Not even a week into the new year I have a file on my desk with such a messy title I can't imagine that anyone bothered to do a title search at all. The case is the transfer of a property out of foreclosure, imagine that!  The title deed is shows the property to be vested in an LLC, the Deed of Trust that gave rise to the foreclosure is executed by an individual, no mention of the LLC that holds title. There is nothing in the chain of title to reflect that the foreclosure attorney even bothered to have the chain corrected in advance of the filing of the foreclosure.  He simply foreclosed against the person named as the borrower in the DOT.  For reasons unnknown, the court, in it's review of the foreclosure file, did not question this glaring error, just went on ahead and ratified the sa... 01/04/2011

Wake Up; You Missed Another One My clients were looking in a particular neighborhood on the Northeast side of Greater Baltimore. They preferred a new or a newer home as an upgrade from their current residence. In the initial stages of the search, there were a few from which to choose, but my clients found out very quickly, that they had to act fast. The nice selection of homes which they were seeing were going under contract before they had much time to think twice about them. Fortunately, more homes were coming on the market so they were not left standing on the sidelines.  They learned the game and they acted appropriately, meaning fast. They did not just settle for a home, but they found what they wanted. This five year old beauty has over 4,000 square feet of living space, with larg... 12/22/2010

Would You Like to Have One of These Homes? Both of these homes are located in the highly popular region of Perry Hall Maryland, which is in Northeast Baltimore County. In particular, they are in the subdivision of Tartan Hill, which has been voted as the most beautiful neighborhood in all of Perry Hall. Moderately priced homes each with three bedrooms, two full baths, and one half bath. As a bonus the schools are either blue ribbon level or have been counted among the top 6 percent in the entire country. They are within a 30 minute commute to Downtown Baltimore, Towson, and Aberdeen Proving Ground. If you wish to travel further, then you can use the very convenient and accessible commuter train which is only five minutes away. Oh, before I go on any more, I should probably tell you that... 12/21/2010

If you are searching for Perry Hall homes for sale or you are planning to purchase any real estate in the Perry Hall and White Marsh area then this is the web page you should be visiting on my website WWW.ISELLMDHOMES.COM.  There you will find all of the information you will need to know about Perry Hall, Maryland to determine if you would like to become a new member of this wonderful community.  You will find information about perry hall real estate, perry hall homes for sale, perry hall foreclosure information, perry hall history, perry hall schools, perry hall libraries, perry hall senior resources, perry hall sports and recreation opportunities, perry hall parks, perry hall shopping, and other miscellaneous perry hall information. VISIT MY NEW PERRY HALL COMMUNITY PAGE TODAY CLICK H... 12/19/2010

An article in the Wall Street Journal dated December 1, 2010 reveals that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac both are placing the blame for the foreclosure crisis on the servicers.  They state, that they, Fannie and Freddie do not service loans and thus are not to blame for the crisis.  They remind us that the collection of mortgage payments are the responsibility of mortgage servicers and law firms with which the companies contract. The article, written by ZACHARY A. GOLDFARB contains quotes from both Terence Edwards, Executive Vice President for credit portfolio management at Fannie Mae and Donald Bisenius, Executive Vice President of the single family credit guarantee business at Freddie Mac wherein they both state that they (Fannie and Freddie) provide guidelines for the origination and ser... 12/03/2010

  FROM THE PRESS RELEASE In response to Wells Fargo's statement acknowledging that it "made mistakes" and that affidavits in 55,000 foreclosures filed by the bank did not "adhere" to the law, Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray offers the following statement: "The big mortgage servicers and financial firms continue to demonstrate their belief that they do not need to play by the same rules as everyone else who uses our court system. The suggestion by Wells Fargo and its colleagues at several other national firms that they can cure fraudulent testimony by simply refiling new affidavits and continuing to proceed toward foreclosures shows they do not recognize the seriousness of the problem they have created. There is no simple 'do-over' for false testimony that will be likely to avoid s... 11/02/2010

My buyer wants me to reduce my fee.  The transaction is of course, an REO purchase.  He claims that my $350.00 settlement fee is too much.  This fee includes title clearance.  Let me give you an idea about what I had to do to clear your title befoe I charged anything to you....  Verify that- There are no senior lien holders That the foreclosed Deed of Trust was not a 2nd and that the 1st is not still out there getting ready to pounce on this property with a new foreclosure filing That there are no legal action pending that claim priority over the foreclosed Deed of Trust That all subordinate lien holders got ACTUAL NOTICE of the foreclosure That the prior owner is not in an active Bankruptcy and that any prior bankruptcy allowed for the sale of this property That the foreclosed deed of ... 10/29/2010

