What You Can Do If You Have Been Scammed In Real Estate

WHAT YOU CAN DO IF YOU HAVE BEEN SCAMMED (OR BECOME AWARE OF A LOAN MODIFICATION SCAM)? REPORT FRAUD AND FILE COMPLAINTS WITH --

1. The DRE if a real estate licensee is involved, or if the person or company is unlicensed. If the person or company is unlicensed, the DRE will file a Desist and Refrain Order. If the person or company is licensed, the DRE will commence disciplinary action, http://www.dre.ca.gov/cons_complaint.html.

2. The District Attorney, Sheriff, local police and local prosecutor in your community.

3. The California Attorney General, at www.ag.ca.gov/consumers/general.php.

4. The California State Bar if a lawyer is involved, or if an unlicensed person claims to be a lawyer at www.calbar.ca.gov.

5. The California Department of Corporations, at www.corp.ca.gov, if a loan modification claims to be operating under a California Finance Lender License.

6. The Federal Trade Commission, at www.ftc.gov. They have an excellent fact sheet on Foreclosure Rescue Scams.

7. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), at www.fbi.gov.

8. HUD, at www.hud.gov.

9. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), at www.fdic.gov.

10. The Better Business Bureau in your community.

11. The Chamber of Commerce in your community.

12. File a Small Claims Court action. These are informal courts where disputes are resolved quickly and inexpensively by a judge. Since 2008, you can recover up to $7,500 in Small Claims Court. You represent yourself, and can request a judgment for money damages.If your judgment is based on fraud, misrepresentation, or deceit, or conversion of trust funds, and the judgment is against a real estate licensee, DRE has a Recovery Fund that may be able to pay your claim. Go to the DRE web site at www.dre.ca.gov, and look under the tab for “Consumers”. Also, the California Secretary of State has a “Victims of Corporate Fraud Compensation Fund” that provides restitution to victims of corporate fraud. Go to the Secretary of State’s web site at www.sos.ca.gov/vcfcf for more information.

(info above issued 3/2009 via www.dre.ca.gov)

City of Elk Grove Lands 1,500 New Jobs

Elk Grove, CA – Elk Grove will soon be home to a state agency headquarters, bringing more than 1,500 high-quality jobs to the Elk Grove economy and helping balance the city’s jobs-to-housing ratio.

The California Correctional Health Care Services announced the new location for its
headquarters in the Laguna Springs Corporate Center at 9260 Laguna Springs Drive. The city estimates that the jobs will generate up to $4 million dollars in economic benefit to the City.

“California Correctional Health Care Services selecting Elk Grove as their new home means high paying, high-quality jobs for the City of Elk Grove, and is a tremendous shot in the arm for our local economy,” said Mayor Steven Detrick. “This is a significant accomplishment for the city, and represents a true collaboration between the Elk Grove City Council and city staff.”

For more than three years, Mayor Steven Detrick and Councilmember Gary Davis served on an Ad Hoc Committee tasked with attracting state agencies to Elk Grove.

According to state officials, the headquarters moving to this location spreads more of the state business throughout the region, helping to balance commute routes. Approximately 700 cars will be removed from heavy northbound 99 and I-5 commutes. Roughly 50 percent of Correctional Health Care workers already live in Elk Grove, South Sacramento and the Pocket area.

“Consolidating headquarters operations for Correctional Health Care will increase our efficiency, reduce expenses, and contribute to building the health care culture I believe we need for the organization to succeed. The selection of this location is the first step in these efforts,” said Federal Receiver J. Clark Kelso.

Correctional Health Care officials were drawn to the site because of free parking, plenty of retail and consumer services within walking distance, and public transit services.

“With nearly one out of every three workers in Elk Grove employed by the State of California, the city has worked tirelessly to bring state offices to Elk Grove,” said Councilmember Gary Davis. “The new California Correctional Health Care Services facility located in Elk Grove will relieve traffic on the freeways, improve air quality, and be an impetus for even more job creation.”

The City of Elk Grove has been focusing efforts to balance the job-to-housing ratio and attract state jobs to Elk Grove. The city has sponsored legislation requiring state agencies to take into account the location of employees when considering a move.

The city was also the first in California to introduce an incentive program targeting state office buildings. The program is designed to bring state jobs closer to where their employees reside by offering incentives that may be used towards relocation costs, fee reductions, construction costs, building improvements, monthly rent, or even transportation or other quality of life subsidies for the employees. The program was recently expanded to include federal office buildings.

California Correctional Health Care Services is in negotiations with the Laguna Springs Corporate Center. If the negotiations are successful, it’s anticipated a new lease will be executed and the phased move will begin next year.

