The MERS Mess . . .

I'd be interested in your comments on a couple of videos from the guys at TkinkBigWorkSmall:

http://www.thinkbigworksmall.com/mypage/archive/1/53929

I have a message into my Title Officer to see whether MY CLIENTS who buy bank owned homes are protected by Title Insurance in the case of a broken chain of title. I'll let you know what she says. This would be for California which is not a judicial state. I don't know if that makes any difference in this or not. There is a law firm in Sacramento (I'm sure other places too), collecting clients who have been, or are in the process of being foreclosed upon to bring suit against their lending institutions. From what I hear, these cases have not been successful, it's leagal manuvering, but this HAS stalled transactions. (case in point - BofA has put a halt foreclosures in ALL 50 States). This has the potential to make a HUGE mess of the lending industry making it even harder and more expensive to get financing for our clients. NOT ONLY THAT, there is a bill before Congress (HR3808) that would indemnify Banks and mortgage processors from any liability in this "chain of title" mess. See this video from a couple of weeks ago too:

http://www.thinkbigworksmall.com/myp...chive/1/53413/

The videos explain things way better than I ever could. VERY interesting times. The story continues . . .

Fight Your Real Estate Property Tax Bill Without A Lawyer

More than 60 percent of U.S. homes are "over-assessed", says an industry trade group. Homeowners in Winters pay more in property taxes than they otherwise should have to.  You might be one of them.

Have you considered fighting your real estate tax bill?

In this 4-minute piece from The Today Show, you'll learn:

• When to file your tax bill dispute for the best chances of winning
• How to pull your "property card" and check for tax bill-raising errors
• What to do if the taxing authority turns down your request

Most importantly, you'll learn that don't need to hire an attorney to fight your tax bill.  You just need to be prepared.  Do your research and make your case. It's estimated that nearly half of all contesting homeowners are successful.