AZ

Scottsdale-based Meritage Homes building up a 2010 profit

To survive the housing crash, home builders had to slash prices, cut costs and find ways to compete with foreclosures.
Scottsdale-based Meritage Homes is one of the industry’s survivors. The company, metropolitan Phoenix’s only publicly-traded home builder, is on track to make a profit this year, says CEO Steve Hilton.
The builder is selling more homes than a year ago, experiencing fewer cancellations from buyers, receiving a hefty tax refund and has completed a large financing deal.
Meritage Homes closed on a $200 million private placement offering Tuesday. The deal helps the Scottsdale-based home builder to pay off some of its senior notes …

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Posted by CatherineReagor’s Blog

Phoenix firm Radical Bunny ordered to pay $189.8 million to real estate investors

Phoenix-based Radical Bunny LLC has been ordered by the Arizona Corporation Commission to pay $189.8 million in restitution to its investors.
After a 22-month investigation, the Corporation commission has found that Radical Bunny fraudulently sold unregistered deed-of-trust investments. The group, which raised money from almost 900 investors and then lent it to Mortgages Ltd., was not registered as a securities dealer.
Investors in Radical Bunny were told that their money would be used to purchase fractionalized interests in notes secured by real-estate deeds of trust. However, the Corporation Commission found that Radical Bunny pooled investor funds to make unsecured loans to Mortgages …

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Posted by CatherineReagor’s Blog

LA real estate agent guilty of homebuyer tax-credit fraud

A Los Angeles real estate broker has pled guilty to filing false tax returns to claim almost $70,000 in fraudulent homebuyer tax credits.
Kashawn Monique Savery admitted at a hearing Monday to being involved in filing more than 200 false tax returns seeking more than $1.3 million in fraudulent claims for federal, first-time buyer credits, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office of central California.
Savery has been a licensed California real estate broker with the firm Cornerstone Realty Group since 2006.
The Internal Revenue Service’s criminal unit found 2031 suspicious tax returns on Savery’s computer.
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Posted by CatherineReagor’s Blog

AZ Sen. Kyl backs $200 million fund to prosecute real estate fraud

New national legislation calls for setting up a $200 million fund to help states prosecute mortgage and real estate fraud cases.
Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ) is teaming with Charles Schumer (D-NY) to back the Fighting Real Estate Fraud Act of 2009, which would set up a grant program that local prosecutors, state attorney generals and Native American Tribes could apply for to fund investigations.
Arizona is in the top 20 states for mortgage fraud, according to a Federal Bureau of Investigation report issued earlier this year. Mortgage giant Fannie Mae ranked Arizona no. 5 for the highest rate of "significant misrepresentations" discovered …

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Posted by CatherineReagor’s Blog

Phoenix Mayor awarded land planning fellowship

Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon garners fellowship with the Urban Land Institute’s Daniel Rose Center for Public Leadership in Land Use.
He joins the mayors of Nashville, Minneapolis and Philadelphia in the program designed to help city leaders build and sustain their cities.
“Mayor Gordon and his administration have demonstrated a commitment to sustainability through investments in planning, building retrofits and solar energy,” said ULI Chief Executive Officer Patrick Phillips. “We believe that, through the Daniel Rose Fellowship, ULI can bring its global expertise to bear as they embark upon making Phoenix a competitive, world-class city.”
Gordon has picked a team to help him …

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Posted by CatherineReagor’s Blog

New president at Realty Executives

Dominic Scappaticci has left Russ Lyon Sotheby’s Phoenix office to become president of Realty Executives.
John Foltz, Realty Executive former president, will become president emeritus and handle speaking and coaching events for the Phoenix-based brokerage.

"Dominic joins us from a prominent real estate company locally and has a long, successful tenure with some of the nation’s top real estate firms," says Rich Rector, owner and chairman of Realty Executives, which has 1,300 agents in the Valley.
Scappaticci started his real estate career with Realty Exeuctives in 1975.

Rector also said "We have been honored to have John Foltz as the president and designated broker …

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Posted by CatherineReagor’s Blog

Key indicators from Phoenix's Housing Market

There are some positive signs coming from metropolitan Phoenix housing market. Foreclosures dropped slightly in September while home prices inched up again.
Last month, lenders foreclosed on 3,759 Valley homes, an almost 5 percent drop from August, according to the Information Market. It’s the second month in a row foreclosures, or trustee sales, have fallen. Pre-foreclosures also dropped in September, a good sign there will be another decline in foreclosures this month. There were 7,857 pre-foreclosures, or notice of trustee sales, filed by lenders last month. That’s an 11 percent drop.
There’s been a big push by the government and nonprofits for …

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Posted by CatherineReagor’s Blog

Ariz. lenders offer help for home buyers

The Arizona Mortgage Lenders Association is teaming with several government housing agencies to hold the Home Buyer’s Fair 2009 on Saturday Oct. 17th.
The free event offers help on: the $8,000 tax credit for first-time home-buyers; buying a home with no money down; credit requirements and repair; qualifying for a mortgage and buying a foreclosure home.
The Mortgage Lenders Association is working with the Phoenix office of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Consumer Credit Counseling and several city housing agencies to put on the event, which starts a 10 a.m. at the Glendale Renaissance Hotel. Details: www.azmortgagelenders.com.
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Posted by CatherineReagor’s Blog

Check out Valley Home Values

There’s no doubt its been a tough year for metro Phoenix’s housing market. But some areas are showing smaller declines than last year.
Foreclosures homes resold by lenders continue to dominate the market, but the marketshare for those homes is shrinking.
Check out Valley Home Values at homevalues.azcentral.com to see what home sales and foreclosures are doing to prices in each metro Phoenix ZIP code. …

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Posted by CatherineReagor’s Blog

Two AZ "foreclosure rescue" firms to pay $1.37 million in fines, restitution

The Arizona Attorney General’s office has settled two mortgage fraud lawsuits for $1.37 million. Most of the money will go towards paying restitution to consumers who lost money to the "foreclosures help" firms.
Richard Winer, principal of the firm Taken Care of Investments, has agreed to pay fines totaling $691,000,half of which goes to consumers who lost money to the firm, according to a Maricopa Superior Court consent judgment.
In March, Attorney General Terry Goddard’s filed a complaint alleging Winer and his businesses defrauded 270 Arizona homeowners in danger of foreclosure, by promising to obtain the deed to their home and then …

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Posted by CatherineReagor’s Blog

Scottsdale-based Meritage Homes building up a 2010 profit

Phoenix firm Radical Bunny ordered to pay $189.8 million to real estate investors

LA real estate agent guilty of homebuyer tax-credit fraud

AZ Sen. Kyl backs $200 million fund to prosecute real estate fraud

Phoenix Mayor awarded land planning fellowship

New president at Realty Executives

Key indicators from Phoenix's Housing Market

Ariz. lenders offer help for home buyers

Check out Valley Home Values

Two AZ "foreclosure rescue" firms to pay $1.37 million in fines, restitution

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