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93 Articles and Resources. Go to:  [Next 43]

Date	Fairness.com Resource	Read it at:
May 02, 2013	Secret 'pocket listings' return in hot housing markets QUOTE: In some cases, agents may try to convince sellers to use pocket listings in order to double their commissions by acting as agent for both the buyer and the seller...."If an agent is putting their own economic interest ahead of the seller's, it's a violation of state law."	CNN (Cable News Network)
Jun 21, 2011	Oversight Group Did Not Refer Housing Complaints QUOTE: The federal agency overseeing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the taxpayer-owned mortgage finance giants, failed to refer to criminal investigators and other authorities almost 100 complaints about possible foreclosure abuse and mortgage fraud at the companies over a recent two-year period, according to a report issued late Tuesday by the inspector general of the Federal Housing Finance Agency.	New York Times
Jun 16, 2011	Who Is James Johnson? QUOTE: Morgenson and Rosner write with barely suppressed rage, as if great crimes are being committed. But there are no crimes. This is how Washington works. Only two of the characters in this tale come off as egregiously immoral. Johnson made $100 million while supposedly helping the poor.	New York Times
Oct 27, 2010	Homeowners Facing Foreclosure Demand Recourse QUOTE: As lenders have reviewed tens of thousands of mortgages for errors in recent weeks, more and more homeowners are stepping forward to say that they were victims of bank mistakes — and in many cases, demanding legal recourse.	New York Times
May 26, 2010	Trampled in a Land Rush, Chinese Resist QUOTE: Protests like those in Laogucheng — including self-immolations and deadly standoffs — have forced officials to at least consider measures to make it harder to seize property and turn it over to developers without fully compensating those who live on it or use it. Effective confiscation of land nominally owned by the state, but farmed or lived on by the poor, has been a major source of unrest for the past two decades.	New York Times
Apr 02, 2010	Help Paying Mortgages Elicits Anger QUOTE: The angry comments flooded in after the federal government announced it was expanding its program to assist unemployed homeowners, as well as borrowers who owe more on their mortgages than their homes are now worth.	New York Times
Feb 27, 2010	Be aware of good-faith estimate' rules, or it could cost you QUOTE: Depending on how loan officers provide quotes up front -- on an informal "worksheet" that carries no federal consumer protections or on a new, three-page "good-faith estimate" that comes with rock-hard guarantees -- there could be a world of difference.	Washington Post
Oct 22, 2009	Fraud Reported in Program to Help New Homebuyers QUOTE: Just as Congressional leaders are calling for an extension of a popular $8,000 tax credit for first-time homebuyers, or even an expansion to all home purchasers, government investigators reported Thursday that their audits suggest widespread abuse and errors in the program.	New York Times
Sep 16, 2009	Where are the subprime perp walks?: Three years after the housing bubble popped, prosecutors have yet to bring a major case tied to the subprime fiasco. What gives? QUOTE: Three years after the housing bubble popped, federal prosecutors have yet to bring a case against the executives whose firms took part in some of the worst excesses of the subprime mortgage market.	Fortune
Aug 18, 2009	In Appraisal Shift, Lenders Gain Power and Critics (Back to Business) QUOTE: The Home Valuation Code of Conduct is setting off a bitter battle. Mortgage brokers, lenders, real estate agents, regulators and appraisers are all arguing over whether an effort to fix one problem has created many new ones.	New York Times
Aug 17, 2009	Tax Bills Put Pressure on Struggling Homeowners QUOTE: in recent years struggling cities and counties have sold their delinquent tax bills to the highest bidder... But housing advocates say the private companies may be exacerbating the foreclosure crisis, pushing out homeowners faster than would governments, which are increasingly concerned about neighborhoods becoming wastelands of abandoned properties.	New York Times
Aug 04, 2009	Dueling Public Interests In Policing Rescued Firms: SEC Actions Could Weigh on U.S. Stakes QUOTE: the quandary [the SEC filing suit against Regions Financial] shows the difficulty facing the nation's top Wall Street cop at a time when the economic crisis has left the U.S. government as the part-owner or controller of an unprecedented array of financial companies. Protecting investors on the one hand could mean harming taxpayer-owners on the other.	Washington Post
Jul 28, 2009	Landlord sues tenant after tweet about moldy apartment QUOTE: a property management company in Chicago has filed a lawsuit against a tenant who tweeted an off-the-cuff comment about the company.	Ars Technica
