Courtney Harbaugh, the lovely and awesome Associate Attorney with Diane Wanger (www.familylawtex.com), asked this very insightful question. Check out their website. They are legendary in DFW Texas Family Law. “I know that you were working with [client] on his potential Owelty loan.  I just wanted to know, for my own understanding, why one would do […]

Why I Don’t Want You To Be So Considerate of my Time or How to Get Premium Quality Expertise for Free You can get a lot of lessons from the following true story. A man and his wife took their 5 children on a vacation to Europe. Each day, they would leave the hotel and […]

Handy Dandy Checklist for Your New Divorce Clients Thanks to the urging of the awesome Jennifer Richardson and Stuart Brown (of http://www.richardsonbrownlaw.com/) I have a handy checklist for you to give your clients. This list is rare and only my “partners” (those of you who read my stuff) will have such a list. From time […]

Here’s a handy dandy guide to the process of client financing upon final divorce. Often there are questions back and forth about what documents are required by me (the lender), when they are required, who prepares them, who signs them, who the trustee is, how they are delivered, where they are kept, when they are […]

Your appraisal doesn’t matter - it just doesn't. This bears repeating. No appraisal ordered by parties, attorneys, the court, a mediator…by any person or entity OTHER THAN THE LENDER can be used in a lending determination. That simply means that – if someone needs to get mortgage financing for their buyout - all other appraisals are […]

So, you thought properties were expensive where you live. Check out what $350,000 can buy you in San Francisco: http://fusion.net/story/199332/this-is-what-a-350000-house-in-san-francisco-looks-like/ I’ve seen so much of this recently, I felt compelled to write about it. I believe we could save divorcing homeowners millions of dollars in unnecessary expenditures – specifically appraisal costs. And, it’s so simple […]

I took a little “rabbit trail” last week with the Deed of Trust To Secure Assumption – what it does and does not do. Concerning the topic, Removing Ex-Spouse From Mortgage Liability, I have one more thought that can save the day for tens of thousands of Texans each year. And, speaking of “saving the […]

The Deed of Trust to Secure Assumption – What it does and does not do....and how to solve a conundrum Let’s understand once and for all what a Deed of Trust to Secure Assumption (DTSA) is and is NOT. I got in trouble while giving my course on Owelties by saying, the DTSA, while always […]

I left you, last newsletter, with the cliff hanger… “Next week, Part II – Is there ever a reason why the grantee (of a property mortgaged by the grantor) should not be required to refinance the debt in order to extinguish the grantor’s liability?” Well, I’ve thought about it. Actually, I’ve thought about it a […]

Subtitle: Do you have to refinance in order to remove a spouse from the liability? Sub Subtitle: The New York Times gives more bad advice   Sub Title to the Sub Subtitle: The Elusive Assumption of Liability Here's some very bad advice from the NYT: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/10/realestate/10mortgages-refinancing-divorce.html?_r=0 Why don’t they have me write their stuff? Geez! […]