{"id":4109,"date":"2008-08-26T18:48:07","date_gmt":"2008-08-27T01:48:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/?p=4109"},"modified":"2008-08-26T18:48:07","modified_gmt":"2008-08-27T01:48:07","slug":"the-first-rule-of-fraud-club-is-dont-talk-about-fraud-club","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/4109\/the-first-rule-of-fraud-club-is-dont-talk-about-fraud-club\/","title":{"rendered":"The First Rule of Fraud Club Is, Don’t Talk About Fraud Club"},"content":{"rendered":"

Well, it looks like the Down Payment Assistance Programs are dead.\u00a0 Countrywide is usually the bellwether for any\u00a0 “out on a limb” lending and they sent me an e-mail today, telling me to “get my deals in” by Friday.\u00a0 Specifically, my down payment assistance transactions have to be locked by Friday and approved by a DE underwriter on Monday.\u00a0 Files are taking 3-4 days in underwriting so for all practical purposes, I’m out of the down payment assistance business as of 5PM, today.<\/p>\n

That’s okay.\u00a0 I haven’t used these programs since 9-11 so I won’t miss out.\u00a0 Lower end home prices might get walloped next month, as the pool of unsuspecting buyers disappears, but we might just have a few more tricks up our sleeve.<\/p>\n

Did you understand how those programs worked?\u00a0 You can read about how we got around the\u00a0 law by calling sellers “owners of participating homes” here<\/a>.\u00a0 If it sounds a lot like the disclaimer that escorts use<\/a> (escorts sell time; what happens between consenting adults is private), it’s because the same principle of “winking” at the law is employed.<\/p>\n

The Rules of Fraud Club:<\/strong><\/p>\n

The first rule of Fraud Club is, don’t talk about Fraud Club.<\/p>\n

The second rule is, you DO NOT talk about Fraud Club.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It would appear that this movie is about over.\u00a0 But wait, there’s a sequel!\u00a0 This one is called the First-Time Home Buyer Tax Credit<\/a>.\u00a0 Essentially, it’s a $7,500 tax credit, that must be repaid, over 15 years to the Federal Government.\u00a0 If you’re buying a $200,000 home, that $7,500 covers your downpayment for a FHA loan.\u00a0 While “borrowing” downpayment monies are disallowed on loan programs, the first-time homebuyer tax credit is essentially an interest-free, government loan.\u00a0 The problem with this “trick” is that the buyers can’t get that credit BEFORE they close on the new home.<\/p>\n

Hmmm…now, how do we get that money into the buyers’ pockets before April 15, 2009?\u00a0 I’ll bet that the downpayment assistance charities will find a way.\u00a0 Look for Nehemiah and AmeriDream to morph into “tax refund lenders”, some time this fall.\u00a0 Why?<\/p>\n

Because, everyone knows the last two rules of Fraud Club<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

This Read more<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Well, it looks like the Down Payment Assistance Programs are dead.\u00a0 Countrywide is usually the bellwether for any\u00a0 “out on a limb” lending and they sent me an e-mail today, telling me to “get my deals in” by Friday.\u00a0 Specifically, my down payment assistance transactions have to be locked by Friday and approved by a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-4109","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"hentry","6":"category-real-estate","8":"no-featured-image"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4448,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/4448\/bloodhound-blog-radio-nehemiah-down-payment-assistance-program\/","url_meta":{"origin":4109,"position":0},"title":"Bloodhound Blog Radio: Nehemiah Down Payment Assistance Program","author":"Brian Brady","date":"September 15, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Our guest on Bloodhound Blog Radio, this week, was Ronda Green, area manager with the Nehemiah Down Payment Assistance Program. Listen to the full episode here. We opened up the program announcing that we can be found on iTunes as \"Radio Mortgage\" .\u00a0 All episodes will be available here, on\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Interview"","block_context":{"text":"Interview","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/interview\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4311,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/4311\/a-reprieve-for-seller-down-payment-assistance-programs-brian-brady-has-the-inside-track\/","url_meta":{"origin":4109,"position":1},"title":"A reprieve for seller-paid down-payment assistance programs? Brian Brady has the inside track","author":"Greg Swann","date":"September 9, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Inman News is reporting today on a possible reprieve for seller-paid down-payment assistance programs like AmeriDream and Nehemiah. As you will recall, Brian Brady gave you the heads-up on this initiative on August 27th. Brian will be checking in shortly with details of his schmoozing adventures with Barney Frank's kitchen\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Lending"","block_context":{"text":"Lending","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/lending\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2618,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/2618\/down-payment-assistance-is-another-creative-financing-option-you-can-deploy-to-make-sure-yours-is-the-home-that-sells\/","url_meta":{"origin":4109,"position":2},"title":"Down Payment Assistance is another creative financing option you can deploy to make sure yours is the home that sells","author":"Greg Swann","date":"February 19, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"This is my column for this week from the Arizona Republic (permanent link): \u00a0Down Payment Assistance is another creative financing option you can deploy to make sure yours is the home that sells It's a hard world for home sellers right now. It's possible that things are slowly getting better,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Lending"","block_context":{"text":"Lending","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/lending\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2602,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/2602\/city-of-los-angeles-tenant-relocation-assistance\/","url_meta":{"origin":4109,"position":3},"title":"City of Los Angeles Tenant Relocation Assistance","author":"Cheryl Johnson","date":"February 15, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Rent Control took effect in the City of Los Angeles in 1979.\u00a0 In February, 1986,\u00a0provision for tenant relocation assistance was added by amendment.\u00a0 For the purpose of relocation assistance, the ordinance recognizes two categories of tenants:\u00a0 Eligible - which is basically everyone, and Qualified - which is any tenant with\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Investment"","block_context":{"text":"Investment","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/investment\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4128,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/4128\/racing-the-clock-on-dpa-programs-will-the-dems-save-the-day\/","url_meta":{"origin":4109,"position":4},"title":"Racing the Clock on DPA Programs: Will The Dems Save the Day?","author":"Brian Brady","date":"August 27, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"I had some fun, yesterday, with a report about the down payment assistance ban and the First-Time Homebuyer Tax Credit.\u00a0 I poked fun at the hypocritical nature of the Down Payment Assistance Programs and speculated that the Tax Credit might be collateral for a \"tax refund loan\", thereby, facilitating the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Real Estate"","block_context":{"text":"Real Estate","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/real-estate\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4234,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/4234\/august-was-a-great-month-for-real-estate-sales-but-when-40-of-buyers-are-pushed-off-the-playing-field-home-prices-could-plummet\/","url_meta":{"origin":4109,"position":5},"title":"August was a great month for real estate sales, but when 40% of buyers are pushed off the playing field, home prices could plummet","author":"Greg Swann","date":"September 6, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"This is my column for this week from the Arizona Republic (permanent link). \u00a0August was a great month for real estate sales, but when 40% of buyers are pushed off the playing field, home prices could plummet We won't have reliable numbers for a few days,* but preliminary results leave\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Investment"","block_context":{"text":"Investment","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/investment\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4109","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4109"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4109\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4113,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4109\/revisions\/4113"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4109"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4109"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4109"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}