More on the Temecula/Murrieta mass flop

[drunkle]

oh come on, they asserted that they didn’t know it was a scam and that the promises of huge returns were truthful. that sounds like a sure thing to me. no speculation here!

[davelj]

jg…While I thank you for your stint in the Navy aiding the protection of our country, your service didn’t help the truly unfortunate of this world much. You’ll have to pardon me if I don’t consider service in the armed forces “God’s work” on the level of Mother Theresa (again, personally, I appreciate your efforts)… and you conveniently didn’t bother to address the issues that I brought up in the first paragraph of my previous post, which speaks volumes.

As to my “public service” or “charity” or whathaveyou, well, ask and you shall receive. (Well, sometimes, anyway.) A quick perusal of my 2006 1040 Schedule A Statement 5 reveals $16,200 in Contributions by Cash or Check spread among the following:
International Community Foundation
Kingsley House
Make-a-Wish Foundation
Special Olympics
The Tibet Fund
World Vision
The College of William and Mary
The Lance Armstrong Foundation (yeah, despite the annoying yellow wristbands)
The Katrina Fund

You asked.

Now, does giving to charity make me a “good” person? No. I do it for me. I enjoy helping people who I think deserve it. (To put it into perspective, however, I get an equal amount of pleasure helping to trample people who I think deserve it.) Am I going to heaven? Nope. In all likelihood I’ll rot in the ground just like everyone else. Unlike most religious types, I don’t help others in order to increase my likelihood of going on to my “Great Reward” in the sky. I’m not trying to appease some God by doing “good.” I just enjoy it; thus, it’s a symptom of my own self-interest.

I can only imagine what the typical Christian (or other religous type) is thinking as s/he strokes out a check to some charity: “Look, God, Look!! I’m a good person!! Really, I am!! I hope you remember this when I meet up with St. Peter at the Pearly Gates!! Will I get extra credit for this?!?”

[davelj]

jg…While I thank you for your stint in the Navy aiding the protection of our country, your service didn’t help the truly unfortunate of this world much. You’ll have to pardon me if I don’t consider service in the armed forces “God’s work” on the level of Mother Theresa (again, personally, I appreciate your efforts)… and you conveniently didn’t bother to address the issues that I brought up in the first paragraph of my previous post, which speaks volumes.

As to my “public service” or “charity” or whathaveyou, well, ask and you shall receive. (Well, sometimes, anyway.) A quick perusal of my 2006 1040 Schedule A Statement 5 reveals $16,200 in Contributions by Cash or Check spread among the following:
International Community Foundation
Kingsley House
Make-a-Wish Foundation
Special Olympics
The Tibet Fund
World Vision
The College of William and Mary
The Lance Armstrong Foundation (yeah, despite the annoying yellow wristbands)
The Katrina Fund

You asked.

Now, does giving to charity make me a “good” person? No. I do it for me. I enjoy helping people who I think deserve it. (To put it into perspective, however, I get an equal amount of pleasure helping to trample people who I think deserve it.) Am I going to heaven? Nope. In all likelihood I’ll rot in the ground just like everyone else. Unlike most religious types, I don’t help others in order to increase my likelihood of going on to my “Great Reward” in the sky. I’m not trying to appease some God by doing “good.” I just enjoy it; thus, it’s a symptom of my own self-interest.

I can only imagine what the typical Christian (or other religous type) is thinking as s/he strokes out a check to some charity: “Look, God, Look!! I’m a good person!! Really, I am!! I hope you remember this when I meet up with St. Peter at the Pearly Gates!! Will I get extra credit for this?!?”

[(former)FormerSanDiegan]

Under the guidance of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, the Tibet Fund was founded in 1981 to help Tibetans improve their lives and preserve their distinct cultural, religious and national identity.

“All major religious traditions carry basically the same message, that is love, compassion and forgiveness the important thing is they should be part of our daily lives.”
– Dalai Lama

[(former)FormerSanDiegan]

Under the guidance of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, the Tibet Fund was founded in 1981 to help Tibetans improve their lives and preserve their distinct cultural, religious and national identity.

“All major religious traditions carry basically the same message, that is love, compassion and forgiveness the important thing is they should be part of our daily lives.”
– Dalai Lama

[Steve Beebo]

“Stonewood’s attorney acknowledged that many of the clients paid more for the houses than buyers of surrounding properties, but said the prices —- and the resulting mortgages —- were supported by third-party appraisals, including several arranged by the lending institutions.”

This is a lie. The appraisals had to have been fraudulent. The appraisals were ordered by Stonewoods’ mortgage broker. I would love to see some of the appraisals.

I have seen and done some research on some of the properties, and have seen a list of hundreds of the properties in question, and most were sold at prices around $100,000 above fair market value, and in many cases, $100,000 above their active list prices. No lender would loan on a purchase of a property that is $100,000 over list price in a stable to declining market. The appraisals had to have been fraudulently prepared.

[Steve Beebo]

“Stonewood’s attorney acknowledged that many of the clients paid more for the houses than buyers of surrounding properties, but said the prices —- and the resulting mortgages —- were supported by third-party appraisals, including several arranged by the lending institutions.”

This is a lie. The appraisals had to have been fraudulent. The appraisals were ordered by Stonewoods’ mortgage broker. I would love to see some of the appraisals.

