LIEB BLOG

Legal Analysts

Friday, August 23, 2013

Short Sales & Deeds in Lieu added to Hope LoanPort

In offering their organized and systematic portal from modifications to Deeds in Lieu and Short Sales hopefully homeowners will realize increased success.

Today, our firm received this email:
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Hello Hope LoanPort Partners,
We have responded to request from portal users by adding a robust processing platform for liquidation workouts, intended to match our existing functionality for retention workouts.  Such a liquidation portal requires significant development to not only allow for short sales and deeds in lieu as workout types, but also include system availability for liquidation-specific documents, statuses, and data fields.

We released a pilot program of the liquidation case type back in the spring.  We are now proceeding with a release of the Liquidation functionality for all registered housing counselors and authorized third-party representatives.  Effective with our upcoming system release on August 30, all counselors registered with the portal will have access to submit Liquidation cases.  This functionality will be limited to those select servicers who will be accepting these cases.

Participating Servicers: Select Portfolio Services; Nationstar; M&T Bank; Caliber; LoanCare; RCS; HSBC; Ocwen; Resurgent; Bayview

When processing a Liquidations case, users will need to be familiar with the enhancements to HLP, such as:

New Case Type: Liquidation
New Case Statuses: Property Listed, Offer Tendered, Short Sale Approved, Short Sale Denied, Offer Rejected, etc. (See PDF for full list*)
New Document Types: Listing Agreement, Appraisal, BPO, etc. (See PDF for full list*)
New Data Fields: Seller Realtor Name, List Price, Closing Date, Title Company, etc. (See PDF for full list*)
*A PDF overview of all items and can be viewed from this link.

We will be issuing system Release Notes in advance of the anticipated go-live date of August 30.

If you would like to request additional training on the liquidation case type, please contact Nora Conklin, Hope LoanPort Project Coordinator, at nconklin@hopeloanportal.org.
Sincerely,
Samantha Sue Friedman - Director of Product Development & Delivery
sfriedman@hopeloanportal.org
www.hopeloanportal.org

Monday, August 12, 2013

The Real Deal Prematurely Pronounces the Death of the Term "Licensed Real Estate Broker"

In an August 6, 2013 article, The Real Deal conclusively proclaimed that real estate brokers, associate brokers, and salespersons no longer have to place the term "licensed" in front of their license type.  Quoting Alfred Fazio of Capuder, Fazio, Giacoia, LLP, the article reasoned that "[i]t seemed particularly redundant to require agents to use 'licensed' before real estate salesperson, real estate associate broker, or real estate broker.  In a similar example, it would be as if requiring attorneys to advertise themselves as 'licensed.'"

Not so fast my friend.  While The Real Deal's advice is sound for a large percentage of situations where a salesperson or broker would describe their license type, brokers can't do away with the requirement altogether.  A Department of State Opinion Letter can interpret statutes or regulations, and the Department of State can issue and alter regulations; however, an Opinion Letter cannot override the express language of a statute instituted by the legislature.

RPL § 441-a(3) requires real estate brokers to "conspicuously post on the outside of the building in which [their place of business] is conducted a sign of sufficient size to be readable from the sidewalk indicating the name and the business of the applicant as a licensed real estate broker, unless said office shall be located in an office, apartment or hotel building, in which event the name and words 'licensed real estate broker' shall be posted in the space provided for posting of names and occupants of the building, other than the mail box."

Where does that leave us?  The Opinion Letter relieves brokers, associate brokers, and salespersons from the duty of including the term "licensed" in their advertising and other descriptions of their license type, but it cannot eliminate the explicit requirements of RPL § 441-a(3).  Real estate brokers, associate brokers, and salespersons can rejoice in the news that their business cards and for-sale signs can be one word shorter, but the industry can't throw away with the term "licensed" completely.  If you're a broker, you still need to have the full title "Licensed Real Estate Broker" displayed on the outside of your place of business.

Wednesday, August 07, 2013

The President: "A Better Bargain for the Middle Class: Housing"

When the President speaks on housing, its a must to know the facts. The Fact Sheet from the President's speech on August 5, 2013 lays out the following key goals:
  1. An increase in refinancing before interest rates go up 
  2. Cutting red tape
  3. Increasing home values by fixing our broken immigration system
  4. Helping the hardest hit communities rebuild
  5. Increasing decent & affordable options for renters
Of particular interest was the President's goal to put private capital at the center of the housing finance system by stating that current "government guarantees [of] more than 80% of all mortgages through Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and FHA, is unsustainable".