May 15 2012

7 “HOT” HOME IMPROVEMENT TRENDS**!!


7 Hot Home Improvement Trends that Make Your Home Work for You

By: Lisa Kaplan Gordon

Published: May 13, 2011

Home improvement trends embrace energy efficiency, low maintenance exteriors, and double-duty space.

Trend #1: Maintenance-free siding

We continue to choose maintenance-free siding that lives as long as we do, but with a lot less upkeep. But more and more we’re opting for fiber-cement siding, one of the fastest-growing segments of the siding market. It’s a combination of cement, sand, and cellulosic fibers that looks like wood but won’t rot, combust, or succumb to termites and other wood-boring insects.

At $5 to $9 per sq. ft., installed, fiber-cement siding is more expensive than paint-grade wood, vinyl, and aluminum siding. It returns 78% of investment, the highest return of any upscale project on Remodeling magazine’s latest Cost vs. Value Report.

Maintenance is limited to a cleaning and some caulking each spring. Repaint every 7 to 15 years. Wood requires repainting every 4 to 7 years.

Trend #2: Convertible spaces

Forget “museum rooms” we use twice a year (dining rooms and living rooms) and embrace convertible spaces that change with our whims.

Foldaway walls turn a private study into an easy-flow party space. Walls can consist of fancy, glass panels ($600 to $1,600 per linear ft., depending on the system); or they can be simple vinyl-covered accordions ($1,230 for 7 ft. by 10 ft.). PortablePartions.com sells walls on wheels ($775 for approximately 7 ft. by 7 ft.).

A Murphy bed pulls down from an armoire-looking wall unit and turns any room into a guest room. Prices, including installation and cabinetry, range from $2,000 (twin with main cabinet) to more than $5,000 (California king with main and side units). Just search online for sellers.

And don’t forget area rugs that easily define, and redefine, open spaces.

Trend #3: A laundry room of your own

Humankind advanced when the laundry room arose from the basement to a louvered closet on the second floor where clothes live. Now, we’re taking another step forward by granting washday a room of its own.

If you’re thinking of remodeling, turn a mudroom or extra bedroom into a dedicated laundry room big enough to house the washer and dryer, hang hand-washables, and store bulk boxes of detergent.

Look for spaces that already have plumbing hookups or are adjacent to rooms with running water to save on plumbing costs.

Trend #4: Souped-up kitchens

Although houses are trending smaller, kitchens are getting bigger, according to the American Institute of Architects’ Home Design Trends Survey.

Kitchen remodels open the space, perhaps incorporating lonely dining rooms, and feature recycling centers, large pantries, and recharging stations.

Oversized and high-priced commercial appliances—did we ever fire up six burners at once?—are yielding to family-sized, mid-range models that recover at least one cabinet for storage.

Since the entire family now helps prepare dinner (in your dreams), double prep sinks have evolved into dual-prep islands with lots of counter space and pull-out drawers.

Trend #5: Energy diets

We’re wrestling with an energy disorder: We’re binging on electronics—cell phones, iPads, Blackberries, laptops–then crash dieting by installing LED fixtures and turning the thermostat to 68 degrees.

Are we ahead of the energy game? Only the energy monitors and meters know for sure.

These new tracking devices can gauge electricity usage of individual electronics ($20 to $30) or monitor whole house energy ($100 to $250). The TED 5000 Energy Monitor ($240) supplies real-time feedback that you can view remotely and graph by the second, minute, hour, day, and month.

Trend #6: Love that storage

As we bow to the new god of declutter, storage has become the holy grail.

We’re not talking about more baskets we can trip over in the night; we’re imagining and discovering built-in storage in unlikely spaces–under stairs, over doors, beneath floors.

Under-appreciated nooks that once displayed antique desks are growing into built-ins for books and collections. Slap on some doors, and you can hide office supplies and buckets of Legos.

Giant master suites, with floor space to land a 747, are being divided to conquer clutter with more walk-in closets.

Trend #7: Home offices come out of the closet

Flexible work schedules, mobile communications, and entrepreneurial zeal are relocating us from the office downtown to home.

Laptops and wireless connections let us telecommute from anywhere in the house, but we still want a dedicated space (preferably with a door) for files, supplies, and printers.

Spare bedrooms are becoming home offices and family room niches are morphing into working nooks. After a weekend of de-cluttering, basements and attics are reborn as work centers.

