Friday, February 14, 2020
Thursday, August 23, 2012
Another Bank Gets a Spanking....Wells Fargo!
Another Bank Gets Spanked...Wells Fargo!
Years after the fact, the hammer is continuing to fall on banks that didn’t conduct themselves well during the financial crisis. Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC ) is to pay more than $6.5 million to settle allegations from the Securities and Exchange Commission that it didn’t adequately inform clients about the risks of some of its mortgage-backed securities. No one likes being fined but, at least this unhappy chapter is about to end for the bank and its shareholders, not to mention its clients.
Don’t trust your broker
Like many banks of that era, Wells Fargo enthusiastically recommended investments tied to mortgage-backed securities to its clients. Unfortunately, also true to the times, the company seemingly let its enthusiasm get ahead of itself. According to the SEC, it sold those goods "without fully understanding their complexity or disclosing the risks to investors."
The entire financial industry had -- and has -- egg on its face from its collective actions during the crisis, which are by no means limited to misadventures with mortgage securities. This bad behavior is indicated by the sheer amount of the fines handed down so far by the SEC, which total nearly $2.2 billion. That amount, by the way, is more than the net profit posted by more than a few big-name banks last year, not the least of which is noted SEC crisis-era miscreant Bank of America (NYSE: BAC ) .
Looked at in the scope of the overall crisis aftermath, Wells Fargo dodged a few bullets. Paying $6.5 million for a bank of its size is chump change, particularly when matched against what others were penalized. Wells allegedly failed to do its due diligence before recommending the investments. It’s not in the super bad guy category that the SEC says "concealed from investors risks, terms, and improper pricing in CDOs and other complex structured products."
Scofflaws in this group include: Citigroup (NYSE: C ) , which is alleged to have misled investors about a not-small $1 billion CDO, and is currently facing a $285 million settlement with the Feds for its conduct, on top of a $75 million slap it’s already paid for shenanigans related to subprime mortgage asset exposure; JPMorgan Chase’s (NYSE: JPM ) J.P. Morgan Securities unit, now recovering from a $154 million settlement for not being forthright with customers regarding a particular mortgage securities transaction; and Big Daddy, Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS ) , currently swallowing a bitten bullet after it agreed to pay the Commission a record $550 million fine for effectively lying about one of its products tied to subprime mortgages.
For its relatively lighter sin of pushing mortgage-related bad stuff ignorantly, Wells Fargo lands closer to the bottom of the list in terms of penalties. Its fine -- which, by the way, is to be paid by the bank, even though it’s not admitting or denying the SEC’s allegations -- is more or less in line with companies alleged to have engaged in lesser misconduct.
Tiny drops in the bucket
The relatively light fine is likely one big reason why Wells Fargo stock wasn’t hit hard -- or much at all --by the news. Relief was probably the dominant emotion of the bank’s investors following the suit, who can now look forward instead of glancing back in worry, as the SEC breathes down their necks.
The number $6.5 million is lower than any significant item on the bank’s income statement or balance sheet. Even on the basis of its most recent quarter, the amount is dwarfed by net interest income ($11 billion) and bottom line ($4.6 billion). The penalty amount doesn’t even come close to what the company will be paying in dividends ($1.16 billion or so) for its most recent quarter.
Meanwhile, bottom line is good (although it’d be nice if revenue started growing again), the stock is teasing its two-year high, and out of the 35 analysts who track the company, 26 rate it some form of “buy.”
No shareholder likes it when their company is zapped for a penalty, and Wells Fargo needs to be more prudent and less reckless going forward. If it can do so, and keep on the clean side of the law, it might put the past behind it and enjoy a bright future.
Some argue that it’s a good time to buy into banks, now that the crisis is (hopefully) behind us. To find out what you need to know about Wells Fargo, click here for a free copy of The Motley Fool’s special report, The Only Big Bank Built to Last.
Years after the fact, the hammer is continuing to fall on banks that didn’t conduct themselves well during the financial crisis. Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC ) is to pay more than $6.5 million to settle allegations from the Securities and Exchange Commission that it didn’t adequately inform clients about the risks of some of its mortgage-backed securities. No one likes being fined but, at least this unhappy chapter is about to end for the bank and its shareholders, not to mention its clients.
Don’t trust your broker
Like many banks of that era, Wells Fargo enthusiastically recommended investments tied to mortgage-backed securities to its clients. Unfortunately, also true to the times, the company seemingly let its enthusiasm get ahead of itself. According to the SEC, it sold those goods "without fully understanding their complexity or disclosing the risks to investors."
