David Funkhouser and Benjamin Nielsen, attorneys with Quarles & Brady LLP, recently warned in their Commercial Litigation Law Update that Arizona tax lien foreclosures are wreaking havoc on lenders and borrowers. Quarles & Brady represents many large banks and lenders, so it should come as little surprise that they are concerned about the impact of … [Read more…]
When it rains, it pours. The fallout from the artificially generated housing bubble and the attendant financial crisis is really starting to take hold against the various major players in the banking industry. It seems everyone with any stake in the mortgage meltdown, from individual home owners to purchasers of mortgage-backed securities, are seeking their … [Read more…]
A great article by Don Lee – Tribune Washington Bureau – highlights how underwater mortgages are a serious contributor to the dismal performance of the national economy. It is estimated that there are 15 million homeowners who are undewater on their mortgages, many of whom can and continue to pay on their mortgage, but have … [Read more…]
A San Diego police officer and his wife recently pleaded not guilty to accusations that they trashed their foreclosed home in Riverside County, taking $44,000 in appliances and fixtures with them when they moved out. Both have been charged with one felony count of damaging or carrying away items from a foreclosed property. Damage was … [Read more…]
MERS or the Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, little known before the foreclosure tsunami struck, was developed in the early 1990’s by a number of financial entities, including Bank of America, Countrywide, Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac, allegedly to allow consumers to pay less for mortgage loans, streamline the mortgage process through electronic commerce, and eliminate … [Read more…]
Let’s start out with this – I’m incensed today. The newest cottage industry to crop up in the wake of the foreclosure tsunami are the loan modifiers. Many of the most notorious loan modification companies were headed by the same individuals that were all to happy to originate loans that never should have been considered … [Read more…]
In one of my prior blog posts (April 6, 2010 – "Tax Lien Foreclosure: Ready, Willing, and Able to Redeem"), I wrote about an unpublished Memorandum Decision from the Arizona Court of Appeals, Division 2 – Leveraged Land, Montgomery, v. Hodges, 2 CA-CV 2009-0057. In that Decision, the Court overturned a default judgment that a tax … [Read more…]
Tax lien investors need to understand the importance of sub-taxing their tax liens in Arizona. When a tax lien investor purchases a tax lien at the February Pima County tax lien sale, for example, that investor then has the right to purchase the next year’s delinquent taxes if the owner does not pay the subsequent … [Read more…]
In the tax lien foreclosure world, appropriate service of process is absolutely crucial. Consider what is at stake in a tax lien foreclosure case – the potential forfeiture of the right of the owner of a property to pay off their delinquent property taxes, which practically speaking means the likely loss of their property. If … [Read more…]
It has been interesting to watch the transition in the State Land Department, whose long-standing mission has been "to enhance value and optimize economic return" for the State Land Trust. In practice, the Department has simply sold trust land to the highest bidder at public auction, which historically have been developers. Despite ongoing attempts at … [Read more…]