Evidently the banks have rules based on the “2001 Patriot Act” to use due diligence to find out where the money comes from before it gets deposited. Due to the Patriot Act, if you’ve tried to open a bank account lately, they want to know everything down to the size of your underwear almost.  So foreign dignitaries, etc. have found a way to launder money through our American system, because really, when it comes to buying and selling something, what American doesn’t like “green”?

Tens of millions of dollars pass through our system. Foreigners buy million dollar mansions here, jets there, etc. Due to an exemption given to real estate and escrow agents by the Treasury Dept. in 2002, it makes the real estate market very easy to manipulate with “ill-begotten” funds.

What cracks me up is here we are again, where the rights of others come before those of our own. When I have a buyer for a house, I have to be able to show a complete “paper trail” for where those funds have come from. From this investigation, if you’re a foreign dignitary, etc. all you have to do is have the funds. Nobody seems to care where they come from. Of course if you’re doing a multi-million dollar transaction and most of it is cash, guess what? Yes, cash is still “king”.

One article stated “The report said Nagler worked with a colleague in the insurance industry to provide insurance coverage for Obiang’s 32 motorcycles and cars, which included seven Ferraris, five Bentleys, four Rolls-Royces and two Lamborghinis.” Must be rough, aye?

At least we’re not in it alone this time. Money laundering in real estate is happening with the help of not only real estate agents and escrow officers, but lobbyists, insurance agents, and real estate lawyers. The corruption and greed will never cease to amaze me.

On a different note, I’ll be holding an open house in Mountain View,

2/10/2010

California this Wednesday from 11:30 am to 2:30 pm. For information about this lovely home, visit http://www.whismanhomeforsale.weebly.com

If you have any questions regarding real estate in California, please feel free to contact me. I’d be happy to help.

Jan. 31, 2010

I’m holding an Open House today from 1-5 pm today. If you’re in the area you’ll have to stop by and say hello. The address is

526 N. Whisman Rd. Mountain View, Calif.

It’s a great house and Mountain View is an extremely popular area being the home of Google and so many other “techie” companies. This home is close to freeways and shopping, was completely remodeled just 5 short years ago, and is a true delight. To see pictures, etc. go to http://www.WhismanHomeForSale.weebly.com

The numbers are out for December and all of 2009 now. While they are saying the job market looks better, the numbers still aren’t good. Personally, I think they’re a lot worse than they show. The fact that they don’t even count the people still out of work, but whose unemployment benefits have run out and they are no longer on the rolls, to me is very deceiving. The economy shed 85,000 jobs last month and the Unemployment Rate failed to dip below 10%. The one bright spot is that because of these numbers, mortgage rates continue to decline slightly, or at least stay at current levels.

As far as seeing the end of the housing crisis, there were a total of 3,957,643 foreclosure filings, which includes default notices, scheduled foreclosure auctions and bank repossessions. A total of 632,573 California properties received a foreclosure filing in 2009, the nation’s largest state foreclosure activity total. This was an increase of nearly 21 percent from 2008 and was the most for any state in 2009. After four straight month-over-month declines, California foreclosure activity in December increased nearly 9 percent from the November total, while the state’s fourth quarter foreclosure activity was still down 17 percent from the previous quarter.

I don’t look for these numbers to drop much in 2010. We’re actually due for another mortgage adjustment that will send the numbers to a new high for this year, and it’s not just “bum” loans and “bum” people getting caught up in the housing crash any more. Prime borrowers with loans thought to be secure are defaulting now, and have been. No matter what the media tries to have us believe, one of the worst housing market crashes in history is not going to be over ‘tomorrow’.