Jul 13, 2009	Illnesses Afflict Homes With a Criminal Past QUOTE: With meth lab seizures on the rise nationally for the first time since 2003, similar cases are playing out in several states, drawing attention to the problem of meth contamination, which can permeate drywall, carpets, insulation and air ducts, causing respiratory ailments and other health problems.	New York Times
Jul 01, 2009	Scam Alert: Home, Stolen Home: Forged deeds can give crooks the keys to your castle QUOTE: House stealing is a fast-growing and easy scam. Once a home is targeted... scammers find out who owns it by searching public records. To prove how easy this scam is, William Sherman, a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter at the Daily News in New York, bought the Empire State Building with doctored documents.	AARP
Dec 18, 2008	Madoff Scandal Shaking Real Estate Industry QUOTE: Almost no segment of New York City’s real estate industry was spared in the Madoff scandal, which may be history’s largest Ponzi scheme....Mr. Madoff (pronounced MAY-doff) managed his funds much the way that real estate leaders have operated successfully for decades: He provided little information and demanded a lot of trust.	New York Times
Jul 12, 2008	Keeping Closer Tabs On Brokers (The Nation's Housing) QUOTE: Should your mortgage loan officer's fingerprints be on file in a national electronic database, even if he or she has never been convicted of a crime? Should you be able to go to a Web site to check out your lender or mortgage broker's professional file -- including employment history and disciplinary actions -- before signing up for your next home loan?	Washington Post
Jun 20, 2008	Board Backs Rise in Rent Up to 8.5% QUOTE: The board that regulates rents for New York City’s one million rent-stabilized apartments approved its highest rent increases in years at a raucous meeting on Thursday, angering tenants who said high rents were forcing the poor and working class out of the city. At a meeting punctuated by ear-splitting whistle-blowing and shouting matches between sign-waving tenants and landlords, the city’s Rent Guidelines Board authorized rent increases of up to 4.5 percent on one-year leases and 8.5 percent on two-year leases.	New York Times
May 28, 2008	Realtors Agree to Stop Blocking Web Listings QUOTE: The deal frees Internet brokers and other real-estate agents offering heavily discounted commissions to operate on a level playing field with traditional brokers by using the multiple listing services that are the lifeblood of the industry, government officials said.	New York Times
May 28, 2008	Square Feet: Major San Francisco Development Faces a Ballot Test QUOTE: Proposition F reflects worries that residents will be cut off from the jobs and wealth generated by the development, and that rising property values might force them out of their homes. The proposition expresses this fear most pointedly with a requirement that half of the housing built in the new Hunters Point-Bayview project be offered for sale to working families at below-market rates.	New York Times
May 08, 2008	Questions of Rent Tactics by Private Equity QUOTE: Some residents and tenant advocates say that they began seeing what they consider a pattern of harassment of low-income tenants this year and suspect that it is a result of the new owners’ business models. Tenants have been sued repeatedly for unpaid rent that has already been received by the landlords; they have been sent false notices of rent bills, lease terminations and nonrenewals; and they have been accused of illegal sublets.	New York Times
Apr 14, 2008	10 crucial steps to 'short sale' buying QUOTE: There are very few active buyers in the real estate market these days -- but every one of them seems to be looking to buy a foreclosure or a short sale.	Bankrate.com
Mar 21, 2008	Socialized Compensation QUOTE: The ongoing bailout of the financial system by the Federal Reserve underscores the extent to which financial barons socialize the costs of private bets gone bad...Compared to the cold shoulder given to struggling homeowners, the cash and attention lavished by the government on the nation’s financial titans provides telling insight into the priorities of the Bush administration.	New York Times
Mar 16, 2008	Suffering in Silence Over Foreclosure: In Upscale Md. Subdivision, Few Know the Troubles Neighbors Face QUOTE: Perrywood's story is remarkable, not just for its cluster of defaults or the relative affluence of its residents. It also reflects a troubling national trend: African American homeowners and other minorities are more likely than non-Hispanic white borrowers to be saddled with the subprime loans and adjustable-rate mortgages that put them at greater risk of losing their homes.	Washington Post