I have seen and done some research on some of the properties, and have seen a list of hundreds of the properties in question, and most were sold at prices around $100,000 above fair market value, and in many cases, $100,000 above their active list prices. No lender would loan on a purchase of a property that is $100,000 over list price in a stable to declining market. The appraisals had to have been fraudulently prepared.

[davelj]

Steve, Bugs and others… I’ve got a question about these appraisals.

Although we all *know* that the appraisals in these instances are fraudulent, can the appraiser just feign stupidity and say, “You know, here are the comps I used and I guess they were wrong. Damn, I sure am a dumb appraiser. Maybe the worst appraiser ever. But I certainly didn’t do anything with criminal intent.”

Is out-and-out stupidity a defense in these cases? Will the prosecutor have to find a trail of monies paid to the appraiser outside of the appraisal process?

[davelj]

Steve, Bugs and others… I’ve got a question about these appraisals.

Although we all *know* that the appraisals in these instances are fraudulent, can the appraiser just feign stupidity and say, “You know, here are the comps I used and I guess they were wrong. Damn, I sure am a dumb appraiser. Maybe the worst appraiser ever. But I certainly didn’t do anything with criminal intent.”

Is out-and-out stupidity a defense in these cases? Will the prosecutor have to find a trail of monies paid to the appraiser outside of the appraisal process?

[Anonymous]

sandiegoslide

Wow, that was entertaining! Looks like you scared her away.

[Anonymous]

sandiegoslide

Wow, that was entertaining! Looks like you scared her away.

[Anonymous]

davelj, prima facie evidence that ‘..the millions living (and dying) under the Mugabe regime…’ find meaning in their life: the choose to live, instead of killing themselves.

We’re all familiar with ‘The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.’ There’s a converse: I enjoy my life, and hope and will work for better.

I would not be so quick to say that life is so horrible for those outside the U.S. By their actions — living, raising families — they say otherwise.

I would not want to live in Israel; I don’t need the excitement. Yet several million people prefer it to the U.S. and elsewhere. Same with Iraq.

Keep up your good charity work, davelj. Me, I prefer that my dollars — to Father Joe and The Salvation Army — carry a self-help/self-reform message.

And, my good Pope, on Memorial Day Weekend, passed to us Catholics the message that those who serve honorably in the armed forces of the free world are indeed servants of world peace.

[Anonymous]

davelj, prima facie evidence that ‘..the millions living (and dying) under the Mugabe regime…’ find meaning in their life: the choose to live, instead of killing themselves.

We’re all familiar with ‘The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.’ There’s a converse: I enjoy my life, and hope and will work for better.

I would not be so quick to say that life is so horrible for those outside the U.S. By their actions — living, raising families — they say otherwise.

I would not want to live in Israel; I don’t need the excitement. Yet several million people prefer it to the U.S. and elsewhere. Same with Iraq.

Keep up your good charity work, davelj. Me, I prefer that my dollars — to Father Joe and The Salvation Army — carry a self-help/self-reform message.

And, my good Pope, on Memorial Day Weekend, passed to us Catholics the message that those who serve honorably in the armed forces of the free world are indeed servants of world peace.

[Bugs]

Davelj,

In answer to your question about the appraisals, I am as confident as Steve is that those appraisals have serious and obvious problems. For one thing, appraisers are required to analze and reconcile the sales and listing history of their subject property when appraising them for mortgage lending. $100k spiffs over list price on a house in the $500k range just doesn’t happen and I cannot imagine what rationale those appraisers were using. Strike that, I can well imagine the required analyses weren’t performed.

As for ignorance, that is no defense. We are required to adhere to competency requirements, which include being familiar with the market wherein we are working. There’s no way an appraiser could legitimately see 20 closed sales in a search for comps and not recognize that 15 of the sales fit in with the larger trend and the 5 that don’t are so far outside as to be obviously fraudulent. Market analysis isn’t rocket science and there’s no way an appraiser can claim ignorance when appraising a tract home and expect to get away with it.

I can practically guarantee a couple appraisers will go to jail if some of these homes really were overvalued by that much. Conspiracy to commit mortgage fraud isn’t something the FBI is just going to let slide.

[Bugs]

Davelj,

In answer to your question about the appraisals, I am as confident as Steve is that those appraisals have serious and obvious problems. For one thing, appraisers are required to analze and reconcile the sales and listing history of their subject property when appraising them for mortgage lending. $100k spiffs over list price on a house in the $500k range just doesn’t happen and I cannot imagine what rationale those appraisers were using. Strike that, I can well imagine the required analyses weren’t performed.

As for ignorance, that is no defense. We are required to adhere to competency requirements, which include being familiar with the market wherein we are working. There’s no way an appraiser could legitimately see 20 closed sales in a search for comps and not recognize that 15 of the sales fit in with the larger trend and the 5 that don’t are so far outside as to be obviously fraudulent. Market analysis isn’t rocket science and there’s no way an appraiser can claim ignorance when appraising a tract home and expect to get away with it.

I can practically guarantee a couple appraisers will go to jail if some of these homes really were overvalued by that much. Conspiracy to commit mortgage fraud isn’t something the FBI is just going to let slide.

[Author]

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