The omnibus housing bill, otherwise officially know as Foreclosure Prevention Act of 2008, passed  in a 72-13 vote Saturday (July 26, 2008), the Senate concurred with previous House amendments to HR 3221.
In effect, the passing of this bill, grants the Bush administration’s request to give the Treasury Department the temporary authority to buy an unlimited amount of the […]

Effective June 1, 2008 Maryland Senate Bill 363 went into effect, basically eliminating all lenders from closing any Alt Doc loans (NINA, NO RATIO, STATED Loans) where income has not been documented to show the borrowers can afford the monthly payments.
Maryland is the fourth State (West Virginia, Minnesota, and Ohio) to pass this type of […]

Amongst all the clutter (and there is surely tons of clutter in the news these days), here is some truly worthwhile reading regarding: “Why a Housing Bailout Won’t Help,” from the Wall Street Journal’s Holman Jenkins, Jr.
Most of us have read the anti-bailout arguments. What makes this piece so very interesting is Holman’s analysis of […]

July 1st is almost upon us. And in the current edition of the Maryland Register, the State Department of Assessments and Taxation (SDAT) has published its proposed regulations to implement the recordation and transfer taxes on the transfer of a controlling interest in a real property entity. Have  the loopholes been closed?

This issue is not one of first impression […]

Here is somthing to ponder. Is it possiblle. Will we still be talking about the mortgage meltdown and housing slump in 2018?
According to Matt Carter in his Inman Blog the answer is YES.
He highlights how analysts at JP Morgan say the credit crunch will affect the structure of financial markets and pricing for […]

Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (otherwise know as “RESPA”) reform is back, and in a big way. On Friday, March 14, 2008, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (“HUD”) published its proposed regulations to reform RESPA. 
Ironically, HUD partially titles its rule a “Proposed Rule to Simplify and Improve the Process of Obtaining […]

As reported in the Baltimore Business Journal today, Fannie Mae – the Washington, D.C.-based mortgage giant – is setting new rules about what mortgages it will buy.
These new underwriting guidelines will have a huge impact on the number of people who will get loans and the amount of business that flows through the real estate, banking, […]

As reported by Matt Carter of Inman News, the Bush administration on Monday, March 31, 2008 — in reaction to the financial and real estate markets collapse — has put forward a sweeping plan for reorganizing the regulation of the financial system that would include national licensing standards for mortgage brokers and the elimination of […]

The Maryland Daily Record just reported that “a bill that would allow Maryland banks to collect closing costs from customers who pay off loans early moved closer to final passage … after a contentious debate.” Apparently there’s no free lunch. It makes sense, but is is legal? It will be, if this piece of legislation […]

As stated in our earlier Blog posting of December 28, 2007, Maryland withholding tax requirements for non-resident entities changed, effective October 22, 2007. It’s very important to note that the regulations were revised to alter the definitions of resident and non-resident entities, as well.  Previously, a non-resident entity could qualify or register to do business in Maryland […]