Sell Before the Home is Underwater! October 2009 Everyone knows about the hassles and
pitfalls associated with short sales and would like to find a way to avoid them. Unfortunately, many
of the problems and pitfalls can only be resolved by the lenders themselves who to date have not shown the willingness or
ability to do so. One obvious way to avoid the problems associated with short
sales is to sell the homes before they are underwater. While this is obvious, the question really
should be why would the homeowner sell if they aren't underwater and don't have a traditional reason to sell (i.e., job transfer,
divorce, move-up, etc.)?
|
