Jocelyn Saenz Carrillo, 53, a former branch manager and escrow officer with Alliance Title Co. in Fremont, was arraigned on 31 counts of real estate felonies in Alameda County Superior Court. She’s charged with diverting home loan money from 10 Bay Area homeowners, mostly elderly and Spanish-speaking, to two unlicensed loan salesman Altaf Shaikh (aka [...]
Filed under: Mortgage Mania, The Market | 4 Comments »
From our illustrious brethren in online media, Bloomberg News: In April, 73,880 homeowners with privately insured mortgages fell more than 60 days late on payments, compared with 39,584 who got back on track, a report today from the Washington-based Mortgage Insurance Companies of America said. The Hope Now program has so far proven insufficient, Sandra [...]
Filed under: Foreclosure Fever, Mortgage Mania | Leave a Comment »
At least that’s what a report prepared for the Department of Housing and Urban Development said: The average fees for brokered loans ($4,000) are higher than the average for direct lender loans ($3,150). Upfront cash charges paid by the borrower average $1,400 for direct lender loans and $1,600 for brokered loans. Other findings: Loans made by [...]
Filed under: Mortgage Mania, The Market | Tagged: African American, banks, broker, credit union, fee, Latino, minority, mortgage, title | 7 Comments »
When I lived and worked in the San Joaquin Valley a significant number of the Hmong community (originally from the highlands of Vietnam and Laos) grew strawberries in empty lots. Some obviously had permission to create mini-plantations and offered the owners a few trays of fresh strawberries in payment. Admiring their ingenuity, people buy their produce [...]
Filed under: Home Base, The Market | Tagged: garden, guerilla gardening, landscaping, seed bomb, strawberries, vacant lots | Leave a Comment »
It’s almost the end of May and that means it’s time for our monthly look at the real estate market! WARNING: Some of these properties may be too intense for discriminating viewers. COUNTY: Marin PRICE: $319,900 I wanted to call this, “Does a homeowner poop in the woods?” because of the obviously unusable toilet (it [...]
Filed under: House Hunt, The Market | Tagged: alameda, cheap, cheapest houses, contra costa, fixer, larkspur, marin, oakland, redwood city, richmond, san mateo | 3 Comments »
My story today on foreclosure scams seemed to strike a nerve. I got about 6 phone calls this morning, most seeming interested and needing clarification. (Moody photograph of Elias Escobedo by Bob Larson.) The Better Business Bureau had these tips for avoiding these con artists: Calls itself a “mortgage consultant,” “foreclosure service” or similar name. Contacts [...]
Filed under: Foreclosure Fever, The Market | Leave a Comment »
