SHORT SALE BUYER CANCELLED CONTRACT EPIDEMIC - DIAGNOSIS AND CURE - 03/29/09 06:41 PM
This past week my office had 5 short sale buyer's walk from their contracts!  Although I use an exclamation mark, it is not an unusual occurrence.  In fact it seems that it takes 4 contact buyers to make a short sale finally happen.  If that was an average for a traditional sale situation, Realtors and title agencies would be climbing the walls. 
The general failure of short sale buyers to not close is the fault of the system created by the current finance and real estate sales market - but it needn't be.  Just consider:
1.  In a traditional sale, if … (37 comments)

REALTOR GETS NAILED ON MORTGAGE RESCUE SERVICE - 03/25/09 10:59 PM
Florida Attorney General Begins Enforcement of Mortgage Modification Firms
I just received an email from an ActiveRain Realtor member that stated basically the following:
"The Florida Attorney General office has set up "spot checkers" to find people/companies accepting up-front fees for negotiating loan modifications.  When I was called, I answered yes to the question (do I get paid up front).
I had only 2 clients. 
After what ended up being an interrogation, I agreed to refund the money of the 2 clients even though they never complained!  I agreed to cease & desist for which there will be an agreement in … (9 comments)

FORECLOSURE RESCUE AND MORTGAGE MODIFICATION FRAUD - LAWYER ALERT ISSUED - 03/17/09 05:31 PM
This week the Florida Bar made public the outlandish and misleading representations that have recently plagued the mortgage modification industry in this state and probably nationwide.  The mortgage modification industry has sprung up faster than mushrooms - mostly through mortgage brokers that have seen their ability to make loans dry up in this recession and are applying net office sales techniques to the mortgage modification boom.  The problem is that many states have enacted new laws to put them out of business.
The situation is important enough that an "Ethics Alert"was issued by the Florida Bar on March 15th.
Typically, the … (6 comments)

MORTGAGE FORECLOSURE RESCUE - THE BAD GUYS DON'T WEAR BLACK! - 03/10/09 10:22 AM
In last week's New York Times an article focuses on how Home Savers Consulting is accused of committing fraud and profited handsomely at the expense of the former homeowner. Worse, the former homeowner thought she still owned the home - she did not.
You can see the article at this link: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/08/nyregion/08scam.html?_r=1&ref=realestate
In many states, including Florida, mortgage rescue fraud laws have been enacted.  More often than not the new laws do not do anything more than tie the hands of legitimate professionals trying to help distressed homeowners - while those intent on pure profiteering evade the law or flaunt it outright.  The … (8 comments)

SHORT SALES PRIMER - BACK TO BASICS UPDATED - 03/07/09 04:57 PM
Short Sale Primer For Brokers, Sellers and Buyers
A Primer -
Since I wrote the Short Sale Primer the short sale methodology used by lenders has morphed several times.  It is a different animal than it was almost 10 months ago.  The passage of time requires that the original article, which was very popular (thank you) be revised to reflect new policies by the lenders.  I have also added several pertinent links to more detailed discussions on the various subjects in this article.
Short sales are nothing new.  When I represented a few national lenders for all of their foreclosures in … (6 comments)

SHORT SALE AND FIRPTA TAX WITHHOLDING - IRS ISSUES PRIVATE GUIDANCE - 03/05/09 09:29 PM
Back around Christmas, 2008 I co-authored a blog with Miami tax attorney Shawn Wolf, Esq. on the issue of a FIRPTA transaction coupled with a short sale.  The analysis showed that there were no specific IRS regulations and no rulings regarding a short sale transaction that was subject to FIRPTA.  See FIRPTA and SHORT SALES - DANGEROUS LIABILITY TO BUYER AND CLOSING AGENT.
Last month a communication came through from the IRS that confirmed the conclusion made in that article.  I am providing to you the question that was posed to the IRS and the answer received from the IRS for those of you … (12 comments)

TENANT RIGHTS AND FORECLOSURE - A DISCUSSION OF SAFEGUARDS - 03/03/09 08:50 PM
The unintended victims of the foreclosure process are often the occupant of the home that is a tenant.  The landlord is a borrower under a mortgage that has gone into default and is now being foreclosed.  What is going to happen to the tenant as a result of the foreclosure?  How can a tenant or future tenant be protected from the ill effects of a foreclosure?  This article will attempt to address these issues.
Landlord Tenant relationships are governed by State statute
The landlord tenant relationship is governed by statutes of the state in which the real estate is located.  Generally … (18 comments)

 
Rainmaker_large

Richard Zaretsky, Florida Real Estate Attorney

West Palm Beach, FL

More about me…

Richard P. Zaretsky P.A. - Board Certified Real Estate Atty

Address: 1655 Palm Beach Lakes Blvd, Suite 900, West Palm Beach, Fl, 33401

Office Phone: (561) 689-6660 x 107

Cell Phone: (561) 329-2279

Email Me

Legal true life experiences, general observations and commentaries for Realtors, Lawyers and Mortgage Brokers - also see our Palm Beach County Short Sales group blog.
Locations of visitors to this page


Listings

Links

Archives

RSS 2.0 Feed for this blog