If you are interested in Pennsylvania title insurance, visit our PA Title Insurance Blog.

Other places that you can find me (Dave):

Sites:

Community First Abstract – Pennsylvania title insurance

www.davewirsching.com (blog)

www.whyaboutmarketing.com (marketing)

If you’d like to connect:

Twitter

Linkedin

Facebook

For those who use Feedburner, I’ve already updated the feed.  If you use another tool to follow this blog, please update your feed to the new URL. 

I won’t be migrating the older posts from this blog – but I will leave this blog open for the next 60-90 days.

Thanks,

Dave

This is the housing industry’s fault.  We’ve told people that a house is more than a roof over your head, it’s an investment.  We loaned them money like it was a margin account – based on the asset value, not on ability to pay the loan.

Guess what – they are treating it just like an investment.  When you are underwater on an investment, you get out, take your lumps and move on.  We shouldn’t be surprised homeowners are doing the same.

….[the] foreclosure steering committee that includes lawyers representing lenders and homeowners as well as social service agencies, said owner-occupied residential properties will not be sold at the May sheriff’s sale. But all other properties will proceed to a sale. The owner-occupied properties will be put on a special track intended to help borrowers with free legal advice and housing counseling.

A novel approach to avoid saving investors and speculators.  Should be interesting to see how it works.

ACORN estimates approximately 3,200 loans made in Philadelphia during 2006 are likely head down the path to foreclosure.

I’ll post more as it comes available.

The only question is why was this problem allowed to run for over a year after is was discovered?  2 year old agency.  Owner used the company as an ATM.  Old Republic stuck with the clean up.

1. So much for “synergy.” I only hope that if this puts a stop to large lenders buying appraisal firms (and destroying appraiser independence), we can next move on to large lenders buying title companies (and destroying escrow officer independence).

Thanks Tanta!

A Tavares company is one of 23 Central Florida firms and/or individuals under investigation by the state for title insurance fraud.

The Florida title fraud cases being investigated so far this year involve agents misappropriating escrow funds, says state Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink’s office.

John Corbett, law enforcement captain for the department, declines to share any details about the 23 local fraud investigations…….

Twenty three in one state is not a small number.

There is a fascinating piece in the Silicon Valley Business Journal (paid).  Century 21 Alpha, one of the biggest Century 21 franchises in the United States, has sued Century 21 Real Estate, LLC, the franchisor, for fraud.  The suit in a nutshell:  It alleges Century 21 failed to protect the brand name from breaches in ethics and behavior.  It further alleges that the brand name has been severely damaged, and seeks return of franchise and royalty fees, damages and attorney’s fees.   In addition, they wish to end the franchise agreement. 

 Some gems from the article:

According to the 22-page complaint, filed Feb. 13, Century 21 Real Estate has irretrievably undercut the credibility of the brand in Silicon Valley by failing to root out, expose and stop “various fraudulent activities” perpetrated by the former Century 21 Su Casa and Century 21 Ruby.

At least one other Century 21 franchisee in Santa Clara County confirms it is in settlement talks with Century 21 Real Estate over the same issues, but declined to discuss it on the record.

The public seems to care about ethics too:

Armando Guerra, an agent with Century 21 Alpha, says he has seen the fallout from the damage done to the Century 21 name in his own life. The general public does not understand that Century 21 offices are operated by independent franchisees, he says. Even family members have refused to do business with him because they did not believe his company was unaffiliated with Su Casa.

“Any time you talk with a client, the first thing they say is, ‘Hey, I know about the many things that you guys did.’ They think that Century 21 is all one big company,” he says. When he tries to explain, most people don’t believe him. “The only ones who will do business with you are the ones who already know you and trust you.”