Tuesday, November 5, 2019

A column not about title insurance.

Warning signs of identity theft.

Well, this sure isn't about title insurance but it's worth a look from our friends at ProtectMyID.  With identity theft on the rise, here are some tips that you might have been affected by identity theft.

1.Failing to receive bills or other mail
This could indicate that an identity thief has taken over your account and changed your billing address, says Siciliano. "Make sure to follow up with creditors if your bills don't arrive on time."
2.You're rejected for credit
"Being denied credit or being offered less favorable credit terms, like a high interest rate, for no apparent reason, is a sign your identity may have been compromised," Siciliano says.
3.You're getting bills for purchases you didn't make
If you start receiving bills or notices of overdue payments in regard to accounts you don't have, you have probably become a victim of identity theft, says Steven J.J. Weisman, a college professor who teaches white-collar crime at Bentley University and is the author of the book Identity Theft Alert. "In this case, you should contact the creditor and inform them that you have been a victim of identity theft and it is not your debt, and also file a police report. "While there is little chance of the criminal being caught. It helps prove that you have been a victim of this crime."
4.Your bank account, brokerage account, credit card account or other accounts have unauthorized transactions
"Again, look into the specific charges, file a police report and demand that the fraudulent activity be stopped and the institution reimburse you for any losses," Weisman says. "You should also be regularly monitoring your credit reports and all of your financial accounts to recognize fraud as soon as possible."
5.You receive a tax transcript in the mail that you didn't request
"Under this scenario, a fraudster logged on to the Internal Revenue Service website and tried to get your information and couldn't download it immediately because some security test failed," says Abby Eisenkraft, chief executive officer of Choice Tax Solutions, Inc. "Consequently, the IRS mailed it to you, instead, under the assumption you requested the document."
6.Your electronically led tax return is rejected
This a big sign your identity has been compromised, says Eisenkraft. "That's especially the case if your return is rejected and there are no typos and the Social Security number is correct. What likely happened is that an identity thief led a tax in your name, claiming a fraudulent refund."
7.You receive a tax refund you did not request
Here, you may get a check or pre-loaded debit card. "What happened is that an identity thief led a fraudulent return and will try to and the refund in your mailbox," says Eisenkraft.
8.Your employer lets you know you've got a data security problem
If a hacker has your Social Security number and the name of your current employer, they can try to collect unemployment benefits in your name. "In this case, if your company is on the ball you might hear from someone in human resources," states David Cox, an identity theft expert and CEO, and founder of LiquidVPN, in Cheyenne, Wyo. "Most hackers will check your social media to see if you just quit a job or just started a new job. With this information, they are much more likely to get away with it for quite a bit longer. Eventually, you will hear from your former employer or the unemployment agency."
9.You get two-factor authentication alerts
It's a problem when you get a text message sending you a six-digit pin to enter into a service or membership you don't recognize, says Ralph Rodriguez, an MIT Fellow, and chief technology officer at Conrm.io, a personal data security firm. "Maybe it's a new account," Rodriguez says. "Perhaps it's account recovery for your bank. The point is you don't know. And it's a very eerie feeling when it happens."
10.Your credit score is actually rising
Strange, but true, Rodriguez says — a rising credit score can mean trouble on the identity fraud front. "Check your credit reports frequently for accounts you didn't open and hard inquiries which could suggest fraudsters are trying to extend credit in your name," he advises.
11.You get small "test charges" on your credit card
Hackers often place a small charge for a couple of bucks on the card to see if it will go through before they initiate an attempt at a larger fraud later, says Ross Federgreen, CEO of CSR, a compliance solutions firm, and a data privacy expert. "If you have a small charge you don't recognize, don't ignore it," says Federgreen.
12.You get increased direct mail and phone solicitations for expensive items
The notices could be for cars, loans, and home improvement, and other big-ticket items," Federgreen says. "This could be the result of new high-ticket activity run on your account."

Read the full report at AAA.

We are the New Jersey title insurance agent that does it all for you. For your next commercial real estate transaction, house purchase, mortgage refinance, reverse mortgage, or home equity loan, contact us, Vested Land Services LLC. We can help!

For your real estate purchase or mortgage refinance 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 973-808-6130 - Fax 973-227-0645
E-mail sflatow@vested.com
@vestedland
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Monday, November 4, 2019

Farmland taxes in New Jersey

We are the New Jersey title insurance agent that does it all for you. For your next commercial real estate transaction, house purchase, mortgage refinance, reverse mortgage, or home equity loan, contact us, Vested Land Services LLC. We can help! 

New Jersey's Farmland Tax Assessment saves some people a lot of money.

Many NJ taxpayers are up in arms over the reduced taxes paid by some they consider wealthy or connected who happen to benefit from the reduction in real estate taxes when property is classified as farmland.

What's it all about?  NJMoneyhelp.com looks at the issue in this post:

Q. What is New Jersey’s classification for a “farm” for real estate tax purposes? For example, if I start keeping bees on my property, would that convert my property into a farm? I already have red oak trees on my property, and because red oaks produce acorns – which are edible – does my property constitute a “farm?”
— Wanna-be farmer

A. We’re guessing you asked that question after it was revealed that Kevin Corbett, the head of NJ Transit, paid only $19.42 in taxes for five acres of his Mendham Township property that’s assessed as farmland. He paid $20,609 in taxes in 2018 for the rest of the property, less than one acre, where his home stands.

That’s a big difference.

There are several requirements before your property can be assessed as a farm.

First, it must be at least five acres, said Neil Becourtney, a certified public accountant and tax partner with CohnReznick in Holmdel.

