The Herald-Sun - CURTAIN LIFTS ON AMERICAN UNDERGROUND

Durham is fast becoming a high tech incubation hub. We offer fantastic housing options, exciting entertainment options and a business friendly atmosphere.

The Herald-Sun - CURTAIN LIFTS ON AMERICAN UNDERGROUND

Money Changers, Money Lenders, Money Manipulators the evil that is.

Sovereign Bank, you spin me right round baby, right round baby in a circle, circle.

I received notice from one of my mortgage lenders, Sovereign Bank that I’m facing an escrow shortage of $106 ; the notice from Sovereign, they want to collect nearly $500 as a “cushion.” That doesn’t seem to be very fair does it? I thought that a $200 cushion is fair, so I called them.

The first lady, we’ll call her Amanda because I didn’t get her name, stated, that per RESPA requirements, Sovereign Bank HAD to collect that much money from me…the $500. When I informed her there was no such requirement and in fact RESPA (Real Estate Settlement Procedure Act) allowed UP TO 1/6 of an anticipated shortage to be collected, she hung up on me. I was completely rational with Amanda; I asked to renegotiate the amount of MY money which Sovereign Bank wants to hold in escrow or trust. Amanda said that Sovereign Bank “Can’t renegotiate amounts held in escrow.” Click.

So after I was hung up on, I called back. I imagine Amanda thought that I’d give up. The first person I reached after working through the maze of pin numbers, social security numbers and options for a second time was Nicki Gonzales. Nicki was very nice but had the same song as Amanda, I asked Nicki to bump me up the line. Nicki sent me to her supervisor Maribel Garcia, Maribel was nice too. Maribel went over the fact that I’d signed documents authorizing two month’s cushion in my escrow account. I did point out to Maribel that this wasn’t true and to bump me up the line to Tracy the call center manager.

Tracy was nice too and very direct. Her first words to me were that Sovereign Bank is allowed to keep a cushion in escrow under RESPA guidelines and that’s what they do. I related that I understood that, but I didn’t want that much of MY money held by Sovereign Bank earning them interest and not me. I proposed half of the some odd $500 amount. I stated that I thought that was a fair amount for Sovereign Bank to hold as a cushion. I also pointed out to Tracy that her employees were telling clients that the consumers had signed loan documents authorizing the two month cushion. Tracy conceded that this fact was untrue especially when I cited the specific paragraph in my deed of trust (mortgage) which spoke to escrow accounts. The actual language simply says the lender may collect escrow amounts to cover costs. Nil, nada, zero, zip about cushions and buffers. So essentially the bank’s employees….lied, fibbed or stretched the truth or they didn’t know any better or the bank didn’t tell them any better. Either way what they are saying and doing is wrong, unethical and dishonest. Tracy finally conceded that it wasn’t a matter of “can’t” change the rule, it is a matter of “WON’T” change the rule. So up the line I went to Greg.

Greg is Tracy’s supervisor; he sounded nice enough but had that kind of banker dry as toast sound to his voice. He didn’t want to be on the phone either. I imagined someone very comfortable with spreadsheets and not people. Greg’s bend on the situation was from a “compliance” standpoint. Greg’s stance was that if they, Sovereign Bank, changed the rules for me they’d have to change them for everyone. I nicely pointed out to Greg that banks change the rules all of the time. He didn’t understand. So I put it to him this way; folks who have a lot of money earn higher interest rates than those who don’t, folks who have higher credit scores pay less interest than those who don’t so it is well within Sovereign Bank’s power to adjust the amount held in escrow if they care to do so. Alas poor Greg didn’t have much to say about that. By this point I had about enough of the run around.

I asked if Greg would bump me up the line, he would but told me I’d be told the same no, no matter how high I went. So, still with a civil tone; I imparted to Greg at Sovereign Bank that his institution had most likely benefited from a whole bunch of TARP (Troubled Asset Relief Program) money and that the next time banks needed a bail out, I’d remember this failure that I’d had speaking with and doing business with Sovereign Bank.

Want a no nonsense deal on a loan or a home in the Triangle, call me, 919-608-2372.
I specialize on all forms of residential real estate including rentals. TeamMichaelSullivan.com or RentDurhamNC.com

The Herald-Sun - City eyes incentives for smart phone maker

Durham should encourage this type of business and manufacturing in our county and city.

