From the Pocono Record:
Guidelines put mortgage lenders, brokers on notice guidelines
Pennsylvania’s 3,000 mortgage lenders and brokers are being put on formal notice of new state Banking Department guidelines for “acceptable” conduct.
Acting Banking Secretary Victoria A. Reider outlined the new policy in a letter Friday to mortgage companies.
The guidelines — published Dec. 16 in the Pennsylvania Bulletin — offer examples and definitions of practices considered dishonest, fraudulent, illegal, unfair, unethical, negligent or incompetent.
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The warning comes on the heels on a national study released last month on subprime mortgages that predicts 2.2 million households have or will lose their homes to foreclosure.It also comes after word that Monroe County’s foreclosure rate last year topped 800 filings for the first time since 2003, when the Banking Department commissioned a study on Monroe’s record-high foreclosures.
“This policy will help ensure that homebuyers receive the highest level of service when they’re making these important decisions that will impact their financial futures,” Reider said.
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Reider warns that companies that fail to conform to the new guidelines could face suspension, revocation or non-renewal of their licenses.Several changes were recommended in a 2005 Banking Department report to the General Assembly on statewide mortgage foreclosures, conducted following release of its Monroe County study. The statewide report makes recommendations to curb abusive lending practices.
But the department and other state agencies aren’t doing nearly enough to stop abusive home sale practices, says one local homeowner activist.
“Gov. Rendell’s office should take immediate action to investigate and find remedies to protect homeowners who have continued to be victimized by the criminal element that consistently perpetrates fraudulent practices involving innocent homeowners throughout Monroe County and Pennsylvania,” Pocono Homeowners Defense Association President Al Wilson said in a press release.
Wilson contends the home sale abuses will continue until county and state law enforcement officials prosecute the perpetrators and put them in jail.
FYI
NJ ASBURY PARK PRESS: Real Estate article *FALLOUT*
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Fallout
With home sales down about 20 percent in Monmouth and Ocean counties, real estate agencies are cutting expenses and diversifying their businesses. And as the business gets more competitive, some agents are deciding not to renew their licenses.
Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 01/14/07
BY DAVID P. WILLIS
BUSINESS WRITER
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It’s not easy being a real estate agent anymore.
In the heady days of the market in 2004 and 2005, houses were selling like hot cakes as prices rocketed up.
That’s no longer the case. As home prices showed signs of peaking last year, buyers sensed a change in the market and no longer were willing to pay the asking prices on many properties. At first, homeowners were reluctant to drop their prices. The result? Real estate sales stalled in 2006.
And just as sellers and buyers have been struggling to adjust to changing market conditions, so has the real estate industry.
Since the industry’s revenue comes from commissions, when sales slow down, so does its revenue. To cope, agencies are employing a number of strategies. Some are cutting expenses, while others are actually increasing their marketing and spending more on training. Some agencies are diversifying into other areas of business such as insurance. Individually, some agents have decided to take some time off and are putting their real estate licenses on hold.
“The agents that are buckling down and are really going to focus on getting listings priced well and working with motivated buyers . . . are still doing well,” said Ric Martel, general sales manager at Prudential Zack Shore Properties.
“(But) people who were in the business for the easy sale or the quick sale, or they were going to try out the real estate business because they felt it was a great market, they have not done well at all.”
How big of a hit has the market taken?
Homes sales in Monmouth County through the end of November dropped by 18 percent to 7,406 compared with the same period a year earlier, according to Jeffrey G. Otteau, president of the Otteau Valuation Group in East Brunswick. Sales in Ocean County during the same period fell by 20 percent to 7,352 during the same period.
READ SOME MORE-> http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070114/BUSINESS/701140331/1003
interesting article.
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http://301url.com/mortgage – all about mortgages