May 10 2012


What’s really green? Soon you’ll have a little more confidence about green product marketing claims, such as “biodegradable” and “recyclable”: The Federal Trade Commission, which sets standards for the use of environmental claims in its Green Guides, is getting tougher on green terms.

Proposed revisions to the Green Guides will make it harder for companies to make unsubstantiated green claims about their products.

So when is all this happening? An FTC official we spoke to says the revisions may be final this summer. Until then — and even after then, since the guides don’t have the force of regulation — put on your skeptic’s hat when you shop and be prepared to research labels before you buy.

1. “Organic”: a green term that really means something

Organic is the one term in our list that’s federally regulated — by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, to be specific. Product makers making this claim must prove their stuff is “produced without antibiotics, hormones, pesticides, irradiation, or bioengineering.” Period.

FTC is cracking down on these terms

2. “Recyclable.” After the new guidelines are adopted, a manufacturer can use this term without a caveat only if a substantial majority of communities nationwide have facilities that can actually recycle its product. Before you buy, do your homework to see what you’re able to recycle locally. Also, take a closer look when a product claims to be “recycled” (a term that’s not covered in the Green Guides).

What you really want to look for is “post-consumer recycled” content. These products have been diverted from the landfill, so you’re truly helping reduce the waste stream when you buy them.

3. “Biodegradable.” When you see this term, you think, “Great, I don’t need to worry about throwing this away; it’ll break down naturally.” But many products labeled biodegradable need ideal composting conditions to break down — and some won’t degrade even then.

The FTC’s new guidelines require that products or packaging labeled “degradable” break down within a year in normal disposal conditions.

Heads-up: That means the term likely won’t apply to anything you’d throw in the trash, because items simply don’t degrade in landfills. It’s far better to reduce waste in the first place than to expect it to disappear.

4. “Compostable.” In the future, products with this claim shouldn’t take any longer to break down than the rest of your compost pile.

5. “Non-toxic.” The FTC’s new guidelines say that non-toxic claims should mean the product isn’t harmful to humans and safe for the environment. But research the product online if the label is vague. And definitely don’t assume kids or pets can ingest it safely.

The fuzziest green term of all

6. “Natural” is unregulated by the government. It’s not interchangeable with organic or healthy, although manufacturers want you to think if it’s natural, it has to be good for you, right? Not so much. Take ammonia. It’s a naturally occurring compound, but it’s also a toxic pollutant. Without context, the word natural doesn’t mean much.

A label to help you decide

When you’re just not sure about a product’s claims, look for certification by a reputable third party — like Scientific Certification Systems.

Its green-and-blue SCS label provides some reassurance that a product lives up to its claims. SCS sets tough standards for the terms biodegradable and recycled content, according to BuildingGreen, an independent company that educates building professionals on green certifications. And the label has been around a long time.

Read more: http://www.houselogic.com/blog/whats-really-green/eco-facts-green-terms/#ixzz1uQV8tbKy

By myrealtorarthur
0
May 3 2012

Prevent Insects From Damaging Your Home


 

Prevent Insects From Damaging Your Home

 

By: Brad Broberg

 

Published: March 9, 2010

 

House logic.com

 

Eliminate access to food, water, and shelter to stop wood-damaging pests from bugging you.

You’ll find the materials—hardware cloth ($8 per 6-inch-square swatch), door weather stripping ($8 per 17-foot roll of 7/8-inch v-strip polypropylene), O rings for faucets (pennies)—you need at most home improvement stores.

And many of the steps to impeding pests’ access—clearing overgrowth from around foundations and disposing of wood scraps and other debris that accumulate in garages and along sides of houses—are things every homeowner should do as part of regular house and yard maintenance.

The effort—a few hours or a weekend a few times a year—and cost of supplies are well worth it to avoid having to repair thousands of dollars in damage caused by pests.

Start outside

Termites eat wood and carpenter ants tunnel into wood to nest. So remove piles of wood and other debris from around your home. The same goes for rotted stumps and logs. Keep firewood at least 20 feet away and five inches off the ground. And never bury wood scraps or waste lumber.

Maintain at least 6 inches of clearance between soil and structural wood to prevent decay, which attracts carpenter ants, and to make it tougher for termites to find their next meal.

Keep it dry

Termites, carpenter ants, and powderpost beetles thrive in moist areas, so maintain a Sahara zone around your home’s perimeter.

In general, you shouldn’t have any vegetation—bushes, shrubs, vines, trees—touching the house, which can trap moisture that causes rot and attracts pests. Many pests use vegetation as a bridge between the ground to the walls and roof of your home.

