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Showing posts from February, 2011

UNSAFE: UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES OF SAFE MORTGAGE LICENSING ACT OF 2008 MAKE IT HARDER FOR SOME LOCAL BUYERS TO FINANCE THEIR HOME PURCHASES

Local buyers hoping to finance their home purchases with a loan from a parent or other family member are going to need to change their plans. Quickly. Sellers offering financing to prospective buyers too.  As of January 1st, 2011, ONLY Illinois mortgage licensees, regulated/licensed banks, savings & loans, credit unions, insurance companies, and the like can make residential mortgages for gain or profit.. Non-interest bearing mortgage loans are still allowed. The new rule was enacted to implement a Federal law intended to enhance consumer protection and reduce fraud in the mortgage industry. That protection it seems, comes at a cost. Consumers have no choice now. Licensed mortgage lenders are the only game in town. At least for residential transaction. THE FEDERAL LAW: The Secure and Fair Enforcement for Mortgage Licensing Act of 2008 (“SAFE Act”), was passed on July 30, 2008.  The federal obligated each of the 50 states to enact their own laws requiring licensure of mortg

REALTOR® Magazine-Daily News-Addicts Snatch Drugs From Homes for Sale

I have not heard of this from friends or colleagues, have you? Hard to argue with the general advice though: Addicts Snatch Drugs From Homes for Sale Addicts are posing as home buyers and cleaning out medicine cabinets in homes for sale, according to recent police reports. "It's commonplace – more common than you think," Detective Dennis Luken, vice president for the Ohio chapter of the National Association of Drug Diversion Investigators, told the Cleveland Plain Dealer. "It's everywhere." In one recent case, a man showed up to an open house and while the real estate agent was distracted with other customers he went through the home owner’s medicine cabinet. The agent overheard the man going through the drawers, and he was later questioned by police officers. He admitted that he went to the house looking for pain pills and that he learned the trick from peers at a drug treatment program. Authorities say some criminals also copy information off the home own