Your Exceptional Life

We had our first grass fire today. Originally I heard Sherman Island out in the Delta, but now they’re saying some other island. There’s a slew of ‘em up in the Delta, so who knows. April 11 is sure pretty early to be coming home to this kind of smoke in the air. It’s nice that the weather has taken a turn for the better, should be an awesome weekend in these parts. It was 82 degrees in San Francisco today.

I’m sticking with my current favorite topic, foreclosures. It spawns the spam, but I’ll deal with it so that I can impart some information. The difference between the smart guys and the Bart Simpsons of this world is simply information. Oakland’s City Attorney just filed an action against a guy alleging unfair and predatory business practices. My gut says this is grandstanding. I don’t think the City Attorney has spit. I think this guy walks away with a little muss on his jacket and that’s about it, because I don’t think he crossed the line. I might be wrong, but my gut says this is grandstanding. I think this is up there with Cuomo and the suit against the appraisal company. I don’t think they’re great guys, I just don’t think they did what they’re accused of. Time will tell. I do know that there are some pretty crummy deals going down out there. I saw one a couple of weeks ago. The mother had deeded the house to the son, who proceeded to take out $250k loan and essentially smoke it. Then he never made a payment and the loan on the home, which the mother had lived in for nearly 40 years, was foreclosed by the bank. Now, there isn’t a law called felonious stupidity, but if there were, it would come in to play here. Except the mother is/was/continues to be cuckoo for cocoa puffs. Whacked. Insane in the membrane. She cut holes in the drywall and installed shelves in the frame of the house. She installed medicine cabinets throughout the place and hung things all over the ceiling. It was a virtual fun house. She’s now moved out and the place is being renovated by the bank for sale. As a title officer, I know that the deed to the son is voidable. She may very well have been incompetent when she signed it. If the deed to the son is void, then the mortgage is invalid, title has failed and the crazy old gal gets the place back, plus a fat check for damages. In this case, no one has attacked the title or the foreclosure, but this is one of the most dangerous ones I’ve seen. This deal right here is why you buy title insurance. The $2000 that was paid on this one would reap hundreds of thousands if the title were attacked. Pretty good ROI.