By Dennis Norman, on June 27th, 2011 
 This week, in response to the House Appropriations committee voting to slash funding for the newly formed Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and to subject the new agency to a “politically-charged” funding process, Mike Calhoun, President of the Center for Responsible Lending, made the following comment: “the House Appropriations Committee yesterday voted for a return to policies that allowed predatory financial products to plunder our economy. Clearly some lawmakers have forgotten the lesson of today’s financial crisis, which continues at great cost to taxpayers, shareholders, retirees and, of course, tens of millions of families who have needlessly lost their homes or seen them plummet in value.” Continue reading “Consumer organization blasts House Appropriations Committee on recent vote; fear return to policies that allowed predatory lending“
By Dennis Norman, on May 4th, 2011  Well, the City of Bellefontaine Neighbors, in north St. Louis County, is back at it again. As some readers may recall, in February of last year I wrote about the appellant court declaring that an ordinance passed by the City of Bellefontaine Neighbors requiring property owners to apply for an inspection before advertising their home for sale violated their property rights and was unconstitutional. Then, the following month I wrote another article on the subject, this time about how, in spite of the decision of the appellant court, the city of Bellefontaine was still enforcing the ordinance.
So what are they up to? Well, this afternoon I found out that tomorrow, May 5th, the Bellefontaine Neighbors Board of Alderman will consider passing Bill No. 2233, “Pre-Sales Inspections”, which, if passed, would in my opinion be the City thumbing their noses at the Eastern District Court of Appeals decision since this bill is basically the same as the ordinance struck down by the court with the exception being that in this one instead of requiring an application for an inspection PRIOR to listing your home for sale it now says you have to apply within 3 days of advertising your home for sale. Yep, I’m serious….
While some of you may think this doesn’t affect you because you don’t own property in the City of Bellefontaine Neighbors, think again…Ordinances tend to spread from one municipality to another, particularly in a case like this where the city attorney, Kevin O’Keefe, represents many other municipalities in the area.
So what can you do to try to prevent this? The St. Louis Association of REALTORS has set up a Call to Action and you can easily send a message to the Alderman of the City of Bellefontaine Neighbors encouraging them not to pass this bill by clicking on this link.
By Dennis Norman, on April 27th, 2011 Within days of former State Representative Jake Zimmerman stepping into his new role as the first elected Assessor for St. Louis County, he has jumped into action. In an effort to reach out and provide help to property owners whose property was affected by last weeks devastating tornado, Zimmerman plans to use authority given to him under State Statutes to reduce the value of the damaged property, thereby reducing the tax burden on the owners. Continue reading “St. Louis County Assessor offers tax relief to tornado victims“
By News Desk, on April 19th, 2011 Lee Bentley Farkas, the former chairman of a private mortgage lending company, Taylor, Bean & Whitaker (TBW), was convicted today for his role in a more than $2.9 billion fraud scheme that contributed to the failures of Colonial Bank, one of the 25 largest banks in the United States in 2009, and TBW, one of the largest privately held mortgage lending companies in the United States in 2009. Continue reading “Former Chairman of Taylor, Bean & Whitaker Convicted for $2.9 Billion Fraud Scheme That Contributed to the Failure of Colonial Bank“
By Dennis Norman, on April 17th, 2011 Over the past year or so there have been dozens, if not hundreds, of stories questioning the manner in which lenders were handling the servicing of their loans, particularly those of underwater borrowers, as well as the foreclosure practices of many including “robo-signing” of foreclosure affidavits. Next came the lawsuits and now, this week, the Federal Reserve Board announced formal enforcement actions requiring 10 banking organizations to address “a pattern of misconduct and negligence related to deficient practices in residential mortgage loan servicing and foreclosure processing.” Continue reading “Feds Take Action Against Banks for Misconduct and Negligence Related to Mortgage Loan Servicing and Foreclosure Practices“
By Dennis Norman, on April 11th, 2011 Forty three years ago today, President Lyndon Baines Johnson signed into law the Civil Rights Act of 1968 which included Title VIII, the Fair Housing Act which, as described on HUD’s website, “prohibits discrimination in the sale, rental, and financing of dwellings, and in other housing-related transactions, based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status (including children under the age of 18 living with parents or legal custodians, pregnant women, and people securing custody of children under the age of 18), and handicap (disability).” Continue reading “Undercover Investigation Reveals Possible Discriminatory Treatment of REO’s by Lenders“
By Dennis Norman, on April 8th, 2011 
UPDATE Jan, 2013 – Congress approved extending the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007 through the end of 2013.
