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Wayne Golliday

24 Jacksonville Florida real-estate professionals indicted on mortgage fraud

In todays Jacksonville Fl Time Union newspaper. No names have been posted yet:

A crackdown on mortgage fraud has resulted in indictments of 24 Jacksonville-area real estate professionals in connection with at least $244 million in loan amounts for 200 pieces of property, federal authorities said today.

The people indicted worked during the housing boom in positions such as small business banker, title company employee and owner, mortgage broker, mortgage banker, employee of a real estate development company, real estate agent, Realtor, home builder, real estate investor, title and closing agent, and real estate appraiser.

They are among about 100 people being prosecuted by federal authorities after an intensive, nine-month investigation of mortgage fraud in the Middle District of Florida, spanning the metropolitan areas of Jacksonville, Orlando, Tampa and Ft. Meyers.

“You will be caught, you will be prosecuted, and you will be sentenced to significant jail time,” U.S. Attorney Brian Albritton said today at a news conference in Jacksonville.

Camden County GA home prices

I saw an article today the huge drop in home prices in 20 U.S. cities. That was a staggering figure. I have been searching for the home value prices in Camden County GA, where I live and can not find how the market here is doing. Can any local Agents tell me how this area looks for home values?

SERM "Search Engine Reputation Management"

SERM (Search Engine Reputation Management) has become a hot topic and a very interesting niche market in the world of SEO. Many people are very unfamiliar with this new concept and how it actually works. I will attempt to explain it here.

SERM are tactics that many companies use to proactively protect their brand names from untrue and damaging posts made by people whose only goal is to hurt and damage a company's reputation. Many times these lies and deceptive practices are spread through search engine searches. This same tactic is used by stalkers and harassment artists who are out to destroy a person's (or company's) reputation and good name.

Until recently, there was not a lot that could be done by a person or company to stop this horrific and cruel practice of deception. But thankfully a few states have passed new laws prohibiting this kind of behavior and made this tactic a felony. Where a few years ago a person had little to no recourse, a company or person can now sue and have the perpetrator put behind bars.

There are some things a company and person can do to limit the damage from this type of harassing behavior. You certainly do not want to ignore this and hope that the search engines will suddenly forget you exist. You will want to confront this type of harassment "head-on."

You may find that you need a lawyer to help you decide if there is some type of legal action you can take. In the event of a stalker or on-going harassment you will want to discuss your options with a lawyer.

When the matter is one of brand or name disparaging you will want to bury the offending posts. This can be done in many ways and certainly has many advantages. Most people do not go beyond the third or fourth page in search engine results. So blogging becomes even more important along with press releases. What you are trying to do here is bury the offending posts so no one will find them.

If the offending posts appear on any of the popular rating systems then address each post as you find them. Offer to correct the problem that the person is complaining about. Address any negative information that that may have made against you. Be very careful not to resort to name calling of any defaming behavior. You do not want to give this person a chance to sue you.

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions about SERM. We have a lawyer on staff that is always happy to answer any questions you many have about your situation.

Jacksonville, Fl area goes Nuclear! Well sorta!

It was announced today by Secretary of the Navy Donald Winter that one of the nuclear carriers in the Atlantic fleet will be moving to the Mayport Naval Station in Jacksonville, Florida. This was great news for the Northeast Florida/Southeast Georgia area.

This will mean thousands of new jobs for the area as well as a boon to the real estate market. These Navy men women not only will need homes and apartments but the local economy will get a nice boast. The carrier yet to be named has an on board crew of over three thousand.

St. Marys, GA where I live has a Navy Sub Base and is only about 30 miles up the road from Mayport.