There have been many articles lately in the news and on-line about the rash of foreclosure "fraud" that seemingly is running rampant in courts across the country.  And there has been much discussion about lenders "freezing" foreclosures nationwide.  While there may well be a "freeze" I can tell you that I received e-mail alerts today advising that more than 30 new properties came on the market today, all of which have gone through foreclosure and all of which are now being sold on the open market by the banks. So while there may be a freeze on new foreclosures, those properties which have gone through the foreclosure process are still hitting the market and can be TREATS.  REO PROPERTIES SOMETIMES OFFER THE BEST VALUE IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD! THIS IS GOOD NEWS and IT'S NOT A TRICK.  Many h... 10/18/2010

I really did.  I intentionally did not turn on the TV to watch the news, I did not spend a lot of time on-line trolling for information relating to foreclosures, but.. I took two calls yesteday from home because I closed my office for the holiday.  I know, I know, it was a minor holiday in a lot of people's mind, but I am just exhausted from all of this foreclosure mess. As you know I am an REO title specialist. I have worked for many years with large banks and REO firms and as such have maybe more of an interest in this debacle than some.  But anyway.. The two calls I took both related to foreclosure, imagine that!  One was from a lender askiing me to insure to them that the owner of the property we are insuring, Fannie Mae, actually had title when they contracted to sell it to the buy... 10/12/2010

Dear REO business partner:  As you are all aware there has been much talk in the news over the last few days relating to whether or not the major title underwriters will allow policies to be issued on property that has been foreclosed upon in the name of JP Morgan/Chase, GMAC and others.  On Thursday September 30, 2010 I received a bulletin from my underwriter, Old Republic National Title Insurance Company, advising that they would not allow us to write policy on these properties.  And then on Friday, October 1, 2010, I received an updated bulletin from ORT softening their position on the issuance of these polices.  ORT has taken the position that they will not underwrite policies of title insurance on these transactions in the following states ONLY: Florida, New York, Ohio, Illinois, P... 10/04/2010

I know a lot of REO agents who specialize in Fannie Mae transactions and have decided it's time I started to recognize them here on this blog since I post a lot of information about Fannie Mae here.  For many years now I have had a very loyal base of Realtors who consistently send business my way. One of these friends is Sandie Klein.  Sandie is a long time REO specialist and is affiliated with Long and Foster. She is in the Top 5% of Agents Nationwide.  In an earlier post I provided some information about Fannie Mae's new incentive program being offered to owner occupants who contract on a home on or after September 23, 2010 and who close on or before December 31, 2010.  I wanted to see if Sandie had any listings that would be helpful to anyone looking to take advantage of this great o... 09/23/2010

    Fannie Mae announced today that it will be offering incentives to Buyers beginning on September 23 through December 31, 2010.  The buyers will be offered an incentive of UP TO 3.5% of the final sales price which can be used toward closing cost assistance, including a home warranty, if desired and available. The property sale must close on or before December 31, 2010 and withing 60 days of offer acceptance. The buyer must be an owner occupant and you must submit an owner occupant certification The offer of up to 3.5% is considered a seller contribution and as such is subject to financing caps for the borrowers mortgage product.  Consult a lender for more information.  If the lender will only allow a 3% seller contribution, the .5% will NOT be available to the buyer. Buyers agents wil... 09/23/2010

  The grand opening of PERRY MEADOWS COMMUNITY THIS WEEKEND. I am excited about this new community which is direclty next door to my office!! Stop in to see me after you have looked at this georgous model home.  If you are buying in this community or any other community in Maryland let me help with all of your title and settlement needs.   Charlene Perry The Preferred Title Group, Inc. 3605 E. Joppa Road Baltimore, MD 21334 410+663-7444 09/22/2010

      My office is located at 3605 E. Joppa Road in Perry Hall Maryland.  Over the last year the land adjacent to my office has been transformed into what will become a beautiful new neighborhood.  The new neighborhood, which is being built by Ryland Homes is called PERRY MEADOWS and it is right next to Main Street, Joppa Road and to my office. It has been quite interesting to watch the development of this new community.  What was once a raggedy lot that had a delapidated home on it is now a planned community with a brand new model home and 30+ lots waiting for their new owners!!  I have not gone into the model home yet, but from the outside, it is absolutely beautiful. If you have never watched a community grow from nothing more than a vacant lot to an exciting and welcoming place to c... 09/20/2010

