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.