Hat tip to SM for sending this along, from the Seattle Times: The 8,000-square-foot mansion was dark and in foreclosure for years. So last weekend when the for-sale signs came down and the lights lit up, neighbors were relieved. "We were like — 'finally, somebody's...
Hat tip to Blue Streak for sending this along - link here for full article, with excerpts here: June 10 (Bloomberg) -- Two Connecticut real estate agents found a way to profit in the U.S. housing bust: Buy low, sell fast. Their tactic was also illegal. Sergio Natera...
The latest update from Kelly Bennett on the big condo scam: Jim McConville needed help to pull off a massive mortgage swindle. He couldn't let the banks making the mortgages know that he was sucking at least $120,000 each out of more than 80 condo sales in Escondido...
Hat tip to M.E. for sending this along: Reno attorney and real estate investor William Thornton has filed a complaint with the Nevada Real Estate Division against local real estate figures Karen Greathouse and Nancy Fennell of Dickson Realty. Thornton accused...
From the C.A.R. UNDISCLOSED SHORT SALE PAYMENTS MAY BE ILLEGAL Undisclosed payments in short sale transactions, especially those paid outside of escrow, may violate the law, including RESPA, laws against loan fraud, and licensing laws. Short sale agents have...
Here's a snapshot of reality - though somewhat extreme, even by today's standards. The first clip shows the difference between sales of a single-story, and a two-story house on the same street, that closed a month apart. The second shows a new short-sale listing that...
Here's a classic ponzi scheme right in our own backyard. This guy owned this house since 1988, and had been an active contractor in the community. When the market was hot, borrowing money to do remodels and flippers worked out fine for him. But when the music...
With all the postponements of trustee sales, it seems that if any defaulting borrower could just fog a mirror, the servicer would give them a break. Apparently, they'll go farther than that - from a reader: My sister passed in mid 2007 from cancer. She was widowed and...
My family and I have been extremely moved by the out-pouring of support from blog readers over the last week concerning my dad's passing - thank you so much for your thoughts and prayers! Though it was a very sad few days, we did have a great time talking about Pops...