The entire financial industry had -- and has -- egg on its face from its collective actions during the crisis, which are by no means limited to misadventures with mortgage securities. This bad behavior is indicated by the sheer amount of the fines handed down so far by the SEC, which total nearly $2.2 billion. That amount, by the way, is more than the net profit posted by more than a few big-name banks last year, not the least of which is noted SEC crisis-era miscreant Bank of America (NYSE: BAC ) .
Looked at in the scope of the overall crisis aftermath, Wells Fargo dodged a few bullets. Paying $6.5 million for a bank of its size is chump change, particularly when matched against what others were penalized. Wells allegedly failed to do its due diligence before recommending the investments. It’s not in the super bad guy category that the SEC says "concealed from investors risks, terms, and improper pricing in CDOs and other complex structured products."
Scofflaws in this group include: Citigroup (NYSE: C ) , which is alleged to have misled investors about a not-small $1 billion CDO, and is currently facing a $285 million settlement with the Feds for its conduct, on top of a $75 million slap it’s already paid for shenanigans related to subprime mortgage asset exposure; JPMorgan Chase’s (NYSE: JPM ) J.P. Morgan Securities unit, now recovering from a $154 million settlement for not being forthright with customers regarding a particular mortgage securities transaction; and Big Daddy, Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS ) , currently swallowing a bitten bullet after it agreed to pay the Commission a record $550 million fine for effectively lying about one of its products tied to subprime mortgages.
For its relatively lighter sin of pushing mortgage-related bad stuff ignorantly, Wells Fargo lands closer to the bottom of the list in terms of penalties. Its fine -- which, by the way, is to be paid by the bank, even though it’s not admitting or denying the SEC’s allegations -- is more or less in line with companies alleged to have engaged in lesser misconduct.
Tiny drops in the bucket
The relatively light fine is likely one big reason why Wells Fargo stock wasn’t hit hard -- or much at all --by the news. Relief was probably the dominant emotion of the bank’s investors following the suit, who can now look forward instead of glancing back in worry, as the SEC breathes down their necks.
The number $6.5 million is lower than any significant item on the bank’s income statement or balance sheet. Even on the basis of its most recent quarter, the amount is dwarfed by net interest income ($11 billion) and bottom line ($4.6 billion). The penalty amount doesn’t even come close to what the company will be paying in dividends ($1.16 billion or so) for its most recent quarter.
Meanwhile, bottom line is good (although it’d be nice if revenue started growing again), the stock is teasing its two-year high, and out of the 35 analysts who track the company, 26 rate it some form of “buy.”
No shareholder likes it when their company is zapped for a penalty, and Wells Fargo needs to be more prudent and less reckless going forward. If it can do so, and keep on the clean side of the law, it might put the past behind it and enjoy a bright future.
Some argue that it’s a good time to buy into banks, now that the crisis is (hopefully) behind us. To find out what you need to know about Wells Fargo, click here for a free copy of The Motley Fool’s special report, The Only Big Bank Built to Last.
Fannie Mae Announces New Short Sales Guidelines
Fannie Mae Announces New Short Sale Guidelines
New Guidelines Streamline Short Sale Processes to Prevent Foreclosures and Help Communities Stabalize:
WASHINGTON, DC – Fannie Mae (FNMA/OTC) announced that it will implement new short sale guidelines for servicers to follow as part of the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s Servicing Alignment Initiative. The new guidelines streamline documentation requirements, waive deficiencies for borrowers that successfully complete a short sale and set standard payments for subordinate lien holders. In addition, all servicers will have the authority to approve and complete short sales that conform to the requirements without receiving individual approval from Fannie Mae.
“Short sales have become an increasingly important tool in preventing foreclosures and stabilizing communities,” said Leslie Peeler, senior vice president, National Servicing Organization, Fannie Mae. “We want to help as many homeowners avoid foreclosure as possible. It is vital that servicers, junior lien holders and mortgage insurers step up to the plate with us. These new guidelines will open doors to help more homeowners qualify for short sales, remove barriers to completing short sales, and make the process more efficient for homeowners and servicers.”
NOTICE: Short Sale Training and designations…worth it or waste of money? Become the lender preferred short sale agent. All major lenders Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Chase, Citi.
Under the new guidelines, servicers will be permitted to approve a short sale for borrowers who have certain hardships but have not yet gone into default. Those hardships include the death of a borrower or co-borrower, divorce or legal separation, illness or disability or a distant employment transfer. In addition, Fannie Mae is significantly reducing the documentation required to complete a short sale, including requiring no documentation of a borrower’s hardship 90 days or more delinquent and have a credit score lower than 620. This will remove barriers for those homeowners who are most in danger of foreclosure and increase servicer efficiency in completing a short sale.
