Bo Kociuba

Part of rebuilding New Orleans caused residents often to be challenged with the task of tracing home titles back potentially hundreds of years.

With a community rich with history stretching back over two centuries, houses have been passed along through generations of family, sometimes making it quite difficult to establish ownership.

Here's a great letter an attorney wrote to the FHA on behalf of a client:

You gotta love this lawyer ........

A New Orleans lawyer sought an FHA loan for a client. He was told the loan would be granted if he could prove satisfactory title to a parcel of property being offered as collateral.
The title to the property dated back to 1803, which took the lawyer three months to track down. After sending the information to the FHA, he received the following reply.

(Actual letter):

"Upon review of your letter adjoining your client's loan application, we note that the request is supported by an Abstract of Title. While we compliment the able manner in which you have prepared and presented the application, we must point out that you have only cleared title to the proposed collateral property back to 1803.
Before final approval can be accorded, it will be necessary to clear the title back to its origin."

Annoyed, the lawyer responded as follows:

(actual letter):

"Your letter regarding title in Case No. 189156 has been received. I note that you wish to have title extended further than the 194 years covered by the present application. I was unaware that any educated person in this country, particularly those working in the property area, would not know that Louisiana was purchased, by the U.S. , from France in 1803, the year of origin identified in our application.

For the edification of uninformed FHA bureaucrats, the title to the land prior to U.S.. ownership was obtained from France , which had acquired it by Right of Conquest from Spain . The land came into the possession of Spain by Right of Discovery made in the year 1492 by a sea captain named Christopher Columbus, who had been granted the privilege of seeking a new route to India by the Spanish monarch, Isabella. The good queen, Isabella, being a pious woman and almost as careful about titles as the FHA, took the precaution of securing the blessing of the Pope before she sold her jewels to finance Columbus ' expedition.

Now the Pope, as I'm sure you may know, is the emissary of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and God, it is commonly accepted, created this world.. Therefore, I believe it is safe to presume that God also made that part of the world called Louisiana ... God, therefore, would be the owner of origin and His origins date back, to before the beginning of time, the world as we know it AND the FHA. I hope you find God's original claim to be satisfactory.

Now, may we have our damn loan?"

The loan was approved

With smiles,

Bo in Yukon

Moments ago I just read my friend Todd Clark's blog post about new policy for appraisals and what a devastation it spreads in the real estate industry! Plus it costs an additional hardship and money to buyers, sellers and professionals involved in the transaction...

This policy, perhaps well intended, cripples the whole process and hurts the consumer...

If you wish you may sign a petition to repeal or reconstruct this policy - here is the link:

http://www.hvccpetition.com/

or watch a very informative video:

http://www.hvccpetition.com/Video.aspx

With smiles,

Bo in Yukon

Via Todd Clark (Broker/Sales Coach), GRI (Beaverton, Oregon Real Estate Expert) (Palazzo Realty Group):

On May 1, 2009, the government put in to place the HVCC appraisal law which stands for Home Valuation Code of Conduct, which was supposed to help to keep agents and mortgage brokers from being able to talk to appraisers and keep them from swaying the value they put on a home.

But, within that law, there were some things put in by (I’m guessing) some very smart bankers. Now I believe they are being very predatory, almost even more than they were two years ago.

No, I don’t own a tin foil hat, but they are starting to look comfortable. You see, one of the lines in the new HVCC law was that once the appraisal is ordered it can’t be transferred to a new lender and another appraisal would have to be ordered.

What good does this do for the consumer? It keeps their mortgage broker from shopping for a better loan with a lower rate. Because even if they found a better loan, that mortgage broker and buyer would have to start the whole process over again and pay for another appraisal and ask for an extension that the seller, more than likely, won’t accept.

So, now that the buyer is stuck with a loan that isn’t the best loan for them and there is nothing they can do. They sit and wait for their close with their interest rate lock date slowly getting closer and closer.