I first wrote an article on this topic a little over two years ago as the foreclosure rate was rising and borrowers were concerned about where they stood with the IRS with regard to “mortgage forgiveness”. Well, here we are today with the same issues looming over many people, so I thought I would do an update. Continue reading “The Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007 – Update“
By Gerry Loesch, on April 8th, 2011  For those of you who do not know me, I have been in the home inspection profession for the past 35 years. I have served as National President of ASHI® and have also served on the Examination Board for Professional Home Inspectors. I offer the following comments and opinions on HB 553: Continue reading “House Bill No. 553 has been introduced to License Home Inspectors in Missouri“
By Dennis Norman, on April 6th, 2011  My guess is you read the headline, chuckled and said to yourself “no way”. After all, the idea of sending people that could not pay their debts to prison went away over a century ago in the U.S., right? Yes and no….In 1833 the United States abolished Federal imprisonment for unpaid debts and most states did as well around the same time. However, Missouri Representative Gary L. Cross, representing the Kansas City area, has introduced legislation that would subject tenants that do not pay their rent to a criminal charge, a Class A Misdemeanor to be exact. Continue reading “Can you go to prison for not paying your rent?“
By Dennis Norman, on March 14th, 2011 The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced it has extended the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP) to June 30, 2012. The HARP program was scheduled to end June 30, 2011.
This program is designed to help homeowners whose homes have lost value. Through 2010 there have been 621,803 HARP refinances with loan amounts from 80 percent of value up to 125 percent of value.
For more information, or to see if you are eligible for HARP, click here.
By News Desk, on February 5th, 2011 A federal grand jury indicted a Brookwood man yesterday on wire fraud and false statement charges related to a more than $1 million mortgage fraud scheme in the Birmingham area, announced U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance.
A 34-count indictment filed in U.S. District Court charges SCOTT ERIC PERRY, 34, with 17 counts of wire fraud and 17 counts of making false statements to lending institutions in connection to real estate transactions between February and December, 2006. Continue reading “Brookwood Man Faces 34-Count Federal Indictment in Mortgage Fraud Scheme“
By Dennis Norman, on February 3rd, 2011 The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) back in August, 2010, published proposed “guidance” related to private transfer fee covenants that applied to Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Federal Home Loan Banks (the “regulated entities). The message in this guidance was that private transfer fees are bad and those regulated enterprises should stay away from lending on real estate subject to such covenants. Continue reading “Feds Propose Rule on Private Transfer Fees“
By Dennis Norman, on February 1st, 2011 Yesterday my wife received a letter from the condo association for a complex she owns a rental in with “OWNER ALERT!!!!!!!” (yes, that many exclamation points) at the top of it in big letters. The reason for the “alert” was to let condo owners know that FHA certification for this condominium complex expired December 31, 2010 (as it did for many complexes across the country) and that, in order to be eligible for FHA-insured financing the complex would have to obtain re-certification.
Now, in this particular case, the board is using this as a scare tactic to try to convince the owners to vote to change by-laws to prohibit rentals (something they tried last year and failed at and something I have major issues with, but that’s a topic for another story..) but I realized this is a very real problem or concern for many condo-owners, boards and associations across the country so I thought I would gather and share some info on the issue. Continue reading “FHA Condominium Recertification Requirements“
By Dennis Norman, on January 31st, 2011 The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) announced the temporary waiver of the “anti-flipping” rule has been extended through December 31, 2011. In my opinion the “anti-flipping” rule was a bad idea to start with and in the current housing market the last thing we need is anything to discourage investors from buying homes so this is a good move by FHA.
