Mario Villagran, MBA, Realtor

If you happen to be looking for something to do this weekend of May 14 through May 16, 2010 check out St. Robert Bellarmine's Family Festival at 154 N. Fifth St, Burbank, CA. They will be hosting their annual festival with lots of games and food. So if you're in the area come by and support one of your local churches and have some fun while you're at it. Here's a link to the school that benefits from this fundraiser, http://www.strobertbellarmineschool.com/

Going hungry is a terrible thing. There's a program for senior brought to you by the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank. Seniors 60 years and older are invited to participate in the Commodity Supplemental Food Program.

They can receive a free food kit once a month. This kit is prepared w/ specific nutrional needs such as: meats, canned fruits and vegetables, dry milk and related products, cereals and other grain products plus much more.

Program Requirements for Seniors are:

• California ID or Driver's License
• Proof of Income - SSI or pension (bank statement, check stub, benefit award letter) or
• Medi-Cal Card

The senior can also authorize someone to pick up the kit every month but they must bring that person the first time the register.

The next distribution will be at the Salvation Army in Glendale, 320 East Windsor Rd, 91204.

Next Wednesday, March 31, 2010 from 9:00 am to 12:00 pm.

Please pass this along to any seniors you know.

We are in a recession, wait I think they are saying we are out. Doesn't really matter on an individual basis because you can choose to participate in a recession or adapt and go about living your life. I choose to adapt. I don't have the luxury of going to a car wash and waiting for my car to be washed anymore. I have found an alternative that not only saves me money but time and I get a little bit of exercise.

I know DIY (Do It Yourself) isn't a new concept in real estate but it was a forgotten concept when it comes to our cars. I just want to share this option with our local community because I have found it very beneficial. Zeavy Car Wash is a do it yourself car wash located at 520 S. Victory Blvd in Burbank between Verdugo and Alameda. This is one of those car washes we used to refer to as a Coin-op but they now take visa/mastercard or debit cards w/ those symbols. If you do swipe a card it's a minimum charge of $5 for 10 minutes. This is plenty of time for my Honda Accord. You will need coins for use of the vacuums. They have a spot free rinse that I use and I have to admit it works. I don't hang out and dry my car, I just drive off and I don't have any water spots or streaks. If you have change and are really fast you can get it done for as little as $2.25 for 4 minutes. I've done that a few times too when I just needed a quick rinse.

If you feel the need of tipping someone one to wash your car feel free to have your children help you. One of my fond memories as a kid was when my dad allowed me to help him with the car. Funny how parents can make work seem like fun and a privilege.

Once again another scam seems to have come out of this housing crisis which seems to be in recovery mode. Recently Senate Bill 94 was introduced to keep any and all companies doing loan modifications from charging an advance fee. My understanding of the bill is that companies can not charge up front fees not that companies can not continue to work on modifications for clients that had already paid. Here's a copy of the bill for you to read yourself, http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/09-10/bill/sen/sb_0051-0100/sb_94_bill_20091011_chaptered.html.

Recently I learned of a company that has decided to pull the plug on clients of mine and they are blaming SB 94. They said that because of the bill the DRE does not allow them to continue to work on their customers' files and will be filing bankruptcy. Sounds fishy to me and so I thought I should share some resources with anyone who feels that they have fallen victim to this company and/or any others just like them. The company I am referring to above is Green Credit Solutions who had recently changed their name to Guardian Credit Services. When I first met with this company they seemed to be on the up and up. They were licensed w/ the DRE and they were telling brokers that they had an advanced fee agreement approved through the DRE. Clients of mine that decided to use them instead of doing it on their own like I suggested had different results. Some received modifications and others have been left out in the cold. One of them was even told to take cash for keys as part of their refund.

The DRE has published the following for people who feel that they are being scammed or have been scammed. For those of you who paid I strongly recommend getting in touch with the state's attorney general or the FBI. http://www.dre.ca.gov/pdf_docs/FraudWarningsCaDRE03_2009.pdf