For more information about the City of Elk Grove’s economic development program, visit www.openuptoelkgrove.org or contact Heather Ross at 916-478-3686 or hross@elkgrovecity.org.

For more info about CCHCS jobs go to http://cphcs.hodesiq.com/index.asp

We just filed bakruptcy, can we get a loan to buy a house?

The answer is no.

It will take either a bad hard-money loan with lots of cash down and horribly high interest rates or to wait three to five years based on the loan type you apply for.

I am just sorry that it sounds like you were not advised of that reality prior to filing.

Many people are opting for bankruptcy by default or upon bad recommendation by others because it appears to be a quick fix to a tough dilemma. However, bankruptcy is viewed by most financial advisers as a last resort when all else - credit counseling, budgeting and other efforts have failed.

Bankruptcy has far reaching consequences which make every day life very difficult for many years. Over the next few years you will find that it will impact your credit, finding employment, impact every day tasks like renting a car, and other necessities of life. Notwithstanding the fact that whether you are allowed a loan in a few years or not, your credit report will still wear the bankruptcy label for the next seven to 10 years depending on how you filed.

Why am I going on about this? Because you are now in a position to tell someone how to avoid what has happened to you. I am certain that if those who have had to file could do it again, with better counsel, they would not file or would not place themselves in a position to have to file.

Now that you have some time on your hands while you await the bankruptcy discharge, there are great free online tools to help you in beginning again and staying on track in preparation not only to purchase but to also establish spending disciplines that lead toward a healthier financial future.

I personally recommend sites such as http://www.mint.com and http://www.crown.org - wonderful and easy to understand tools that I use myself and have referred to family and friends.

Also, please don't go the hard money route. There is no guarantee of what the market will do and you are in no position to take such a financial risk.

My best to you,

Keisha Mathews, REALTOR
Century 21 Landmark Network

President Obama to Announce Comprehensive Plan for Regulatory Reform

President Obama to Announce Comprehensive Plan for Regulatory Reform


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June 17, 2009
TG-175

President Obama to Announce Comprehensive Plan for Regulatory Reform

WASHINGTON – President Obama will lay out a comprehensive regulatory reform plan this afternoon to modernize and protect the integrity of our financial system. While this crisis has had many causes, it is clear now that the government could have done more to prevent these problems from growing out of control and threatening our overall economy.

The President will be joined by Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, representatives from the regulatory community, consumer groups, the financial industry and me mbers of Congress for an event in the East Room later this afternoon.

The President's plan will:

- Require that all financial firms that pose a significant risk to the financial system at large are subjected to strong consolidated supervision and regulation
- Increase market discipline and transparency to make our markets strong enough to withstand system-wide stress and the potential failure of one or more large financial institutions
- Rebuild trust in our markets by creating the Consumer Financial Protection Agency to focus exclusively on protecting consumers in credit, savings, and payment markets.
- Provide the government with the tools needed to manage financial crises so it is not forced to choose between bailouts and financial collapse
- Raise international regulatory sta ndards and improve international coordination

Below are Links to the White Paper and Fact Sheets:

White Paper: Financial Regulatory Reform:
http://www.financialstability.gov/docs/regs/FinalReport_web.pdf

Fact sheets:
http://www.financialstability.gov/docs/regulatoryreform/requiring_strong_supervision_reg_finfirms.pdf
Requiring Strong Supervision And Appropriate Regulation Of All Financial Firms

http://www.financialstability.gov/docs/regulatoryreform/strengthening_reg_core-markets_infrastructure.pdf
Strengthening Regulation Of Core Markets And Mar ket Infrastructure

http://www.financialstability.gov/docs/regulatoryreform/strengthening_consumer_protection.pdf
Strengthening Consumer Protection

http://www.financialstability.gov/docs/regulatoryreform/providing_govt_tools_manage_fincrisis.pdf
Providing The Government With Tools To Effectively Manage Failing Institutions

http://www.financialstability.gov/docs/regulatoryreform/improving_internatl_reg_standards_co-op.pdf
Improving International Regulatory Standards And Cooperation

###

FILE FOR PROPERTY REASSESSMENT: July 2, 2009 - November 30, 2009

(info taken directly from Sacramento County Assessor website at http://www.assessor.saccounty.net/DeclineinValueReassessments/SAC_ASR_DF_Decline_Value)

**DOWNLOAD RE-ASSESSMENT APPLICATION HERE**

Decline in Market Value (Prop 8)
Inquire about the availability of documents in alternate formats.

Proposition 8, passed in November 1978, amended Proposition 13 to recognize declines in value for property tax purposes. As a result, Revenue & Taxation Code Section 51 requires the Assessor to annually enroll either a property’s Proposition 13 base year value factored for inflation, or its market value as of January 1st, whichever is less.

