We are off to a new year. How does 2009 look for real estate sales in Chico, California? The MLS can give us some facts to set our baseline.
We are down to 294 single family homes for sale. This is down from over 450 mid 2008. I expect this number to rise some with the […]

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When many think of the term “silent second” they conjure up a sneaky mortgage that could potentially be fraudulent.
But there is also the helpful silent second, often used by cities or counties in mortgage assistance programs .
Silent second mortgages have also been used as a workaround when home owners are behind on their mortgages. Rather than foreclose, the […]

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I hate to bore everyone with facts and figures, but sometimes the numbers tell the story best.
Last week I received the number of actual homes sold by foreclosure in Butte County for October. Here is a recap of the year-to-date:
January            26
February          67
March              51
April                68
May                 55
June                 81
July                  90
August            110
September        97
October            63
I was pleased that the numbers seem […]

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Should the government get involved in helping reduce the loan amounts on underwater mortgages?
 
If structured well, I think the government can help rework loan amounts on troubled mortgages. But ultimately, the homeowner should not gain the benefit if the home increases in value years later. Any amount absorbed by taxpayers should be protected by recording a silent […]

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According to stories in the Sacramento Bee and the Chico Enterprise Record, a man who was working in the Chico area has been indicted for mortgage fraud.
“Butte County District Attorney Mike Ramsey said Garrett Griffith Gililland III, 27, was working in the Chico area as an unlicensed mortgage broker when he allegedly produced fraudulent documents […]

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I remember in college having lengthy discussions about situational ethics. I had been raised to believe that honesty was an absolute. Black and white.
 
It turns out that everyone has a point where lying is the more ethical thing to do. For me, it was an extreme. “You are in a foreign country, and your […]

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Can you benefit from the housing assistance bill that was passed by the House on Wednesday? Here are some of the guidelines. 
 The law will help banks refinance troubled real estate loans with fixed rate loans backed by FHA. It is estimated that two million home owners nation wide will be helped by this legislation. Next stop, […]

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The good deals on housing won’t last forever.  The Federal Reserve  is working hard to correct the issues that created the problem, and make sure it never happens again. 
Prohibit a lender from making a loan without regard to borrowers’ ability to repay the loan from income and assets other than the home’s value.  A lender complies, […]

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Hot off the press from the CAR legal department! 

This week, the State Legislature enacted foreclosure reform law to address the adverse effects of high foreclosure rates in California. The new law requires lenders to contact homeowners to explore options for avoiding foreclosure at least 30 days before filing a notice of default. It also requires owners […]

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The new HOPE NOW guidelines state that loan servicers should inform homeowners within 45 days whether their application for a workout — such as a repayment plan, loan modification or short sale — has been accepted or denied.

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