Jeffrey Allen Herald, 49 of Phoenix Arizona, was indited on October 19th on two counts of fraud and artifices and one count of theft for providing unlicensed legal and mortgage services.
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Lawrence Yun, senior economist for the National Association of Realtors, predicts home sales will turn around in early 2008. She states this is due to more favorable conditions in the current mortgage market.
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It’s been called a meltdown, an implosion, an all-out crisis of unprecedented proportion.
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When Josh and Summer Adams moved to Utah earlier this summer, they hoped to buy a house for their growing family.
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It could be a long, dry summer for home sellers at the top end of the Utah housing market.
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Utah leads the nation in home price appreciation, even as much of the rest of the country ekes out some of the slowest gains in a decade.
Enjoy it while it lasts, Utah mortgage holders.
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Houses in Tooele County, Utah, were selling well above appraised values during a fast and furious 2006, but prices appear to have peaked earlier this year, making buyers more cautious.
Georgia no longer leads the nation in cases of reported mortgage fraud. Read the rest of this entry »
According to one research group, the Utah housing market is the worst in the country when it comes to mortgage fraud.
And, sadly, many people don’t realize they’re being scammed until it’s too late.
In fact, you may be wondering, what can people do to keep from becoming victims of Utah mortgage fraud?
The state says check out the people you do business with: check licenses, call the state ask if they’ve had complaints on this particular real estate agent or lender. However, there’s no real way to explain why so many have gotten away with mortgage loan fraud in this state. For example …
Sean Anderson was sold on a deal to build a house and earn fast equity.
“It sounded like a great deal,” says Sean. “They hooked us up with the mortgage company, hooked us up with the appraisal, which came in um at $464,000. And I built the house for $425,000.”
Sean was told he could use the equity to make the payments. What he didn’t know was the agent and lender used an inflated appraisal.
“I can’t make the payments,” says Sean. “There was no equity.”
Cases like Sean’s put Utah at the top for mortgage fraud.
“We’re disappointed, the numbers are unacceptable,” says Francine Giani with the Utah Department of Commerce.
The state says people need to make sure they work with licensed realtors and lenders. And beware of fake sales pitches.
“Telling you sign this application and we can inflate what you make and all those kinds of things. Those are all illegal activities and people need to question that,” Giani said.
Michael Blackburn tracks home loan fraud in Utah. He knows one reason it’s so common.
“A lot of times when you do find someone who’s convicted of mortgage fraud here in the state of Utah, the sentences are very, very lenient,” says Blackburn.
Francine Giani says the state is trying to change that with new laws: “We’re looking forward to working with county attorneys, as well as the Attorney General’s Office and even the U.S. Attorney to try to put some of these people in jail.”
But that won’t help Sean.
“Well, right now I’m into this over $100,000,” Sean said.
Those that sought a Utah mortgage three years ago? They were faced with homes depreciating at record rates.
Now, however, the state’s home price appreciation - the worst in the country in 2003 - is the best nationwide.
Home prices statewide rose 17.6% from the fourth quarter of 2005 to the same quarter of 2006, according to a report released this week by the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, a government agency that tracks housing values.
Nationally, home prices rose only 5.9% during that time period, reflecting the downturn seen in cities that have experienced a rapid run-up in prices in recent years. Meanwhile, housing prices in all of the Utah housing markets posted major gains in the past year.
The Provo-Orem metropolitan area had the third-highest appreciation among 282 cities in the survey, with a 19.9% increase in home values. Other figures include:
The increases over the past year alone have made it increasingly difficult for mortgage loan borrowers to find homes - or condominiums - in the Salt Lake Valley that sell for less than $200,000.
In Salt Lake County, median selling prices are $225,000, according to 2006 data from the Salt Lake Board of Realtors. Utah County’s median is $212,900, followed by Davis County ($197,500.) However, regions are still fairly affordable Utah mortgage rates are expected to fall as the year progresses.
Nevertheless, strong home value gains in the state undoubtedly have made it more difficult for some families, especially those with low and moderate incomes, to buy their first home now. But many other families have benefited from the home-price appreciation — especially those who purchased their properties several years ago.
The Wasatch Front housing market last peaked in the early to mid-1990s, when home sales, buoyed by the state’s strong economy and job growth, rose dramatically and values increased by a larger margin than any other state. By the late-1990s, though, the market had slowed considerably, and in the years that followed, housing values in many areas of the state barely budged or increased only slightly.
By 2005, home prices began to climb once again as Utah’s economy began to boom. Much of Utah’s current real estate boom has to do with the state’s strong job market, said Andrew Leventis, economist with Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight. Job growth in the state, among the highest nationally, is expected to continue strong through this year and next.
“Employment and house prices are closely linked,” Leventis said.
SOURCE: RISMedia