Fannie Mae will also limit subordinate-lien payments to $6,000. Previously, subordinate lien holders often attempted to negotiate higher payments. The servicer will be able to offer the maximum payment of $6,000 in order to facilitate the transaction. By setting a standard payout amount and a limit for every transaction, Fannie Mae is removing the guess work and standardizing the transaction to help accelerate the short sale process.
Fannie Mae has taken a number of steps to make the short sale process more efficient, including implementing a Short Sale Assistance Desk to help real estate professionals in targeted markets work out challenges in individual short sales, requiring servicers to complete short sale evaluations within 60 days and making military families who receive Permanent Change of Station orders eligible for a short sale. Fannie Mae completed 38,717 short sales through the first six months of 2012 and 70,025 in full year 2011.
The Servicing Guide Announcement implementing the changes to Fannie Mae’s short sale guidelines will be distributed to servicers and posted to www.efanniemae.com on Wednesday, August 22. Homeowners can learn more about short sales, modifications and other foreclosure alternatives at www.knowyouroptions.com.
Fannie Mae exists to expand affordable housing and bring global capital to local communities in order to serve the U.S. housing market. Fannie Mae has a federal charter and operates in America’s secondary mortgage market to enhance the liquidity of the mortgage market by providing funds to mortgage bankers and other lenders so that they may lend to home buyers. Our job is to help those who house America.
New Guidelines Streamline Short Sale Processes to Prevent Foreclosures and Help Communities Stabalize:
WASHINGTON, DC – Fannie Mae (FNMA/OTC) announced that it will implement new short sale guidelines for servicers to follow as part of the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s Servicing Alignment Initiative. The new guidelines streamline documentation requirements, waive deficiencies for borrowers that successfully complete a short sale and set standard payments for subordinate lien holders. In addition, all servicers will have the authority to approve and complete short sales that conform to the requirements without receiving individual approval from Fannie Mae.
“Short sales have become an increasingly important tool in preventing foreclosures and stabilizing communities,” said Leslie Peeler, senior vice president, National Servicing Organization, Fannie Mae. “We want to help as many homeowners avoid foreclosure as possible. It is vital that servicers, junior lien holders and mortgage insurers step up to the plate with us. These new guidelines will open doors to help more homeowners qualify for short sales, remove barriers to completing short sales, and make the process more efficient for homeowners and servicers.”
NOTICE: Short Sale Training and designations…worth it or waste of money? Become the lender preferred short sale agent. All major lenders Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Chase, Citi.
Under the new guidelines, servicers will be permitted to approve a short sale for borrowers who have certain hardships but have not yet gone into default. Those hardships include the death of a borrower or co-borrower, divorce or legal separation, illness or disability or a distant employment transfer. In addition, Fannie Mae is significantly reducing the documentation required to complete a short sale, including requiring no documentation of a borrower’s hardship 90 days or more delinquent and have a credit score lower than 620. This will remove barriers for those homeowners who are most in danger of foreclosure and increase servicer efficiency in completing a short sale.
Fannie Mae will also limit subordinate-lien payments to $6,000. Previously, subordinate lien holders often attempted to negotiate higher payments. The servicer will be able to offer the maximum payment of $6,000 in order to facilitate the transaction. By setting a standard payout amount and a limit for every transaction, Fannie Mae is removing the guess work and standardizing the transaction to help accelerate the short sale process.
Fannie Mae has taken a number of steps to make the short sale process more efficient, including implementing a Short Sale Assistance Desk to help real estate professionals in targeted markets work out challenges in individual short sales, requiring servicers to complete short sale evaluations within 60 days and making military families who receive Permanent Change of Station orders eligible for a short sale. Fannie Mae completed 38,717 short sales through the first six months of 2012 and 70,025 in full year 2011.
The Servicing Guide Announcement implementing the changes to Fannie Mae’s short sale guidelines will be distributed to servicers and posted to www.efanniemae.com on Wednesday, August 22. Homeowners can learn more about short sales, modifications and other foreclosure alternatives at www.knowyouroptions.com.
Fannie Mae exists to expand affordable housing and bring global capital to local communities in order to serve the U.S. housing market. Fannie Mae has a federal charter and operates in America’s secondary mortgage market to enhance the liquidity of the mortgage market by providing funds to mortgage bankers and other lenders so that they may lend to home buyers. Our job is to help those who house America.
