Illinois Foreclosure Pro

Free Illinois Foreclosure Seminar - Wednesday, December 10th

2008-11-24T13:38:00.003-06:00

2008 is fast coming to a close and Illinois and the Chicago Area have had another record year of foreclosures.

ilFLS.com, the Illinois Foreclosures Listing Service, is closing out 2008 with the last in our popular series of free foreclosure seminars, Kickstart your Foreclosure Investing. Over the past year we have hosted literally hundreds of mortgage, real estate, and legal professionals who have come to learn more about foreclosure investing from our local team of Chicagoland foreclosure investors.

Topics will include:

Quickly Search for and Find Foreclosures in the Chicago Area
How to qualify foreclosure deals
The different types of foreclosure deals
Why you should be wary of Illinois foreclosure auctions

We look forward to seeing everyone on December 10th!

Kickstart your Foreclosure Investing
Wednesday, December 10, 2008, 7-9pm
Panera Bread, Wheaton, IL
FREE

The Rise of Commercial Foreclosures in Illinois

2008-11-03T21:33:00.007-06:00

In the month of October there were over 6000 new foreclosures in Chicagoland Illinois, according to the Illinois Foreclosures Listing Service, ilFLS.com. Not surprising were the number of single family homes and condominiums in foreclosure, as they represent the most active and largest segment of the real estate market. However, every month an increasing number of commercial foreclosures are showing up on the ilFLS.com website.

Commercial properties in foreclosure range from multi-unit apartment buildings in Chicago to whole subdivisions in foreclosure in the collar counties.

Examples of October Commercial Foreclosures:

Commercial Building in Financial District of Downtown Chicago
401 S. Lasalle
Chicago, IL 60605
$6.3 million Due
Preforeclosure

Vacant Land / Development in Kane County
80 Acres on Randall Rand
Algonquin, IL 60102
$8.5 million Due
Preforeclosure

Restaurant Buildings in West Town Chicago
820 N. Ashland
Chicago, IL 60622
$3.9 million Due
Preforeclosure

To search through the newest Illinois commercial foreclosures, auctions and REOs visit ilFLS.com.

New on ilFLS.com: Illinois Probates and Illinois Divorce Filings

2008-05-14T12:14:00.006-06:00

Attention Illinois real estate investors attempting to capitalize on the current real estate market, ilFLS.com is trying to help you (yes I am talking to you.)

Since 2004 ilFLS.com, the Illinois Foreclosures Listing Service, has provided the highest quality premium listings of foreclosures, auctions, and REOs to Chicago area investors. High quality because we are located in the Chicago Area and have professionals who record data DIRECT from inside the county buildings.

Our team of professionals are now recording the most current Illinois divorce filings and Illinois probate records.

Current Coverage for Illinois Probate Filings and Illinois Divorce Records:

Illinois Home Market Jumps 24.5% in March 2008

2008-04-24T08:55:00.007-06:00

Check out these Illinois housing numbers which just came courtesy of the Illinois Board of Realtors and Medill News Services:

Illinois total home sales in March rose significantly from February, even as national existing-home sales fell 2 percent in the same month.

According to the Illinois Association of Realtors, Illinois total home sales, which includes single-family, condominiums, new and existing homes, jumped 24.5 percent last month to 8,509 compared with February sales of 6,832. The Illinois median price, the price where half the homes sold for more and half sold for less, was $194,500 in March, down 1.3 percent from $197,000 in March of 2007.

Although March 2008 sales for the state were down 29.5 percent from 12,075 in March 2007, experts say they expect further progress this year as the season changes.

My feeling is that the real estate market in Illinois is much more stable than other markets throughout the United States and sales will continue to be driven by local pent up demand for Chicagoland housing.

Let's see how the April 2008 housing numbers turn out.

Chicago Area Illinois Foreclosure Statistics Update 1st Qtr. 2008

2008-04-09T09:09:00.007-06:00

The Chicago land area which includes Cook, Dupage, Kane, Kendall, Lake, McHenry, Will and Winnebago Counties has seen another significant upswing in the foreclosure filings in the 1st Quarter of 2008. Overall, since the 1st Quarter of 2006 Chicago land Illinois counties have seen a 100% increase in the number of new foreclosures and a 8% increase over the last quarter of 2007.

