Customer service, you can't give or get enough

Not solely related to title insurance or property ownership, this article about email and the Internet hits home and should be of interest to, well, anyone caught up in the Catch-22 of the web and service providers.
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All business, including title agencies, begin and end with customer service, don't you think?  Well, if that's the case, when you read this story you must ask what could have been going on at McAfee?  From the NY Times Haggler column:

Q. McAfee can’t seem to resist messing around with my e-mail. Here’s the story: I had been using McAfee, which sells antivirus software, on a PC for a while, but I stopped when I switched to a Mac. Months later, thanks to McAfee’s murky opt-out policy, I realized that the company was still charging me for a subscription. Or trying to. My credit card had expired, and I ignored McAfee’s entreaties to post new credit card information, thinking that would end the subscription.

Unfortunately, McAfee continues to monitor my e-mail, providing daily reports of messages it has intercepted and quarantined. Some of the quarantined e-mails are come-hithers from Russian women, who are apparently very lonely and would feel much better if I just clicked on their link. But others are important to me, so I’ve contacted McAfee several times, requesting that it stop performing this service that I don’t pay for and don’t want.

I haven’t received a reply. I tried chatting online with a McAfee rep, an exchange which could be described as occasionally hilarious but unhelpful. A job for the Haggler?

Alan Alda

Obviously, to me at least because I read the story, the poor rep was going to be over his head. Now let the fun begin.   Yet, McAfee stepped up to the plate.

The confounding part, and what McAfee executives say they find embarrassing, is that the Haggler’s intervention was needed. Referring to the online chat, Jason Grier, who runs the global support team, said: “The question is what do you do when you don’t know what to do. The first thing you do is raise your hand and get a supervisor involved. And clearly that didn’t happen here.”

As the Haggler calls it, "a simple misunderstanding" of the basis of the problem turns into a customer service nightmare. Isn't that the bane of all businesses? I hope we can do better to avoid that misunderstanding turning into the loss of a client.

Read the full column.

Well, that's what I think.  What's your opinion?

For your next title order or

if you have questions about what you see here, contact

Stephen M. Flatow, Esq.

Vested Land Services LLC

165 Passaic Avenue, Suite 101

Fairfield, NJ 07004

Tel 973-227-4724 - Fax 973-556-1628

E-mail stephen@stephenstitle.com

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Little known fee to raise interest rates

Loan fees are about to rise, and you won't even know it.  The fee in question is a guarantee fee collected by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac that is part of the interest rate you pay.  It's not set forth on the settlement statement because it does not have to be disclosed.

According to the New York Times,

INSIDE the interest rate quoted on your home lies a small hidden fee that has been charged by government-sponsored entities like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac for more than three decades. It’s an add-on rate known as the guarantee fee.

Everyone has to make a living, including Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, don't you think?  But just think of the fees collected over the years that seem to have been squandered in the so-called "sub-prime crisis."  In any event, it means a small rise in interest rates is coming in the days ahead.

Read the full story here.

For your next title order or

if you have questions about what you see here, contact

Stephen M. Flatow, Esq.

Vested Title Inc.

165 Passaic Avenue, Suite 101

Fairfield, NJ 07004

Tel 973-808-6130 - Fax 201-656-4506

E-mail vti@vested.com - www.vested.com

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Special deals to get the house sold.

Vested Title title agent new jersey refinance

The New York Times Antoinette Martin writes about “Going Beyond Price Cuts” on February 12, 2012.

“A PERSISTENT recession in house sales has led to a surge in “concessions” for buyers. In listings and brochures, and most recently through a program started up on Zillow.com, real estate agents are trumpeting the news: even sellers who have reduced asking prices by a lot are often willing to do more.”

Despite what you may have read to the contrary about concessions, “as long as concessions are written into a contract” and are clearly disclosed on the HUD Settlement Statement, … many banks in New Jersey are approving mortgage loans with up to 3 percent of purchase price in seller concessions.”  FHA loans can be approved with concessions as high as 6 percent.

One of the keys is that the seller has to be creative.  Taxes too high?  Pay some of them on a going forward basis.  Buyer is a little cash strapped?  Give them cash.

