The Professional Inspection Report Conundrum
April 1, 2018 by Phil Querin
The Licensed Professional Inspections portion of Section 10 of the 2018 OREF Statewide Residential Sale Agreement form, contains the following provision: Buyer shall not provide all or any portion of the inspection reports to Seller unless requested by Seller or Seller’s Agent. However, at any time during this transaction, or promptly following termination, upon request […]
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Posted in Broker Risk Management, Miscellany, Professional Inspection, Real Estate General, Real Estate Laws, Realtor Risk Management, Realtors | Tagged Professional Inspections, Real Estate, RealtorsPlanned Communities, Townhomes and Condominiums – What’s The Difference?
March 10, 2018 by Phil Querin
While most people are familiar with condominium structures, can the same be said of townhome developments? How do the two differ? Do townhomes have common and limited elements? What if the home is not a condo or townhome, but located in a “planned community”? How do planned communities differ from condominiums and townhomes? Avoiding the […]
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Posted in Condos, Fannie&Freddie, Real Estate General, Real Estate Laws, Realtor Risk Management, Townhomes | Tagged Condos, Real Estate, TownhomesAvailable Mortgage Interest Deduction under Tax Cuts & Jobs Act (“TCJA”)
February 24, 2018 by Phil Querin
As most taxpayers know by now, the TCJA reduced the available mortgage interest deduction from $1,000,000, to $750,000.[1] Essentially, if one bought a home today and financed $1,000,000 of the purchase price[2] interest on only $750,000 of the loan would be deductible. That’s pretty straightforward. This applies to interest secured by a primary or secondary […]
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Posted in Miscellany, Real Estate General, Real Estate Laws, Real Estate/Commercial, Realtor Risk Management, Tax Issues | Tagged Mortgages, Real Estate, TaxesEasement Essentials For Oregon Homeowners
February 18, 2018 by Phil Querin
Generally. An easement, in its most common and basic sense, is a right of use, e.g. to cross another’s land, to lay utility and sewer lines, to provide or share use for ingress and egress to one or more properties, etc. Most easements are “appurtenant”, that is, the landowner with the right of use, and […]
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Posted in Easements, Miscellany, Real Estate General, Realtor Risk Management, Residential Housiing | Tagged Easements, Real Estate, RealtorsDelicious Cosmic Karma
February 17, 2018 by Phil Querin
I do not use my I-Phone while walking, working out, or any activity that requires concentration. Never have and never will. Walking requires as much attention as driving a car, and texting or emailing while walking is an equal invitation to disaster, especially in city crosswalks. But no matter. It appears an entire generation of […]
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Posted in Miscellany, News You Can Use, Q-Rants | Tagged Q-RantsSessions Memo Trumps Cole Memo
February 11, 2018 by Phil Querin
It’s been said that few things are as good or bad as they are first made out to be. However, the mainstream media, never fearful of hyperbole, usually writes as if the glass is half empty…and getting worse; e.g. selling fear under the guise of rhetorical questions, such as whether Jeff Sessions’ rescission of the […]
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Posted in Legislation - Federal, Marijuana, Miscellany, News You Can Use | Tagged BanksA Kinder, Gentler, CFPB?
February 10, 2018 by Phil Querin
It is no secret I have a fair amount of animus toward the CFPB, which, since its creation in 2010, regarded itself as “the new sheriff in town” and proceeded to “push the envelope” in the exercise of its enforcement practices. One of its more offensive practices was its use of “regulation by enforcement”. Simply […]
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Posted in CFPB, Dodd-Frank, Legislation - Federal, Miscellany, News You Can Use, Q-Rants | Tagged CFPB, Q-RantsMortgage Debt Relief Act Extended Through 2018 – Finally!
February 10, 2018 by Phil Querin
For a brief history of the multiple extensions of the The Mortgage Debt Relief Act of 2007 (“the Act”), go to my June 2017 post here. I predicted at the time that it would be extended through 2018; but I also predicted that news of the extension would be slow in coming, because this law – […]
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Posted in Broker Risk Management, Deed in Lieu of Foreclosure, Deficiency Liability, Financial Crisis, Foreclosure, Legislation - Federal, Miscellany, Real Estate Laws, Realtor Risk Management, Residential Housiing | Tagged Deficiency Liability, Distressed Transactions, Financial Crisis, Legislation - Oregon, Real Estate, Short Sales, Trust DeedsFrom The Lipstick On Pigs Department: Nationstar Becomes “Mr. Cooper”
February 3, 2018 by Phil Querin
Prologue: You can’t make this stuff up! In an effort to shed its past transgressions, like a snake sheds its skin, Nationstar Mortgage has had a makeover that includes assuming a new name. It is now officially, “Mr. Cooper”. This redo, or in golfing parlance, “mulligan”, had been in the works for some time – […]
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Posted in Miscellany, News You Can Use, Q-Rants, Satire, Servicers | Tagged Satire, ServicersWhat An Owner’s Policy Of Title Insurance Doesn’t Cover
February 3, 2018 by Phil Querin
Remember, “exceptions” noted in a preliminary title report (“PTR”)[1] or title policy, are the title insurance company’s exclusions from coverage. This means, for example, that if a homeowner suffered a loss arising from an easement shown as an exception on the policy, the title company is not on the hook, since that easement was listed […]
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Posted in Broker Risk Management, Miscellany, Realtor Risk Management, Realtors, Title Insurance | Tagged Real Estate, Realtors, Title Insurance