CLICK on graphs to see LARGE images of the foreclosures numbers

Chicago Foreclosure Statistics for Uptown Neighborhood "60640" Zip Code

2008-03-19T09:24:00.005-06:00

If you would like to see foreclosure statistics for your area in the Chicagoland Area just let me know. ilFLS.com records the newest notice of default foreclosures directly from the Counties so you get the most accurate statistics possible.

NOTE: 90% of the foreclosures in 60640 were on condominiums.

Dupage County Illinois Foreclosure Statistics

2008-03-07T15:04:00.006-06:00

The Dupage County foreclosure statistics are recorded directly from the judicial foreclosure filings in Wheaton, Illinois by the Illinois Foreclosures Listings Service (www.ilFLS.com) professional team of recorders. The statistics below are on new foreclosure filings, sometimes referred to as preforeclosures or the Lis Pendens. To receive more information about the preforeclosures, upcoming judicial auction dates or REOs in Dupage and the surrounding counties you can visit ilFLS.com.

5 Simple Ways to Get Started in Foreclosures

2008-03-03T14:17:00.006-06:00

I have spent enough time dealing with foreclosures to know that the get rich schemes about foreclosures and the gurus preaching how he/she has the system to make millions in foreclosures spending only minutes a week are the snake oil vendors of the current day. However, having said that, there are some simple steps that anybody can take to capitalize on the current real estate foreclosure market

5 Simple Ways to get started in Foreclosures

Take a Class: Investing in foreclosures may not even be for you. Start by attending a free or inexpensive foreclosure class preferably by a local foreclosure investor, not a guru selling dreams and peddling expensive packages from state to state.
Search the Foreclosure Listings: Sign up for a LOCAL foreclosure listings service and start familiarizing yourself with what is available on the foreclosure market; it may be significantly greater or less than your expectations. Local foreclosure listings services often have good resources for your area including real estate education, classes and networking opportunities. Stay away from national foreclosure providers as their information is generally outdated and inaccurate.
Network, Network, Network: Attend a local real estate club and start meeting other people who are already investing in foreclosures and see how they did it and get recommendations.
Find an Expert: It is very common for people to have a portion of their assets in stocks and bonds yet not know the first thing about the financial market or spend anytime tracking the market; they do this by using a professional, an expert stockbroker or financial manager do this for them. For foreclosures you should spend time researching a real estate professional who specializes in foreclosures and specifically foreclosure investing.
Look for a Mentor: So you have taken a class, attended some meetings and you are sure foreclosures are for you. Why not find someone who is already successful and follow their path instead of taking the road of trial and error. Real 'mentors' can take your foreclosure investing from 0-60 much faster than trying to figure out the intricacies of foreclosures yourself. (see steps 1-3 for tips on how to find a mentor: network, research and education.)

Chicago Real Estate Foreclosures Stabilize in December - January

2008-02-20T12:10:00.007-06:00

Foreclosures in the city of Chicago reached a 5 year peak in November 2007, while December and January saw two consecutive months of slightly lower foreclosure filings in the city. After a total of 1750 foreclosures in November, December and January saw foreclosure filings hover right around the 1600 mark. Again, it is difficult to predict whether this stabalization of numbers or even a decrease in filings will continue throughout 2008, however, the numbers are encouraging.

Here is a look behind the December 07 and January 08 foreclosure numbers in Chicago:

60% of new foreclosures are on properties purchased in the past 2 years
89% of new foreclosures in Chicago are on properties purchased in the past 4 years
December 2007 saw a 23% increase over December 2006; (December 2006 = 1300 foreclosures December 2007 = 1600 foreclosures)
Biggest offending bank: Deutsche Bank accounted for 13% of the new foreclosure filings (by comparison Countrywide, the countries largest mortgage lender accounted for only 5%)

For a searchable database of the newest Chicago foreclosure filings visit ilFLS.com.

Foreclosure Freeze....Project Lifeline....Government to the rescue?

2008-02-14T17:22:00.006-06:00

Project lifeline, a government plan which seeks to address the rising tide of foreclosures, is another example of why government should not interfere in the private sector. The government loves to play the white knight riding in to save its people from trouble (without considering that it was the cause of the trouble in the first place.)

Firstly, giving the homeowner an additional 30 days to work out their mortgage, as proposed in Project Lifeline, is going to do little or nothing to help most homeowners. 85% of homeowners in foreclosure purchased their homes in the last 2-3 years which means they have little or no equity or even more likely with declining property values owe more than the property is worth. So what is an additional 30 days going to do?
Secondly, one of the reasons the real estate market got into this mess in the first place was because the Federal Reserve lowered the interest rates to historic lows thus distorting the real estate market by making money artificially cheap and creating the asset bubble. Having the government bail out the situation is like being beaten over the head by someone only to have that same person return later to offer treatment as the good samaritan.
Lastly, government is sending the wrong message if everytime people are irresponsible in their daily lives the government will simply come and bail them out.