Continue reading “FHA Extends ‘Anti-Flipping Waiver’“
By News Desk, on December 27th, 2010 The Justice Department today announced a $1.25 million agreement with Warren Properties Inc., Warren Village (Mobile) Limited Partnership and Frank R. Warren to settle allegations that the defendants violated the Fair Housing Act by refusing to grant a tenant’s requests for a reasonable accommodation. This settlement is the largest ever obtained by the department in an individual housing discrimination case. Continue reading “Justice Department Settles Disability Discrimination Case Against Property Management Company for $1.25 Million“
By Dennis Norman, on December 20th, 2010 Freddie Mac, one of the nation’s largest investors in conforming, conventional mortgages, announced it will delay initiating foreclosure for at least nine months for financially troubled service members who are released from active duty through the end of 2011 and have Freddie Mac-owned mortgages.
“Our military make sacrifices every day to protect our homes and families,” said Anthony Renzi, Executive Vice President of Single Family Portfolio Management at Freddie Mac. “This small act will protect financially troubled service members when they return from active duty by giving them more time to work with their lender to stay in their home.”
By News Desk, on December 10th, 2010
A former residential sales manager at a Florida property management company pleaded guilty to wire fraud in connection with housing repair contracts for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), the Department of Justice announced this week.
Benjamin K. Graves, formerly a residential sales manager at West Palm Beach, Fla.-based Ocwen Loan Servicing LLC, pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Orlando, Fla., to wire fraud. According to the one-count felony charge filed on Nov. 12, 2010, in the Middle District of Florida, Ocwen managed foreclosed properties under contract with the VA, which guaranteed qualifying residential mortgages for veterans. Under the contract between the VA and Ocwen, if a veteran defaulted, Ocwen completed necessary repairs and re-sold the property. Continue reading “Former Employee of Florida Property Management Company Pleads Guilty to Wire Fraud“
By News Desk, on December 9th, 2010 Settlement Provides $2 Million to African-American Borrowers Who Paid Higher Interest Rates
PrimeLending, a national mortgage lender with 168 offices in 32 states at the end of 2009, has agreed to pay $2 million to resolve allegations that it engaged in a pattern or practice of discrimination against African-American borrowers between 2006 and 2009. Continue reading “Justice Department Reaches Settlement with Prime Lending to Resolve Allegations of Lending Discrimination“
By News Desk, on November 29th, 2010 Homeowners will be protected by a new Federal Trade Commission rule that bans providers of mortgage foreclosure rescue and loan modification services from collecting fees until homeowners have a written offer from their lender or servicer that they decide is acceptable. Continue reading “FTC Issues Final Rule Banning Upfront Fees From Mortgage Relief Companies“
By Dennis Norman, on November 29th, 2010 After surging in the second quarter, mortgage fraud case activity sank in the third quarter based on the Third Quarter 2010 Mortgage Fraud Index from Mortgage Daily. The Mortgage Fraud Index came in at 1007 during the third quarter – falling 41 percent from the second quarter. The index hasn’t been this low since the first quarter 2008, when it was just 713.
Continue reading “Mortgage Fraud Case Activity Drops“
By News Desk, on November 18th, 2010 The “robo-signing” scandal that has exposed illegal practices by servicers of mortgage loans has also showed the urgent need to reform a broken system that is plagued with abuses, lacks adequate resources and has pushed countless homeowners toward foreclosure.
That’s the message that Diane Thompson, a lawyer for the National Consumer Law Center, delivered in testimony earlier this week to the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs. Continue reading “Consumer Organization to Congress: Lenders ‘Lawless Attitude’ pushes homeowners into Foreclosure“
By Dennis Norman, on November 15th, 2010
Last week the co-chairs of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform (the group that is supposed to figure out how to rescue our country out of the financial quicksand it’s in) issued a draft proposal of a plan the committee says “will make America better off tomorrow than it is today”.
