The Craziness Just Doesn’t Stop….

Latest file with title problems: The owner got title to Gilmer County property in 1980. After running title we discover-the vesting Warranty Deed is recorded in……. the wrong county (don’t ask how long it to find that out); there is a Quit Claim Deed from the owner to the Owner’s Trust that is missing a witness (and therefore should have never been recorded); a Certification of Trust is recorded naming the Trustees but not saying if the three Trustees can sign individually or must sign all together, so we have to track down the Michigan attorney that drafted the trust Agreement; and finally, (what has made my day) I get a call that says the well may be contaminated and we don’t know if we will close or not?

            Can anyone give me directions to the nearest Drugstore?

Mortgage Companies-Only in America

These are truly some strange financial times. We have seen lenders losing billions of dollars but still paying employees million dollar bonuses. Lenders are foreclosing on properties when the borrowers can bring the loan current, but the lender would rather foreclose and lose money than let it stay with the borrower. Applicants with good credit and collateral are being denied new loans despite their financial worthiness.

I have a “strange but true” story to share. Borrowers with a high interest rate decide to refinance. They make application with the lender that has the current loan on their home (“Lender A”). The owners go through the application and approval process only to be denied. Their denial letter says they are not qualified under current lending criteria.

Being determined to get a new loan with a much lower interest rate, the owners file a new application with a different lender (“Lender B”). After a few weeks and jumping through a few hoops with the new lender and its application and approval process, they are approved for a new loan at the much lower interest rate. Happy with their new lender, their new loan and the efforts that they put in to get approved, the owners close on their new loan.

A few short weeks later, they are preparing to make the first payment on their new loan to Lender B. A letter is received from Lender B which states that they are NOT to make their payments to Lender B. Their new loan has been sold and transferred. Instead, they are requested to please make all payments of their new loan to the new assigned lender…Lender A!

So after all is said and done, they continued to make their payments to their old lender (Lender A) who had denied the refinance of their loan stating they weren’t qualified…but Lender A bought the new loan because Lender B had a good loan to sell! Only in America…

a real feeling of Loss

A friend died today. It was expected but it wasn't. He had been fighting Stage 4 lung cancer for about 4 years. He had originally been given 6 months but he was a fighter. Funny (?) thing is he never smoked. He had been a missionary to Hong Kong for about 25 years and I can't help but think that maybe it was all the "second-hand" smoke. (It seems like all Asians like to smoke.) He sang in the church choir with me and he had a wicked sense of humor. I visited with him last Thursday, not knowing it would be the last visit. Although he was in Hospice, I really thought he had several more months left.

Many of you  have expressed concern and sympathy for my secretary who lost her only child in an accident last month. I know she appreciates your experssions of support. There is NEVER a thing you can do to help someone who is deep in grief-except be present at the appropriate times and let the one left behind know how much they are all loved.

It makes you realise how important family and friends are. It also means we all need to live as lives to the fullest. 

What if Banks....

I was watching CNBC business channel today when I heard a great idea. Why not refinance all the people who have been making their payments faithfully without missing any. Under the current bank rules they want you to have 20% equity in your property. The appraisal has to show that you have this equity. However, since the bank is already on the hook for the money, who cares if the borrower is upside down on his loan if he is making his payments in full and on time. So let's reward the good guys. Refinance the good guys, lower their rates and put more money in their pockets. Thay way they will also have more money to spend to help the economy.

Banks don't get it...never did

Bank Seized-again

There was another bank failure in north Georgia recently. On July 23, 2010, Crescent Bank of Jasper was seized by the FDIC and was reopened as Renasant Bank, which is out of Mississippi. Crescent Bank had approximately $1 billion dollars in assets. With the acquisition, Renasant Bank will be operating the 11 branches of Crescent Bank across north Georgia .


Crescent Bank was an active mortgage broker in the north Georgia area. It remains to be seen how the acquisition by Renasant Bank will affect it’s mortgage operations.

copy this

The Georgia legislature finally left office in April. As someone once said, "No one is safe when the legislature is in session." One of the issues they dealt with was the budget shortfall. State revenues have been falling since this recession began. So the legislature thought it would be a good idea to raise the cost of copying court documents.

If you go to the courthouse to get a copy of your deed or plat, it is going to cost you more-much more. The copy charge went from 25 cents ($.25) to 50 cents ($0.50) per page. If a party in a lawsuit wants to appeal a judgment or verdict to a higher court, the cost of copying the transcript to send to the higher court went from a dollar and fifty cents a page ($1.50) to ten dollars ($10.00) a page. A copy of a transcript that would have cost $750 has now gone to $5000.00. This is cost prohibitive.

This is also cutting off your nose to spite your face. What will happen is that people will make less copies. Only those copies that are essential will now be copied. The copy fees can go up but the number of copies can be regulated by the consumer.

As for the transcript costs, the Georgia Supreme Court acted to modify the costs. Now, instead of having to copy an entire transcipt to appeal a judgment or verdict, the parties can get together with the Clerk of the Court and copy only those pages that relate to the part of the verdict or the legal issue that is being appealed.

Maybe the legislature will act again to remedy this situation and maybe, this time, they will use some common sense.

Hot Summer

It is a hot summer and I hate the heat. That's why I live in the mountains-to get away from the heat. If I had my way there would be three seasons-spring, fall and winter.

I had more consultations (counseling sessions) with people today about foreclosures. I'm spending a lot of my time now counseling peoople in dire financial situations. I do what I can to help them but there are a limited number of options. Usually there may be things we can do to "buy time' but I hesitate to reccomend that course of action if, at the end of the time delay, there is no way they will be able to recover and not end up again where they are now.

One sad note is that I learned today that a fellow real estate attorney I know in Atlanta has lost his house and his law practice. He is now working for another law firm wtih long hours and little pay. These times are tough for all of us. Hopefully ..... soon?