So what is the solution. Let the market take care of it and keep the government out of the private sector (anyway by the time government gets involved it only dealing with the effects and not the causes, many of which are created by the government in the first place.)

For more information on logical economics visit www.mises.org.

Are you Ready to Capitalize on the Current Chicagoland Foreclosure Market?

2008-01-28T14:37:00.000-06:00

ilFLS.com, the Illinois Foreclosures Listings Service, will be holding free seminars held by local investors throughout 2008 to provide information for those interested in learning more about the dynamic foreclosure market.

The next event will be our monthly "Kickstart your Foreclosure Investing" in Chicago conducted by yours truly, foreclosurepro. We will provide a 2 hour + presentation detailing:

the state of the current real estate market in Chicagoland (the truth)
where the 'real' opportunities lie in the foreclosure market
strategies that worked in previous years that I have all but abandoned

Also, all of our meeting are great for networking with others involved or interested in real estate and end up with an informative Q&A session where I answer all of your burning questions about the foreclosures market.

Did I mention it was FREE?

To sign up: Monthly Illinois Foreclosure Class....and also learn more about our other events and foreclosure seminars.

2006-2007 Chicagoland Illinois Foreclosures Statistics: Part 2 Raw Numbers

2008-01-17T12:41:00.000-06:00

Per your requests I have added a graph with the 'raw numbers' of new foreclosure filings for the Chicagoland area. You may also find more statistics on the Illinois Foreclosures Listings Service (www.ilFLS.com), or run your own specific queries by subscribing to ilFLS.com.

If there are any other statistics that you would like to see just let me know!

ilFLS.com Releases Official 2007 Chicagoland Foreclosure Statistics

2008-01-11T16:58:00.000-06:00

ilFLS.com released its official count of Chicago area Illinois foreclosures for 2007 showing some record and rising numbers for Cook County and the collar counties of Dupage, Kane, Kendall, Lake, McHenry, Will and Winnebago Counties.

See Chart Below:

For more detailed statistics or to search the most current Chicagoland Foreclosures, auctions and REOs visit www.ilFLS.com.

"Massive Profit Foreclosure Systems" 2 FREE Foreclosure Events for Chicagoland

2007-10-26T09:33:00.000-06:00

Presents:

“Massive Profit Foreclosure Systems”
The must attend event to profit from the booming foreclosure market

Smart Chicago area investors have capitalized on this trend and are making big
money in the foreclosure marketplace. The question is are you? If you answered
no then this is the one event you can’t afford to miss.

Your local insiders:

Quinn Niego – “Foreclosure Phd.”
Chicagoland’s undisputed leading authority on foreclosures, and highly sought after national speaker shares his system which helped him buy millions of dollars in real estate.

T.J. McKinney – “Illinois Foreclosure Pro”
Founder of ilFLS.com and long time Illinois foreclosure investor gives you the inside marketing tips to have motivated sellers literally begging to work with you.

Topics:

ü Big Profits in Illinois Foreclosures – How to get foreclosure deals at a 40-60% discount.
ü No Money, No Problem – How to control millions of dollars in real estate with no cash.
ü Foreclosure Marketing – Compel homeowners in foreclosure to seek you out to make a deal.
ü Deal Analysis – Learn how to quickly find deals and value a property in minutes.
ü Team Building – Network with the top mortgage, real estate and legal professionals in the Chicago area and start building your real estate ‘dreamteam.’
ü Power Q & A – Quinn and T.J. answer your specific questions about the reality of foreclosure investing.

2 Locations, 2 Days to choose from both absolutely FREE

*Saturday, November 17th,
9:30am-1pm
Oak Brook Marriott 1401 W. 22nd St.Oakbrook, IL 60523

OR
*Monday, November 19th, 6:30pm-9:30pm
Wyndham Chicago Ohare 6810 N. MannheimRosemont, IL 60018

SIGN UP TODAY AT: http://www.ilfls.com/ or call 1-800-765-9168
*seating is limited for both events so reserve your seat today, previous events have filled up quickly

gogoREI -- "Your Source for Wholesale and Investment Properties" beta

2007-09-19T12:07:00.000-06:00

After much work the beta version of gogoREI.com is now up and running.

gogoREI streamlines and simplifies the process of buying and selling investment and wholesale properties. List, search and organize properties, get prequalified for a loan, make and receive offers all with the click of a button.

