Last week, at the Inman Connect conference, I got into a rather interesting — if dry and technical for non-lawyer types — discussion with Brian Larson about whether MLS could escape being classified as a public utility. I’m not going to go into that, since that discussion tends to have a lot to do with … Read more
A mere six days ago, NAR’s Chief Economist (and my doppelganger) Lawrence Yun released this cheery video forecast on housing for the remainder of the year: Lawrence is predicting a slight pickup for 2011 over 2010; he thinks the second half of this year will be better than the second half of last year. New … Read more
Apparently, some legislators in South Dakota are pulling a political stunt by introducing a bill to require that all adults buy a gun upon turning 21. I say it’s a political stunt because the whole point of the exercise apparently is to say that Obamacare is unconstitutional, just like a an individual mandate to buy … Read more
Since not everyone who reads Notorious checks out my blogging on 7DS… I’d really like your thoughts on my last two posts. They’re scaring the crap out of me, and I’d love to get any counter-arguments or counter-evidence. Here they are: Title Issues in Foreclosuregate Foreclosuregate and Systemic Risk Thanks, -rsh
Coming off of an awesome, Hall-of-Fame type of year in which I batted .600 in predictions (or, alternatively, a year in which I only got 6 out of 10 predictions even remotely close to right, and hence am a big #FAIL), I thought I would don the Nostradamus hat once again and make foolish predictions … Read more
A couple of weeks ago, I wrote that if you have a REO or short sale practice, you want to pay attention to some legal cases going on around the country: Trouble is, MERS might lack legal standing to bring a foreclosure action. At least, that’s what the attorneys for the homeowners who are getting … Read more
NAR has finally gone to the mattresses over Federal policy. Some time ago, I wrote that the mortgage interest deduction may be phased out or limited as part of Obama Administration’s new “sustainable housing” policy. At the time, I’ve heard quite a few people say, “It’ll never happen”. The thought was that the public loves … Read more
From the dusty files of the excruciating minutiae of bankruptcy court proceedings (courtesy of the NY Times) comes this story: But while banks may have booted a few robo-signers and tightened up some lax procedures, one question at the heart of the foreclosure mess refuses to go away: whether institutions trying to take back a … Read more
My friend Matt Dollinger recently commented on a post by the longtime real estate expert Steve Harney. Both were commenting on the doom & gloom article from Time Magazine on how homeownership is overrated. Steve Harney rightfully takes Time to task: Again, they are simply arguing a miniscule point of an extensive research paper that … Read more