Feb 03, 2008	Protecting the Homeowners Association's Nest Egg QUOTE: Lawmakers...are considering legislation that would beef up the accountability standards for professionals hired to manage homeowners' money. It could increase the cost of hiring those companies, but additional consumer protection is overdue for this lightly regulated industry.	Washington Post
Jan 22, 2008	Feeling Misled on Home Price, Buyers Are Suing Their Agent QUOTE: In a relationship built on trust [between real estate agents and homeowners], where promises are rarely written down and where [in some cases] there is no signed contract, what are the exact obligations of these representatives in guiding their clients through a sizzling market?	New York Times
Jan 22, 2008	If Everyone’s Finger-Pointing, Who’s to Blame? QUOTE: Two questions lie at the heart of many...[recent mortgage market] cases. The first is whether lenders and investment banks alerted borrowers and investors to the risks posed by subprime loans or securities backed by them. The second is how much they were legally obliged to disclose.	New York Times
Dec 03, 2007	New Orleans Hurt by Acute Rental Shortage QUOTE: More than two years after Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans is suffering from an acute shortage of housing that has nearly doubled the cost of rental units in the city, threatening the recovery of the region and the well-being of many residents who decided to return against the odds.	New York Times
Dec 02, 2007	Who owns auctioned house? QUOTE: ...it does appear that you won the bid on a property that's been foreclosed by a second mortgagee. Since you were the successful bidder, it would make you owner of the property subject to satisfaction of the first mortgage -- seemingly. The hitch is that second auction, where a stake is held in the property by the first mortgagee, may be what's on the auction block. It sounds like either there's a big miscommunication here or something legally questionable is occurring.	Bankrate.com
Nov 05, 2007	A New Arena in the Fight Over Smoking: The Home QUOTE: But many in the real estate industry believe that banning smoking in such buildings would be discriminatory and therefore illegal. When asked by residents to enact a smoke-free policy, property managers often say they cannot because of federal fair housing laws.	New York Times
Nov 01, 2007	WaMu faulted on home loans: Colluded to inflate property values, N.Y. attorney general says QUOTE: New York's attorney general has accused Washington Mutual Inc. of pressuring a real estate appraisal company to deliver inflated home values in order to justify making loans, a practice that some appraisers have complained of increasingly in recent years.	Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Sep 30, 2007	Your Home as the Group's Castle QUOTE: Buying a home is already a complex endeavor. Add in the sometimes unfathomable machinations of a homeowners' association and you enter a realm filled with the potential for misunderstandings that may have legal and financial consequences.	Wall Street Journal, The (WSJ)
Sep 01, 2007	Housing advocates are drawing line in the sand: Lock Vista latest battle in condo conversions QUOTE: State law allows 90 days' notice for tenants and $500 for moving expenses if their income is below 81 percent of the city's median income -- an amount some don't think sufficiently finances relocation. Landlords must honor leases regardless of development schedules, and if remodeling work connected to the conversion takes place on weekdays, it can't start between 7 a.m. or continue later than 10 p.m.	Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Jun 15, 2007	Lawmakers Cashing In on Real Estate, Financial Reports Reveal QUOTE: Open-government and ethics watchdogs say that Mollohan and Hastert are part of a growing circle on Capitol Hill that is engaging in land deals as a path to wealth, and they argue that such transactions have the potential to benefit from legislators' political connections and official actions.	Washington Post
May 24, 2007	Mortgage Brokers: Friends or Foes? Amid Mounting Defaults, State and U.S. Lawmakers Weigh Measures to Make Profession More Accountable to Borrowers QUOTE: Borrowers often see mortgage brokers as their allies, searching far and wide for just the right home loan at an attractively low price. But many brokers are making it clear they don't see things that way. They are fighting efforts by federal and state politicians to impose a fiduciary duty on them to put their customers' interests first, as lawyers, real-estate agents and financial planners generally are required to do with their clients.	Real Estate Journal
Apr 22, 2007	What happens when the buyer backs out? QUOTE: It's much easier, as you've probably deduced, for a buyer to back out of a contract than a seller. But if you lived up to your end of the signed sales contract, there are many forms of potential redress for the time on the market you lost while you awaited closing, not to mention other lost expenses.	Bankrate.com
