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August 22, 2007
State Senate Passes
Foreclosure Prevention Measure
The Massachusetts State Senate unanimously passed a measure last month
to prevent foreclosures in the Bay State. The legislation would make
mortgage fraud a crime and require the licensing of all mortgage loan
originators. The bill also proposes a network of counseling and
education resources be set up to keep borrowers out of trouble.
Additionally, the proposed legislation would require lenders to provide
accurate information on the amount homeowners owe on their home and
in-person counseling for those who want an adjustable rate loan (ARM).
Homeowners who are late in paying or missed a mortgage payment would
have a 90-day grace period to do so without attorney’s fees being
imposed during that timeframe. A database would be created under the
Division of Banks to track the number of foreclosures and rate mortgage
lenders’ business and advertising practices as well.
Another component of the bill calls for state funds to be provided to
employers who offer housing assistance to their low- and moderate-income
employees. The measure also seeks the establishment of a fund to be
administered by the state Department of Housing and Community
Development that would provide a 50 percent state match to employers
offering housing assistance to employees. Individual employers would be
able to receive up to $100,000 a year while the fund would provide a
maximum of $5 million annually. The bill will now be sent to the House
of Representatives for consideration.
Minorities More
Worried About Housing Market
According to a recent Reuters/Zogby poll released last week, African
Americans and Hispanics are more worried about declining U.S. house
prices than whites. The survey was conducted in response to the crisis
in the subprime mortgage industry and was conducted during August 9-11
with 1,020 respondents.
Nearly 60 percent of African Americans and one-third of Hispanics said
they were very concerned about declining home prices compared to just
one-fifth or 19 percent of whites who participated in the survey.
Additionally, more than one in three African Americans and Hispanics
believe it’s more difficult to get a loan today than the same time a
year ago, compared with 11 percent of whites.
Notably, a study released earlier this year by several fair housing
agencies showed that in six major cities including Boston, black
borrowers were 3.8 times more likely than whites to receive a high-cost
home loan. Hispanics were 3.6 times more likely.
Also, this past March, a separate study was conducted to look
specifically at the Boston market, and revealed that high-income African
Americans are six to seven times more likely to have an expensive
mortgage than whites.
Approximately 70 percent of black and Hispanic borrowers in Greater
Boston with incomes between $92,000 and $152,000 took out mortgages with
high interest rates in 2005, according to the study.
Foreclosure rates have been on the rise breaking a record in the Bay
State this year. For more information on how to help your clients
avoid foreclosure, the Greater Boston Association of REALTORS® will be
offering a foreclosures class on October 16 from 8:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.
titled Foreclosure Opportunities for Buyer-Clients at Regis College.
See the calendar below for more details.
GBAR Members Win
Accolades in MAR Website Contest
The Massachusetts Association of REALTORS® recently announced the
winners of its 2007 Website Design
contest and we’re happy to say several are members of the Greater
Boston Association of REALTORS®! In fact, the top three winners in the
Broker/Office category are GBAR members:
Distinctive-Realty.com – This site won for its clean and simple
features as well as its user-friendly layout. Distinctive Realty, Inc.
is located in Marlborough, MA. Designated REALTOR® – Pamela Wellen.
LoftsBoston.com – the website from its parent company Maxwell
Associates in Boston. The company specializes in residential and
commercial lofts in Boston and uses a simple but elegant layout for the
website. With 20-50 pictures of each property listed, the site helps
consumers decide whether or not they want to look at a property in
person. Designated REALTOR® - Onnelly Parslow.
CharlesGateRealty.com, which is the work of Charlesgate Realty
Group, Inc. in Boston. The site gets a variety of visitors – from
buyers, sellers and renters to investors – and easily directs those
visitors to the right page. The “crisp and professional” site also
allows visitors to subscribe to newsletters and access real-time
mortgage rates. Designated REALTOR® - Philip Vineburgh.
Martocchia REALTORS® of Waltham received an honorable mention in the
category as well.
Three GBAR members also received Honorable Mention in the Individual
Agent Category.
Richard Drinkwater of Otis & Ahearn in Boston;
Bill Landry of Keller Williams Realty in South Easton; and
Elad Bushari of Gibson Sotheby’s International Realty in Boston.