The Herald-Sun - City eyes incentives for smart phone maker

Durham Socialite: The Weekend Has Landed - October 8th

Need something to do this weekend in the Bull City, follow, follow, follow the yellow brick blog.

Durham Socialite: The Weekend Has Landed - October 8th: "*Friday* Pre-Beerfest Party @ Sam's Quik Shop - Sam's will be hosting a Pre-Beerfest party, with beer on draft for sale, food trucks such a..."

Customer Service first, last and always.

The USPS
Mail use is down, the USPS isn’t even breaking even, more and more folks are using e-mail, electronic bill pay and the beat goes on and on.
I rencently sold a townhouse with a mail stanchon. You know the common mailbox grouping with individual locking boxes. Unfortunatley the sale was a foreclosure and the lisitng agent didn’t have a key for the mailbox.
Looking out for my clients interest, I diligently went to the stanchon, left a note explaining the what fors and how too’s and asked the letter carrier for the neighborhood to leave the box unlocked so that we could switch out the lock. I asked this because this is what we do in my neighborhood. Then just to be safe, I left my phone number too.
Today I drove down to Davis Park to follow up, by the way that is zip code 27703 and the street name is Finsbury, [Just in case the letter carrier, aka the guilty party is reading this.}
The scribbled and rude response to my note, from the letter carrier, “NO, I have nothing to do with box keys.”
Now mind you I was going to purchase and install the new lock, I just needed access to the back of the lock, all made clear in my note.
Humm, ok, well Mr. or Ms. Letter Carrier, USPS, Federal Worker who makes a whole lot of civil service money for an all but bankrupt organization… what a great way to build relationships and business . Perhaps you would have picked up the phone, once back at the post office and told me what to do.
The saving grace in all of this, I phoned the post office 27703 on Miami Blvd. in Durham and the young lady, Tameka, I think, was so sweet, so nice and let me put the change order in for my client. Now someone with the mail service will install a new lock and call my client/friend when the key is ready the day after tomorrow, the cost $15.00 and no aggrivation for me. Perhaps the letter carrier could learn a lesson or two from Tameka, she rocks and was so sweet and helpful. Tameka redeemed the organization.

The Herald-Sun - NEW DEVELOPER TAKES ON LAST WEST VILLAGE PROJECT

Obviously some folks have deep pockets. The fly in the ointment on this one is that if the Community Reinvestment money doesn't come, then the project...doesn't happen; or at least not right away.

The Herald-Sun - NEW DEVELOPER TAKES ON LAST WEST VILLAGE PROJECT

The Herald-Sun - 3 utilities pay city 161 871 to clear debts

Seems to me that Time Warner ought to just pay up. They hammer us if our cable/telephone bills are late so why the whining?

The Herald-Sun - 3 utilities pay city 161 871 to clear debts

The Heral Sun- What will $17k Get you in Durham?

For those of you who follow Durham Planning, this is an interesting one. Get to the end of the story and see, if you want to build an apartment complex in the Bull City, you may be "asked" to cough up an additional $17,000 in "cash donation" to the Durham Public Schools in order to do so. Oh the kindness and generosity of developers.

The Herald-Sun - City approves three rezoning plans

The Herald-Sun - Decibel level too high at Wade

How interesting that one could live in Durham for so long, spending many, many years on Dollar Avenue in Trinity Park, then moving some five short miles to Duke Forest and not know that one would be close to a university football stadium and other Duke athletic fields.

The Herald-Sun - Decibel level too high at Wade

The Herald-Sun - Owners considering sale of West Village

The Herald-Sun - Owners considering sale of West Village

Private Transfer Fees

Private Transfer Fees
You got to just love this one. [Please insert sarcasm here!] Some new home community developers have instituted this little gem, A PRIVATE TRANSFER FEE. This practice is now banned in only 16 states, but here is how it works.

Consumer comes along and buys a new home from a developer and a little lien is placed on their deed and ALL subsequent deeds imposing a private transfer fee. These fees can be as high as 1%...$100,000 sale price = $1000 transfer fee, but it doesn’t go away with one sale, it is appurtenant which means it stays with the property FOREVER, which means every time someone sells, the DEVELOPER gets a slice of the seller’s pie.

This is so wrong but it does illustrate why it is essential that real estate consumers hire a full time, professional, market savvy real estate professional.