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Owner Occupied?

Owner occupied fraud is said to make up 20% of mortgage fraud as a whole. I think thats an amazing percentage. Investors may may be primarily to blame for this 20%. Also to blame can be those who own a vacation property or a second home may want to have the advantages of claiming the home as their primary residence.

In any case, states like Florida, Arizona, and Nevada are were many cases of this type of fraud are occurring. In Arizona there are many homes that are vacant. I have heard of areas where some subdivisions are 70% vacant. This could be because investors do not live in those homes, it could also because home owners have left the property, or it could be because the homeowners have lost the property and now the bank owns the home.

Either way this does not help the market or home values. Homes that are vacant are usually not maintained and are more thank likely to be sold for less than a home that is occupied.

REALTOR® Magazine article.

http://www.realtor.org/RMODaily.nsf/pages/News2008020603?OpenDocument

Posted by Ulises Romo on 02/06/2008 12:31 PM

Comments (10)

owner occupancy, owner occupied, real estate, mortgage fraud, florida, arizona, nevada, vacant homes, vacant

10 Comments on Owner Occupied?

FEB

2008

Hi Ulises,

Nice post. Some very interesting points you bring up. I agree the percentage is very high. Keep up the informative posts!

Michael A. Caruso

That is becoming a big problem in The Florida Keys. We had our first person in the history of The Keys to receive a jail sentence for fraudulently claiming homestead exemption.

It is amazing how many people believe it is ok to flat out lie on an application. Thanks for the post

Thanks for sharing Ulises!

all the best,

Audrey

Michael: Thank you, I will continue blogging as long as people keep reading.

Gary: Jail time? Now that might be serious enough for someone to rethink listing a home as a primary residence, when it is not.

Joey: People lie everyday, saying have a nice day to someone yoy may not like is an example. However some people lie about bigger issues that have bigger consequences.

Audrey: All the best to you as well.

Thanks for reading my blog and leaving comments.

Ulises,

Mortgage fraud seems to be a major issue and that 20% owner-occupied number just proves it. It's easy to connect the problem with Las Vegas and the hundreds of vacant houses now sitting out there for sale.

Esko: I agree, imagine a market with 20% less inventory. It would be a way better market here in Phoenix for sure. With about 50,000 homes on the market in Arizona, 10,000 less would be a GOD send.

Thanks for you comment.

MAY

HOW MUCH TIME DO YOU NEED TO BE IN A HOMW FOR IT TO BE OWNER OCCUPIED

It all depends on the reason(s). A rule of thumb is 2 out of the last 5 years. Consult an expert on the situation you have questions about.

MAY

The minimum single family residential homesite area by law in Florida is 100 ft. by 218 feet if there is no water or sewer lines at the street to connect to since a water well and septic is required. This includes a replacement area for the septic system in case of failure.

By the way it is legal to own jurisdictional wetlands in Florida, however you cannot sell the land to someone as being able to be developed, all restrictrictions must be disclosed in detail. Regardless a 40 foot area cannot be developed at all if this is the only unrestricted area of the property you own. You will need at least a quarter acre if there were utilities which there is not.

You better get a lawyer to take this to court since regulation in the state is basically non existant for the most part.

Good luck, you'll need it up there where you are.

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