The house must still fully appraise, but, hey, isn’t that what life’s all about.

Read the full story here.

Do you have a story about concessions?  If so, we’d like to hear from you.  Please post your comment below.

For your next title order or

if you have questions about what you see here, contact

Stephen M. Flatow, Esq.

Vested Title Inc.

165 Passaic Avenue, Suite 101

Fairfield, NJ 07004

Tel 973-808-6130 - Fax 201-656-4506

E-mail vti@vested.com - www.vested.com

“That means contract concessions, in which sellers may agree to cover a buyer’s closing costs, provide a gift card for a certain amount, pay in advance for renovations, or even subsidize taxes by allocating funds from their proceeds at closing.” Sphere: Related Content

A bold approach - Principal Reduction Will Solve The Housing Crisis and Jumpstart The Economy

Realty Times has a super article about one way to solve the housing crisis.  Written by Arizona real estate broker Tanya Marchiol of Team Investments, her thesis could be summed up this way-

The American economy is chained to the crushing housing debt load. Chronic unemployment, foreclosures, and small business closings can all ultimately be traced back to the housing crisis. Working families across the country have seen their home values plummet, have had their life savings wiped clean, have been powerless to help when their loved ones lost their jobs, and in too many cases watched helplessly while they lost their homes to banks that continue to post billion-dollar profits and pay out billion-dollar bonuses. Add to that the trillions in bailouts and backstops that taxpayers gave to the banks, and one thing is clear: tax payers have already done their part. Now it is the banks' turn. Principal reduction will restore the American Dream, create jobs, and give the American family the ability to breathe again.

There's a bold approach in Ms. Marchiol's approach and it's one we can't disagree with.  Nothing else has worked to date, so in our view, it's worth a try.

Read the full story - Realty Times - Principal Reduction Will Solve The Housing Crisis and Jumpstart The Economy

For your next title order or

if you have questions about what you see here, contact

Stephen M. Flatow, Esq.

Vested Title Inc.

165 Passaic Avenue, Suite 101

Fairfield, NJ 07004

Tel 973-808-6130 - Fax 973-227-0645

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Is mortgage relief finally on its way with new HARP?

The New York Times writes, again, about HARP, the Home Affordable Refinance Program, that was introduced two years ago in an attempt to assist homeowners in refinancing their mortgages and reducing monthly payments.

In “A New Shot at Mortgage Relief” Mokoto Rich writes about William D. Compton.

“Like millions of other homeowners, William D. Compton would like to refinance his mortgage so that he pays less each month for his three-bedroom house in Gulf Breeze, Fla. With the savings, he figures he could afford a few extra movies and restaurant dinners or he could buy a new stove and brakes for his car, purchases he has postponed because finances are so tight.

“Although he would appear to be a good candidate, Mr. Compton, 57, has been turned down twice for a federal refinancing program aimed at homeowners like him.

“Still, he has renewed hope. That’s because the government is expanding the Home Affordable Refinance Program, which was meant to help homeowners whose mortgages are backed by the government and whose home values have declined sharply, even below what the borrowers owe. Mr. Compton is one of those underwater homeowners.”

When HARP was launched, it was estimated that it

"could help four million to five million homeowners whose home values had plunged. Yet just 900,000 borrowers — whose loans are owned by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-sponsored housing finance companies — have successfully refinanced through the program. Starting early next month, though, banks will begin using new criteria intended to make more borrowers eligible: raising the ceiling on how much owners can borrow over the value of their home as well as relaxing rules that might force banks to take back bad loans from the government. In announcing the change, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which oversees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, carefully eased expectations, suggesting about 900,000 more homeowners would be helped, roughly doubling the size of the program to date.”

We have been critical of the Federal effort to date since the ceiling on property appraisal values was unrealistically low in New Jersey.

Time will tell if the changes to HARP will help New Jersey residents.

Read the full article.

For your next title order or

if you have questions about what you see here, contact

Stephen M. Flatow, Esq.

Vested Title Inc.

165 Passaic Avenue, Suite 101

Fairfield, NJ 07004

Tel 973-808-6130 - Fax 201-656-4506

E-mail vti@vested.com - www.vested.com

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