Washington States Average Wage Increased in 2010 - 06/24/11 11:16 AM
Employment Security Department/ FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - June 23, 2011 / #11-038
 Washington's average wage increased in 2010
 OLYMPIA - Washington's average annual wage increased in 2010, due in part to the toll the recession took on lower-paid workers.
 The 2.1 percent increase pushed the average annual wage to $48,162. That's an average weekly wage of $926.
 "An increase in the average wage can be misleading, because it's not caused solely by raises," said Employment Security Commissioner Paul Trause.
 The average wage can go up when employers eliminate a lot more low-paying jobs than higher-wage jobs. It also can rise if … (1 comments)

Are Joint Ventures OK or a RESPA Violation? - 06/23/11 06:22 PM
Are Joint Ventures OK or a RESPA Violation?
Frank and Brian with Think Big, Work Small raises the question in this episode. 
Personally, as an Independent Escrow Company, my thoughts are that it is a violation, especially with the years and years of title background I have (remember the OIC??) but it doesn't appear that RESPA has had time to address these yet.
Real Estate Brokers are consistanty discussing the need for leads and talking about its challenges.  Well, YOU are my leads and if I can't gain access into your office, I cannot provide the skill set that I have to your buyer or seller.  A skill … (0 comments)

More and More Judges are Ruling Against Banks - 06/21/11 04:34 PM
More & More Judges Are Ruling Against Banks
The implications are downright scary.  According to this article from the Wall Street Journal June 1st, Judges in at least 9 States have ruled against banks in foreclosure cases. Owners are not making their payments. Why would a Judge rule against the banks??  These Courts are following the paper trail and are coming up short.   The lack of Assignment documents and backdating different documents is named as a prominant activity by the "robo-signors".  What is backdating?  Working up a document today and signing/notarizing it as if the document was completed in the past.  I have seen many people … (0 comments)

Your past blogs are an SEO goldmine...if you fix them. - 06/13/11 08:53 PM
Thanks for providing such great ideas Bryan!  I will definately go through my old posts and give them a face lift when I get a moment and I can't wait to see how it affects my searches.
Thanks so much!
Via Bryan Robertson, Los Altos REALTOR Los Altos Real Estate - Homes For Sale (Sereno Group - Los Altos):
As with most folks on Activerain, the articles I wrote when I first started blogging didn't have all the best SEO tricks already in place.  Perhaps the articles were a little too short, I didn't have the right mix of keywords, etc.  However, the … (13 comments)

Collecting Unemployment Requires Real Job-Search Effort - 06/06/11 11:56 AM
Collecting unemployment requires real job-search effort
 OLYMPIA - Congrats on your wedding, but we're going to need our money back.
That was Employment Security's response to a Washington woman who received unemployment benefits for the week she was in Texas getting married. The woman said she fulfilled her job-search requirement on the way to the church by stopping off at an El Paso movie theater to inquire about a job.
"Unrealistic," said an Employment Security investigator. After closely examining the woman's job-search efforts, the department billed her for $1,400 in benefits she shouldn't have received.
This is just one of thousands … (3 comments)