Green Real Estate Appraiser

WASHINGTON — Anyone with a mortgage knows that one of the borrower’s key responsibilities is to pay hazard insurance premiums on the property and not let the policy lapse.

But if you fail to keep the insurance current, or the premiums aren’t paid from your escrow account, the lender or its mortgage servicer can obtain its own coverage, which may cost you more than the policy you originally chose. How much more? A lot.

A $140 million national class-action settlement last week — one of a series of cases brought against major banks, mortgage servicers and insurers — shed light on a controversial business practice in the mortgage industry: alleged kickbacks in connection with “force-placed insurance” policies.

Force-placed insurance has been in mortgage contracts for years. It has a legitimate purpose — protection of the lender’s collateral for the loan, the house, says Florida attorney Dennis Wall, who has written a newly published book on the subject for the American Bar Association. But when kickbacks and affiliate side deals drive premiums to abusive levels, he said, “it’s a bad game.”

The latest settlement involves nearly 400,000 borrowers whose mortgages were serviced by Ocwen Financial Corp. between January 2008 and January of this year. Plaintiffs, who filed suit in U.S. District Court in Miami, charged that Ocwen and Assurant, a large insurance company and its affiliates “entered into exclusive and collusive relationships” whereby the insurer or affiliates allegedly paid Ocwen kickbacks, commissions and other compensation in exchange for force-placed coverage for lapsed policies at inflated premium costs.

read more at: http://www.bostonherald.com/business/real_estate/2015/05/forcing_homeowners_to_pay_for_expensive_insurance

disclaimer: for information and entertainment purposes only

The regulations require California cities to decrease water use by 25 percent, though, crucially, only requires agricultural users to report their water use and submit drought management plans. Agriculture accounts for about 80 percent of California’s water usage. (For more drought background, check out our past coverage on agricultural water use—almonds are the biggest suck—and municipal water use.)

From the press release:

The following is a summary of the executive order issued by the Governor today.

Save Water

For the first time in state history, the Governor has directed the State Water Resources Control Board to implement mandatory water reductions in cities and towns across California to reduce water usage by 25 percent. This savings amounts to approximately 1.5 million acre-feet of water over the next nine months, or nearly as much as is currently in Lake Oroville.

To save more water now, the order will also:

Replace 50 million square feet of lawns throughout the state with drought tolerant landscaping in partnership with local governments;
Direct the creation of a temporary, statewide consumer rebate program to replace old appliances with more water and energy efficient models; Require campuses, golf courses, cemeteries and other large landscapes to make significant cuts in water use; and
Prohibit new homes and developments from irrigating with potable water unless water-efficient drip irrigation systems are used, and ban watering of ornamental grass on public street medians.

Read More at: http://www.motherjones.com/blue-marble/2015/04/breaking-first-time-california-enforcing-water-restrictions

Disclaimer: for information and entertainment purposes only

Watch video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=klGa1rUdydo