Consumer Fraud Alert!

ADVERTISING SUPPLEMENT
Southland Regional Association of Realtors®
Low-Cost, High-Service Provider
Don’t be fooled by misleading claims — SRAR remains the lowcost, high-service provider with dues that are substantially lower
than all of our neighboring associations.
Plus, other associations cannot compete with SRAR’s wide array of membership
services and benefits that are second to none, including: essential business tools,
free training and education, technology tools, like free websites, free IDX and
mobile IDX, and discounts on a host of products. Here are just a few examples of
the dozens of benefits SRAR offers its members:
Wendy Silver-Hale
2012 SRAR President
Bank Settlement
Details to Unfold
Over 6-9 Months
By Wendy Silver-Hale, President, and David Walker
Southland Regional Association of Realtors®
The landmark settlement between 49
state attorneys general, the federal
government and five major home loan
servicers is a three-year program that
is intended to help the most people
within the first year, but details of exactly how the program will help this
targeted group of home owners most
likely will not be fully unveiled for another six to nine months.
California will receive the lion’s share of the
estimated $25 billion settlement — capturing
nearly half that commitment — yet the funds
will be doled out first to the hardest hit communities, then to others who qualify for assistance.
Some reports urge owners to contact their
loan servicer right away, while others insist that
a call now is pointless because servicers will do
the contacting once ground rules are fully developed. Indeed, calls to some servicers yielded few
answers and a sense that many of the folks on the
other end of the phone, though well intended, are
waiting, just like consumers, for guidance on how
to proceed.
In a situation with so many questions and uncertainties, here’s a quick summary of what we do know
to date:
• Because of the complexity of the mortgage
www.NationalMortgageSettlement.com
California Attorney General — www.oag.ca.gov
Listingbook is a FREE member benefit at SRAR, which allows you to set up client
accounts. As a result, your client can search for listing data which allows you to
manage and keep updated on your clients’ every need.
Participating Mortgage Servicers
• Ally/GMAC — 800-766-4622
• Bank of America/Countrywide — 877-488-7814
• Citibank — 866-272-4749
• JPMorgan Chase/WaMu — 866-372-6901
• Wells Fargo/Wachovia — 800-288-3212
market and this agreement, borrowers will not
immediately know if they are eligible for relief.
According to the California Attorney General,
over the next six to nine months, the settlement
administrator, attorneys general and the mortgage servicers will work to identify homeowners
and customers.
Realtors Property Resource is a FREE member benefit at SRAR. RPR is an
online real estate library that provides members with valuable data on every
property in the United States – create custom reports to provide to clients
Immobel is a FREE business-to-business platform where you can share real
estate listings with other professional organizations worldwide directly from
your website. Plus, have your website translated into 13 different languages.
Point2 Agent is FREE listing syndication, which advertises your listings to over
300+ public websites. Just enter your listing once into SRAR’s CRISNet MLS and
your listing will automatically be syndicated — for Free.
Freddie Mac are not impacted by this settlement.
To learn if a loan is owned by either entity you
The Fannie Mae Short Sale Assistance Desk gives SRAR members FREE
may call 1-888-995-4673 or visit the following
direct access to professionals who can assist in handling post-offer short
sale issues that may relate to servicer responsiveness, the existence of a second lien, or issues
websites:
involving mortgage insurance.
www.fanniemae.com/loanlookup
www.freddiemac.com/mymortgage
For a full list of all benefits and services, click on the “Membership Tab” at www.SRAR.com.
These sites also
include links to
Haven’t paid your dues yet?
information about
While the deadline has passed for paying annual dues to the Southland Regional
existing mortgage
Association of Realtors, you can still bring your membership current. Just contact
and
foreclosure
the membership department at 818-947-2201. Dues can be paid via snail mail,
programs that may
FAX or online at www.SRAR.com by clicking on the “pay dues” button.
help these owners.
And, like our neighboring associations, SRAR welcomes new members and may
• The settlement
waive application fees.
is supposed to provide assistance for
homeowners needing loan modifications now, including first and
second lien principal reduction. State attorneys
Learn the fundamentals of commercial real estate financial analysis for
general hope the settlement’s requirement for
investment sales opportunities at a free seminar offered as a member benprincipal reduction will show lenders that prin-
efit of the Southland Regional Association of Realtors.
cipal reduction is one effective tool in combating
The Wednesday, March 14, member benefit promotion will be offered from 10 a.m. to
foreclosure and that it will not lead to widespread
noon in the SRAR auditorium, located at 7232 Balboa
Blvd., Van Nuys, just north of
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defaults by borrowers who really can afford to pay.
Sherman Way. A required RSVP must be emailed to [email protected].
• Some borrowers who are current, but unBrendan Erickson, vice presidentof REI Wise, will highlight the REI Wise
derwater, will be able to refinance at today’s historically low interest rates. Servicers will have to
global software
platform that has 10,000
current users and is the platform
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
provide up to $3 billion in refinancing relief naof choice in over 3,000
commerical real estate offices. Attendees will take