Fannie Mae Announces New Short Sale Guidelines
New Guidelines Streamline Short Sale Processes to Prevent Foreclosures and Help Communities Stabilize
WASHINGTON, DC – Fannie Mae (FNMA/OTC) announced that it will implement new short sale guidelines for servicers to follow as part of the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s Servicing Alignment Initiative. The new guidelines streamline documentation requirements, waive deficiencies for borrowers that successfully complete a short sale and set standard payments for subordinate lien holders. In addition, all servicers will have the authority to approve and complete short sales that conform to the requirements without receiving individual approval from Fannie Mae.
“Short sales have become an increasingly important tool in preventing foreclosures and stabilizing communities,” said Leslie Peeler, senior vice president, National Servicing Organization, Fannie Mae. “We want to help as many homeowners avoid foreclosure as possible. It is vital that servicers, junior lien holders and mortgage insurers step up to the plate with us. These new guidelines will open doors to help more homeowners qualify for short sales, remove barriers to completing short sales, and make the process more efficient for homeowners and servicers.”
NOTICE: Short Sale Training and designations…worth it or waste of money? Become the lender preferred short sale agent. All major lenders Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Chase, Citi.
Under the new guidelines, servicers will be permitted to approve a short sale for borrowers who have certain hardships but have not yet gone into default. Those hardships include the death of a borrower or co-borrower, divorce or legal separation, illness or disability or a distant employment transfer. In addition, Fannie Mae is significantly reducing the documentation required to complete a short sale, including requiring no documentation of a borrower’s hardship 90 days or more delinquent and have a credit score lower than 620. This will remove barriers for those homeowners who are most in danger of foreclosure and increase servicer efficiency in completing a short sale.
Fannie Mae will also limit subordinate-lien payments to $6,000. Previously, subordinate lien holders often attempted to negotiate higher payments. The servicer will be able to offer the maximum payment of $6,000 in order to facilitate the transaction. By setting a standard payout amount and a limit for every transaction, Fannie Mae is removing the guess work and standardizing the transaction to help accelerate the short sale process.
Fannie Mae has taken a number of steps to make the short sale process more efficient, including implementing a Short Sale Assistance Desk to help real estate professionals in targeted markets work out challenges in individual short sales, requiring servicers to complete short sale evaluations within 60 days and making military families who receive Permanent Change of Station orders eligible for a short sale. Fannie Mae completed 38,717 short sales through the first six months of 2012 and 70,025 in full year 2011.
The Servicing Guide Announcement implementing the changes to Fannie Mae’s short sale guidelines will be distributed to servicers and posted to www.efanniemae.com on Wednesday, August 22. Homeowners can learn more about short sales, modifications and other foreclosure alternatives at www.knowyouroptions.com.
Fannie Mae exists to expand affordable housing and bring global capital to local communities in order to serve the U.S. housing market. Fannie Mae has a federal charter and operates in America’s secondary mortgage market to enhance the liquidity of the mortgage market by providing funds to mortgage bankers and other lenders so that they may lend to home buyers. Our job is to help those who house America.
Monday, July 16, 2012
Technology for Realtors
Simple tools make smartphone videos shine
SEATTLE – July 16, 2012 – With more than 365 million Apple mobile devices (iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch) and 350 million Android devices in consumers’ hands, it’s easy to say that more folks have access to a video camera than ever before.
But how to take advantage of the surprisingly robust video features offered by the mobile devices? It’s a question many are grappling with, as they produce shaky videos with poor sound that don’t look as polished as some of the best work on YouTube and Facebook.
Solutions are easy!
In a nutshell, steady the image and improve the sound, and you’re halfway home. The good news: You don’t need a big video camera anymore to get great videos. The cameras in smartphones have so improved that with a little thought and some tools, you can make great-looking work.
Here’s what you need:
Stabilizers
Studio Neat Glif ($20) connects your smartphone to a tripod. If you don’t have a tripod, you can skip that step and pay $40 for Joby’s Gorrillamobile. The phone fits directly onto the portable tripod with bendable legs. You could put the unit on a table, for instance, or bend it onto the back of a chair. A bracket can also help – try the $10 Heavy Duty L-bracket from photo retailer Adorama. With this, you can add a light as well.
Musicians have turned to IK Multimedia’s $40 iKlip as a way to hold their iPad on microphone stands, to easily turn the pages of their sheet music at gigs when performing. The iKlip also works great for video: Place the iPad into the unit and start recording high-def video without having to worry about shaky images.
Tip: A word of caution for all three devices – remember to shoot in horizontal mode. When you flip the screens vertically, you only record part of the image – which looks OK for photos but terrible for video.
Sound
The audio from the internal microphones on the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch is terrible. There are simple solutions to dramatically improve your audio, and while they’re not cheap, they will make a huge difference in your videos.
