Purchasing a home should be one of life’s simplest and most rewarding experiences.  The process itself represents a right of passage into a world of responsibility tempered by the emotional and financial comfort of homeownership.  The place where you choose to live, after all, is much more than an investment.  Potential buyers, already pressured and rushed, can find themselves unprepared for the uncomfortable questions that often arise before closing.  Regular readers might remember a post that I contributed to this site two months ago.  I graphically recounted the personal behavior that led to my incarceration in a federal prison after many years of working in the title industry.  It’s my intention, through a series of posts, to share consumer-oriented advice that can’t be found elsewhere.  Feel free to contact me with questions via email at edr@rybconsulting.com  or to visit a title industry blog that I host.  Title-opoly deals honestly with a wide spectrum of real estate issues and many of it’s readers are consumers, government regulators, or professional educators.

You’ll find that most of my opinions are very conservative since they were shaped by unique experiences.  For example, most real estate pundits blame consumers for a startling increase in reported fraud statistics and subprime foreclosure rates.  I don’t, and point squarely at the real estate industry and more specifically at it’s self imposed and very complex culture.  Most people working in other careers simply lack the time and ability to learn enough about the system to mastermind a fraudulent deal. Real estate crime requires a great deal of planning and coordination among numerous insiders or others with knowledge and contacts; it takes a team. Consumers blindly following the recommendation of licensed professionals sometimes find their integrity or sensibilities compromised. 

Former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Mel Martinez, sought sweeping reform of real estate settlement practices after closing on a home in the D.C. area.  Secretary Martinez, a seasoned attorney and the nations’ top real estate regulator, found himself  both confused and concerned after spending an hour at a table with unrecognizable documents strewn in front of him.  I can’t keep that from happening to you, but I can arm you with an intimate understanding of the pitfalls of any housing transaction and their possible consequences.  I’ll describe the criteria that you need to consider when selecting a real estate agent, loan officer, or title/escrow agent.  You’ll learn enough about the proper progression of events from contract to closing to stop and ask poignant questions when something doesn’t seem right. And, if an unspeakable situation does present itself, you’ll know enough to recognize it as such and will have an exit strategy in place that protects your interests.  A community-based approach to fraud prevention presents opportunities for consumers to avoid exploitation, especially when it’s initiated by industry insiders.

An informed and concerned community of consumers is the fraudster’s worst enemy!

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