HotPads Daily :: The Official Blog of HotPads.com

Scams, Spam and Illegitimate Listings

At HotPads, we're constantly working on ways to ensure that we provide up-to-date, quality real estate listings to you, our users.  It's an endless struggle, but our largest and sharpest weapon against spammers, scammers and illegitimate listings is our community of educated users. 

Humans can easily detect spam.  For example, when you're browsing listings and the contact information reads "Sleazy Stan's Spamming Systems", you know to ignore the offending listing and move on.  One thing you may not know, but will help keep your browsing experience at HotPads as pleasurable and effective as possible, is that you can report these listings.  Each bad listing you report helps us learn the patterns and similarities between bad listings, and improves our ability to automatically keep them out of our system.

You can report spam, scam or incorrect listings on HotPads by clicking "report this listing" on the offending listing page.

Scams are more difficult to detect, but knowing how to detect a scam saves you money and embarrassment. To this end, Dan Daugherty recently launched a blog called rentalscams.org to document the latest scams perpetrated by both tenants and landlords.  Most of the scams we uncover at HotPads come in the form of fake listings, which we explain more in a short guest post on Dan's blog.

While not technically scams, unlicensed landlords (in areas where licenses are required) can cause renters just as much grief.  Properties offered by unlicensed landlords likely haven't been inspected to ensure compliance with safety regulations, so they may be unsafe to inhabit.  In the District of Columbia the Department of Consumer and Regulatory affairs is running a campaign called thisshouldbeillegal to educate college students about the district's landlord licensing requirement.

Help us combat scams, spam and illegitimate listings by remaining vigilant and keeping yourself informed.

California Congresswoman Fights Foreclosure

While the House and Senate look to pass legislation to stem the rising tide of foreclosures, Democratic Congresswoman Laura Richardson can speak to the crisis firsthand; she claims that her Sacramento home was recently sold into foreclosure without her knowledge and in violation of an agreement that she had with her lender.

She explained in a recent interview that her money woes are due in large part to having financed her own campaign. The 1,600-square foot home that she paid $535,500 for back in January 2007 was sold at auction earlier this month to a Sacramento mortgage lender for just $388,000.

You can check out foreclosure rates and foreclosed homes for sale in Sacramento on HotPads.

"Angry Renters" Oppose Foreclosure Bailout

A new movement looks to take aim at the  "whining" and "reckless" people who are in the foreclosure spiral and members of Congress looking to dish out tax dollars to bail them out.  AngryRenter.com is the voice of renters who are upset to see yet more government largess go to homeowners.

It's true that HotPads has always had a fondness for folks searching for apartments and houses for rent. But with millions of condos and homes for sale (and yes, foreclosures) we've got love for homeowners, too.

To make peace we offer up our awesome map-based search and over 140,000 rental property listings, so no renters should have to stay angry for long.

Senate Votes to Pass Mortgage Relief

Today the Senate Banking Committee voted 19-2 to pass a bill that hopes to put the brakes on foreclosures and help prop up the housing market for the most troubled borrowers.   One key measure allows the FHA permission to back $300 billion in new mortgages for at-risk homeowners if their lenders agree to reduce their loan balances below the appraised value of borrowers' homes.

The bill can be signed into law as soon as July.

The entire real estate industry has been waiting for any relief to shore up sagging home values beyond the few bright spots in the market.

Folks can continue to monitor the foreclosure debacle unfold with our foreclosure heat maps.

Homeowners Hit Hard by Rising Property Taxes

As if record foreclosures and sinking property values and were not enough, homeowners across the country are now facing higher property taxes as local governments try to cover revenue shortfalls after years of booming revenues.

Real property tax is determined by the home's assessed value and the local tax rate.  Homeowners across the country are fuming because in many cases the actual market value of their property has fallen sharply while the assessed value is still at a record high.  And faced with higher fuel and healthcare costs, local governments are raising the tax rate as well.

Homes in Memphis are facing a proposed 17% hike in the property tax rate.  For many frustrated owners, rental houses are looking better every day.

Friday, and Feelin' Fine

The earnest industry reporters at HotPads Daily have to tell it like we see it, which over the past few months has meant reporting a lot of bad news.  From falling home equity to rising foreclosures, the picture painted has not been pretty.

But today we have plethora of positive posts from all corners of the economy.  Freddie Mac is injecting $15 billion into the credit market by buying mega mortgages from Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Chase and Washington Mutual.  Shares of Google rose 17% yesterday with data on strong advertising profits, good news for all websites offering online marketing.  And investors are even flocking back to i-banks with Merrill Lynch on the rise.

So instead of our usual Friday happy hour, we're calling for an entire Happy Day.  (But still with a happy hour at the end.)

Foreclosures Jump 57% last Month

Year-over-year numbers continue to paint a bleak picture for the nation's homeowners as foreclosures rose 57% over their March 2007 numbers.  The foreclosure website RealtyTrac posted data showing Nevada, California and Florida having the highest foreclosure rates.

But while the number of homes repossessed by banks are up 129%, the number of home being put up for auction increased only 32% since March 2007.  That suggests that more people are simply walking away from their mortgages and letting the lender take possession of the home without putting it up for public foreclosure auction.

You can check out foreclosure rates nationwide and in your area on the new foreclosure heat maps on HotPads.com, as well as browse foreclosures and other homes for sale on our interactive housing search.

Dow Surges 400 Points Behind More Fed Cuts

There aren't any stern bears in this circus.

Reacting to news of a .75% cut in a key interest rate by the Federal Reserve, Wall Street partied like it was last March, sending the Dow Jones Industrial average up by over 400 points today.  Also helping were better than expected numbers from big banks Lehman Brothers and Goldman Sachs, easing the markets' concerns after the implosion of Bear Stearns and its buyout by JPMorgan.

This can also be good news for the housing market, if it helps to push mortgage rates lower and opens the credit spigot a little bit.  We'd love to think that we've gotten through the worst of the housing crisis, and even have signs of hope as we've already been seeing a sharp rise in searches for real estate for sale on HotPads.

Real Estate is Still Booming. On TV.

There are only a few places not feeling the ill effects of the numerous maladies afflicting the real estate world; The gulf state of Dubai, foreclosure auctioneers and homes for sale on HotPads come to mind.  But TV programmers are really going all-in with housing-related projects.

Reality shows centered around home buying, house flipping and home renovation are all the rage on cable and network TV.

In two days, "Flip This House" will enter its fourth season on A&E.  That's not be be confused with  "Flip That House" on TLC or Bravo's "Flipping Out."   In January, Home & Garden's HGTV had its highest prime-time ratings ever.  Nine of its top 10 series are related to the real estate market.  And Extreme "Makeover: Home Edition" is still a hit.

Remarkably, no networks have picked up the pilot for "This is HotPads", in which a group of over-caffeinated web jockeys try to radically improve the housing search market with interactive maps.  Hilarity ensues.

Should You Walk Away? Website Helps with Foreclosures.

For only $995.00 (payable in three easy installments of $332.00)  You Walk Away will help struggling borrowers get through the foreclosure process.  With their Protection Plan and Kit you can "Unshackle yourself today  from a losing investment and use our proven method to Walk Away."

The company offers protection from collection agency phone calls, weekly foreclosure progress emails, enrollment in their credit repair plan and personal consultation with one of their real estate lawyers to ensure that the lender follows the letter of the law.

The site has raised a bit of controversy, as some say it encourages deadbeat behavior, which would further weaken the housing market.  Homeowners of the edge may just want to hold on to that grand and make a call to the Hope Now Alliance first.