You have three options: a microphone, a cable to connect the mike to the iPhone or an audio recorder.
• Mike cables. Action Life Media has a $29.99 cable that will hook a microphone with a connection directly into the iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad’s headphone input. The company also sells cable connectors for higher-end mikes with XLR inputs.
• Microphones. If you’re looking to do an interview with Grandma about her early days or a chat with your son about this weekend’s soccer game, you could buy the same kind of mike you see folks wearing every day on TV – a lavaliere mike that hangs on their lapel. Mikes aren’t cheap, but you could start with an entry-level model from the likes of RadioShack, which offers one for just $39.99. Another option: IK Multimedia’s iRig Cast is a small $39.99 mike that plugs directly into the iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad. It will do wonders in relatively quiet rooms, but in a crowd – such as a party or bar – it won’t make much of a difference.
• Audio recorder. My favorite go-to device is the $299 Zoom H4n audio recorder. You can plug two microphones directly into it (great for interviews) and also make use of its two, excellent internal microphones as well, which, if they’re placed close enough to you in a quiet room, will sound just as good as the lavaliere mike. (The audio won’t go directly to the camera – you’ll have to marry it with your video file when you start editing. The easiest way is to make your own “Clapper,” the tool that’s been used at the beginning of movies since the Charlie Chaplin era. Just clap your hands when you start recording – or use an app, as described at right.) If $299 is too steep, consider Zoom’s entry-level model. The H1 sells for about $100 and has one mike input and one internal mike.
SEATTLE – July 16, 2012 – With more than 365 million Apple mobile devices (iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch) and 350 million Android devices in consumers’ hands, it’s easy to say that more folks have access to a video camera than ever before.
But how to take advantage of the surprisingly robust video features offered by the mobile devices? It’s a question many are grappling with, as they produce shaky videos with poor sound that don’t look as polished as some of the best work on YouTube and Facebook.
Solutions are easy!
In a nutshell, steady the image and improve the sound, and you’re halfway home. The good news: You don’t need a big video camera anymore to get great videos. The cameras in smartphones have so improved that with a little thought and some tools, you can make great-looking work.
Here’s what you need:
Stabilizers
Studio Neat Glif ($20) connects your smartphone to a tripod. If you don’t have a tripod, you can skip that step and pay $40 for Joby’s Gorrillamobile. The phone fits directly onto the portable tripod with bendable legs. You could put the unit on a table, for instance, or bend it onto the back of a chair. A bracket can also help – try the $10 Heavy Duty L-bracket from photo retailer Adorama. With this, you can add a light as well.
Musicians have turned to IK Multimedia’s $40 iKlip as a way to hold their iPad on microphone stands, to easily turn the pages of their sheet music at gigs when performing. The iKlip also works great for video: Place the iPad into the unit and start recording high-def video without having to worry about shaky images.
Tip: A word of caution for all three devices – remember to shoot in horizontal mode. When you flip the screens vertically, you only record part of the image – which looks OK for photos but terrible for video.
Sound
The audio from the internal microphones on the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch is terrible. There are simple solutions to dramatically improve your audio, and while they’re not cheap, they will make a huge difference in your videos.
You have three options: a microphone, a cable to connect the mike to the iPhone or an audio recorder.
• Mike cables. Action Life Media has a $29.99 cable that will hook a microphone with a connection directly into the iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad’s headphone input. The company also sells cable connectors for higher-end mikes with XLR inputs.
• Microphones. If you’re looking to do an interview with Grandma about her early days or a chat with your son about this weekend’s soccer game, you could buy the same kind of mike you see folks wearing every day on TV – a lavaliere mike that hangs on their lapel. Mikes aren’t cheap, but you could start with an entry-level model from the likes of RadioShack, which offers one for just $39.99. Another option: IK Multimedia’s iRig Cast is a small $39.99 mike that plugs directly into the iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad. It will do wonders in relatively quiet rooms, but in a crowd – such as a party or bar – it won’t make much of a difference.
• Audio recorder. My favorite go-to device is the $299 Zoom H4n audio recorder. You can plug two microphones directly into it (great for interviews) and also make use of its two, excellent internal microphones as well, which, if they’re placed close enough to you in a quiet room, will sound just as good as the lavaliere mike. (The audio won’t go directly to the camera – you’ll have to marry it with your video file when you start editing. The easiest way is to make your own “Clapper,” the tool that’s been used at the beginning of movies since the Charlie Chaplin era. Just clap your hands when you start recording – or use an app, as described at right.) If $299 is too steep, consider Zoom’s entry-level model. The H1 sells for about $100 and has one mike input and one internal mike.
