Explaining Real Estate Documents & Terms
cfpb | House Documents from Closing, Explained
Link: Real Estate Closing Forms Explained
~ Source: cfpb | Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
FTC | Glossary of Real Estate Terms
FTC Real estate Glossary Link: "The Real Estate Marketplace Glossary: How to Talk the Talk"
~ Source: FTC | Federal Trade Commission
A Summary of Your Rights Under the federal FCRA | Fair Credit Reporting Act
What You Should Know about House Insurance
~ Source: Illinois Legal Aid
C.L.U.E. | Comprehensive Loss Underwriting Exchange
A-PLUS | Automated Property Loss Underwriting Service
A-PLUS Consumer Report Request Line: "Manual request" that will be mailed to your house within 1-15 business days.
High Hail Damage Score = High Cost / High Claims Loss
- Analysis: 2009-2013 from hail claims in A-PLUS loss history database
- Assessing likelihood a house had exposure to severe hail
IRS Publication 4681 - Canceled Debts, Foreclosures, Repossessions, and Abandonments
Taxable income: "If you owe a debt to someone else and they cancel or forgive that debt, the cancelled amount may be taxable."
IRS Form 1099-C | Cancellation of Debt
IRS PDFs
IRS PDFs | FREE Tax Services
IRS Publication 910 - IRS Guide to Free Tax Services
IRS PDFs | House-Related
IRS Publication 523 - Selling Your Home
IRS Publication 544 - Sales and Other Disposition of Assets
IRS | Divorce-Related PDFs
IRS Publication 504 - Divorced or Separated Individuals
IRS Publication 555 - Community Property
IRS PDFs | Financial Distress-Related
IRS Publication 4681 - Canceled Debts, Foreclosures, Repossessions, and Abandonments
IRS Form 982 - Reduction of Tax Attributes due to Discharge of Indebtedness (& Section 1082 Basis Adjustment)
IRS Publication 908 - Bankruptcy
IRS Publication 971 - Innocent Spouse Relief
AnnualCreditReport.com
FREE (partial) credit report | authorized by FTC
How to Order Free Credit Reports
~ Source: California Department of Justice / Office of the Attorney General
FTC | How Credit Scores Affect the Price of Credit and Insurance
FICO Study | Credit Score Impact from Delinquencies
FICO Study | Research looks at how mortgage delinquencies affect [credit] scores
Mortgage Delinquency:
- 30 days late
- 90 days late
Short Sale / Deed in Lieu of Foreclosure
Foreclosure
Bankrptcy
Higher starting credit scores:
- larger score decrease from any delinquency
- longer recovery (9 months - 3 years) to regain original score
~ Source: FICO (2011)
FICO Study | Are Short Sales Really That Bad?
Research concludes that short sale falls into the same "heavy weight" class as foreclosure, deed in lieu of foreclosure, because "they correlate with exceptional riskiness."
Short Sales Credit Risk > Treated Similarly to Foreclosures
"Although short sales represent slightly better risk than foreclosures, they do not perform well enough to merit a more positive treatment in the FICO® Score."
- "One out of every two borrowers who experienced a short sale went on to default on another account within two years. That is exceptionally high risk."
- "Overwhelming majority of consumers with short sales have some other evidence of mortgage delinquency."
~ Source: FICO (2012)
Most Credit Score Damage > from First Delinquency
A Decade or More of Limited Credit Access, and Without Homeownership
2012 Study concluded after 10 years, only:
- 30% of foreclosed borrowers regain homeownership
- 10% of of foreclosed borrowers with a prior serious delinquency, regain access to mortgage market.
~ Source: FRBSF | Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco (November 2012)
Federal Trade Commission
FTC | Facts for Consumers
cfpb | Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act > created the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)
About cfpb | Core Functions:
Congress established the CFPB to protect consumers by carrying out federal consumer financial laws. Among other things, we:
- Write rules, supervise companies, and enforce federal consumer financial protection laws
- Restrict unfair, deceptive, or abusive acts or practices
- Take consumer complaints
- Promote financial education
- Research consumer behavior
- Monitor financial markets for new risks to consumers
- Enforce laws that outlaw discrimination and other unfair treatment in consumer finance
Free Resources | Surrogate-Specific PDFs Managing Someone Else's Money
cfpb | Easy-to-Understand Guides for financial caregivers:
- Powers of Attorney | Attorneys in Fact (Selected by Principal)
- Court-Appointed Guardians of the Estate/Property | Conservators
- Trustees
- Government Fiduciaries: Social Security Representative payees and VA fiduciaries
NCSC | National Center for State Courts
NCPJ | National College of Probate Judges
Summary of Probate Jurisdiction (which varies by state):
- the estates of deceased persons
- adult guardianship
- protective proceedings
- mental health
- addictive disease treatment
- matters concerning developmentally disabled persons
cfpb | Financial Protection For Older Americans | Summarizing Finanical Risks
"Description: This act provides a simple way for people to deal with their property by providing a power of attorney in case of future incapacity. While chiefly a set of default rules, the act also contains safeguards for the protection of an incapacitated principal."
NGA | National Guardianship Association
About Guardianship: What is Guardianship?
State Resources
California Courts & Conservatorships
A conservatorship is a court case where a judge appoints a responsible person or organization (called the “conservator”) to care for another adult (called the “conservatee”) who cannot care for himself or herself or manage his or her own finances.
Georgia Probate | Judicial Branch of Georgia
Adult Guardianships and Conservatorships
Conservators must file an inventory of assets, an asset management plan and annual financial accountings, all of which are subject to review or audit by the staff of the probate court. The appointment, supervision, removal and discharge of guardians, conservators and their sureties are within the exclusive, original jurisdiction of the probate courts.
Indiana Courts & Guardianships Over the Estate
Ind. Code 29-3-5-4 Considerations for appointment of guardian
Conservatorship Association of Tennessee | CAT
Conservatorship is a legal process by which a court determines that a person cannot make decisions about some or all areas of life. A Conservator in Tennessee can be a person, institution, or agency appointed by a court to manage the affairs of another. Your local court will be able to direct you to the divisions that handle conservatorships.
Tennessee State Resources
Divorce Resources
Divorce Support Groups
Tennessee Commission on Aging & Disability:
Probate Resources | Conservatorship Association of Tennessee