The second requirement is that the property must be actively devoted to agricultural or horticultural use for at least the two successive years immediately before the tax year for which farmland assessment is requested, he said.

“Land is considered to be in agricultural use when devoted to the production for sale of plants or animals useful to man – excluding dogs – or when the land qualifies under a federal soil conservation program that makes payments to the owner,” Becourtney said. “Land is in horticultural use when it is devoted to the production for sale of fruits, vegetables, nursery, floral, ornamental or greenhouse products, or when the land qualifies under a federal soil conservation program that makes payments to the owner.”

Land is actively devoted to agricultural use when the amount of the gross sales of agricultural products produced on such land, together with soil conservation program payments, and fees received for breeding, raising, or grazing livestock have averaged at least $1,000 per year during the two-year period immediately preceding the tax year at issue; or there is clear evidence of anticipated yearly gross sales, and the other sources noted, of at least $1,000 within a reasonable period, he said.

An application for farmland assessment must generally be filed on or before August 1 of the year before the tax year for which such farmland valuation is sought. The assessor can grant an extension of time, up to and including September 1, if it appears to the director’s satisfaction that the taxpayer’s failure to file the application form by the August 1 due date was due to the illness of the taxpayer or to the death of the taxpayer or a member of the taxpayer’s immediate family, he said.

“In your situation, assuming you meet the acreage test, you would need to reach the state’s sales threshold from selling acorns and honey that presumably the bees would be producing in order to obtain the reduced farmland assessment for your real estate taxes,” Becourtney said.

Read the post here.

For your real estate purchase or mortgage refinance 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 973-808-6130 - Fax 973-227-0645
E-mail sflatow@vested.com
@vestedland
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Thursday, October 31, 2019

Home buyers, can you wind up with a haunted house? Yes!

We are the New Jersey title insurance agent that does it all for you. For your next commercial real estate transaction, house purchase, mortgage refinance, reverse mortgage, or home equity loan, contact us, Vested Land Services LLC. We can help!

How to Avoid Unexpectedly Buying a Haunted House—Because It Could Happen to You

Per this article on Realtor.com:
Footsteps late at night. Music randomly playing. Lights flickering. Unexplained shadows. True-horror fans might get a thrill out of moving into a house with a haunted past, but others might see it as a nightmare.
It wouldn't surprise us to hear that notorious homes like the Manson murder house in Los Feliz or the "In Cold Blood" house have experienced some paranormal activity. The same goes for homes in towns with notoriously gruesome histories, like Salem, MA, where about two dozen people accused of witchcraft were executed or died in jail in the 1600s.
“Salem is one of the markets where I practice real estate, and you never know what's lurking behind closed doors,” says Dana Bull, real estate agent at Sagan Harborside Sotheby's International Realty in Marblehead, MA.
Whoa!  So there is such a thing as an haunted house after all.  Read the full story, https://www.realtor.com/advice/buy/unexpectedly-buy-haunted-house/

We can't insure your home won't be haunted by spooks, but we can be sure that you are protected from other matters that haunt home buyers!  Give us a call.

For your real estate purchase or mortgage refinance 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 973-808-6130 - Fax 973-227-0645
E-mail sflatow@vested.com
@vestedland
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Harrison, N.J.: The Next Hoboken?

We are the New Jersey title insurance agent that does it all for you. For your next commercial real estate transaction, house purchase, mortgage refinance, reverse mortgage, or home equity loan, contact us, Vested Land Services LLC. We can help!


Easy commute to NYC from Harrison, NJ.

The New York Times asks, is: Harrison, N.J.: The Next Hoboken?

When our office was located in Jersey City-Harrison's neighbor to the east-I had occasion to drive through this town.  Once the home to heavy industry, the area near the PATH station has become a residential enclave.

The New York Times reports

Steve Defontes spent years living in West Orange, N.J., and commuting to work in Lower Manhattan before he decided, last year, that he was ready for a change. When his house sold faster than he expected, he was forced to make a quick decision about where to go, and his mind naturally went to the town he had been driving to each day to catch the PATH train: Harrison, N.J.
“I asked myself, ‘What can I do that will disrupt my life the least?’ And I thought of all those buildings that were going up around where I parked my car every day,” said Mr. Defontes, 45, the president of Big Idea Advertising.
In December, he moved into a one-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment in one of them, a luxury rental building a three-minute walk from the new PATH station, cutting his commute in half. And at $2,180 a month, he estimates his rent is about half of what he would pay in a similar amenity-filled building in New York City. The move was expedient, but the outcome turned out to be much better than Mr. Defontes anticipated.
So, a question for renters and home buyers who are watching their budget, does Harrison sound right for you?

Read the full report.


For your real estate purchase or mortgage refinance 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 973-808-6130 - Fax 973-227-0645
E-mail sflatow@vested.com
@vestedland
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Thursday, October 10, 2019

Phishing and the title insurance industry

We are the New Jersey title insurance agent that does it all for you. For your next commercial real estate transaction, house purchase, mortgage refinance, reverse mortgage, or home equity loan, contact us, Vested Land Services LLC. We can help!

Phishing in connection with wire transfers is rampant in the title insurance industry.

Homeowners get bilked out of millions of dollars per year.

How does phishing work against the title insurance industry?  Here's a link to a blog post from the ALTA, the American Land Title Association:

Infographics: How Phishing Works


Phishing infographic_3

For your real estate purchase or mortgage refinance 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 973-808-6130 - Fax 973-227-0645
E-mail sflatow@vested.com
@vestedland
Sphere: Related Content