If you would like to search you can do so now: search investment properties.

You may also list your properties and create an account by sending us an email to: create my account.

We invite everyone to join and look forward to your feedback as we develop additional features in the beta phase.

+++ Start Making Money in the Chicago Area Foreclosure Market -- We show you how +++

2007-09-18T13:01:00.001-06:00

"Kickstart your Foreclosure Investing"

Date Saturday, October 06, 2007

Time 1:00 pm - 4:00 pm CDT

Where 1535 N. DaytonChicago, IL 60622

The only monthly foreclosure education event held by LOCAL, ACTIVE foreclosure investors for the local investor.

Everyone is welcome!

ilFLS.com, the premier local source for foreclosure data and information sponsor the monthly education and networking meeting to help start or improve your foreclosure investing focusing in on the local market.

FEATURED SPEAKERS:

TJ McKinney, Active real estate investor in the Chicago area, specializing in foreclosures, REOs, auctions and distressed property acquisitions.

Kevin Skalnik, Chicago Real Estate Attorney, and the foremost legal expert on foreclosures, tax liens, building codes.

Plus -- we invite local Chicago foreclosure investors to share their stories

THIS MONTH:

* The legal issues in Illinois with foreclosures you must be aware of

* How to wade through the wave of foreclosures to focus in on the good deals

* How to look at a title to determine liens and which mortgage is the 1st mortgage.

* Financing your foreclosure deals

Learn more and sign up at Chicago foreclosure seminars

Don't Believe the Hype: Why Illinois Real Estate Auctions Suck...

2007-06-01T15:29:00.000-06:00

After having attended and participated in thousands of the judicial sales that take place in the Chicago Area over the past few years, I can tell you the cold hard reality of purchasing foreclosures at auction: It sucks.

Firstly, you have to understand that in Illinois the foreclosure process is a Judicial Process. If you have ever taken part in a legal proceeding involving our lovely judicial branch of government you will know exactly what I mean: Mix in two parts of lawyers and one 'partial' judge and you get a slow moving vehicle to nowhere in particular. What?

Let me explain.

When you purchase a property at an Illinois judicial auction you pay 100% of the bid amount in certified funds, i.e. cashiers check. What you receive in return is a 'Certificate of Sale', not the deed to the property. Next the law firm representing the foreclosing mortgage company schedules a date, usually 30-60 days from the day of the auction, for the property to go through a 'Confirmation Hearing' in front of the judge. If all goes well within 3 days you get the deed....however you still have to wait an additional 30 days to evict the homeowner. And this whole time line gets extended on forever if the homeowner or their attorney files any motions after you buy the property.

What? After you have already purchased a property and the right of redemption, the equitable right of redemption and the reinstatement period of the homeowner has expired they can still appeal? Simple put, yes. Unless your property is vacant, over 50% of the time the homeowner comes back after the sale in front of the judge delaying the deed anywhere from 60-180+ days.

So let's recap the fun of spending your hard earned money at an auction:

Investor puts 100% of their funds down at an auction

30-60 days later a confirmation date is scheduled to get the deed

Homeowner enters the picture and files a motion delaying confirmation 60 days

Repeat step 3. (another motion)

Investor eventually gets deed to the property 6 months after the initial auction date

Homeowner has an additional 30 days after investor gets the deed to vacate

After 6+ months investor finally gets inside the property only to find.....???

After filling a dumpster with trash...rehab....investor attempts to sell property...

Repeat steps 1-8 if you attend auctions regularly

Fun stuff! So the next time you hear a speaker at a local real estate seminar, or a late night infomercial trumpeting the wonders of buying properties an real estate auctions....don't believe the hype!

Illinois HB 4050 Part 2 - The RodBlo Strikes Back

2007-03-25T07:50:00.000-06:00

Boy just when you think its safe to go back in the mortgage water...the Illinois legislator saves homeowners by drowning them with an even worse version of HB 4050. You will remember HB 4050 as the reactionary piece of legislation that required homeowners with poor credit in certain zip codes to attend credit counseling before obtaining a loan.

