This article analyzes the existing and new rules for excluding profits from taxation on the sale of a residential property presently or previously used as the owner’s principal residence.

This article discusses the new Home Valuation Code of Conduct for appraisals which will affect mortgage loan brokers originating loans for sale to Freddie Mac or Fannie Mae.

This article discusses a broker’s or his agent’s use of finders to provide them with leads to sellers, buyers, or borrowers under California and federal law.

A 90-day moratorium on foreclosures in California was put into effect on June 15, 2009. It covers loans on owner-occupied principal residences made between January 1, 2003 through January 1, 2008. However, a lender is exempt from the moratorium if they have some sort of loan modification program which, at the very least, includes an [...]

The federal district court ruling in Busby v. JRHBW Realty, Inc. (RealtySouth) held admin, processing, and ABC fees in violation of RESPA 8(b), i.e., HUD’s “no-new-service, no-second-fee” regulation. The ABC fee challenged in this case was only $149. However, it was unearned as it could not be linked to any separate specific settlement service that [...]

UCLA’s Anderson Forecast predicted San Diego County’s housing prices will bottom-out by the fall and rebound. The fact that home sales have picked up recently, although most have involved foreclosed properties, seemed to hold the most weight with the people at UCLA when making this sunny prediction. However, others are quick to point out that [...]

The Central Valley of California is a perfect example of the housing crisis’ boom/bust cycle. McMansions were built in areas, especially along the Highway 99 corridor (e.g., Manteca, Modesto, and Merced) where the age and income demographics simply did not support them. The suburban citizenry is graying, nuclear families are dissolving, and the Generation Y’ers [...]

Home builders are worried that the recent rise in new-home sales is temporary. Rising unemployment, the lifting of the foreclosure moratorium, and the soon-to-be-used-up state and federal tax incentives for homebuyers will soon put a stop to new-home sales. More foreclosed properties will hit the market in the coming months and builders will likely need [...]

The number of NODs recorded in late 2008 fell as the government-mandated foreclosure moratoriums took hold. Riverside County is the record-setting county in California for NOD recordings and trustee’s sales, and this April, recordings of NODs were nearly 50% greater than in April 2008. San Bernardino County’s number of NOD recordings for April is 1/5th [...]

The 2004 rate of homeownership in the U.S. was 69%. In 2008, the rate dropped to 67.8%. By demographic, the rate of homeownership among whites declined from 76.1% to 74.9%, among African-Americans from 49.4% to 47.5%, and among native and foreign-born Latinos from 49.8% to 48.9%. The most notable statistic? In 2006, only 17.5% of [...]