Goodbye, Creditor’s Rights Endorsement.
So, Goodbye Creditor’s Rights Endorsement. We never needed you anyway.
Prepaid Legal Service’s Top 5 Request Categories.
Posted by Cliff Tuttle © 2010
A large prepaid legal service provider, Prepaid Legal Services, Inc., published its list of the top 5 categories of requests for its services last year. They are:
Real Estate, Landlord/Tenant Issues and Foreclosure – Approximately 358,000 requests for legal services that include residential and commercial real estate transactions, landlord and tenant issues [...]
Swinging For the Fences.
Posted by Cliff Tuttle (c) 2010
Were you surprised when Allegheny County assessed the Rivers Casino at a whopping $199 Million? According to the Pittsburgh Post Gazette, it is the highest assessment of any casino in the state.
Actually, one wonders what the calculation that brought about the $199 Million assessment figure looks like. Remember, Allegheny County [...]
Certificate of Residence revised by Department of Real Estate in Allegheny County
Poted by Cliff Tuttle (c) 2010
The Department of Real Estate in Allegheny County is now requiring separate certifications of the “Tax Bill Address” and the Owner’s Mailing Address. Samples of the form are available at the recording desk, but it is really no mystery what is being required. Just tell them the address to send [...]
Florida to Mediate Mortgage Foreclosures.
Posted by Cliff Tuttle
April Charney, a legal services lawyer in Jacksonville Florida who has been a leader in mortgage foreclosure defense, reported the following on a real estate listserve known as Dirt:
The attached Administrative Order was entered by the Florida Supreme
Court and is now online. In the order, which sets up mediation for
homestead (and other) [...]
Pittsburgh Legal Newslog: Foreclosure Mediation in Allegheny County has Saved 200 this Year.
Posted by Cliff Tuttle
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, December 26, 2009.
In Denial and Sticking to It.
It is an interesting psychological phenomenon that fear of loss is far more motivating than hope of gain. The people who are going to absorb the economic burden of a changing system will become politically motivated while those who stand to have a reduction in assessments remain indifferent and politically unorganized. This has happened in the recent past. Spot reassessments in Mt. Lebanon and Sewickley, seen as an expedient to balance the county budget created such a groundswell that the Republicans were swept into office for the first time since 1932. Onorato can see that coming again if he energizes the opposition by making the wrong political move.
Home Improvement Contractor Registration Deadline Arrives in PA
Among other things, a home improvement contractor must display the state registration number on trucks used in the business and have written contracts containing certain information. The AG’s website has all of the details.
REAL ESTATE: Common Level Ratio Factor Changes on July 1
This is the first time this factor has decreased for Allegheny County since 2003. It had been 1.00 in 2001, reflecting the 2000 reassessment, which was by definition at 100% of fmv. Then, in 2002, the CLR factor shot up to 1.06.
MERS Says It Will Notify Residential Mortgagors of Transfers.
Posted by Cliff Tuttle (c) 2009
Mortgage Electronic Recording Systems (MERS), the entity that keeps electronic records of assignments of mortgages, announced in a recent press release that it will notify mortgagors of residential properties of transfers of ownership, in compliance with 2009 amendments to Federal Truth In Lending requirements. It should be noted that many [...]