For every crisis there is opportunity.  During world WWII, one of the great cons ever was counterfeit ration cards. Today, there is a big opportunity to con desperate people with regard to their mortgage. Companies such as these approach unknowing homeowners promising “foreclosure rescue” and “securitization audits” as well as other mortgage modification schemes. There [...]

As part of the negotiations in the robo-signing scandals, HUD is demanding that bankers use principal reduction in order to modify the mortgages of underwater mortgage holders. Those bad, bad bankers should be taught a lesson, right? They should be forced into remedies on defaulted upon contracts that clearly spell out the remedies agreed to, [...]

There may be some benefit to the housing crisis and that would be the reduction of your property taxes if you have suffered with home depreciation. Think of it in terms of getting a current time value on the future value of your equity. Time value is one of the main factors that affect interest [...]

There are differing opinions about how to solve problems. Some prefer the Deming method, while others prefer the herring bone pattern. But no matter which method one chooses, all agree that the first step in problem solving is ensuring one is addressing the correct problem or, its root cause. This past month, The Obama administration [...]

Congresswoman Susan Davis from San Diego recently introduced a bill into congress that requires trust deed holders to provide homeowners who attempting a short sale the “drop dead” price acceptable for approval. Finally, I am witness to a bill that needs no compromise discussions and should not really be subject to a debate. After all, [...]

There is one investment company that is optimistic about housing – Barclays Bank. Apparently Barclays does not believe that the shadow inventory (that inventory lurking on lender balance sheets) will not have as large an effect as expected by other analysts.  Yeah, right. I wrote an article recently using Apple IPads as an example.  Look [...]

As you know, we have been reporting on the issues related to the gigantic case involving the largest lenders in the land and their involvement in the robo signing scandal involving over 4 million homes that are estimated to have been wrongly foreclosed upon. Next month, those homeowners will receive letters in the mail, informing [...]

Have you ever bought a “collector’s edition” of a great movie that supposedly had “previously unseen clips” that are part of the “director’s cut”? Me too. I stopped buying them long ago after realizing that the “never before seen” is usually unseen for a very good reason. These types of promotion are well messaged marketing [...]

I have always said that the key to maintaining relevance and being viable in a market is the ability to adapt and learn new skill sets. Lately, real estate agents are becoming quite adept at assisting in the clearance of non performing mortgages. Part of those skill sets are learning all of the facets of [...]

It would seem that not everyone is too big to fail. Appraiser Loft, an AMC (appraisal management company) shut its doors on October 10th after months of speculation and rumor that they could not pay the appraisers on time. And there is no relief in sight for the appraisers that are owed. The assets of [...]