Arizona Title Company shuts down suddenly

The Arizona Department of Financial Institutions confirms that the Arizona Title Company, a licensed escrow company in the state, has shut down.

Customers were greeted with 'closed' signs and vacated offices in Phoenix Wednesday afternoon. The closure came suddenly and with out warning.

Below is a statement from the corporation regarding the closure:

The First American Corporation has issued the following statement regarding the recent decision by Arizona Title Agency, Inc. to discontinue operations in the state of Arizona:

“First American Title Insurance Company is the sole title insurance underwriter for Arizona Title and in that capacity, has assured state insurance regulators of its commitment to fulfill its duties and responsibilities and assist them as may be necessary or appropriate under the law to ensure that transactions involving the customers of these two companies, and the policyholders of First American, are successfully processed to completion. As a first step, First American has set up a dedicated customer service center to field questions from existing customers of Arizona Title. Customers with pending transactions may call 925-249-2819 to receive further information.

First American has had a long-standing relationship with Arizona Title and we regret that the current market conditions have forced them into this very unfortunate situation.”

About The First American Corporation
The First American Corporation (NYSE: FAF) is a FORTUNE 500^® company that traces its history to 1889. With revenues of $8.2 billion in 2007, it is America’s largest provider of business information. First American combines advanced analytics with its vast data resources to supply businesses and consumers with valuable information products to support the major economic events of people’s lives, such as getting a job, renting an apartment, buying a car or house, securing a mortgage and opening or buying a business. The First American Family of Companies, many of which command leading market share positions in their respective industries, operate within five primary business segments, including: Title Insurance and Services, Specialty Insurance, Information and Outsourcing Solutions, Data and Analytics Solutions, and Risk Mitigation and Business Solutions.

Video tutorials for the new flex mls

If you had watched some of the video tutorials for the new flex mls system, but can't find them anymore, here is what you need to do:

Go to http://armls.flexmls.com/ and log in with your same username and password for the old mls.

Once you are logged in you can find the video tutorials on the left side lower nav bar under "User Guides".

Have fun!

More foreclosure news for Arizona

The highest rates of foreclosures in metropolitan Phoenix have moved from the farthest flung suburbs to neighborhoods closer into the area, particularly some in south, west and central Phoenix.

That's according to an Arizona newspaper's analysis of real-estate data from the Information Market.

When foreclosures started to climb last summer, the highest rates of home defaults were found in farthest flung areas where buyers had gone to get the most house for their buck.

Although some of the metro area's fringes such as Surprise, Anthem and Buckeye continue to have high foreclosure rates, the problem has moved inward.

Foreclosures across metro Phoenix number 16,647 for the first half of the year compared with 9,966 during all of 2007 and 1,070 in 2006.

Phoenix Home Prices Down 18 Percent

Arizona - A new report show prices of existing homes in metropolitan Phoenix plummeted by 18 percent between April 2007 and April 2008.

The report compiled by Arizona State University researchers puts much of the blame on foreclosed homes being dumped on the market by banks.

The dramatic price drop was much steeper than reflected in March, when prices showed a 13 percent drop from a year earlier.

ASU real estate professor Karl Gunterman says the rise in foreclosures has banks discounting homes they repossess, which drives down overall prices.

Hardest-hit are the southwestern Phoenix suburbs of Avondale, Buckeye and Goodyear, which saw 30 percent declines. To the southeast, Mesa saw the steepest drop at 18 percent. Even Scottsdale and Paradise Valley recorded double-digit price drops.

In my opinion, the banks need to step up and start to work with Realtors on selling these homes. You can have a buyer and seller in total agreement and it still takes 2-3 months for the bank to get back to you! It's madness.

Cell phone usage and the IRS

NAR is participating in a broad-based coalition to help ensure the clear tax deductibility of business cell phone use after a U.S. Tax Court decision muddied the waters.

NAR and it's coalition partners are working hard with members of Congress on potential legislation to address the situation. For more information please contact Linda Goold at NAR. 202-383-1083 or send an email to her at lgoold@realtors.org

News from Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae

Fannie Mae will no longer require borrowers to put up an extra five percent down payment when purchasing homes in areas deemed "declining markets". NAR met several times last spring with Fannie Mae officials and sent letters reflecting members unease with the policy.

Starting June 1st, 2008 Fannie Mae started to accept up to 97% loan-to-value ratios for conventional, conforming mortgages processed through it's desktop underwriter automated system, and 95% loan-to-value ratios for loans underwritten outside of desktop underwriter, in all locations in the United States.

Freddie Mac has also stated they will scrap their policy.

Ethics training information

There are two online ethics training courses available on Realtor.org. Each course meets the specific criteria and learning objectives required for either new Realtors or existing Realtors as established in the statements of professional standards policy #47.

Gov. Janet Napolitano signs mortgage-licensing bill

Gov. Janet Napolitano has signed a proposal to license loan originators, a measure strongly backed by Arizona real estate professionals, financial institutions and housing officials.

The Senate had passed the bill, 20-6, after a long battle by the bill's author, Sen. Jay Tibshraeny of Chandler, to bring the proposal up for a vote.

The Chandler Republican resorted to a parliamentary maneuver on June 25 to bypass his caucus, where the bill had languished for some time.

Democratic lawmakers had pressed for legislative action to address the housing crisis during a forum in the Executive Tower on June 3 and followed up with pleas on the Senate floor.