Insurance Tips for home buyers!
CHICAGO – July 16, 2012 – Property insurance is confusing. At a minimum, new buyers should understand the levels and types of coverage, and take a few additional steps to protect themselves.
1. Know the difference between replacement cost and market value. Rebuilding a home is usually cheaper than buying an existing structure, unless the property was a foreclosure. The key: Accurately determine the cost of rebuilding when finalizing the details on a homeowners insurance policy.
2. Take a home inventory to determine the proper amount of personal property protection. Generally, policies cover 50-75 percent of the replacement value of the house. However, this may not be enough to cover certain valuables, such as jewelry, fine art, collections, electronics and other expensive items. A separate rider may be needed and should be discussed with an insurance agent.
3. Have enough liability protection. Liability coverage protects a homeowner if they’re sued for an injury that takes place on their property. Many policies will even cover a policyholder if an incident happened away from the house. Depending on their assets, some homeowners might want an additional umbrella policy if they’re worried about being sued for more than the liability coverage offered in their basic policy.
4. Know what isn’t covered. Carefully study the exclusions section of a homeowners insurance policy. If anything raises a red flag, consider additional coverage. One example: Almost no insurance policy covers flooding. If a homeowner lives in an area prone to flooding, he or she might want to consider flood insurance too.
5. Consider additional living expenses if forced from the house. If a house becomes unlivable due to a flood, earthquake, fire or other disasters, a family will need to pay for living accommodations; and they may need additional money for food, transportation and other expenses. This coverage is “additional living expenses” (ALE) and a benefit that’s usually worth about 20 percent of a home’s replacement value. Be aware of the specific policy’s benefits, limitations and exclusion.
When shopping for home insurance quotes, find a company that is financially stable and has a high customer satisfaction rating. Two resources to check these qualities are A.M. Best for financial strength ratings and J.D. Power and Associates for their annual customer service rankings, according to HomeownersInsurance.net, a website that connects homeowners with agents.
© 2012 Florida Realtors®
1. Know the difference between replacement cost and market value. Rebuilding a home is usually cheaper than buying an existing structure, unless the property was a foreclosure. The key: Accurately determine the cost of rebuilding when finalizing the details on a homeowners insurance policy.
2. Take a home inventory to determine the proper amount of personal property protection. Generally, policies cover 50-75 percent of the replacement value of the house. However, this may not be enough to cover certain valuables, such as jewelry, fine art, collections, electronics and other expensive items. A separate rider may be needed and should be discussed with an insurance agent.
3. Have enough liability protection. Liability coverage protects a homeowner if they’re sued for an injury that takes place on their property. Many policies will even cover a policyholder if an incident happened away from the house. Depending on their assets, some homeowners might want an additional umbrella policy if they’re worried about being sued for more than the liability coverage offered in their basic policy.
4. Know what isn’t covered. Carefully study the exclusions section of a homeowners insurance policy. If anything raises a red flag, consider additional coverage. One example: Almost no insurance policy covers flooding. If a homeowner lives in an area prone to flooding, he or she might want to consider flood insurance too.
5. Consider additional living expenses if forced from the house. If a house becomes unlivable due to a flood, earthquake, fire or other disasters, a family will need to pay for living accommodations; and they may need additional money for food, transportation and other expenses. This coverage is “additional living expenses” (ALE) and a benefit that’s usually worth about 20 percent of a home’s replacement value. Be aware of the specific policy’s benefits, limitations and exclusion.
When shopping for home insurance quotes, find a company that is financially stable and has a high customer satisfaction rating. Two resources to check these qualities are A.M. Best for financial strength ratings and J.D. Power and Associates for their annual customer service rankings, according to HomeownersInsurance.net, a website that connects homeowners with agents.
© 2012 Florida Realtors®
Eminent Domaine
FONTANA, Calif. In the foreclosure-battered inland stretches of California, local government officials desperate for change are weighing a controversial but inventive way to fix troubled mortgages: Condemn them.
Officials from San Bernardino County and two of its cities have formed a local agency to consider the plan. But investors who stand to lose money on their mortgage investments have been quick to register their displeasure.
Discussion of the idea is taking place in one of the epicenters of the housing crisis, a working-class region east of Los Angeles where housing prices have plummeted. Last week brought another sharp reminder of the crisis when the 210,000-strong city of San Bernardino, struggling after shrunken home prices walloped local tax revenues, announced it would seek bankruptcy protection.
