Keystone Morning Quickie October 12th 2009Market Commentary The Columbus Day holiday is starting off with a rise in the futures after a surprise profit from Phillips Electronics. The bond market will be closed today and their are no economic numbers on the calendar.The rise in the futures is also in response to the good economic data last week and the expectations that these numbers will continue to improve. From a trading perspective, we do not have much expectation for today’s trade.

Friday, October 9, 2009 Service Link, Fidelity National Financial’s national lender platform announced that George Schwartz, former managing director for Bank of America, has been named executive vice president and division president of default services. Mr. Schwartz will direct ServiceLink’s strategy for the company’s default services, including loss mitigation, title, closing and escrow, valuations, and asset management and disposition. Mr.

People have been asking about class actions. With a little bit of help at www.classadvocate.com I have come up with the following list. The one to watch is in Reno Nevada filed by Hager and Hearne. It covers Arizona, Nevada, and California. It has not been certified yet as a class action. I am involved as an expert witness in those cases (Lopez v Executive Trustee Services et al) and some other ones as well.

THE LONG FOSTER ® COMPANIES NAME NEW PRESIDENT AND COO Chantilly , Va. , September 3, 2009 — P. Wesley Foster, Jr. chairman of The Long Foster ® Companies announced today that Jeffrey S. Detwiler (47), has been selected as the new president and chief operating officer.  The Long Foster ® Companies is the parent company of Long Foster ® Real Estate, Inc., Prosperity Mortgage® Company, Walker Jackson® Mortgage Corporation, Long Foster® Settlement Services, and Long Foster® Insurance Agency, Inc.

The Wall Street Journal has another article about the real estate market, appraisers and the Home Valuation Code of Conduct (HVCC). It’s an interesting take with more tales of woe with a couple of interesting observations. Reappraising Home Appraisers After being blamed for helping to inflate home values during the housing boom, the appraisal business is again coming under fire. Squeezed by a drop in fees, some appraisers are compensating by driving long distances to handle more assignments.

Did Florida residents who purchased homes from housing giant KB Home ( NYSE: KBH ) fall victim to the same scheme home purchasers claim the housing giant used in California, Arizona and Nevada? Earlier this year, we filed cases in Arizona and California against KB Home claiming the homebuilder conspired with mortgage giant Countrywide and its appraisal subsidiary, LandSafe, to artificially inflate home appraisal values in an effort to push up home values.

Hagens Berman, the law firm representing homeowners in class-action lawsuits in Arizona and California against KB Home , Countrywide Financial and LandSafe Appraisal Services, is claiming the three conspired to illegally rig home appraisals in KB de …

Steve and Colleen found the ideal home, Along with 6 other people they made an offer equal to the 2 other top bids. Theirs was accepted due to comparative strength i.e. 20% down and over qualified. All went well and the appraisal was ordered through an Appraisal Management Company (AMC) as required by the new HVCC regulation. As a result of this the appraisal was allocated to a company located in a town 60 miles away on the next County. and was performed by someone with no knowledge of the community in which the property is located.

A Seattle law firm has filed a class-action lawsuit against KB Home, Countrywide Financial and LandSafe Appraisal Services for allegedly rigging appraisals in KB Home developments in California. Read More at San Diego Union-Tribune…

Home appraisals are an essential part of the home buying process. An independent appraisal is a safeguard for both the purchaser and the lender – it is an unbiased look at the value of a property. What happens, though, when you corrupt the process? What if a builder works in cahoots with a mortgage company who, by the way, owns an appraisal service? If you read our lawsuits against home-building giant KB Home , Countrywide Mortgage and its appraisal subsidiary LandSafe , you will see that consumers – homebuyers – suffer.

A law firm on Wednesday said two California homeowners filed a class action against KB Home, Countrywide Financial and LandSafe Appraisal Services, e 13 Vote(s)

Helping make homeownership a reality for your clients You’re invited to an Affordable Housing Summit. Join us as we explore key topics and mortgage alternatives in today’s residential lending environment. Date: June 12, 2009     Time: 9:00 a.m. –12:00 Noon (Continental breakfast provided) Location: Home Builders Association 544 Mayo Avenue Maitland, FL 32751 Hear about industry trends from these experts: Buz Ausley –U.S.

My latest article for Inman News spoke to the new rules for appraising properties ushered in through what is known as the Home Valuation Code of Conduct, or HVCC. The comments on that post and the firestorm of emails I received as a result all shared the same sentiment – bad idea. Since Inman is a subscriber news service, I can’t link. But at great personal risk (I am not, technically, supposed to republish since the content there is supposed to be “original”), I am going to reprint the article for our two readers here.

In 2004, years before plummeting real estate values turned Fort Myers, Florida, into a top five foreclosure capital, appraiser Mike Tipton faced a dilemma. Tipton’s employer, eAppraiseIT, sent him to value a two-bedroom home in a new subdivision built by the developer D.R. Horton. Paperwork given by the appraisal management company to Tipton included a $245,000 estimated value. But after inspecting the home and comparing it to five similar houses that had recently sold, Tipton set the value at $237,000, $8,000 less than the estimate.

In 2004, years before plummeting real estate values turned Fort Myers, Florida, into a top five foreclosure capital, appraiser Mike Tipton faced a dilemma. Tipton’s employer, eAppraiseIT, sent him to value a two-bedroom home in a new subdivision built by the developer D.R. Horton. Paperwork given by the appraisal management company to Tipton included a $245,000 estimated value. But after inspecting the home and comparing it to five similar houses that had recently sold, Tipton set the value at $237,000, $8,000 less than the estimate.

Cuomo’s office: “GSE’s knew they were buying loans with appraisal fraud…” By Teri Buhl Teri Buhl is an investigative journalist covering Wall Street who has written for the New York Post Sunday Business, HousingWire and Trader Monthly. Contact her at teribuhl@yahoo.com . Despite calls for reform, Countrywide is still showing signs of committing the same predatory lending sins under new owner Bank of America.

Hagens Berman, the law firm representing a group of homeowners in Arizona who filed a class-action lawsuit earlier this month against KB Home , Countrywide Financial and LandSafe Appraisal Services, claiming the three conspired to systematically, ar 3 Vote(s)

The story of appraisal hasn’t gotten much play in the housing crisis narrative, and this is a significant oversight. Several reports on IndyMac highlighted issues with appraisal, but for whatever reason none of them ignited into anything throwing of heat. Teri Buhl, familiar to Dealbreaker readers from Housing Wire , however, has been minding the store here. Despite calls for reform, Countrywide is still showing signs of committing the same predatory lending sins under new owner Bank of America.

April 11, 2009 I’m reading Richard Bitner’s book, Confessions of a Subprime Lender: An Insider’s Tale of Greed, Fraud, and Ignorance.The author started his own subprime lending company, Kellner Mortgage Investments, in 2000 and at its peak, it did about $250 million worth of mortgages a year.When he worked previously at Residential Funding Corporation, a division of GMAC, Bitner found his subprime loans were three to five times more profitable than any other loan he serviced.Bitner says subprimer borrowers are an interesting bunch — strippers, cons, pimps, thugs, in additional to just folks.

WOW! Big news day for the appraising business, folks! On Friday, Bank of America announced that it is purchasing Countrywide Home Loans for a mere $4 BILLION. The purchase is certainly to rescue Countrywide from bankruptcy after the crash of the sub prime housing market. For appraisers that have been long time Countrywide/Landsafe vendors, this raises some big questions.