Keep foundation plantings (shrubs, bushes, perennials) and wood mulch at least 18 inches away from the foundation. Prune trees, bushes, and vines that touch or overhang the house. And don’t plant anything close to your home that’s aphid-prone, such as peonies or roses. That’s like ringing the dinner bell for carpenter ants, which feed on honeydew, a sweet liquid produced by aphids.

Even an infrequent puddle close to the house can become an oasis for pests on the prowl for food, so take measures to direct water away from the house. Drain puddles, don’t overwater flower beds, point sprinklers away from the structure, and make sure the ground near the foundation slopes away from your home. Use drain tile if the site is flat.

Clean gutters so they don’t overflow. Use downspout extensions and splash blocks to direct rainwater runoff away from the foundation. Fix dripping faucets, water pipes, and air conditioning units. Even small leaks can contribute to wood rot and moist foundations that pests find irresistible.

Deny access into your home

The tiniest gap or crack can become an express lane for pests—and not only insects. “If you can push a pencil through a hole, a mouse can get through it,” says Greg Bauman, senior scientist with the National Pest Management Association.

Inspect your home’s envelope (walls, doors, windows, roof) for possible points of entry as well as moisture-inducing leaks. Use caulk or epoxy to seal any cracks in the foundation or gaps in the structure. Use steel wool or hardware cloth (1/4-inch wire mesh) to block any openings where wires, pipes, and cables come into or out of the house.

Should you detect any moisture damage, repair it promptly. Carpenter ants flock to deteriorating wood, but often move from decayed wood into sound wood as the colony expands. Replace punky fascia, soffits, and shingles. While you’re at it, paint weathered and/or unfinished wood to stop carpenter bees from drilling holes to build their nests.

Ventilate attics and crawl spaces, and make sure vents aren’t blocked by debris or vegetation. Good air flow prevents the buildup of moisture. Cover any exposed earth in the crawl space with a plastic vapor barrier.

Make sure roof and foundation vents are protected with hardware cloth. Install screens on all floor drains and windows. And while you’re at it, caulk or install weather-stripping around windows and doors as well. Close any gap between your garage door and the floor by attaching a door sweep. And keep the door closed.

Be inhospitable

If pests do get inside, they’ll usually die or skedaddle if they can’t find anything to eat or drink.

Carpenter ants will eat almost anything you do, but are especially fond of sweet and greasy food. Put kitchen waste in a sealed trash can, sweep up crumbs, and wipe up spills right away. Termites typically feed on wood, but will eat anything with cellulose, so never store paper or cardboard—or wood—in the crawl space.

Deal with interior moisture, too. Inspect the base of toilets, around bath tubs and shower stalls, and areas where pipes go through walls, such as under sinks. Repair any leaks and wrap any pipes that produce excess condensation.

Check behind and under washing machines and dishwashers, which are notorious for leaks, to make sure there’s no condensation or old moisture damage. Fix leaky faucets; in some cases, replacing a simple O ring might not only save water, but also stave off a potential invasion of pests.

By myrealtorarthur • Tagged
0
Apr 19 2012

7 WAYS TO GET RID OF WEEDS!!!


1. Newspaper: A carpet of newspaper, which blocks sunlight and oxygen from reaching the soil, will smother weeds already sprouted and prevent new ones from growing. Throw down newspaper in 10-sheet layers, wet to hold it down, and cover with an inch or two of mulch. If weeds begin to grow in the mulch, add more layers, making a mulch-newspaper lasagna, which eventually will decompose and nourish the soil.

2. Old shower curtains and carpet samples: Spreading these useless items in garden paths or between rows will keeps weeds from ever showing their unwanted heads. Cover with mulch.

3. Corn gluten meal: This corn by-product stops seeds from growing into weeds. Since the meal will prevent germination, spread it around established plants, and after seedlings and transplants have taken hold in the soil. After harvest, spread the meal to prevent late-season weeds.

4. Vinegar: The acetic acid in 5% vinegar is a desiccant that sucks the life out of plant leaves. It’s most destructive to young plants with immature roots, though it just rolls off weeds with waxy leaves, like pennywort or thistle.