Well HB 4050 is back, and it's even worse this time. The new and improved HB 4050 recommends for credit counseling all borrowers in Cook County who are either first time home buyers or refinancing their primary residence and are obtaining a loan which has:

A pre-payment penalty

Is an interest-only loan

80/20 loans

Is a stated income loan

Has negative amortizaton

ARM's

Total points and fees exceed 5% of the loan

To read the press release go to http://www.idfpr.com/newsrls/032107HB4050PressRelease.asp

This bill is meant to address predatory lending and address the rising rates of foreclosure in Cook County; however I believe in the laws of economics and free markets. Those companies that are losing money through sub-prime lending will see the losses and respond by tightening their lending policies. Also....what the hell is credit counseling anyway?

"Kickstart your Foreclosure Investing" -- This Month Short Sales and Marketing to Chicago Area Foreclosures

2007-02-19T17:52:00.000-06:00

ilFLS.com's monthly "Kickstart your Foreclosure Investing" class is this Saturday, February 24th and everyone is invited to attend. Whether you are a new investor or experience Chicago foreclosure investor you can benefit from the great networking and education that takes place once a month.

This Saturday, "Kickstart" features Gina Clifford from Stone Castle Realty. Gina is a national speaker and expert on Short Sales, so this is a must attend event. Also, ilFLS.com investors will go into the basics of finding and qualifying potential deals from the thousands of Chicago area foreclosures.

You can sign up now by going here.

Hope to see you there!

Illinois Foreclosure Pro

Illinois Governor Blagojevich Suspends HB 4050

2007-01-20T15:44:00.000-06:00

One bad piece of legislation down and one to go! On January 19th, 2007, just months after the bills inception and much controversy, Governor Blagojevich announced the suspension of HB 4050, the Predatory Lending Pilot Program.

You will remember from my previous post that HB 4050 was a reactionary piece of legislation enacted to address the problem of predatory lending and the high foreclosure rates in 10 Chicago zip codes. Like a lot of bad legislation, HB 4050 had unintended negative consequences. In a recent study by the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana, home sales declined by 50% from the fall of 2006 in the affected zip codes, while similar unaffected zip codes saw a drop of only 20%....whoops!

Hopefully the suspension of HB 4050 means the State of Illinois is coming to their senses, and they will take a second look at other bad pieces of legislation such as the Rescue Mortgage Fraud Act, SB2340.

Eliminate fraud, not choice!

Source for Chicago REOs and Nationwide REO Bank Websites

2007-01-08T08:55:00.000-06:00

Most of my strategy is focused on preforeclosures in the Chicago Area, however, if a property I am tracking goes all the way through the judicial foreclosure process and ends up in the hands of a bank REO I don't give up on it.

Judicial Foreclosure Process in Illinois and REOs

I have touched on the foreclosure law in Illinois before but basically it looks something like this: A property goes into foreclosure, Lis Pendens is filed and the homeowner begins a 7 month redemption period. During this redemption period in Illinois, if the homeowner does not resolve the foreclosure, a judgment is entered and an auction date is sent. The most common result at the auctions in Illinois is for the property to revert back to the plaintiff, in this case the bank, REO.

In between the time the property goes back to the bank at the time of auction sale and the final 'confirmation of sale' that takes place in front of the judge is a 2-4 week period.

Timing is the Key to REOs

I target the REOs that have been sold back to the bank at the time of the auction but the sale has not been 'confirmed' in front of the judge. The key is to get the auctions results right away and contact the banks to make your offer. My Chicago Area foreclosure listing service, ilFLS.com, provides same-day auction results, which gives me the the jump on the REOs in this 2-4 week period before the confirmation of sale.

Other Online Bank REO Sites

Bank of America

Beal Bank

Branch Banking & Trust (BBT&T)

CitiMortgage

Compass Bank

Countrywide

Downey Savings & Loan

Freemont Investment & Loan

GreenPoint Financial

GRP Financial Services Corp

Home Loan Investment Bank

HSBC

IndyMac Bank

IAS

M&T Bank

Ocwen Financial Corporation

People's Bank

US Home Mortgage

Wilshire Credit Corporation

Feel free to add your own REO resources.

Chicago Foreclosure Statistics for December and the HB 4050 Zip Codes

2006-12-31T12:25:00.000-06:00

According to ilFLS.com, the Illinois Foreclosures Listing Service, Chicago had a total of 1290 foreclosures in December. Let's take a look at the foreclosures in the zip codes targeted by HB 4050, the anti-predatory lending bill.