In addition to such enlightening statements such as “America cannot be great if we go broke” the report outlines a plan that makes five basic recommendations: Continue reading “Mortgage Bankers Cautions Against Cutting Back Mortgage Interest Deduction“
By Dennis Norman, on November 9th, 2010
Time is running out to take advantage of two tax credit programs that are a result of the expanded recovery act: The “Nonbusiness Energy Property Credit” and “Residential Energy Efficient Property Credit” programs both offer homeowners the opportunity to receive tax credits for energy-efficient upgrades, but the programs end this year. Continue reading “Tax Credits Help Homeowners Winterize Their Homes; IRS says check credit certification first“
By News Desk, on November 8th, 2010 The National Association of Realtors® announced that it “strongly supports” the proposed guidance from the Federal Housing Finance Agency to prevent government-sponsored enterprises Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the 12 Federal Home Loan Banks from investing in mortgages encumbered by private transfer fee covenants.
In a letter sent to the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), NAR reiterated its opposition to these covenants, which developers often attach to a property to require payment of fees back to that developer each time the property is resold. These covenanted mandates are often extremely difficult to reverse once in place, and in many cases are attached to a deed for up to 99 years. Continue reading “REALTORS® Support Proposal to End Private Transfer Fees“
By Dennis Norman, on November 3rd, 2010 Dennis Norman In a loud and unified voice, 83.7 percent of the voters yesterday voted in favor of Missouri Constitutional Amendment 3, the ban on future transfer taxes or fees on real estate in Missouri. In a huge victory for Missouri property owners, this effort, spearheaded, and funded in a large part, by the Missouri Association of REALTORS, insures that Missouri remains free from this tax that many, including yours truly, consider a form of double taxation.
Missouri is one of only 13 states in the U.S. that do not have a transfer tax imposed at the state or local level on the transfer of real estate. While some of these taxes or fees are less than 1 percent, in some areas, such as Philadelphia, these fees can be as high as 4 percent of the price of the property.
By Dennis Norman, on November 2nd, 2010 Dennis Norman Who says you can’t fight City Hall and win?
Well, it wasn’t easy, nor quick, but George and Margaret Paeth of the Worth Township in Michigan have”beat” City Hall and been awarded $600,000 by a Federal Court Judge. According to a press release by their attorney’s, Daniel P. Dalton and Pauline J. Pensler, this judgment is “one of the largest procedural due process and First Amendment retaliation verdicts in the nation, and the largest for the Eastern District of Michigan’s federal courts.” Continue reading “Michigan couple awarded $600,000 judgment against Worth Township; Proof that you can fight city hall“
By Dennis Norman, on October 29th, 2010 Dennis Norman Now that the controversial (to put it mildly) Home Valuation Code of Conduct (HVCC) has been put to rest as part of The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform, Fannie Mae has released their “Appraiser Independence Requirements“. Fannie Mae says the purpose of these requirements is to:
By Dennis Norman, on October 25th, 2010 Dennis Norman The U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Department of Housing and Urban Development today released their “October 2010 Scorecard” on the “Obama Administration’s Efforts to Stabilize the Housing Market”.
The scorecard points out the success of “The President’s housing market recovery efforts” but does point out that “data in the scorecard also show that the recovery in the housing market continues to remain fragile.” Continue reading “Scorecard on Obama’s Housing Recovery Plans“
By News Desk, on October 24th, 2010
By Dennis Norman, on October 15th, 2010 Dennis Norman In a letter to the Federal Housing Finance Agency, John A. Courson, the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) said that the MBA “opposes the practice of private third parties, such as developers, builders, licensing companies and real estate brokers, imposing private transfer fee covenants on residential real estate for the purpose of extracting future income.” However, in his letter Mr. Courson goes on to say that the “MBA is concerned thatencumbering housing transactions with these types of PTFs will impede the marketability and affect the valuation of properties and thus the value of the loans and securities backed by such loans.” In addition, the MBA points out that “distinctions among PTFs (private transfer fees) are necessary” as they do not oppose private transfer fee covenants that are: Continue reading “Mortgage Bankers urge Feds not to ban all private transfer fees“
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