Congratulations! The winners will be honored at MAR’s
Professional Awards Reception on October 10 and also featured in the
September/October issue of
Bay State REALTOR®.
Want to make technology work for you? GBAR will be offering two
technology courses in cooperation with Matthew Ferrara; see the story
below.
NAR Urges the Fed to
Combat Deceptive Lending Practices
The National Association of REALTORS® last week urged the Federal
Reserve System’s Board of Governors to adopt new regulations to “combat
unfair, deceptive and abusive mortgage lending acts and practices.”
In a
letter, NAR asked that pre-payment penalties be eliminated for all
categories of mortgages or if that option is not feasible, bar
pre-payment penalties for subprime mortgages and other mortgages where
abuses are found.
To protect borrowers, NAR also urged that subprime lenders be required
to mandate an escrow reserve for taxes and insurance. NAR recommended
that the Board implement tighter underwriting standards which would
require all mortgage originators to confirm a borrower’s repayment
ability.
Other highlights from NAR’s letter to the Board include:
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Adopt
anti-mortgage-flipping regulations that require lenders to verify that
the new loan provides a significant benefit to the borrower;
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Encourage lenders
to use alternative credit histories for borrowers with little or no
credit histories;
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Require all
institutional lenders to periodically report borrowers’ payment
histories to at least three national credit bureaus;
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Require lenders to
offer borrowers mortgage choices with interest rates and fees that
reflect the borrower’s credit risk;
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Work with the U.S.
Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to improve consumer
mortgage disclosure under the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA).
“We champion the principle that all mortgage originators should act in
good faith with fair dealings in all transactions, just as REALTORS® are
required by NAR’s Code of Ethics to treat all parties in the transaction
honestly,” wrote NAR President Pat V. Combs in her letter to the Board.
Mark
Your Calendars for GBAR CE Courses
GBAR has many exciting continuing education courses and programs
scheduled in the upcoming weeks. Here are some highlights:
9:30-11:30 a.m. – Offers
11:45 a.m. – 1:45 p.m. – Commonly Used Forms:
Optional/Mandatory
2:45 – 4:45 p.m. – Fair Housing
Cost: $45 single class/$105 all day
9:30 – 11:30 a.m. – Offers
11:45 a.m. – 2:15 p.m. – Quadrennial Ethics
2:45 – 4:45 p.m. – Lead Law
9:00 – 11:00 a.m. – Architecture
11:15 a.m. – 1:15 p.m. – Residential New Construction
2:00 – 4:00 p.m. – Foreclosures, Auctions & Estate Sales
Cost: $45 single class/$105 all day
Brand new ABR Elective!
(2 CE credits & ABR Elective credit)
8:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. at Regis College –
1st time offered in this area!
This class will help REALTORS® understand:
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The process of
foreclosure and how it occurs;
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Counseling
buyer-clients to help them avoid foreclosure proceedings;
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Working with
bank-owned real estate in pre- and post-foreclosure.
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Cost: $175
We’ll Make a
Techie Out of You – 2 New Tech Courses Offered
GBAR is excited to announce two technology courses being offered in
cooperation with Matthew Ferrara, CEO of
Matthew Ferrara Seminars,
Inc. He has been a driving force in real estate technology
innovation for more than 15 years and has also given more than 2,000
seminars around the globe.
10 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. – Natick Courtyard Marriott
Matthew Ferrara trains senior management and agents on how
to implement competitive technology practices into businesses. No
matter what your technology level is, Ferrara will make technology work
for you! Cost of the program is $150.
10 a.m. – 2 p.m. – Batterymarch Conference Center - Boston
This course is designed to help agents and brokers maximize
technology into everyday sales activities. Course topics include: the
Modern Consumer; Prospecting Online; Making Web Commercials; Ultimate
Open Houses and much more. Participants will receive a workbook, which
includes more than 75 pages of exercises, ideas and tips; an appendix of
common how-to activities for maximizing laptops, cameras, etc.; and
audio CDs packed with tips and tricks. Upon completion, participants
will receive Ferrara’s exclusive UTC certification.
Cost: $300. Online registration is currently available, to register
over the phone contact Kristin Langone at 617-399-7851. |