Now – and amid skepticism on many fronts – officials from the surrounding county of San Bernardino and cities of Fontana and Ontario have created a joint powers authority to consider what role local governments could take to stem the crisis. The goal is to keep homeowners saddled by large mortgage payments from losing their homes – which are now valued at a fraction of what they were once worth.
“We just have too much pain and misery in this county to call off a public discussion like this,” said David Wert, a county spokesman.
The idea was broached by a group of West Coast financiers who suggest using the power of eminent domain, which lets the government seize private property for public use. In this case, they would condemn troubled mortgages so they could seize them from the investors who own them. Then the mortgages would be rewritten so the borrowers would have significantly lower monthly payments.
Steven Gluckstern, chairman of the newly formed San Francisco-based Mortgage Resolution Partners, says his main concern is to help the economy, which is being held back by the mortgage crisis.
“This is not a bunch of Wall Street guys sitting around saying, ‘How do we make money?’” he said. “This was a bunch of Wall Street guys sitting around saying, ‘How do you solve this problem?’”
Typically, eminent domain has been used to clear property for infrastructure projects like highways, schools and sewage plants. But supporters say that giving help to struggling borrowers is also a legitimate use of eminent domain, because it’s in the public interest.
Under the proposal, a city or county would sign on as a client of Mortgage Resolution Partners, then condemn certain mortgages. The mortgages are typically owned by private investors like hedge funds and pension funds.
Under eminent domain, the city or county would be required to pay those investors “fair value” for the seized mortgages. So Mortgage Resolution Partners would find private investors to fund that.
Mortgage Resolution Partners will focus on mortgages where the borrowers are current on their payments but are “under water,” meaning their mortgage costs more than the home is worth. After being condemned and seized, the mortgages would be rewritten based on the homes’ current values. The borrowers would get to stay, but with cheaper monthly payments. The city or county would resell the loans to other private investors, so it could pay back the investors who funded the seizure and pay a flat fee to Mortgage Resolution Partners.
The company says that overall, all parties will be happy. The homeowners, for obvious reasons. The cities, for stemming economic blight without using taxpayer bailouts. And even the investors whose mortgage investments are seized. Mortgage Resolution Partners figures they should be glad to unload a risky asset.
Rick Rayl, an eminent domain lawyer in Irvine, Calif., who is not connected to the company, isn’t so sure.
“The lenders are going to be livid,” he said. He thinks the plan could have unintended consequences, like discouraging banks and other lenders from making new mortgage loans in an area.
The company says that focusing on borrowers who are current on their loans is a smart way to do business, rewarding those who are already working hard to keep their homes. But, Rayl pointed out, those are also the exact mortgages that investors are eager to keep.
Already, the outcry was heard at the first meeting of the joint powers authority on Friday, even as chairman and San Bernardino County chief executive Greg Devereaux said the entity – which was inspired by Mortgage Resolution Partners’ proposal – has not yet decided on a specific course of action.
Timothy Cameron, managing director of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association’s asset managers group, told the authority that residents of the region would find it harder to get loans and investors – including pensioners – would suffer losses. He also said such a move would invite costly litigation.
“The use of eminent domain will do more harm than good,” he said. “We need mortgage investors and lenders to come back to these fragile markets – but this plan will force both groups to avoid them.”
But Robert Hockett, a Cornell University law professor who serves as an unpaid adviser to Mortgage Resolution Partners, was unsympathetic. He likes how the plan forces the hand of uncooperative investors, who have sometimes stifled plans to reduce mortgage payments.
“It’s kind of like saying a loan shark objects to anti-predatory lending laws,” Hockett said.
Theodore Woodard, a 62-year-old retired air conditioner installer, said he’d welcome the help on his five-bedroom home in Fontana. So far, he and his wife have kept up with monthly $3,100 payments, plus taxes and insurance, but it hasn’t been easy, and they have watched several neighbors in the well-manicured neighborhood some 50 miles east of Los Angeles lose their homes to foreclosure.
“We’ve been making our monthly payments, barely making them, but we just pay them and try to survive off what’s left,” said Woodard, who estimates his house has lost a third of its value since 2004.
In San Bernardino County, the problem is clear. The median home price has plunged to $150,000 from $370,000 in five years. The combined San Bernardino-Riverside metro area has the highest foreclosure rate of any large metro area in the country, at four times the national average, according to RealtyTrac, which tracks foreclosure properties.
– July 16, 2012 –
Officials from San Bernardino County and two of its cities have formed a local agency to consider the plan. But investors who stand to lose money on their mortgage investments have been quick to register their displeasure.
