Probate Content Index - Page 1

Probate is the legal process to determine the validity of a will and resolve and disputes over a will. Learn more here in the articles, columns, blog posts, radio shows and videos about the probate process.

**Refinance Fees: How Much Is Too Much?** When you're refinancing your mortgage, how much should you be paying in refinance fees? It can be hard to tell what fees you're paying to the lender, what is prepaid interest, and what are the other costs of the loan. Refinance fees, especially for prepaid interest, can add up to the closing costs of refinancing your loan. Have your lender explain exactly what all the refinance fees are going toward before you make any decision about refinancing or canceling your refinance.

**HUD Revised Streamline Refinance Transactions** Streamline mortgage refinance applications will be undergoing some changes. Under the HUD revised streamline refinance, there are changes to the mortgage seasoning, payment history requirements, and verification of assets, employment and income. For a streamline refinance without an appraisal there will be a new maximum mortgage amount, and under the HUD revisions, there is is maximum combined loan-to-value amount for the streamline refinance. Read the full letter below for more details on the changes to HUD streamline refinance applications.

**No Health Insurance Leaves Wife with Husband's Medical Bills And In Need Of Help** No health insurance coverage can saddle anybody with debts beyond any means of repayment. But when a loved on dies and leaves those medical debts, spouses and family members are left to pick up the pieces. Proper estate planning is a must to make sure debts can be paid after debt and that property assets go to the right people.

**$8,000 First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit: Trying to Buy and Inherit a Home At The Same Time** The first time home buyer has all kinds of restrictions: income, how long you must live in the home, how long you couldn't have owned a home and who can sell you the home. There are even restrictions on whether you can qualify for the $8,000 first time home buyer tax credit if you plan to rent the home or receive the home by inheriting it.

Ilyce Glink Show notes - October 18, 2009 FDIC shuts down the 99th bank this year; FREE BOOKS and EBOOK DEAL; How to Profit from Foreclosures; Herman Cain show.

**ARM Refinance May Be Required To Lock In Low Monthly Payment** If you have an adjustable rate mortgage (ARM), the loan interest rate will adjust at the end of the fixed interest rate period for the loan. When the ARM does adjust, the amortization of the loan will continue in order to have you pay off the loan in full at the end of the loan term. If your ARM was a loan for 30 years, the amortization schedule must work to get you to pay off the loan in full at the end of the 30th year.

How do you know if you're the victim of a real estate fraud, a housing scam or mortgage fraud? A reader listed his house for sale with an investor who was also a Realtor. The investor/Realtor transferred ownership of the homeowner's property to himself using a quit claim deed, but left the homeowner on the hook for the mortgage. Is he the victim of a housing scam or mortgage fraud?

In a new twist on the Nigerian email scam, online rental ads are soliciting potential renters to wire money for several months rent, in exchange for super low rent rates. A scam alert from the FBI warns against the latest Nigerian scam. Online rentals found through sites like Craigslist are attracting this new Nigerian scam. The FBI warns renters searching for apartments and rentals to be wary of anyone asking for personal information, or who isn't local.

In its 2008 survey of mortgage fraud, the FBI concluded there is a strong correlation between mortgage fraud and distressed real estate markets. Indeed, some of the states with the highest levels of mortgage fraud also had the highest levels of foreclosures. But new mortgage fraud scams emerged in 2008 that tested the abilities of the FBI to contain them. Here is a look at the newest mortgage fraud scams.

Mortgage fraud and mortgage scams increased dramatically in 2008, as homeowners found themselves pushed into mortgages they couldn't afford, or lenders realized they had approved loans based on false premises. The survey found that mortgage fraud complaints surged in 2008. At least 63 percent of all pending FBI mortgage fraud investigations during FY200 involved dollar losses totaling more than $1 million. There were nearly 64,000 Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) filed in FY2008, with losses of more than $1.4 billion, an increase of 83 percent over FY2007.