the wasserblawg

Big news today from Washington, for sellers who would consider offering financing to potential buyers and for lucky souls who's parents or other benevolent freinds or family might consider financing their real estate purchases - HUD announced rules that may actually let you execute on your plans. Shockingly, the  Secure and Fair Enforcement for Mortgage Licensing Act of 2008, or  SAFE Act seems to have outlawed these sorts of financing tools.  The SAFE Act established  minimum standards for state  licensing of residential mortgage loan originators in order to increase uniformity, improve  accountability of loan originators, combat fraud, and enhance consumer protections.  but in enacting restrictions on their qualifications and authority, the law included everyone  in the universe who made, or wanted to make, mortgage loans.  The SAFE Act defines “loan originator” to mean  “an individual who takes a residential mortgage loan application; and offers or negotiates the  terms

I do not really know why I am so fascinated by mortgage fraud, but I just am. Here is a fascinating description of the level of sophistication and determination of the fraudsters. Next time you - or your client - or your client's buyer complains about all the paperwork they need to submit to document their loan applications, consider how much tougher it must be when you are making the stuff up as you go along... 'Next wave' of mortgage fraud strikes | StarTribune .com

There are about as many ways to scam the unwary real estate consumer as their are stars in the sky, or so it seems. This one is an oldy , but a goody: the mortgage hand-off scam. The con is a pretty simple one: send an official looking notice to a hapless homeowner (typically, but not always, an unsophisticated new buyer). Tell the owner that his mortgage has been sold to Mega Mortgage Financial Security, Co. and direct all future payments to the scammer's post office box. Collect a couple-three payments and move on before the real lender starts calling on the homeowner to find out why he stopped paying on the loan. FEDERAL LAW REQUIRES A "WELCOME" FROM YOUR NEW LOAN SERVICER and an "EXIT" FROM THE OLD ONE - NEVER MAKE A CHANGE UNTIL BOTH CONFIRM THAT A CHANGE IS TAKING PLACE. A more detailed report here, from the Chicago Tribune: Beware the hand-off rip-off scheme I have been warning home buyers about this particular fraud for years now. I hope and trust

The old standard operating procedure for Chicago area residential closings may be changing a bit, based on an announcement I recently received from  Chicago Title. Outbound emails from CT's REO unit in Carrol Stream now advise recipients that the title company will no longer accept third party checks at closings. Apparently, company auditors  want all funds to be made payable directly to the title company. The new rule is effective May 1, 2011, but I am told that Carrol Stream is implementing a  "soft" introduction of the new rules  to allow time for word to get out of the change. The rule of thumb for as long as  I have been handling Chicago area real estate closings has been that any funds a Buyer (or Seller) would bring to the closing table would be in the form of a wire transfer or a cashiers/certified check made payable to that Buyer (or Seller). Once the parties were satisfied with all of the closing documents and settlement figures, the Buyer would endorse tha