Mario Villagran, MBA, Realtor

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

The loan modification business must be the only booming industry right now. Unfortunately it's out of control. I believe in the concept of banks working with borrowers to help them stay in their home but these hard times have opened the floodgates to many vultures.

These people are generally the same people that helped put many borrowers into option arm loans. Option arm loans were loans that paid up to 3% rebates and to the mortgage broker and it gave borrowers 4 payment options. The options were a 15 year amortized payment, 30 year amortized payment, interest only payment, and a negative amortization payment. Guess which payment most borrowers chose? Ding ding ding, you guessed it the negative amortization cause it was the smaller payment. This type of borrowing inflated prices and put many people in a home that they normally could not afford.

Now these same people are charging borrowers up front fees to "save their home". If you go to http://www.hud.gov you can click on the programs offered by HUD to modify loans. Yes these programs are difficult and there's a lot of running around that one has to do but you are asking a lender to modify a contract that you agreed to. Yes some people would rather pay upfront to get this done but then they risk dealing with a company that might be a little shady. Many of these companies claim to have an attorney represent you but they actually are an assembly line of people using the name of an attorney in case anyone wants to know.

I am not against companies getting paid upfront fees for offering a service but since we do pay taxes for a Department of Real Estate (DRE) than I want them to protect the borrowers. I always say that the government's priority is our defense and to protect us from fraud. People now are so desperate that they are willing to pay almost anyone with a good sales pitch. The DRE needs to start cracking down on these companies and make a list of service providers that have proven to be on the up and up. They could all start by getting licensed by the DRE and making sure all of its representatives are licensed.

The people of California need the DRE to be proactive and we as real estate agents need to continue to reach out and let these borrowers know that they have options.

Just wanted to remind everyone that the home buyers tax credit to purchase a home in 2009 can be claimed on this year's tax returns. If you have already filed you can always amend your taxes. This is a refundable tax credit up to $8000. Call me for more information at 818-416-7511, leave a comment here, or email me @ mario@usspaces.com.

Just read through my CA Real Estate Magazine and read that penalties for non-licensees is $20k and/or 6 months in a county jail. A corporation is subject to a fine of $60k. I wish they would offer a reward cause I could probably make a living reporting all these people that are required to have a license but for some reason will not get licensed. http://www2.dre.ca.gov/PublicASP/pplinfo.asp

When dealing in real estate matters please make sure that the person you are dealing with is licensed. First of all it is not that hard to get licensed so you have to ask yourself why one would not get licensed. Second of all licensing is one way that the Department of Real Estate tries to protect the general public. If you are interested in this law look up California Business & Professions Code Section 10139.