The Federal Reserve announced this afternoon it will raise interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point and will likely raise rates two more times this year. The following statement is from NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun, made after the announcement: “We are still in the middle innings of rising interest rates; consumers should expect …

In case you missed it, NAR did a great video (Facebook live event they taped), that showed how the tax changes will affect Realtors, Brokerages, commercial property investors and homeowners.  You can view the video here.  (47 minutes, fast forward to minute 4)  Learn about the new 20-percent deduction for pass-through entities, how new expensing …

Brokers, you’ve been asking and our MLS Board of Directors heard you.  At their August meeting, the MLS Board of Directors approved the use of automatic debit or credit card charges for payment of your monthly MLS invoices. To enroll, please complete the Automatic Debit / Credit Card Authorization Form and return it to the …

In a stroke of good news, Fannie Mae  announced new policies that will help more borrowers with student debt qualify for a home loan. The new solutions give homeowners the opportunity to pay down student debt with a mortgage refinance, allow borrowers to exclude non-mortgage debt paid by others as part of the loan application …

It’s that time of year when tax questions start to come into the Board Office.  The most common question is about issuing 1099 forms for commission paid.  According to the IRS, Brokers/brokerages must issue and file a 1099 MISC for each person you paid at least $600 during the year. (not corporations) Which leads to …

Dear Berkshire Realtors®, I am writing this on the 13th day of January 2016, so you can assume that the world did not end post TRID.  By and large, it is going very smoothly.  The local lenders really got their act together.  They have adapted to the new rules, which dictate to them the new …

“Where’s the TRID Rider?”  We’ve been asked that question many times this week and our answer is… the Berkshire County Board of REALTORS doesn’t have one.  Why?  We were one of the few organizations that elected to UPDATE our P&S agreement to cover the potential for TRID delays. If your client has been presented with a Rider to sign, please make sure you tell them to seek legal counsel to make sure that it is in their best interests.  There is NO obligation for a buyer or seller to execute a rider.  Here is a detailed explanation of why this decision was made locally – you should understand this in order to best serve your clients: (taken directly from our TRID FAQ )

Do we need an addendum like the Mass Form, to handle TRID delay issues?

No, not at this time.  Board Legal Counsel, the CEO and the President met and debated and discussed four different addendums created at the very last minute for TRID changes.  We don’t believe they are needed.  Why?

Our Berkshire P&S was changed to address how to handle adjustments without having to delay the closing, a key component to the proposed addendums we’ve seen floating around out there. In our practice, the closing attorney can calculate the closing figures if not provided for by the seller’s attorney, and they are binding. If you’re using the MAR P&S you might want to consider using the MAR Rider… but Berkshire forms were not designed for use with this rider… and only legal counsel should advise if your client executes one.

There were concerns about creating automatic extensions that don’t require buyer and seller consent.  Currently, there is no extension to the closing date without consent, and there is no compelling reason now to create one… we will continue to monitor this and may make a modification if it is discovered that the lenders or attorneys are unable to perform in the timelines we’ve established.

All addendums that were produced cited the need for an automatic extension due to compliance with TRID.  That isn’t possible.  The regulation creates no delay; an individual or institution’s failure to perform as expected creates delay.  Further, an automatic extension of the closing is not a requirement in any TRID regulation.  They buyer and seller can always agree to an extension if issues arise though, just as they could before TRID.

The addendums we reviewed did not address when notice of delay has to be given.  It is conceivable that the buyer could have the moving truck packed and on their way to closing when they learn of a delay.

There was strong consensus that our standards for performance and mutual consent should be preserved, unless we learn otherwise after roll-out and actual implementation.

Some attorneys are requiring asking us to strike “time is of the essence”.  Is that going to be removed from our Purchase and Sale agreement?

No, not at this time.  There have been a handful of law firms that routinely requested that be stricken long before the TRID disclosure issue.  Our current agreements and way of doing business hold the dates to be hard performance dates unless otherwise mutually agreed.  If the buyer’s attorney recommends that be stricken, that is a negotiable item between the seller and the buyer.

 

The new TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure (TRID) rules for mortgage closings took effect for new loan applications on Oct. 3. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has an online toolkit to help REALTORS work within TRID parameters, and all of our Berkshire best practices and lender FAQs are available online 24/7 as well.   We are …

We received good news about flood insurance changes from Affiliate Sharon MacEachern at Greylock Insurance.  Sharon wrote:

Great news this morning on the flood front!  As you may know (or maybe not!)…the private market flood we have been offering through Lloyd’s of London required that the dwelling coverage be written at 100% of the estimated rebuilding cost.  While their rates are much lower than National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), if someone had a large home with a small mortgage, the flood insurance with them was often still cost prohibitive.  Lloyd’s just announced that they will now follow the model of NFIP and allow people to insure their homes just to the mortgage balance.  This could really impact Berkshire County…where a home with lots of square footage, but selling low and having a mortgage balance much less than rebuilding cost can now buy the lower amount of insurance at the Lloyd’s flood rate!

GREAT NEWS!  Berkshire REALTORS joined colleagues nationwide in Washington in May to ask our legislators for a grace period of enforcement (lender fines) for issues that may arise when implementing the new RESPA TILA regulations that go into effect 8/1/5.  They listened!  The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will not delay implementing the new TILA-RESPA Integrated …