Altisource And Its New “Disruptive Enterprise Software”
August 31, 2014 by Phil Querin
In a recent article appearing at the online site “nationalmortgagenews.com” there appeared a short blurb titled “Altisource Opens Technology Office in India.” For those who have never heard of Altisource, they are one of the few major members on the Pantheon of Scoundrels, or POS, for short. On their website, they proudly boast: Altisource provides services […]
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Posted in Financial Crisis, Foreclosure, Market Conditions, Miscellany, Q-Rants, Real Estate/Distressed, Servicers | Tagged Financial Crisis, Foreclosure, Market Conditions, Modification, Real Estate, Short Sales2013 Short Sale FAQs [Part One]
April 21, 2013 by Phil Querin
The local and national real estate markets have been on the ropes for five years. The third quarter of 2007 was the statistical peak for housing prices in the Portland-Metro area. From that point forward, the real estate market went into a downward spiral from which it has never fully recovered. However, the third quarter […]
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Posted in Deed in Lieu of Foreclosure, Deficiency Liability, Fannie&Freddie, Financial Crisis, Foreclosure, Foreclosure Mills, GSEs, Market Conditions, Miscellany, Real Estate/Distressed, Realtors, Servicers, Short Sales, Tax Issues | Tagged Banks, Deed In Lieu Of Foreclsoure, Deficiency Liability, Distressed Transactions, Fannie & Freddie, Foreclosure, Market Conditions, Mortgages, Real Estate, Realtors, Short SalesMortgage Insurers – Short Sale Shakedown Artists
April 20, 2013 by Phil Querin
I’ve written several blog posts about the mortgage insurance (“MI”) problem. Two of the several posts are found here and here. In many cases, MI is not purchased by the borrower, but by the lender – without the borrower’s knowledge and after the loan has already been made. This type of MI is technically referred […]
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Posted in Foreclosure, Miscellany, Ratings Agencies, Real Estate/Distressed, Servicers, Short Sales | Tagged Bank Ethics?, Banks, Distressed Transactions, Short SalesThe Importance of Servicer-Realtor® Relationships in Short Sales
February 9, 2013 by Phil Querin
The online newsletter Mortgage Servicing News carried an interesting article that Realtors® should reprint and carry around in their pocket or purse. It was titled: “Servicer-Realtor Exchanges Can Boom or Bust Short Sales” and can be found online here. The premise of the article is smart, short and simple: Servicers should work closely with good […]
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Posted in Market Conditions, Miscellany, Real Estate/Distressed, Realtors, Short Sales | Tagged Distressed Transactions, Market Conditions, Realtors, Short SalesShort Sale Fraud – Hard Time For A Bogus Hardship
February 2, 2013 by Phil Querin
January 29, 2013 was a very bad day for Diane Hathaway. That was the day she pled guilty to bank fraud, committed in the course of securing her lender’s consent to a short sale of her Michigan manse in Gross Pointe Park. The home reportedly carried a $1.4 million mortgage with online bank, Ing Direct,[1] […]
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Posted in Miscellany, Real Estate/Distressed, Short Sales | Tagged Deficiency Liability, Distressed Transactions, Financial Crisis, Market Conditions, Promissory Notes, Short SalesBorrower Exposure to Deficiency Risk
January 28, 2013 by Phil Querin
“To be forewarned is to be forearmed.” The term “deficiency” arises in the context of a borrower’s default to their lender. It refers to the difference between what the lender/servicer recovers, e.g. through short sale, deed-in-lieu-of-foreclosure (“DIL”), or foreclosure, and the total debt owing. Let’s go through each one, and see how and when the […]
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Posted in Deed in Lieu of Foreclosure, Deficiency Liability, Financial Crisis, Foreclosure, Legislation - Federal, Legislation - Oregon, Lenders, Loan Modifications, Market Conditions, Miscellany, Real Estate/Distressed, Subprime Crisis, Trust Deeds | Tagged Banks, Deficiency Liability, Distressed Transactions, Financial Crisis, Legislation - Oregon, Market Conditions, Modification, Mortgages, Promissory Notes, REOs, Short Sales, Trust Deeds2013 Fiscal Cliff Legislation And Its Impact On The Real Estate Industry
January 17, 2013 by Phil Querin
If the politicians in Washington today were instead the CEOs of private industry, they’d all have been fired by now.” Anonymous [sort of] Introduction. At the end of 2012 we all went over the Fiscal Cliff like Wile E. Coyote. But unlike Wile E., we were able to grab a hold of a small scraggly branch on […]
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Posted in Deed in Lieu of Foreclosure, Deficiency Liability, Financial Crisis, GSEs, Legislation - Federal, Loan Modifications, Market Conditions, Miscellany, Real Estate/Distressed, Realtors, Refinancing, REOs, Short Sales | Tagged Banks, Deed In Lieu Of Foreclsoure, Foreclosure, Legislation - Oregon, Mortgages, Oregon, Real Estate, Realtors, Short SalesWill The Mortgage Forgiveness Law Be Extended?
November 30, 2012 by Phil Querin
Background. In 2007 Congress passed the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act. The gist of the law is that for those taxpayers who have had debt cancelled as the result of a principal write-down, short sale, deed-in-lieu, or foreclosure, the ordinary income tax that would normally be assessed is forgiven. There are two primary qualifications: (a) […]
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Posted in Deed in Lieu of Foreclosure, Financial Crisis, Foreclosure, Legislation - Federal, Loan Modifications, Market Conditions, Miscellany, Real Estate/Distressed, Realtors, Short Sales, Tax Issues | Tagged Banks, Deed In Lieu Of Foreclsoure, Distressed Transactions, Financial Crisis, Foreclosure, Market Conditions, Real Estate, Realtors, Short SalesPortland Metro Housing Prices – The Last Five Years [Part Two]
November 25, 2012 by Phil Querin
This is the second installment of my article looking back over the past five years at Portland housing statistics. Part One examined the real reason for the housing crisis which officially commenced in 3Q 2007, and looked at the historic numbers for average and median (i.e. “mean”) sale prices according to the RMLS™. The link […]
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Posted in Deed in Lieu of Foreclosure, Fannie&Freddie, Financial Crisis, Foreclosure, GSEs, Legislation - Federal, Legislation - Oregon, Lenders, Loan Modifications, Market Conditions, MERS, Miscellany, Real Estate/Distressed, Realtors, Refinancing, REOs, Servicers, Short Sales, Subprime Crisis, Subprime Mortgages, Trust Deeds | Tagged Banks, Deed-In-Lieu, Distressed Transactions, Fannie & Freddie, Financial Crisis, Foreclosure, Legislation - Oregon, Loan Mods, Market Conditions, MERS, Mortgages, Oregon, Piggy-Back Loans, Rating Agencies, Real Estate, Realtors, Refinancing, REOs, Servicers, Short Sales, Wall StreetPortland Metro Housing Prices – The Last Five Years [Part One]
November 20, 2012 by Phil Querin
Background – 3Q 2007. Looking back, August 2007 was a memorable month, filled with good news and bad. Based upon RMLS™ numbers, it was a statistically impressive month for closed residential transactions in the Portland Metro area. The bad news was that it was the last such month we were to see. From that point […]
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Posted in Financial Crisis, Foreclosure, Lenders, Market Conditions, Miscellany, Ratings Agencies, Real Estate/Distressed, Realtors, REOs, Short Sales, Subprime Mortgages | Tagged Banks, Distressed Transactions, Financial Crisis, Foreclosure, Lawyers, Market Conditions, Mortgages, Oregon, Real Estate, Realtors, REOs, Short Sales, Wall Street
