Deal With Squatter

Squatters in your listing, rental property, vacant home? 

Worse than ghosts?

The new trend of squatters who move in and change the locks seems to be increasing. 

Recently in Laguna Beach two listings were invaded by homeless persons who set up house. 

They are bold when approached by owners or Realtors.

Legally an owner must go through a court eviction to remove them from the premises, even though they have no lease or rental agreement. This can be a time consuming and costly process. First the owner must uncover the squatter’s legal names. Next they must post and serve a Notice to Vacate, then wait and file an Unlawful Detainer. Court date is often a month away, meanwhile these con artists set up cable, make a mess and can be destructive. You still need to pay your mortgage and expenses.

The Sheriff or police may not want to be the judge, as squatters will claim they have a lawful purpose to be in the home.They often provide a bogus rental agreement. Hopefully the officer can acquire their legal name to run for outstanding warrants. If you are the legal owner you could file a citizen’s arrest for breaking and entering but succeeding in having the officer arrest a person who appears normal and has no prior record will be difficult.

Things you can do to protect yourself as an owner:

1       1.  When you list a property put your telephone number and name in each photograph. Gimp is a free software that you can navigate

2.      2.  If you plan to leave town for an extended period of time (job move, tour of duty, long vacation) have a trusted person check on the house and enter once a week. Change the lights, pick up mail, and make adjustments

3.       3. If you are leasing a vacant property out of town, use a local Realtor to list.

4.      4.   Don’t post on Facebook that you are away.

5.       5. Having a house sitter might be a good protection.

What Lenders can Do to Protect REO, foreclosure, empty short sale

1.       Hire local Realtor who will check on the subject

2.       Check the locks and security

3.       Keep the front lawn up.

4.       Change things around.

5.       Allow Real Estate Agents to hold open house a couple days a week

6.       Price the house to sell

If you have questions, I'm happy to help.

You've Been Hacked?

I'm posting lovely photographs I took of a neighbor's garden this
morning to accompany an ugly subject.

A debit card hacked again.
I swear I will not pump gas, even inside the store
using a credit card or debit card.
I only transfer $200 to my debit account so
they could not steal large amounts of money again.
Why wont Shell and Chevron stop these mafia
criminals?
Because they don't feel responsible. They will show you
how they put foil tapes over the scanner computer at the
pump to stop theives from putting duplicating chips on
the slide bar. They could check for cameras that theives
use to monitor as customers enter passwords. They don't
care.

Rental scams are on the rise. All realtors and real estate
agents should put in every single listing photograph their
name, telephone number and license number. Stop the scamsters
who post those photographs on Craigslist, Trulia and
Zillow claiming to be the owner. Some guy in West Africa
won't use your home and ask for funds to be wire transferred
to their account because you will notice the contact name in
the photograph. Easily completed by running your photos through
GIMP a free software.

Had your email hacked? That's a hassle. What do they get out
of reading my Mom's joke emails?  My Mom's 82 leave her
alone.

Change your passwords,
and don't make them all the same. Your paypal and bank account
passwords need security, you can use dummy1111 for all those
junk websites that ask you to sign up just to read their story.
End of rant. Go look at the pretty gardens and relax.
Then go change your passwords and pay for gas with cash.
If you have been a victim of identity theft I have some free strategies
to prevent it, and what to do in the aftermath.

longer post here:
http://cgbarbeau.blogspot.com/2014/08/protect-your-assets-and-credit-from.htmlhttp://cgbarbeau.blogspot.com/2014/08/protect-your-assets-and-credit-from.html

USDA changes

USDA MORTGAGE LOANS CHANGES AHEAD

http://cgbarbeau.blogspot.com/

USDA Mortgage Loan is a great mortgage product. It allows borrowers to purchase a home with zero down, as long as the home is within a “rural” geographical area as designated by USDA.

USDA requires that the subject property be located in a rural area. The definition of rural area is deligated and regulated by the United States Census which is completed every ten years.

To see if a property location is eligible go here

http://eligibility.sc.egov.usda.gov/eligibility/welcomeAction.do?pageAction=sfp&NavKey=property@11

These eligible geographic areas are about to change, but you can apply for a USDA loan here http://eaglehomemortgage.com/carolinegerardo/ to ensure you are able to use USDA financing for your home purchase. The 2010 census revealed changes to populations around cities and towns that will make some areas ineligible for USDA financing. Many people have moved away from sparsely populated areas and closer to cities and suburbs since 2000, when the last census was taken.

Because of this, some areas that were once eligible will exceed population limits set by USDA, becoming ineligible. The boundaries for USDA loans will change as of October 1, 2014. -You need to apply early September and close before OCTOBER first of this year. If you have questions or comments I am happy to answer. After 27 years as a mortgage banker and more than two billion dollars of closed loans, I have answers, free,

Caroline Gerardo

NMLS 324982

http://eaglehomemortgage.com/carolinegerardo



Here is C G in rural Glen Oaks California with her son