Press Release from Mike Kreidler, Washington State Insurance Commissioner regarding Stewart Title in Snohomish County. |
To read the complete press release, click here. Stewart Title’s Snohomish operation has the potential of being fined up to $1,060,000 (106 violations at fines of up to $10,000 for each). Stewart Title’s other local counties have yet to be reported on from the Insurance Commissioner. Stay tuned… |
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Stewart Title gets whammo’d by the Insurance Commissioner
Those Amazing Low Rate Offers to Refi Now in the Mail
Even at our home, we’re getting more and more amazing offers from lenders. Recently one of my clients asked,
"We keep getting info in the mail from some odd place that says that we have a mortgage through Mortgage Masters and that they can reduce our house payment to $900.00 per month. We shred them every time we get them but now I am curious if it is true? It does not have the Mortgage Master logo on it, it just says that they know we have a mortgage balance of $266,000."
It’s amazing how much personal information that you would assume is private, is actually public. Any lender or real estate agent can obtain a fine tuned list from a title insurance company or various other marketing companies for a fee. It’s my opinion that if a Loan Originator has to use "cold marketing" (letters, post cards and phone calls to people they don’t know) to drum up business, it’s because they lack referral and/or repeat business from their past clients. No one wants to work with them or their company again nor refer someone to them…therefore, they must buy leads and mail to strangers (you and me).
Many of these offers are suspect…if it seems too good to be true, it is. Bait and switch tactics of offering low rates like 1% or skipping several months of your mortgage payment are hung out in order to have you call "Slick" at the mortgage company. Often times, the ads will appear as if they are coming from the mortgage company you obtained your financing from (check the very small print at the bottom of the letter). The gimmick marketing may even appear to be from a government agency or as if it’s a "special limited time offer". Chances are, it’s a hoax.
As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, we are personally getting deluged with "amazing offers". I think it’s because we have an adjustable rate mortgage. And, the mortgage marketers know this…many of the pieces we receive state that and have emotional rich phrases such as "stabilize your monthly mortgage payment…it’s urgent to refinance now." Our ARM is fixed for seven years. We have five years left on it. It’s not urgent for us to give up equity for closing cost to have a 30 year fixed mortgage at this time.
Another beauty, which I am going to send in to DFI to see if any actions will take place…came in a gold envelope from the "Department of Public Records" appearing as though it’s a check for $660,000. When you open this piece (of crap…sorry, this bugs me) it claims that the "sponsored lender" is Mortgage Master Service Corporation. I can assure you, this is not true. It also offers us a 1% interest rate and that this loan will fund in 10 days. This piece is from a Consumer Loan Lender. They have different guidelines they abide by than Mortgage Bankers or Mortgage Brokers.
The bottom line is that there are a plethora of mortgage marketers out there who are trying to take advantage of home owners fears of rates adjusting or debts…you name it. Don’t fall for it. If you need help with your mortgage or have any questions, contact a qualified Mortgage Professional.
Hopefully you had a good experience with the person who helped you with your original financing…if not…contact someone you respect and trust for a referral to one. What ever you do, don’t fall for misleading junk you receive in the mail.
UPDATE: If you have misleading advertisements sent to your Washington State home, mail it to:
Enforcement Unit, Division of Consumer Services, DFI, PO Box 41200, Olympia, WA 98504
A picture is worth 1000 words…or 2000 faces?
Okay…it’s official! I’ve lost my marbles to blogging. I was touring blogs on Active Rain (a real estate blogging site) and stumbled across this on a blog site by Kristal Kraft, an amazing Realtor and Blogger from Denver. I could not be left out of this party…and if you have a blog that was established before January 1, 2007 with your photo on it, you too can be a part of…
PS: Click on any photo to be connected to the blog that belongs to the face.
Important Privacy Warning
We recently became aware of a disturbing trend involving clients who have applied for a new mortgage. The three major credit bureaus are selling your personal information to hundreds of mortgage companies throughout the country as soon as your credit report is pulled from your mortgage lender.
Your personal information is being sold without your consent or knowledge. These mortgage companies are generally “fly by night” companies that operate several states away and are solely interested in offering you a “bait and switch” mortgage offer. These lenders will call you repeatedly and mail you solicitation after solicitation in hopes of deceiving you. They often offer terms that are too good to be true and misleading. Not only is this practice deceitful, it opens the possibility to identity theft. WAMB is currently working to get this dreadful situation remedied, in the meantime, consumers should take steps to protect themselves. Here are a few suggestions on easy steps you can take.
Opt Out of Prescreened Credit Offers
This will stop creditors from viewing your personal credit information without your written consent. In addition, it will cut down on the junk mail (unwanted credit card solicitations). This alone lowers your chances of becoming a victim of identity theft. You can opt out by visiting www.optoutprescreen.com or by calling 888-567-8688. Try do this one week before having your credit ran by any lender, if possible.
Add your phone number to the Do Not Call List
This can be done online by visiting www.donotcall.gov or by calling 888-382-1222. Remember to make sure to add both your home and mobile cell phone numbers. This takes 30 days to be in effect.
At Mortgage Master, we work diligently to protect your privacy and personal information. By following the steps above, you will protect yourself and lower your odds of becoming a victim of identity theft. Please feel free to call us with any questions or concerns. Our team is always here to help.
We take your trust seriously and will never be less than truthful in our dealings with you. You can count on honest, straight forward mortgage recommendations from our team. After all, the best compliment to our team is the referral of friends and family to our mortgage practice. This can only be achieved by servicing our clients with great care and respect.
For a free report on additional tips on preventing identity theft, please send me an email.
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