Decline in market value, Prop 8 assessments, are TEMPORARY reductions that recognize the fact that the market value as of the January 1 lien date of a property has fallen below its current Prop 13 factored value. Once a Prop 8 reduced value has been enrolled, that property’s value must be reviewed each year as of the January 1st lien date, to determine whether its market value is less than its Prop 13 factored value. Prop 8 values can change from year to year as the market fluctuates. When the market value of the Prop 8 property increases above its Prop 13 factored value, the Assessor will once again enroll its Prop 13 factored value. In no case may a value higher than a property’s Prop 13 factored value be enrolled.

Properties enrolled under Prop 8 provisions are not subject to the 2% annual increase limitation that applies to those enrolled under Prop 13 provisions.

The Prop 8 Process is as follows:

Property owner provides Assessor with facts they feel justify a reduction in value and requests a review of the property’s value. (The Assessor may initiate the review if the problem is discovered independently*.)

Appraisal staff reviews market data, estimates the property’s market value as of January 1st and then compares this market value to the property’s current Prop 13 factored base year value.

If the January 1 market value is below factored Prop 13 value, then:

Assessed value is lowered to market value for next fiscal year.
Owner is notified of reduced value.
New tax bill is based on lower value for next fiscal year.
The following year, Assessor repeats process and enrolls the January 1 market value at that time or Prop 13 factored value, whichever is lower.
If January 1 market value is higher than factored Prop 13 value, then:

No change in assessed value is made, and
Owner is notified that value will not be reduced.
If owner still feels value should be reduced, then owner may file an assessment appeal with the Assessment Appeals Board, from July 2nd - Nov 30th each year.
Appeals Board hears evidence from owner and Assessor; the Board then determines proper assessed value
*The Assessor may also initiate the Prop 8 process without a request from an owner.

The office constantly monitors market conditions and, when practical, lowers assessed values on a mass basis. Owners are notified and may file an Assessment Appeal if they feel the value was not lowered sufficiently. Read more about the Assessment Appeals process and deadlines.

Although the market values of all properties may suffer a significant decline during a recession, not all will qualify for a Prop 8 reduction. The current market value must fall below the Prop 13 factored base year value (assessed value) before the Assessor can recognize the decline. Following are examples of how the Assessor processes declines in value.

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Examples of Assessments Involving Properties Declining in Value:

Example 1

Home purchased January 2005, for $400,000 and assessed with $400,000 base year value.

On January 1, 2006, factored base year (assessed) value is $408,000 ($400,000 +2% inflation) but market value has declined to $300,000.

Action: Assessor reduces assessed value to $300,000 for 2006-2007 assessment roll.

On January 1, 2007, the home’s value continues to decline and is now $280,000, while its factored base year value has risen to $416,160 ($400,000 +2% inflation compounded for 2 years).

Action: Assessor reduces assessed value to $280,000 for 2007-2008 assessment roll.

On January 1, 2008, the homes market value increases to $350,000 while its factored base year value rises to $424,483 ($400,000 +2% inflation compounded for 3 years).

Action: Assessor raises assessed value to $350,000 for 2008-2009 assessment roll.

On January 1, 2009, the home’s market value increases to $450,000 while its factored base year value rises to $432,972 ($400,000 +2% inflation compounded for 4 years).

Action: Assessor reinstates factored base year value of $432,972 for the 2009-10 assessment roll.

Example 2

Home is purchased in 1986 for $130,000.

On January 1, 2005, the current market value of the home has risen to $300,000 well above its Prop 13 factored base year value of $185,713 ($130,000 + 2% inflation compounded for 19 years).

For January 1, 2006, the market value falls to $200,000. This is still above the Prop13 factored base year value of $189,427 ($130,000 + 2% inflation compounded for 20 years).

No Prop 8 reduction is granted for the 2006-2007 assessment year, even though the property has lost $100,000 in value over the last year. The factored base year value ($189,427) is still less than the market value ($200,000).

It is important to understand that Prop 8 reductions are not permanent and may decrease or increase more than 2% from year to year. Also, Prop 13 base year values suspended by Prop 8 values continue to increase by an annual inflation factor of no more than 2% per year.

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If you have other questions about the Decline in Value Prop 8 process, you may direct them to the Assessor’s Real Property Duty Appraiser at (916) 875-0700, between 9 A.M. and 4 P.M., Monday through Friday. You may also visit the Duty Appraiser in person at 3701 Power Inn Rd, Suite 3000, Sacramento, CA 95826-4329, between 8 A.M. and 5 P.M.