Scam Targeting Utah Real Estate Agents!

Here is a new fraud: targeting real estate agent in Utah! Read the details below and call the Utah department of real estate if you think you have been a victim or have more questions.

I was not able to confirm this link on the website, but it came from a reliable source. Even if this is not a real scam, it is a good reminder to NEVER give out information over the phone from a source that cannot be verified.

***ALERT***

The real estate industry has long been an advocate of property rights and protecting the public from real estate-related scams. Recently, it has been mortgage fraud, short sale scams, foreclosure rescue scams, loan modification scams, etc. Now, real estate and mortgage licensees have become the target of a scam.

It goes like this. An individual, claiming to be a representative of the Division of Real Estate, is calling licensees and telling them that they have failed to respond to a notice sent out by the Division informing them that they are required to submit updated fingerprints. The individual warns that, due to this failure to respond, the licensee's license is going to be suspended. The individual then claims that this is a courtesy call from the Division, that the licensee may pay a small fee to avoid having his or her license suspended, and that the fee can be paid over the phone by credit card.

THIS IS A SCAM.

The Division will never contact any licensee and ask for a credit card number over the phone. The only licensees who are being required to submit updated fingerprints at this time are mortgage originators who are establishing their records in the nationwide mortgage licensing system (NMLS). All required payments for this fingerprinting are handled through the NMLS website, NOT over the telephone.

If you receive a call similar to the one described above, do not give out your personal information. Do not give out a credit card number. Try to get information that will identify the caller, and report it to the police and to the Division of Real Estate.

The Party is Over: GMAC Halts Foreclosures Amid Pervasive Foreclosure Fraud

The Party is Over: GMAC Halts Foreclosures Amid Pervasive Foreclosure Fraud

While this doesn't effect Utah directly, GMAC's lack of accuracy on foreclosures is a warning to other lenders.

Small Commercial Projects

Clear Day Capital has traditionally focused on single family homes in northern Utah. Recently we were approached by a borrower who has done a great job on a couple of projects and he asked us if we wanted to become an equity partner with him on a commercial loan.

It is a fairly small project- under $200,000. The building was a shell that would need to be built-out and tenants put in. Here is the interesting part: projected rents over $3,200 per month. Hmmm..... have you seen the rents on a $100,000 house? Let's be generous and call it $1,000 per month. So two $100,000 houses would bring in $2,000 per month, right?

So if we do the math, this project would bring in 50% more rent for every dollar of capital invested. This sounded so interesting that we decided to fund the project. Sure enough the build-out took less than $200,000 in capital and rents are over $3,200.

Nice....