The appeal was backed by officials of the Arizona Department of Financial Institutions, the Department of Real Estate, the Department of Housing and the Attorney General's Office. Industry insiders, including appraisers and loan officers, also urged legislative action to address mortgage fraud and the soaring number of foreclosures that have hit the state.

Many of those who spoke during the June 3 forum pushed for the licensing of loan originators. But critics said they don't believe a piece of paper in the form of a license will stop somebody from committing fraud.

Citing studies, the Pew Charitable Trusts reported that one in every 18 homeowners in Arizona could face foreclosure primarily in the next two years because of their sub-prime related loan.

"You walk down your street and count 18 homes, for the next two years, one in 18 Arizona homeowners will be in foreclosure. That is significant," said State Real Estate Commissioner Sam Wercinski.

IndyMac to Sell 60 Branches

IndyMac Bancorp Inc., which on Monday said it would lay off 3,800 workers and stop accepting new loan submissions, has reached an agreement to sell more than 60 retail mortgage branches to Prospect Mortgage.

Under the deal, the branches will be rebranded as Prospect branches and approximately 750 employees will join the company, according to an internal e-mail sent to employees on Tuesday. Financial terms were not disclosed.

“This is a tremendous development for our organization,” said Prospect Chief Executive Mark Filler in the e-mail, which was provided to the Business Journal. “This transaction is proof that we are on our way to becoming the nation’s largest independent retail mortgage company.”

Prospect was started in 2006 and is backed by private equity fund Sterling Partners.

Executives at Pasadena-based IndyMac had been working since last week with Prospect in an effort to pull off a deal. On Monday, IndyMac Chief Executive Michael Perry said in a letter to stakeholders that the company would stop taking most loan applications and close its roughly 150 branches.

Through the deal, 750 employees who on Monday were told they would be laid off will keep their jobs under Prospect’s management, said IndyMac spokesman Evan Wagner.

“We wanted to mitigate our own losses and we wanted to find them a home,” Wagner said of the deal.

Additionally, IndyMac will continue to originate loans “without interruption,” the company said in a separate e-mail to IndyMac employees.

“Between now and the time that that (the deal closes), our retail sales force is still going to be doing business under our brand,” Wagner said. “Whatever loans they originate, they’ll go through our systems, but Prospect will fund them.”

Separately, analyst Paul Miller of Friedman Billings Ramsey & Co. lowered his target price for the company’s stock from $1 to zero on Tuesday. Miller said he does not expect the company to go under, but he wrote in a research report, “We do not believe that there is any value left for common shareholders.”

Shares of IndyMac closed up 4 percent to 46 cents in after-hours trading after plunging 38 percent in the regular session.

About Prospect Mortgage

Prospect Mortgage

Established in 2006, Prospect Mortgage specializes in acquiring midsized residential lenders, providing them with capital, cost-efficiencies, and increased resources while maintaining a decentralized, entrepreneurial business model. Prospect is backed by Sterling Partners, a multibillion-dollar private equity fund based in Chicago and Baltimore. To learn more, visit www.prospectmtg.com.

Some products may not be available in all states. This is not a commitment to lend. Restrictions apply. All rights reserved. Users of this information should not assume that it remains effective at a later date. Programs (including, without limits, fees, rates, and features) are subject to change without notice.

This press release may contain forward-looking statements with respect to the Company’s business, financial condition, results of operations, plans, objectives and future performance. Forward-looking statements, which may be based upon beliefs, expectations and assumptions of management and on information currently available to management, are generally identifiable by the use of words such as “believe,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “plan,” “intend,” “estimate,” “may,” “will,” “would,” “could,” “should” or other similar expressions. Additionally, all statements in this document, including forward-looking statements, speak only as of the date they are made, and the Company undertakes no obligation to update any statement in light of new information or future events. A number of factors, many of which are beyond the ability of the Company to control or predict, could cause actual results to differ materially from those in its forward-looking statements, including, among others, changes in demand for mortgage loans, the Company’s access to funding sources and the terms upon which it can obtain financing, the impact of economic slowdowns or recessions, management’s ability to manage the Company’s growth and planned expansion, competition in the Company’s market, changes in government regulations, the impact of new legislation or court decisions restricting the activities of lenders or suppliers of credit in the Company’s market and the inability of the Company to manage the risks associated with the foregoing as well as anticipated. These risks and uncertainties should be considered in evaluating forward-looking statements and undue reliance should not be placed on such statements. The Company does not undertake to up-date forward looking statements to reflect the impact of circumstances or events that arise after the date the forward looking statement are made.

IndyMac Bancorp to be Prospect Mortgage

Prospect Mortgage has signed an agreement to acquire the majority of IndyMac Bancorp’s retail mortgage branches. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

The transaction encompasses approximately 750 employees along with more than 60 branch offices which will be rebranded as Prospect Mortgage. John Johnston and Ron Bergum will remain in leadership roles with the retail branch group and report to Mark Filler, CEO of Prospect Mortgage.

“The IndyMac transaction benefits our loan officers, customers, sales managers and referral sources. This is growth for the right reasons, not just for the sake of growth,” said Mr. Filler. “The IndyMac transaction will enable us to increase our investment and success in marketing, technology, and customer service levels.”

With completion of the IndyMac transaction, Prospect Mortgage projects that it will become one of the largest independent retail mortgage companies in the country.

Have a great 4th of July!