Bank REOs And Property Disclosure

July 28, 2010

For many years, Oregon has had a seller property disclosure law. It requires owners of 1 to 4 family dwellings to disclose to buyers certain important information about the property being sold. It does not require sellers to disclose what they don’t know – just what they do know. This seems only fair. However, Oregon’s property disclosure law expressly excludes banks. When the law was first created years ago, the exclusion made sense. But today, with bank REOs comprising one of the largest segments of all sales transactions, consumers need a minimal level of protection. If sellers of 1 to 4 family homes cannot hide behind “caveat emptor” (buyer beware) why should banks?

Making Sausage – Observations on Some Recent Oregon Legislation

July 28, 2010

Oregon legislative drafting can be like making sausage – you don’t want to watch the process. A case in point is the Legislature’s attempt to deal with homeowners’ promissory note liability that can survive the foreclosure of certain mortgages on distressed housing. The sausages were House Bills 3004 and 3656 – both attempted to deal with “piggy-back” loans – those 80% and 20% mortgages stacked on top of each other. The bills were enacted in 2009 and 2010, respectively. In both cases the Legislature came up short. Who suffers? The Oregon homeowner, of course. No wonder they’re distressed.