FROM THE REAL ESTATE TRENCHES

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By  Charlotte Reed,  Realtor, SRES, CRS
 
Real Estate is my business…my only business
 
A weekly column that focuses on Real Estate news that will have an impact on buyers and sellers of real estate in San Diego East County.
 
February 13, 2012 (San Diego’s East County) -- This week’s top real estate stories are:
 
  •         Big Bank/Feds settlement
  •         Free Homeowners counseling
  •        Weekly ESDCAR meeting 
Big banks settlement
 
Forty nine states attorneys general and the Federal Government have accepted a settlement in the suit brought against the major banks for flawed and fraudulent practices. 
 
California State Attorney General, Kamala Harris pulled out of talks with the banks last fall, stating that the amount  being offered  to California was “grossly insufficient.”  On Thursday, she held a press conference to announce that California will receive about $18 million (up from the original 2 – 3 billion offered) dollars from the expected $40 billion in total benefits that are expected from the $25 billion settlement  leaving  Oklahoma as the only state that refused to accept the settlement.  
                                                                                
This $26 billion dollar settlement over flawed and fraudulent practices is the largest since the tobacco settlement in 1998.  These practices affected several million homeowners and became the accepted way of dealing with foreclosures during the recent years. The hope is that it will force lenders to rethink the way they have up until now dealt with struggling mortgage holders and the habit of continuing to work on foreclosure proceedings while negotiating loan modifications.
 
The settlement should be filed in a federal court within a few weeks.  After approval, banks will begin to deposit money into a trust account to be distributed to qualified homeowners and former homeowners.  For complete details of the settlement go to www.NationalMortgageSettlement.com
 
Free Homeowners Counseling
 
A free homeowners  counseling class will be held  at the Bonita Library Saturday 25, 2012 from 10  - 2 PM.    4375 Bonita Rd. Bonita, CA  91902  homeclinic@housingclooaborative.org
 
The Housing Opportunities Collaborative, along with the Bonita Library, East San Diego County Association of Realtors, and the Legal Aide Society of San Diego (a Pro Bono Program) invite real estate professionals and distressed homeowners to attend this free Home Clinic.
 
The weekly ESDCAR members meeting
 
The Joe Blanchard Regency Room at the ESDCAR was again filled to capacity with Realtors, Mortgage Representatives, Title Representatives and other real estate service representatives.  This week’s invited vender was Bill Evans, one of the owners of Termite Advisors, who along with his assistant, served a fabulous breakfast to the  attendees.  After the power point presentations of homes to be viewed on Thursday, there was the usual  “tech minute”, amusingly, if not always readily understood, by Darel Handley and the “Marketing minute” by Sean Purcell.  The CEO, R Allen Smith, reported on the Merger progress and upcoming continuing educations opportunities were announced.
 
There continues to be a prevailing optimistic outlook from everyone.  The real estate market is perceived by most to be making a slow turn for the best.

Charlotte Reed is a Realtor with Windermere SoCal Real Estate in La Mesa.  She can be reached at (619) 997-7333 or CharlotteReed@Cox.net 


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