I’ve looked at my company’s books over the past month and a half and what I discovered was of the loans that were required to use HVCC approved appraisers only one of them closed on time. All the others closed anywhere from 22-47 days later than their scheduled closed date.

Now, here is where the fun begins…

In talking to every one of the agents in those deals, every one of those buyers lost their interest rate locks during those 22-47 days and now were stuck paying anywhere from 3/8 to a complete percentage higher than they would have if they had closed on time. That, to me, is the meaning of predatory lending. The worst part is they could have possibly saved even more if their mortgage broker could have found a better loan during the time of inspection and close. But because of the HVCC law, they were unable to do that without adding additional cost and time to the close.

So, is your bank taking advantage of your clients by using the HVCC law and other underwriting delays to make buyers lose their lock?

Todd Clark - Broker / Sales Coach
Palazzo Realty Group
Phone: (503)524-9494
Fax: (503)622-8739

I was just waiting for a couple of days to make sure that this announcement wouldn't be changed - as it was the last time.

FHA approved lenders are allowed now to issue so called 'bridge loans' that will allow the first time home buyers to use the funds to:

• cover their closing costs
• buy down their interest rate
• or put down more than the minimum 3.5 percent (the funds cannot be used to cover the minimum 3.5 percent). In short what it means is that the 8K cannot be used toward the downpayment of 3.5 percent.

Due Diligence
FHA expects that entities purchasing tax credit assets will employ appropriate due diligence
measures including, but not limited to:

• Require the homebuyer to draft and provide the IRS form 5405 “First-Time Homebuyer Credit.”
• Contact the borrower’s employer and review pay stubs to confirm there are no outstanding garnishments.
• Review the homebuyer’s credit report to ensure there are no unpaid student loans, or other obligations that could be offset against the credit.
• Validate that all of the eligibility requirements for the tax credit are fulfilled
• Review previous tax returns and IRS tax assessment letters, if any, to determine that the borrower does not have unsettled obligations to the IRS

If you need more information or if you want to receive the IRS form:

call me at 405.812.1572 or email me: Bo@Okla-OK.com

A little over a year ago I could never imagine that I would love this sport. Not even in my wildest dreams I could see my picture holding a shotgun!

I am a creative spirit and decorating, designing or holding a brush with a blob of oil paint was (and actually still is) a passion of mine. Holding a shotgun? ... Neeeh... - big stretch!

There is something very attractive about a shotgun. The metal part which is actually it's heart, is almost always beautifully engraved. These are a definite works of art.

It takes a lot of skill, artistic talent and imagination to achieve this kind of a result. And also I am very positive that a little of the artist's soul is included in these masterpieces. All of them are one of a kind, so unique. Look at the pictures and judge for yourself. Be at awe just by looking at them...

This is what got me interested in the shotgun first...then the people I met, the camaraderie, the willingness to support and help. it's like playing golf but with a shotgun. Discipline and practice. I made lots of great friends while trying to conquer the skill and techniques.

The challenge of sporting clays lies in the fact that you shoot at a nearly infinite variety of targets. The game requires a fine balance between the well-honed instincts of a good wing shot and the controlled, measured performance of a clay target veteran.

It takes a lot of practice in order to get a 'feel for the skill'. It is a challenge! I try to understand the game, memorize the presentations, get more knowledge to become better...It is an addiction! It is a healthy addiction for that matter.

Sporting clays shooting is one of our western traditions. I have discovered this wonderful sport and hope that with my competitive streak I will continue to get better. I hope to meet more interesting people, make many more good friends and spread the word about this great and challenging sport.

Would you like to give it a try? I would love to have you as my guest at my club at Quail Ridge in Tecumseh, OK or Silverleaf in Guthrie, OK both of them just miles from metro OKC.

LET'S BRAKE SOME CLAY TOGETHER!

With smiles,

Bo in Yukon

PS. Yes, it is me in the pic above...