tionwide, a pittance compared to the need.
away: 
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• For borrowers who lost their home to fore• A better understanding of financial
 analysis and how to walk the walk
closure between Jan. 1, 2008, and Dec. 31, 2011,
and
talk
the
talk
of
investment
cycles
 and valuation snapshots • The GRM

a settlement administrator designated by the atand who uses it • The CAP rate, its functions, benefits
and downfall • The DCR and

torneys general will send claim forms to persons
who uses it • Cash on cash • The internal rate of
return.

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eligible for cash restitution.
The entire program, including discussion andQ&A sessions, highlights the benefits
• For loan modifications and refinance op- 
to attendees who use the REI Wise toolbox in pursuit
of professional understanding and

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tions, borrowers may be contacted directly by one
financial
success.

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of the five participating mortgage servicers.
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The National Mortgage Settlement website, 
provides links to each of the mortgage servicers, 
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some of whom already offer instructions on how
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to proceed or how to schedule one-on-one inter- 
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
views. The web address is listed on this page.

Calls to some servicers yielded …
a sense that many of the folks on
the other end of the phone … are
waiting, just like consumers, for
guidance on how to proceed
eligible for the immediate cash payments, principal reductions and refinancing. They say that
those who are eligible will receive letters.
• The settlement targets a relatively thin slice
of existing home owners or those who have already lost their homes and were victims of abusive practices. Loans owned by Fannie Mae or
Consumer Fraud Alert!
Scammers are already at work trying to capitalize on the national mortgage settlement
to access home owners’ personal information — and their money. State attorneys general have received reports of scammers calling borrowers claiming to represent one of
the major banks involved in the settlement and offering a cash payment to consumers if
they simply provide one crucial piece of information — the routing number to access their
bank account. Don't do it!
Here are several ways for home owners to identify scams, especially those claiming to represent
a major bank:
• If they ask an owner for the name of the loan servicer, they may be a scammer. A legitimate
caller from the loan servicer would already have that info.
• Same goes for an owner’s personal information. The caller should already have pertinent information. Owners should never provide personal information — especially not bank account numbers
and social security numbers — to an unsolicited caller.
• Does the caller offer to speed an owner’s settlement relief for a fee? If “yes, they are definitely a scammer! Neither the banks nor the attorneys general will charge a fee to speed a settlement. If an owner wants to confirm that the caller is legitimate, ask for their contact information,
confirm the bank’s hotline number, then call them back. If it’s a scam, they most likely will not want
owners to check on them and may not provide contact information.
Fundamentals of Commercial R.E. Financial Analysis
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The Southland Regional Association of Realtors® is one of the
largest local trade associations in the nation with more than 9,000
members serving the San Fernando and Santa Clarita Valleys.
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Wendy Silver-Hale,
SRAR
2012
President,
[email protected]
 c/o
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The Voice FOR Real Estate in the San Fernando and Santa Clarita Valleys
www.SRAR.com | Real Estate Questions? E-mail