Make sure you cover desirables before spraying, because vinegar is an equal opportunity killer. Keep your spray on-target by removing the bottom from a 2-liter plastic soda bottle, and placing it over the weed. Spray vinegar into the mouth of the bottle, which will keep it from splattering on your vegetables.
5. Vodka: Don’t know if vodka makes weeds fall down dead or drunk, but 1 ounce mixed with 2 cups of water and a couple of drops of dish soap will dry out weeds that live in the sun. Doesn’t work that well on shade-loving weeds. Protect desirables, because vodka will dry them out, too.
6. Soap: The oil in soap can break down waxy or hairy weed surfaces, making them vulnerable to desiccants. So add a few drops of liquid dish detergent to vinegar or vodka sprays to keep the solution on leaves. The soap also makes leaves shiny, which will help you keep track of what you’ve sprayed.
7. Boiling water: After you’ve made yourself a cup of tea, take the kettle outside and pour the boiling water on weeds, which will burn up. This is a particularly good way to whack driveway and walkway weeds, because the boiling water can run off impervious surfaces and cool before it reaches border plants.

Read more: http://www.houselogic.com/home-advice/landscaping-gardening/how-to-get-rid-of-weeds-naturally/#ixzz1sW55ECD6

Apr 13 2012

Worried about identity theft on the Internet? Check this out


 

SurfEasy vows ‘plug-in privacy’

SEATTLE – April 11, 2012 – You’re frequently in front of someone else’s computer. But whether surfing at an airport, library or client’s office, you surely don’t want the next person using the machine to know who you ogled on Facebook or which politician you read up on.

A USB by SurfEasy, a venture-backed start-up in Toronto, promises “plug-in privacy” when you browse the Internet from any public or third-party PC or Mac. The SurfEasy drive launches a password-protected browser that encrypts your cyberactivity without leaving any traces. No Web history, bookmarks, passwords or other personal information remain on the local computer. It’s as if you were never there.

Instead, all that information is stored on the USB key. If you plug the drive into another computer – and enter the password you signed up with the first time you plugged SurfEasy into a USB port – you can access your surfing history, plus stored bookmarks and Web passwords. You might also be taken to the last site you visited, though that wasn’t always the case.

Local searches are kept private. SurfEasy uses your Internet Protocol (IP) address to determine your whereabouts, but only tells Google for search purposes the city you’re in, not your specific IP address. You can also disable the feature. SurfEasy’s own IP addresses are in the U.S.; international locations are coming.

Employers and parents may not appreciate one other feature. The drive can help you bypass firewalls and other off-limit sites.

There’s nothing complicated about SurfEasy’s set-up: Just insert the drive. My first inclination was to insert it the wrong way because of where the logo is. Inserted properly, a blue light appears. You click an icon to launch the browser.

SurfEasy costs $59.99 and includes 2 gigabytes of encryption per month, covering about 45 hours of weekly Web browsing, the company says. If you plan to stream a lot of video or engage in multimedia-heavy activities while on somebody else’s computer, you can purchase a $5 per month ($50 per year) 25-GB encryption plan or $10 per month ($100 per year) 75-GB plan. HD video chews up bandwidth in a hurry. You can track usage on the SurfEasy website.

SurfEasy says it uses the same industrial-strength encryption as banks. Internet traffic is driven through its own secure virtual private network. The browser is powered by Mozilla, the folks behind Firefox, so you can add Firefox extensions and plug-in software. Still, SurfEasy fires up a generic warning that the act may decrease privacy because add-ons could store information on the local computer or transmit data outside the encrypted SurfEasy network.

SurfEasy works with PCs dating to Windows XP and Intel-based Macs running OS X version 10.6 or later. A few Web pages took awhile to load, but I didn’t detect slowness overall.

The drive arrives in a plastic credit-card-size holder that’s meant to protect it from damage and prevent you from losing it. You can slide the USB drive back into the holder and stash it with the credit cards in your wallet. But the holder is slightly thicker than typical credit cards. The company says it considered different designs but rejected a keychain version. If you do lose the drive, the person who gets hold of it would need your password to access your information.

SurfEasy says its drive can last up to 10 times longer than a conventional USB drive and, as with a conventional drive, you can store extra files on it. (As with any browser, you can dispatch files to the usual Web-based storage repositories, from Google Docs to Dropbox.) Still, I fretted a little about the way the thin plastic tail hung out about an inch on the computers I used for testing – an accident waiting to happen.

If you need to go offline suddenly, you can yank the USB out of the computer without shutting down an application first. Whatever site was on the screen disappears.

