Carol Pease ABR, CDPE, CRS, SFR (512) 721-6320

I keep my eye on the foreclosure list in Texas to reach out to anyone I may know. Foreclosures happen here in Texas on the first Tuesday of each month. The date for August on August 2, 2011. As a CDPE it is sometimes easier for me to intercede on behalf of a homeowner and get something resolved. This week I found the name of a neighbor on the list. I walked down the street, knocked on the door and said; "Are you going to sit here and let this happen or are you going to let me help you prevent a foreclosure?' Gratefully she let me come in and talk.

This homeowner had been injured on the job well over a year ago. She was hit head-on while driving her work route and sustained injuries that make it impossible for her to return to work. She had been drawing workman's compensation and now was trying to get permanent disability payments. Somehow her loan modification request was falling through the cracks. She had been denied three times and each time it was for ridiculous reasons. One reason was that the house was listed for sale and that was why she received a denial. Her listing had been withdrawn long before she had applied for a loan modification.

I downloaded and printed a Chase Financial Package, filled it out had then gathered the tax returns, bank statements, doctor's letters and proof of income to make a complete package. I pulled out my ScanSnap scanner and scanned her documents including a Third Party Authorization to the apppropriate number at Chase and then went one step further. I called the Executive Resolution Office at Chase and explained the circumstances and got a file number assigned to her case. Now we are waiting for resolution. I have been assured that this file will be resolved very quickly. Let's hope so.

After this was completed we were enjoying a cool glass of lemonade and talking about her ordeal. This was a very meticulous homeowner. She had emailed, faxed and sent registered mail no less than three complete packages to Chase over the past 8 months. She had spent countless hours on the phone and followed up repeatedly to try to help herself. Somehow, she never lost her sense of humor. She said to me " I've spent so much time on the phone with Chase that I have included them in my "Friends and Family" cellular plan.

I thought that was funny and sad at the same time. How many people are falling through the "loan modification cracks' and falling into foreclosure? How many roadblocks do homeowners have to face before they give up in disgust and frustration. We keep reading statistics that 70% of homeowners facing foreclosure never reach out to anyone for help. They never call their mortgage company. The news media keeps hyping on all the negativity in the real estate market. Wrongful foreclosures are reported on TV. All this gloom and doom forecasting are causing homeowners to give up before they start.

Stay tuned for future updates........

In addition to a very active real estate practice I also serve on the board for our HOA here in Leander, Texas. 75% of the business I do is short sales. This week our HOA received a letter from an agent with a listing in my subdivsion. She was requesting that the association waive over $2,000 in back dues so that her FHA short sale could close. She claimed that she did not know "that the seller owed so much money and why didn't we do something about it." Simply stated, her requuest was a waive this before July 16, or the seller will be foreclosed on the 17th and that getting something was better than getting nothing.

Our conversation did not go well. I told her that we had tried to collect but that the homeowner had not paid since 2006. I asked her if she had resubmitted her approved short sale with the HOA dues on her HUD-1? (She had not, nor did she intend to do so.) I also advised her that HUD would pay up to $1,500 to satisfy junior lienns and that her seller was probably getting either $750 - $1,000 from HUD to cooperate in a short sale. I told her that we would be more than happy to waive anything over $2,250 so that her sale could close but she needed to look elsewhere to solve her problem. The bill for this home was over $3,000 including legal fees.

Today I looked to see what happened to that listing, and I see that it has been removed from the market by the agent. It is no longer listed as pending but has been withdrawn. I am appalled at this agent. Why? First of all, anyone who takes a short sale listing should know theforeclosure process in the state of Texas. Foreclosures happen here on the first Tuesday of the month and not on the 17th. Second, if you are going to take a short sale listing, know what the process invlolves and if you don't get it, get out of the way. Learning to handle a short sale should not be done at the expense of the cllient. Third, what happened to her fiduciary responsibility? She was supposed to put her client's interest ahead of her own. I could go on all day about this encounter.

What do you alll think of this one?

According to the 2000 census, there were 7,596 people, 2,522 households, and 2,042 families residing in the city of Leander As of the 2010 Census there are now 26,521 people living in Leander up 249% in 10 years.

The total population of central Texas counties of Travis, Williamson, Hays, Bastrop and Caldwell reached 1,716,289 an increase of 37%. While Austin grew by 20.4 percent to 790,390 in the last decade, many of the surrounding communities had staggering growth. Hutto which is in Williamson County grew 1.076% from 1250 to 14,698. Williamson county grew 67% in 10 years

When you look at the fact that more jobs were created in Texas last year than in any other state, anywhere in Texas is a great place to be. We are gaining 4 new congressional seats from the census. Yes, the state has it's problems, but I wouldn't be anywhere else but here.