House Bill 4050, which took affect Sept. 1st of this year, requires anyone with a credit score of 620 or lower to credit counseling if they fall with in the targeted zip codes. This bill has been the subject of much controversy, especially amongst mortgage agents who must pony up $300.00 for the credit counseling and delay the closing on the property for 30-45 days while the counseling is completed.

HB 4050's targeted zip codes are: 60620, 60621, 60623, 60628, 60629, 60632, 60636, 60638, 60643 and 60652

Here are the December foreclosure statistics for those zip codes:

60620: 67

60621: 60

60623: 38

60628: 109

60629: 68

60632: 22

60636: 77

60638: 28

60643: 48

60652: 26

I will continue to track the foreclosures in the aforementioned zip codes throughout 2007 to see the changes in foreclosure rate from month to month.

Calling all Chicagoland Birdoggers

2006-12-28T13:27:00.000-06:00

Foreclosurepro is looking for Chicago area birddoggers to help us with our deals. If you are an experienced birddogger or new to the real estate foreclosure market, it doesn't matter. We pay great commissions for deals, we only have certain requirements:

Live in the Chicago Area

Be super motivated to make money

Honesty, reliability and willingness to learn

Great salesperson

Contact me through the blog with your information and I will personally contact you. Whether you are a complete novice or a veteran and want to learn how you can make money with us, we are always looking for good people and partnerships.

2007 Brings Buyers Market to Chicago Real Estate Investors

2006-12-26T15:49:00.000-06:00

``Housing demand has been moving down quite sharply,'' Robert Mellman, an economist at JP Morgan Chase & Co. in New York, said before the October housing report. ``There's still a large inventory of unsold homes, so I think prices will be on the weak side for the next year or so."

These days I don't think you need to be an economist at J.P. Morgan Chase to know that the Chicago area housing market is slow. All you really need to do is look around your neighborhood at the growing number of "for sale" signs, the ones that seem to stay in front of the houses longer.

Less people seem to be bragging about the growing amount of equity they have in their home or the double digit appreciation they expect to see...ah, expectations. Home buyers expectations or confidence in the real estate market has noticeably shifted, and with that the demand for property has gone down.

Lower demand for real estate and a growing supply of homes = a great buyers market; and for those of us who invest in the Chicago area foreclosures a dream Chicago real estate investment market in 2007. If the regular home seller is struggling with growing market times, imagine the distressed property owner faced with a looming judicial auction deadline; time is of the essence takes on a whole new meaning.

If you aren't sure how to capitalize on the foreclosure market in 2007, maybe its time to take a foreclosure class or attend a Chicagoland real estate club, as I suggested in my earlier post.

This is a good article summarizing the outlook for the 2007 real estate market.

Mortgage Rescue Fraud Act - SB2349, Lisa Madigan and Illinois Foreclosure Investors

2006-12-23T18:44:00.000-06:00

January 1st marks the first day of the new year, great college football games, and the effective date of the Illinois Mortgage Rescue Fraud Act, SB2349.

If you don't know about Attorney General Lisa Madigan's bill, which passed the Illinois house and senate and becomes effective on the 1st of January, you might want to take the time to read the 16 page act. I have heard a tremendous amount of disinformation from Chicagoland real estate and foreclosure investors about the act; clearly many people have not taken the 20 minutes it takes to read and understand the act.

This act specifically targets two groups, "distressed property purchaser", and "distressed property consultant." "Distressed property purchaser" is defined as someone who buys a distressed property in foreclosure and allows that person to retain an interest in the property and/or an option in the future to purchase back the property, i.e. lease option agreement, or works as a 'partner' with the distressed property owner in disposing of the distressed real estate. The act spells out new disclosures that must be added to contracts, a 5 day right to cancel the contract, and the 82% rule which states the buyer must pay 82% of the market value of the property if the distressed property owner is unable to buy back the property at the end of the option period or at the time of conveyance of the property.

"Distressed property consultants" are those who offer to help negotiate liens or mortgages on behalf of the homeowners and charge a fee for such services, often times up front. I won't say too much about that except to read the bill if you do offer that service as it goes on at length about restrictions on such services.

If you are someone who invests in foreclosures by purchasing, outright, properties from homeowners in foreclosure, this bill does not affect you. My only advice for all investors is to consult an attorney, use good contracts, disclose to the homeowner in writing everything you are doing and have them initial each point.

You can read the Mortgage Rescue Fraud Act here.