We’ve all received them - those breathless e-mails letting us know that the government and/or the media, are attempting to cover up some deep, dark secret and only by passing along the attached missive will the free world be saved. Did you pass it along? Apparently so – we’re still here.

There seems to be a surfeit of these circulating lately dealing with housing issues that, judging by my in-box, have captured the attention of many of you who should know better. So for my cautiously informed friends, herein lies the truth.    

Myth #1: ‘Homeowners Listen Up’. The ‘Cap & Trade’ bill pending before Congress would require a license and expensive energy retrofits for nearly every home sold in the U.S. making it virtually impossible to sell your home.

Fact: The original ‘Cap & Trade’ bill (the one Mary Bono-Mack voted for), did contain some onerous provisions for housing retrofits. The National Association of Realtors®,  and our 1.2 million members, lobbied very effectively to have those provisions removed. ‘Energy Star’ regulation on re-sale single family homes will be strictly voluntary and there will be financial incentives for homeowners to make their homes more energy efficient.

Myth #2: ‘National Real Estate Transfer Tax’. The recently passed health care legislation is purported to have a hidden 4% transfer tax on the sale of every home.

Fact:  The bill does contain a provision that imposes a 3.8% Medicare tax for some high-income households that have ‘net investment income’. The new tax would not be applied to capital gains that result from the sale of a house and will not take effect until January 1, 2013. 99% of us are safe.

Myth #3: Title Compliance Office – Notice to Property Owners. In your mailbox – this letter claims a grant deed was recently recorded against your property that may question ownership of your home. If you don’t have an ‘official’ copy of your grant deed handy you need to get one from them ASAP for $167.

Fact: The Title Compliance Office is a mail drop set up to perpetrate a fraud on the public.  You received a grant deed when you purchased your home but if it’s filed somewhere safe and you really want another copy for some reason, the County Assessor’s Office will provide one to you for $10.

Next – Short Sale Negotiators. A number of real estate agents are hiring ‘short sale negotiators’ to do all the work of trying to get your home sold. They do this because the process can be time-consuming and/or they don’t have the time or the skill to do it themselves even though that’s what they promise.

If that negotiator engages in activities which should properly be conducted by a licensed real estate agent (almost inevitable, given the nature of the transaction), then you, your agent and their broker may have some liability. Your agent and broker may be exposed to fines and/or loss of license and your transaction may be derailed resulting in the loss of your home. Make sure you ask your Realtor if they are conducting their own negotiations on your behalf or if the negotiator they use is licensed under the Department of Real Estate to do what they will be paid to do. The DRE will start cracking down on these unlicensed activities and you don’t want to be the example case.

Finally – Deficiency Relief. With the recent passage of SB1187 in the Senate (and hopefully in the Assembly by the time you read this), homeowners will regain some measure of control in their foreclosure/short sale process. Sponsored by the California Association of Realtors®, SB1187 provides deficiency relief for those homeowners with a 1^st and/or 2^nd mortgage that was refinanced.

During the go-go mid-decade some 65% of loans generated were re-fi’s. What your lender didn’t tell you was that if you re-fi’d, you were no longer afforded the anti-deficiency protection of your original purchase money, or non-recourse, loan. Even if you just re-fi’d to take advantage of a lower interest rate, your lender is now free to pursue you for any deficiency resulting from a short sale or foreclosure.

Fact is, they almost never do as this involves the much more expensive and time consuming judicial foreclosure BUT they frequently can and do use it as a threat to homeowners enticing them to sign a note for all, or some, of the deficiency when that really would not be necessary. With the passage of SB1187, opposed vociferously by the banks as you might imagine, they will no longer have this hammer to hold over your head. UNLESS you re-fi’d and took cash out to buy a Hummer or a vacation or other frivolities. If you did that, then you are still on the hook. No free ride if you tried to game the system.

If you have questions on the market please contact me at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or to keep up with the latest legislative and real estate trends go to http://gadblog.srcar.org/. It’s a great time to buy low – just don’t expect to sell high anytime soon. Your house is a home, not an investment.