Austin Initiates Neighborhood Partner Program

The city is accepting applications for an experimental program that joins city dollars with volunteer labor to enhance neighborhoods.

The Neighborhood Partner Program was formed to split costs between the city and neighborhoods by using volunteers on the projects, allowing small-scale improvements to be made to neighborhoods by the people who live in them.

No funding has been set aside for the new program, but city leaders hope to allocate some money in next year’s budget, which will be available in October. The program will build up to 20 projects over one year. The program could be expanded if it is successful.

City officials say they do not intend for the program to replace spending on parks, roads, sidewalk repair and other public works improvements. Neither does the city intend to delay or abandon projects it has already scheduled.

For more details, http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/publicworks/npdocuments.htm

FTC Settles Countrywide Loan Servicing Case

Delinquent homeowners who allegedly paid inflated fees to two Countrywide mortgage servicing companies for services like property inspections and lawn mowing will receive $108 million in refunds under the terms of a settlement between Bank of America and the Federal Trade Commission.

The companies created subsidiaries to hire third-party vendors, charging markups of 100 percent or more, the FTC said. The companies also failed to tell borrowers in bankruptcy when new fees and escrow charges were added to their accounts.

Most mortgage contracts require that homeowners pay for necessary default-related services, but mortgage servicers may not mark up the cost to make a profit or charge homeowners for services that are not reasonable or appropriate to protect the mortgage holder's interest in the property, the FTC said.

Homeowners overcharged by Countrywide Home Loans Inc. and Countrywide Home Loans Servicing LP (now BAC Home Loans Servicing LP) before July 2008 will receive refunds. Borrowers who are eligible for refunds will receive a notice in the mail.

For more details, you can view the entire FTC release: http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2010/06/countrywide.shtm

Private Transfer Fees - What you should know.

Private transfer fee covenants, referred to as a “PTF” or “PTF covenant” have been around several years in Texas. A PTF covenant requires the seller to pay a fee to a third party when a property is sold. These covenants are usually found in the restrictive covenants for a subdivision but may also be contained in a deed or separate document. Typically, it requires the payment of a transfer fee of 1% of the sales price each time the property is sold. The covenants usually have a life span of 99 years.

This is typically seen in the newer subdivisions and can impact the sale or purchase of a property. For more details, you may read entire article at http://tiny.cc/xb4ax