You can employ any Web browser on the local computer at the same time you’re using SurfEasy, but those browsers aren’t safeguarded by SurfEasy. Same goes for local instant message or e-mail programs. To avoid confusion about which browser you’re working in, a blue (or red, if encryption is turned off) SurfEasy tab appears to the left of the address bar at the top of the browser.

Modern browsers include tools that let you surf privately to some degree. And SurfEasy is not the only company trying to keep you anonymous online. But it is a simple solution for folks worried about privacy and security as they peruse cyberspace from a computer not their own.

© Copyright 2012 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc., Edward C. Baig.

Related Topics: Technology

By myrealtorarthur
1
Mar 23 2012

Are Greenhouses the New She-Cave?


 

Are Greenhouses the New She-Cave?

By: Lisa Kaplan Gordon

Published: March 14, 2012

Our quest to help women find space of their own has gone outdoors. Do you have a special space?

We’re still kinda obsessed with finding space for women to kick back and relax on par with the guys’ “man cave.”

Now, the Wall Street Journal says the backyard greenhouse has become the she-space where retired baby boomers pester orchids and read, sip some Pinot, and generally relax.

The WSJ greenhouses are the high-end kind — glass walls, brick siding, price tags reaching $100,000. They’re really a detached sunroom with year-round conditioned space.

But you don’t have to raid the college fund to approximate this deluxe space. Gothic Arch Greenhouses’ Cape Cod model ranges from $3,800 to $16,800.

Gothic arch

And Greenhouse Showcase has a portable, zip-together Clear Farmhouse model for about $480.

Zip together

Mar 19 2012

10 Easy Mistakes Home Owners Make on their Taxes


 

10 Easy Mistakes Home Owners Make on Their Taxes

By: G. M. Filisko

Published: January 5, 2012

Don’t rouse the IRS or pay more taxes than necessary — know the score on each home tax deduction and credit.

Sin #1: Deducting the wrong year for property taxes

You take a tax deduction for property taxes in the year you (or the holder of your escrow account) actually paid them. Some taxing authorities work a year behind — that is, you’re not billed for 2011 property taxes until 2012. But that’s irrelevant to the feds. Enter on your federal forms whatever amount you actually paid in 2011, no matter what the date is on your tax bill. Dave Hampton, CPA, tax manager at the Cincinnati accounting firm of Burke & Schindler, has seen home owners confuse payments for different years and claim the incorrect amount.

Sin #2: Confusing escrow amount for actual taxes paid

If your lender escrows funds to pay your property taxes, don’t just deduct the amount escrowed, says Bob Meighan, CPA and vice president at TurboTax in San Diego. The regular amount you pay into your escrow account each month to cover property taxes is probably a little more or a little less than your property tax bill. Your lender will adjust the amount every year or so to realign the two. For example, your tax bill might be $1,200, but your lender may have collected $1,100 or $1,300 in escrow over the year. Deduct only $1,200. Your lender will send you an official statement listing the actual taxes paid. Use that. Don’t just add up 12 months of escrow property tax payments.

Sin #3: Deducting points paid to refinance

Deduct points you paid your lender to secure your mortgage in full for the year you bought your home. However, when you refinance, says Meighan, you must deduct points over the life of your new loan. If you paid $2,000 in points to refinance into a 15-year mortgage, your tax deduction is $133 per year.

Sin #4: Failing to deduct private mortgage insurance

Lenders require home buyers with a down payment of less than 20% to purchase private mortgage insurance (PMI). Avoid the common mistake of forgetting to deduct your PMI payments. However, note the deduction begins to phase out once your adjusted gross income reaches $100,000 and disappears entirely when your AGI surpasses $109,000. Also, unless Congress acts to extend the PMI deduction again, 2011 is the last tax year for which you can take this deduction.

Sin #5: Misjudging the home office tax deduction

This deduction may not be as good as it seems. It’s complicated, often doesn’t amount to much of a deduction, has to be recaptured if you turn a profit when you sell your home, and can pique the IRS’s interest in your return. Hampton’s advice: Claim it only if it’s worth those drawbacks. If so, here’s what to  know about what you can write off.

Sin #6: Missing the first-time home buyer tax credit

While the original home buyer tax credit deadline passed in April 2010 (and isn’t available in 2012), military families and some government workers on assignment outside the U.S. were given an extension until April 30, 2011, to get a home under contract and take advantage of up to $8,000 in tax credits for first-time buyers and $6,500 in credits for repeat buyers.

It applies to any individual (and, if married, the individual’s spouse) who serves on qualified official extended duty service outside of the United States for at least 90 days during the period beginning after Dec. 31, 2008, and ending before May 1, 2010.

