Aegis Title Group, LLC real estate news

Long time, no post!

It has been a while since I posted.  The market, as everyone knows is soft right now.  We at Aegis Title Group, LLC have been approached to do some questionable stuff.  The most recent was to not tell the lender about a second mortgage on the property.  We were to pay off the first and just ignore the second.  The problem of course is if the borrowers do not make their payment the second is now the first and the first may not get paid.  The title company then will pay for the loss.  Not a good way to do business. 

We told that broker "No way!".  We will not break the law in order to get business.  We will continue to do the right thing no matter how tough the market gets.  If you want a title company that conducts business in a proper way regardless of the economy, go to Aegis Title Group, LLC.

Think twice before just walking away!

I hear more and more about people just "walking away" from their mortgages.  They think that the mortgage company will just foreclose and they will be done.  Not so fast.  First, the mortgage company can sue for any deficiency if the house sold for less than owed- entirely possible in this market.  Secondly, you could go to jail.  In the following story, a woman faces jail time because the mortgage company did not take the house back and housing code violations piled up.  She is still the owner and now she faces jail for the violations.   Story

Walking away is almost never the smart thing to do.  We should talk about bankruptcy before walking away.

Countrywide loses another $422 Million in 4th quarter

Countrywide, the largest mortgage lender in the United States lost $422 million in the 4th quarter after losing $1.2 Billion in the 3rd quarter. Wow! Just when you thought it was over.  The real question is what does this loss due to the Bank of America buyout.  We will find out this summer. 

Here is the USA Today article.

 

Article

Fed lowers interest rate!!

The Fed cut the federal funds rate by 3/4 of a point!  That will lower the prime rate for lines of credit to 6.50 percent.  Will other mortgage rates go down?  Who knows.  Mortgage rates are not usually controlled by the short term Fed rate cut.  But it will help buyers on the fence because people think that rates are lower and now they can buy.  Maybe we will now see an uptick in buyer confidence and some movement.

Remember, Aegis Title Group is ready to help with sales and refinances.  We are very fast and can settle refinances in days.

New Homestead Credit Law

The Legislature and Governor of Maryland have decided they trust no one and that everyone is trying to steal "their" money.  In what will most likely hurt the elderly and lower income people disproportionately (becoming a theme in the O'Malley government) a new takes effect this year that will require every homeowner to verify that his principal residence is in fact his principal residence.  Forget the fact that this same homeowner signed an affidavit to that effect when he bought his house and the fact that the house is registered as a principal residence.  If the homeowner does NOT fill out the new form and supply the required information, the homeowner will lose the homestead credit possibly increasing real estate property taxes 2 or 3 fold!  Here is the link for more information. 

Link

Bank of America buys Countrywide!

BOA buys Countrywide for $4 Billion saving Countrywide from possible Bankruptcy.  Countrywide was the nations largest mortgage company.  See full story

Story

New Debt Forgiveness Provision

People may not be aware that if a lender forgives some of your debt in an agreement to avoid foreclosure, that amount forgiven could be attributed as income to the borrower.  It would create a shock for the borrower who thought he had avoided foreclosure only to be faced with a huge tax bill.

However, Congress has passed and President Bush signed a law that would exempt that forgiveness as income to borrowers.  This will apply for the next Three years and be limited to $2,000,000.00 and only apply to principal residences.

Owners Challenge Easements

Owners who granted easements to a utility company are upset that the company now plans to use the easements to build electric lines and towers.  Their complaint is they were misled about the nature of the easements.  I am interested to see how this plays out as I would think the easement to electric companies are usually broad and allow towers, lines, etc. to be built. 

When you buy a property be aware of easements.  Even if unused they are there and may be used in the future.  We have seen easements from over a hundred years ago used by the new owners.  Caveat Emptor.

Story is here

Beware of Improper Legal Descriptions

A new ruling out of Missouri should have title companies and lenders concerned about legal descriptions.  In the case, the borrower filed bankruptcy and the bankruptcy trustee acting as a Bone Fide Purchaser (BFP) avoided the lien because the legal description had the wrong lot number.  However, the Parcel ID number and street address where correct! Probably a typo or carried on from the previous deed.  For that error, the title insurer is most likely paying back the mortgage.  We make sure to compare the legal description to the plat to verify correctness and I always ask the seller if they recognize the legal description in the deed.  A title company cannot be too thorough when verifying legal descriptions.  Better to be safe than sorry.  In re Colon (Hamilton v. Washington Mutual Sav. Bank, 2007 WESTLAW 2726857 (Bankr.  D. Ka. 1/26/07)

Adjustable rates causing consternation

Adjustable rates are adjustin' up and nobody likes it.  But, if you were on the edge of your budget before the adjustment it gets really bad.  This Article gives anecdotal stories of rates adjusting up.  However, I find it hard to have sympathy for the mortgage broker/banker who is in trouble.  If anyone should know the risks of an adjustable rate mortgage it should have been her. Many people bought homes they had no business buying and now the market is cleansing itself.  These people took huge risks and lost.  It is unfortunate and a terrible situation and hopefully new borrowers and lenders will learn from the losses.