A lot of speculation about deficiencies and what happens to them keep popping up in conversations I have. This week the St. Petersburg Times published an article where a great authority (me) was quoted, along with other findings from research by the paper. You will find it interesting and it ca
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04/01/2011
In another prime example of the FORECLOSURE EXPRESS vs. THE LITTLE ENGINE THAT COULD, this past week I defeated a lender's counter argument as to why the foreclosure sale scheduled for that day should proceed, even though the lender issued its short sale approval letter. The issue was that the le
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03/27/2011
I am very troubled by the actions of lenders in their encouragement of surreptitious dealing, especially by second lenders, regarding the distribution of proceeds of a short sale to the detriment of first lenders. Below is a Suntrust Mortgage document recently received from Suntrust that is being
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03/13/2011
Today I received a question from a trusted broker about the result of a foreclosure of a first mortgage upon the second mortgage. He told me that many brokers / agents provide advice to their clients (and non-clients) that if the first mortgage forecloses, the second mortgage gets nothing and is
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03/08/2011
In a federal bankruptcy court decision in the influential Eastern District of New York, Judge Robert Grossman explained in a 37 page decision in In re: FERREL L. AGARD, Case No. 810-77338-reg that MERS must have specific powers from its "principal" to transfer the mortgage and promissory note, an
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02/16/2011
In the series of questions I get when interviewing a potential client who is upside down on his or her mortgage, one question always asked (especially after I quote my fee) is "What if I decide to do nothing?" It is a legitimate question and with all the press (and misinformation) that abounds, i
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02/14/2011
The Question - Are Real Estate Agents Furnishing MARS? The issue regarding real estate agents and the new FTC MARS Rule (as in Mortgage Assistance Relief Services) is that there is no clear cut rule. The Commission states in footnote 126 of the Rule that an exemption for real estate agents is no
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01/30/2011
I last addressed the common Florida short sale addenda in WHAT'S WRONG WITH THE FAR SHORT SALE LISTING AND CONTRACT ADDENDA - AND HOW YOU CAN FIX IT in November 2008. Since that time several real estate brokerage agencies have recognized the FAR "oversights" and created their own short sale adde
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01/08/2011
We closed a record number of transactions in December - a record at least for us - and one closing stands out for a disturbing statement by the buyer's real estate agent. As the closing agent and because this was a short sale and funds had to be disbursed to the lender immediately at closing, we
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01/02/2011
Robo sigining foreclosure affidavits and other documents has been in the news for months - forcing lenders to suspend foreclosures in process. Recently many banks reported that their self imposed moratorium on foreclosure prosecution was over and foreclosures were back on track. JP Morgan is not
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12/24/2010