I was in total shock when I stumbled on Sen. Barack Obama’s proposed legislation STOP FRAUD Act S. 1222.

The implications for the real estate industry are terrifying. It would have been more appropriately named “Stop Real Estate Sales Act” because that is exactly what it will do.

It lumps real estate and mortgage professionals in a vague all inclusive manner to expose them to civil and criminal litigation for fraud on any transactions that utilized sub-prime loans. Penalties can be as high as $5,000,000 and up to 35 years imprison or both.

(1) CRIMINAL PENALTIES- Any mortgage professional who violates subsection (a) shall be fined not more than $5,000,000, or imprisoned not more than 35 years, or both.
(2) CIVIL PENALTIES- Any mortgage professional who violates subsection (a) shall be liable for an amount equal to the sum of all finance charges and fees paid or payable by the natural person, financial institution, or purchaser who was defrauded unless the mortgage professional demonstrates that such violation is not material.

The Stop Fraud Act defines a “mortgage professional” as;

(e) Definition- As used in this section, the term `mortgage professional’ includes real estate appraisers, real estate accountants, real estate attorneys, real estate brokers, mortgage brokers, mortgage underwriters, mortgage processors, mortgage settlement companies, mortgage title companies, mortgage loan originators, and any other provider of professional services engaged in the mortgage process.

This Will Open the Flood Gates On Litigation Against REALTORS®

Any one that has been foreclosed on would be able to sue their real estate agent and/or real estate broker for fraud in addition to asking criminal charges are brought forward.

This Bill also contains mandatory reporting for “any suspicious activity by an individual or entity”. Now we really go down a slippery slope here. I have been involved in real estate litigation before. The case of “if I did not know I should have known” was brought forward by the plaintiff’s attorney. Now while I did prevail, I would be at risk any time I walked into a court room.

By rising the bar on possible offenses to the level of fraud it would considerable lengthens the timeline on statutes of limitations. In the state of Missouri the statute of limitations on fraud is 10 years. In some instances in can be expanded to 15 years. The State only requires that I keep records for 5 years and the IRS only requires 3 years so how am I to defend litigation on a 10 year old transaction?

If Sen. Barack Obama’s Stop Fraud Act is passed it will also raise interest rates and make home loans extremely difficult to obtain. Mortgage companies and banks will scrutinize borrowers like NEVER before.

The main stream media has really dropped the ball on this story. Sen. Barack Obama introduced this Bill back in April of 2007. This is actually Sen. Barack Obama’s second attempt to pass such a bill. His first attempt was Bill S. 2280 [109th]: STOP FRAUD Act introduced Feb. 14, 2006. So if you know anyone involved in the real estate or mortgage industry, PLEASE sent them a link to this blog and make them aware of the professional danger they may be exposed to.

To read the Bill in it’s entirety you can do so at the PREN Real Estate Forums.

~Rhonda McMillan
Broker

Morgan Carey (aka SEO Guy) who operates one of the largest real estate forums on the Internet admitted publicly Friday November 2nd on his real estate Blog that his Canadian based company did hack into the Pro Real Estate Network Forum also known as PREN.

According to administrators of PREN and Mr. Carey’s REW Forum Hacking Apology sites someone from REW used a password from a former Client that is now a Forum Moderator at PREN to hack into the system and delete threads that openly discussed many ethic violations and misconduct of Morgan Carey and Real Estate Webmasters. PREN immediately discounted the Carey apology as little more than damage control and called for Morgan Carey to name the employee, dismiss him/her and file a criminal complaint with the Canadian authorities. This has not taken place as of the time of this posting.

It seems as though passwords can be harvested from these public real estate forums and inasmuch as we all tend to reuse the same passwords it leaves us open for identity theft. It is recommended by industry experts to use passwords that are unique to any public forum and to NEVER reuse any password on bank or email accounts.

Although SEO-Guy (Morgan Carey) blames an unnamed employee for the forum break-in and has downplayed the incident law enforcement agencies have now been involved since Federal Statutes have been violated.

The recent fire storm in the real estate forums is an unwelcome distraction for those of us that are already besieged by an industry slump and poor press. This classic “David vs Goliath” reenactment is certain to gain more negative press for the housing industry as Agents from several states have been adversely affected by REW Forum Hacking and deletion of these threads.

According too many experts in the field of “Search Engine Optimization” back-links from these forums aide in search engine rankings for real estate websites. When these aged pages and agent links were deleted it negatively impacted the rankings of the Agents involved and the PREN forum itself. Since most real estate transactions begin on the Internet these prized search engine rankings can be worth a great deal of income to any Agent or company fortunate enough to have them.

I was also informed that Morgan Carey and REW has SEO and link Clients competing from many of the same markets of the Agents that were impacted in PREN. In my humble opinion the action taken by REW gives SEO Guy’s Clients an unfair advantage and is outright Industrial Sabotage.

Please remember to change your passwords if you belong to any of these public forums to protect yourself from identity theft. This is becoming an extremely cut throat industry I am ashamed to say and all precautions need to be taken.

~Rhonda McMillan
Broker

With real estate slowing down around the nation it has been a great relief relocating to the Columbia MO area where if you are going to be working real estate you can at least work it smarter not harder.

But after 15+ years in the real estate industry I do understand that it doesn’t matter where you are if you don’t put in the time and effort in. You can be in the best real estate market in the US and starve if you do not have a good work ethic. 

Real estate is a full time job and REALTORS® do have to work  for our money. It is an industry that allows you to work as much or as little as you want to. Just keep in mind that your income is proportionate.

 ~Rhonda McMillan
Broker

We have recently joined the Columbia Board of REALTORS®. Orientation is scheduled for June 11^th at 9:00am.

Thus far my experience with the local board has been very pleasant. I will keep you posted.

~Rhonda McMillan
Broker