Apr 11, 2007	Altered photos: Removing the real from real estate QUOTE: Airbrushed photos are becoming more common as prospective home buyers turn to the Web as the first point in their house hunts.	Bankrate.com
Apr 07, 2007	Seeing Other Agents QUOTE: Designed to ensure that the agent receives a commission if he or she has anything to do with the transaction, contracts are not easy to break. Sometimes they even stipulate that the agent is due the commission for a certain period of time afterward....Stark recommends that if you're unhappy with your agent to talk to his or her broker or manager. Your contract is with your agent's brokerage, not the individual agent...	Washington Post
Feb 18, 2007	The Psychology of Pricing QUOTE: An equally compelling reason to fly low is to adhere to psychological “break points.” These are dollar thresholds that buyers are most likely to select as the top amounts they are initially willing to spend or to use in Internet searches.	New York Times
Feb 07, 2007	Loudoun Land Deals Subject of U.S. Probe: County Officials' Ties to Developers Under Investigation QUOTE: Federal prosecutors have launched a far-reaching investigation into potential public corruption....major land-use decisions in Loudoun have been dominated by a small network of public officials and their allies in the development industry. Developers, landowners and others profited as they coordinated with public officials to influence land-use decisions in the county...	Washington Post
Jan 02, 2007	Whose listing is it, anyway? QUOTE: If you're selling a house, it might very well be in your best interest to place your listing on every Web site possible. But Baczowski says it's not necessarily in the listing agent's best interest.	Bankrate.com
Dec 09, 2006	Locked In, No Exit in Sight: Many Rueful Buyers Try to Escape Builders' Ironclad Contracts QUOTE: some consumer advocates and real estate lawyers who have been fielding calls from remorseful buyers in recent months say few contracts are as rigid and one-sided as those for new home sales. Prepared by builders' attorneys, the contracts are "written in a way to give every possible edge to the home builder," said Allen J. Fishbein, director of credit and housing policy at the Consumer Federation of America.	Washington Post
Dec 02, 2006	Seller: Get home inspected before marketing QUOTE: Traditionally, inspections have been paid for by buyers as part of the due diligence in accessing a property. But a seller inspection, also known as a prelisting inspection, is always a prudent practice. That is particularly true in the buyer's market that prevails today in many regions of the country.	Bankrate.com
Nov 30, 2006	Finding a real estate agent in a buyer's market: 6 keys QUOTE: For sellers, the cyclical return to a buyer's market means that it's important to choose the right real estate agent.	Bankrate.com
Oct 31, 2006	A Home Valuation Web Site Is Accused of Discrimination QUOTE: Web site that provides free home valuations, has been accused by a coalition of community activist groups of undervaluing the homes in black and Latino neighborhoods.	New York Times
Oct 21, 2006	Buying a foreclosure the safe way QUOTE: For novice foreclosure buyers, bank-owned properties are considered the safest bet because there are no liens and no back taxes involved. Most foreclosures end up being taken back by the lender at auction anyway.	Bankrate.com
Oct 08, 2006	Renting Out Your House QUOTE: whether you’re having trouble selling your house and have already moved to a new home, or you want to find a winter tenant for a summer vacation home, or your house will be empty because you’re being temporarily relocated for work or just because you want to travel the world, the following is a checklist of things you should consider before handing over the keys.	New York Times
Oct 07, 2006	Dealing With Deadbeat Agents QUOTE: What recourse does a home seller have against a deadbeat real estate agent?	Washington Post
Sep 29, 2006	Risky mortgages threaten a squeeze: The overall impact is muted, but some 500,000 homeowners are projected to face foreclosure. QUOTE: Economists generally don't believe the soaring popularity of "exotic" or nontraditional mortgages since 2004 will cause the kind of problems that push the nation into a recession. But foreclosure rates are already rising, and federal regulators are moving to develop new rules in a bid to keep banks from making loans to people who can't pay.	Christian Science Monitor
Sep 28, 2006	Mortgage Suit Says ‘Trust Us’ Led to Fleecing QUOTE: The civil lawsuit, filed in June by one of the nation’s largest mortgage lenders, describes an elaborate confidence game in which Martinsville residents with good credit ratings were enlisted last year to join what they believed was a risk-free investment in Indiana real estate. Instead, they found themselves responsible for hundreds of thousands of dollars in unpaid mortgages.	New York Times

93 Articles and Resources. Go to:  [Next 43]

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