Baltimore County: New Neighborhood For Sale That's right.  The whole neighborhood is for sale.  Not only that it is all new or to be new. Get in while prices are low and interest rates are incredibly low. You do not have to live in all of these houses.  You can rent them at reasonable rental payments that will also cover today's low low mortgage payments. Hey, stocks are going nowhere; municipalities are defaulting on bonds, so why not invest in real estate. We are at the bottom of the cycle in the real estate market whereby we should start to see prices increasing. You can buy five or six houses, rent them to cover the cost, and enjoy the appreciation at a later point in time.  This is a great retirement investment. Take a look at some of the models available in this new subdivision lo... 09/18/2010

We all know that times are tough and when times are tough the tough get going.  Many, many years ago, I was a licensed title agent and a licensed real estate agent here in Maryland.  When I was licensed as a real estate agent I was working full time at a title ageny as a settlement officer. My boss at the time was not very supportive of my part time job and it was difficult for me to give my real estate clients the service that they deserved.  So, I let the real estate license go. For the last 12 years I have been running my own title agency, THE PREFERRED TITLE GROUP, INC.  and that has been a full time job and then some.  Naturally, market conditions being what they are, the title industry has suffered as much as the rest of the real estate market.   Therefore I have decided that I am... 09/17/2010

Perry Hall has many excellent schools within its boundaries.  Here you will find a list of schools in the Perry Hall area.    Education is a lifelong process.   Perry Hall has excellent schools, libraries, and resources for its senior population.  Public Elementary Schools Chapel Hill Elementary School is located at 5200 East Joppa Road, slightly east of the intersection of Chapel and Joppa Roads in the Honeygo area. Chapel Hill Elementary School can be contacted at (410) 887-5119. Gunpowder Elementary School is located at 9540 Holiday Manor Road, serving students in Pinedale and parts of Seven Courts. Gunpowder Elementary School may be reached at (410) 887-5121.   Joppa View Elementary School is located at 8727 Honeygo Boulevard, serving students in neighborhoods between Silver Spring ... 09/15/2010

I got a call today from a buyer who is using the services of the seller's "Preferred Provider".  She called me because she was heading to closing this afternoon on a property she is buying in Maryland,  and her realtor sent her a copy of the HUD-1 to review.  The poor buyer was immediately thrown by the fact that the "Preferred Provider" has pushed all of the transfer taxes and stamps over to the buyer's side.  When questioned, the "Preferred Provider" said this is is how Fannie Mae does it.  We must note that this particular provider is  either owned or controlled by one of Fannie Mae's Retained Attorneys and as such should know better than to structure the HUD-1 in this way The buyer then took it upon herself to do a quick Google search to see if she could get some clarity on this iss... 09/10/2010

I have been reading for some months now some of the comments that have been to submitted to HUD at www.regulations.gov as they relate to the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA): Strengthening and Clarifying RESPA's "Required Use" Prohibition. (Docket No. FR-5352-A-01). As a proud member of The National Association of Independent Land Title Agents I have been very outspoken about my opinion of Affiliated Business Arrangements (ABA's) and Controlled Business Arrangements (CBA's).  I firmly believe that steering consumers into using affiliates for bundled services in their real estate transactions is detreimental to consumers and to the title industry as a whole. For years now the use of ABA's and CBA's have become almost standard in more than half of all real estate transactions... 09/03/2010

Did anyone read this story. It's a little scary to know that if a computer glitch says your dead, then, by God, you're dead http://redtape.msnbc.com/2010/08/hey-banks-this-woman-is-alive.html?GT1=43001 Judy Rivers of Jasper AL is DEAD!! This bit of information came as quite the shock to Ms. Rivers when she went to her local bank to open a safety deposit box. Ms. Rivers has suffered a "digital death" at the hands of Chex Systems. Chex Systems, which is a subsidiary of Florida-based Fidelity National Information Services Inc., said in an e-mail to msnbc.com that it could not comment on a specific consumer's situation, citing privacy concerns, but it asserted that all death information comes "via a direct feed from the Social Security Administration." Two years ago, an msnbc.com investigat... 09/01/2010