Discussion of the idea is taking place in one of the epicenters of the housing crisis, a working-class region east of Los Angeles where housing prices have plummeted. Last week brought another sharp reminder of the crisis when the 210,000-strong city of San Bernardino, struggling after shrunken home prices walloped local tax revenues, announced it would seek bankruptcy protection.
Now – and amid skepticism on many fronts – officials from the surrounding county of San Bernardino and cities of Fontana and Ontario have created a joint powers authority to consider what role local governments could take to stem the crisis. The goal is to keep homeowners saddled by large mortgage payments from losing their homes – which are now valued at a fraction of what they were once worth.
“We just have too much pain and misery in this county to call off a public discussion like this,” said David Wert, a county spokesman.
The idea was broached by a group of West Coast financiers who suggest using the power of eminent domain, which lets the government seize private property for public use. In this case, they would condemn troubled mortgages so they could seize them from the investors who own them. Then the mortgages would be rewritten so the borrowers would have significantly lower monthly payments.
Steven Gluckstern, chairman of the newly formed San Francisco-based Mortgage Resolution Partners, says his main concern is to help the economy, which is being held back by the mortgage crisis.
“This is not a bunch of Wall Street guys sitting around saying, ‘How do we make money?’” he said. “This was a bunch of Wall Street guys sitting around saying, ‘How do you solve this problem?’”
Typically, eminent domain has been used to clear property for infrastructure projects like highways, schools and sewage plants. But supporters say that giving help to struggling borrowers is also a legitimate use of eminent domain, because it’s in the public interest.
Under the proposal, a city or county would sign on as a client of Mortgage Resolution Partners, then condemn certain mortgages. The mortgages are typically owned by private investors like hedge funds and pension funds.
Under eminent domain, the city or county would be required to pay those investors “fair value” for the seized mortgages. So Mortgage Resolution Partners would find private investors to fund that.
Mortgage Resolution Partners will focus on mortgages where the borrowers are current on their payments but are “under water,” meaning their mortgage costs more than the home is worth. After being condemned and seized, the mortgages would be rewritten based on the homes’ current values. The borrowers would get to stay, but with cheaper monthly payments. The city or county would resell the loans to other private investors, so it could pay back the investors who funded the seizure and pay a flat fee to Mortgage Resolution Partners.
The company says that overall, all parties will be happy. The homeowners, for obvious reasons. The cities, for stemming economic blight without using taxpayer bailouts. And even the investors whose mortgage investments are seized. Mortgage Resolution Partners figures they should be glad to unload a risky asset.
Rick Rayl, an eminent domain lawyer in Irvine, Calif., who is not connected to the company, isn’t so sure.
“The lenders are going to be livid,” he said. He thinks the plan could have unintended consequences, like discouraging banks and other lenders from making new mortgage loans in an area.
The company says that focusing on borrowers who are current on their loans is a smart way to do business, rewarding those who are already working hard to keep their homes. But, Rayl pointed out, those are also the exact mortgages that investors are eager to keep.
Already, the outcry was heard at the first meeting of the joint powers authority on Friday, even as chairman and San Bernardino County chief executive Greg Devereaux said the entity – which was inspired by Mortgage Resolution Partners’ proposal – has not yet decided on a specific course of action.
Timothy Cameron, managing director of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association’s asset managers group, told the authority that residents of the region would find it harder to get loans and investors – including pensioners – would suffer losses. He also said such a move would invite costly litigation.
“The use of eminent domain will do more harm than good,” he said. “We need mortgage investors and lenders to come back to these fragile markets – but this plan will force both groups to avoid them.”
But Robert Hockett, a Cornell University law professor who serves as an unpaid adviser to Mortgage Resolution Partners, was unsympathetic. He likes how the plan forces the hand of uncooperative investors, who have sometimes stifled plans to reduce mortgage payments.
“It’s kind of like saying a loan shark objects to anti-predatory lending laws,” Hockett said.
Theodore Woodard, a 62-year-old retired air conditioner installer, said he’d welcome the help on his five-bedroom home in Fontana. So far, he and his wife have kept up with monthly $3,100 payments, plus taxes and insurance, but it hasn’t been easy, and they have watched several neighbors in the well-manicured neighborhood some 50 miles east of Los Angeles lose their homes to foreclosure.
“We’ve been making our monthly payments, barely making them, but we just pay them and try to survive off what’s left,” said Woodard, who estimates his house has lost a third of its value since 2004.
In San Bernardino County, the problem is clear. The median home price has plunged to $150,000 from $370,000 in five years. The combined San Bernardino-Riverside metro area has the highest foreclosure rate of any large metro area in the country, at four times the national average, according to RealtyTrac, which tracks foreclosure properties.
– July 16, 2012 –
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