Sin #7: Failing to track home-related expenses

If the IRS comes a-knockin’, don’t be scrambling to compile your records. Many people forget to track home office and home maintenance and repair expenses, says Meighan. File away documents as you go. For example, save each manufacturer’s certification statement for energy tax credits, insurance company statements for PMI, and lender or government statements to confirm property taxes paid.

Sin #8: Forgetting to keep track of capital gains

If you sold your main home last year, don’t forget to pay capital gains taxes on any profit. However, you can exclude $250,000 (or $500,000 if you’re a married couple) of any profits from taxes. So if you bought a home for $100,000 and sold it for $400,000, your capital gains are $300,000. If you’re single, you owe taxes on $50,000 of gains. However, there are minimum time limits for holding property to take advantage of the exclusions, and other details. Consult IRS Publication 523.

Sin #9: Filing incorrectly for energy tax credits

If you made any eligible improvement, fill out Form 5695. Part I, which covers the 30%/$1,500 credit for such items as insulation and windows, is fairly straightforward. But Part II, which covers the 30%/no-limit items such as geothermal heat pumps, can be incredibly complex and involves crosschecking with half a dozen other IRS forms. Read the instructions carefully.

Sin #10: Claiming too much for the mortgage interest tax deduction

You can deduct mortgage interest only up to $1 million of mortgage debt, says Meighan. If you have $1.2 million in mortgage debt, for example, deduct only the mortgage interest attributable to the first $1 million.

This article provides general information about tax laws and consequences, but shouldn’t be relied upon by readers as tax or legal advice applicable to particular transactions or circumstances. Consult a tax professional for such advice; tax laws may vary by jurisdiction.

Mar 2 2012

3.8% Tax to have Minimal Real Estate Impact


Reminder: 3.8% Tax to have Minimal Real Estate Impact
On February 15, 2012, in Breaking News, Politics & Government, by Robert Freedman
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Tax time is nearing and once more rumors are circulating on the Internet and by e-mail that the health care reform law enacted two years ago includes a 3.8 percent transfer tax on real estate starting in 2013. That rumor is not true and NAR has material available to explain how that 3.8 percent tax works.

It’s a tax on a very narrow band of investment income for high-wealth households (those who earn $250,000 in a joint return or $200,000 as an individual) that could come into play on the sale of a house if the sales gain is more than $500,000 for a married couple or $250,000 for an individual.

Even in the unlikely event the sales gain is more than that amount, the tax would only apply based on other considerations having to with the household’s income and its tax situation.

The bottom line is, the tax, which was imposed to help shore up Medicare, will only hit some portion of investment income.

Video and explanatory article.

Free downloadable brochure.

FAQ.

Robert Freedman
Website – More Posts

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Tagged with: 3.8% Medicare tax

By myrealtorarthur
0
Mar 1 2012

!!!!’ Discrimination against disabled from Bank of AMERICA !!!’


HUD: BofA discriminated against the disabled
WASHINGTON – Feb. 28, 2012 – The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced that it’s charging Bank of America with discriminating against homebuyers with disabilities. HUD alleges that Bank of America imposed unnecessary and burdensome requirements on borrowers who relied on disability income to qualify for their home loans, and it even required some disabled borrowers to provide physician statements.

The Fair Housing Act makes it illegal to discriminate in the terms and conditions of a loan to an individual based on a disability, including imposing different application or qualification criteria, and makes it illegal to inquire about the nature or severity of a disability except in limited circumstances. HUD says that those “limited circumstances” don’t apply in the Bank of America allegation.

“Holding homebuyers with disabilities to a higher standard just because they rely on disability payments as a source of income is against the law,” says John Trasviña, HUD Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity. “Mortgage companies may verify income and have eligibility standards, but they may not single out homebuyers with disabilities to delay or deny financing when they are otherwise eligible.”

HUD started the Bank of America investigation following complaints filed by two Michigan borrowers and a third borrower in Wisconsin who claimed that Bank of America required personal medical information, documentation regarding their disability and proof of a continuing Social Security payment in order to qualify for a home mortgage loan.

According to HUD’s investigation following the complaints, Bank of America allegedly asked some borrowers for proof of their disabilities. In other cases, the bank denied a loan at first, requested evidence that Social Security income would continue, and then approved the loans.

The matter now falls under the U.S. Department of Justice.

© 2012 Florida Realtors®

Related Topics: Fair housing

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