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Finance and Refinance, General Info, Production

Helpful Hints: Maintain the Condition & Value of your Manufactured Home or Mobile Home

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The Manufactured Housing Institute has issued a helpful guide for Manufactured home buyers. This guide shows buyers what to expect from start to finish, when purchasing a new Manufactured Home. The guide even includes information about qualifications and information that buyers need to know when considering a Manufactured Home Loan.

Today we are sharing one aspect that was highlighted  in this guide;  Manufactured Home maintenance.

MHI believes that “All homes require a certain level of maintenance to protect your investment, maintain their beauty, and keep the home in good operating condition.

At least once a month:

• Check/replace furnace filters

• Clean range hood filter

• Check weather stripping around door and window seals

• Check AC A-coils to ensure they are not clogged

• Clean vinyl floor coverings and vacuum carpets

At least twice a year:

• Inspect shingle roofs for missing or damaged shingles. Vents and flashings and caulked joints should be resealed once a year or as needed

• Check dryer vents to ensure they are working and free of debris and that they are not vented to or leaking moist air under your home

• Check AC condensation drain to ensure it is working and not clogged

• Clean out floor heat duct registers

• Check the underside of the home and repair any openings in the special material that protects the home from moisture

At least once a year:

• Wash exterior siding

• Inspect roof; clean off debris; rinse off with water

• Check exhaust fan systems

• Check anchor ties for snug but not overly tight fit

• Check heat tapes for proper operation

• Clean/check furnace

• Check/clean air conditioner

• Inspect and replace, as necessary, caulking around windows, doors and other openings

• Clean gutters

• Lubricate window guides with a silicone spray and ensure window latches are adjusted as needed

• Professionally clean carpets

Long-term absence from home:

• Turn off water supply: during winter, add approved anti-freeze in kitchen, lavatory and toilet traps

• Turn off water heater

• Close and lock windows

• Adjust thermostat accordingly for winter or summer months”

For More information, visit the Manufactured Housing Institute Website here.

Now may be a great time to refinance your Mobile home or Manufactured home, or pull out some equity, to perform these repairs and ensure that your home stays in great condition. This maintenance helps you to avoid costly damages or repairs down the road. Contact California Manufactured Home Finance for more information on accessing the equity in your mobile or manufactured home.

April 28, 2009 · Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , ,

Finance and Refinance, General Info, Laws & News, Production

Foreclosure Rescue Scams You Need to Know About

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Business Pundit posted a very informative blog today about 5 Nasty Foreclosure Resecue Scams to avoid.

“ According to RealtyTrac, a whopping one in 54 homes received a foreclosure notice last year. That’s 3.1 million foreclosure filings.

Scared yet? An ever-increasing pool of foreclosure rescue scammers are drooling at the prospect of capitalizing off your panic. And so far, they’re doing pretty well. From forgery to title transfer, these scamsters–some of them former real estate professionals–are making an art form of the foreclosure scam.

So far, a few pervasive scams have popped up enough times in the media to be dubbed endemic. Here they are, in no particular order. Do yourself a favor and avoid these five nasty foreclosure rescue scams:

1. The Pay Me First Scam

Some foreclosure rescue scammers ask customers to pay them fees in exchange for delaying a foreclosure. It’s actually illegal for foreclosure rescue companies to collect fees before performing a service. They should be paid after negotiating new loans or monthly payments.

Unfortunately, some homeowners find out the hard way that paying companies before they perform a service leaves them without money or a home. The Star-Telegram reports on one San Francisco-area mortgage broker advertised foreclosure avoidance workshops on Craigslist. For a $2,500 upfront fee plus a $2,000 monthly payment, Freedom Financial Solutions claimed it would halt foreclosures by finding legal violations in homeowners’ mortgage agreements.

Instead, Cheryl Ann Montero, owner of the company, took an ownership stake in her clients’ houses, then filed for bankruptcy, which suspended foreclosures. Montero, who ended up delivering nothing to her clients, made off with $52,000 before declaring bankruptcy herself.

2. The Title Transfer Scam

This scam involves transferring the title of your home to the foreclosure rescue company. This is a very, very bad idea. If your name is not on the title, guess who owns your home? Hint: It’s not you.

Rip-off Report reader Cheri had a scam like this happen to her. Facing foreclosure, she contacted a mortgage rescue company. The scammers executed a buyback scheme that would allow her to re-purchase her house at a different appraisal value. In order to finish the deal, they said they needed to put someone else’s name on the title of the home. Cheri would be a trustee, “guaranteeing” her that she would maintain control of the property while staying inside a renter.

It turned out Cheri’s name never made it to the title. She was paying down a mortgage on a home she no longer owned. The scammers made off with the title, possibly some equity, and the willingness to evict her from the house.

3. Sending Mortgage Payments to a Fake Address

Some scammers ask to receive your payment in place of the lender. They claim they have a special relationship with the lender, or can renegotiate your mortgage if you send them payments. This is sketchy, to say the least. One California scammer, for example, made $1.2 million by pretending to be a lender—then fled to his native Mexico.

If someone tells you to ignore your lender letters, or to send the payments somewhere else, run the other direction.

4. Fake Lender Letters

Some fraudsters have taken to forging major lenders’ letterhead and convincing homeowners to sign up for “official” loan modification services. Mail, envelopes, and letterhead may look exactly like the lender’s, but the content will be fraudulent.

The Lake County News reports that one Los Angeles ring even filed a fictitious business permit. The swindlers forged lender and government envelopes with “Final Notice” written on the outside. The letters inside told homeowners that if they sent in their mortgage information, they could apply for a home rescue program.

Once homeowners applied, they received a confirmation note and a set of forged lender documents. In the meantime, they were instructed to send their mortgage payments to a “Payment Processing Dept” located at a scammer’s PO box, where the money was stolen.

5. The Obama Rescue Plan Scam

The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that some rescue companies are charging as much as $3,000 to modify customer loans under the new Obama relief plan. The truth is that you can find out about rescue plan yourself, either online at MakingHomeAffordable.gov, through the Homeownership Preservation Foundation at 995hope.org, or by calling 1-888-995-HOPE.”

April 13, 2009 · Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

General Info, Laws & News

California’s Fleetwood Enterprises files Chapter 11

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(03-10) 14:20 PDT Riverside, Calif. (AP) –

“RV and manufactured housing builder Fleetwood Enterprises Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Tuesday, citing unprecedented credit restrictions affecting dealers and customers following three years of restructuring as market conditions worsened.

The Riverside-based company said its motor home and manufactured housing business will continue to operate while it seeks buyers for those business units, but it will close its travel trailer division.

The division accounted for losses of $65.3 million in 2007 and $16.8 million in 2008. The closing affects three manufacturing facilities and two service facilities employing about 675 people. The company is also laying off an additional 65 corporate associates.

“Although we made substantial progress in restructuring this division and improved the product offering, current market conditions proved too severe to continue the turnaround,” Elden L. Smith, Fleetwood’s president and chief executive officer, said in a press release.

Fleetwood, which employs more than 3,000 people in 15 plants in 10 states, filed petitions in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Riverside for itself and certain operating subsidiaries, but not any of its foreign or non-operating entities.”

Read the Full ArticleLINK

March 11, 2009 · Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , ,