I recently came across a blog post on Honestbuilding.com that was so true, it was funny and made me laugh. 6 Absurd Things CRE Teams Say About Approvals and How to Address Them describes excuses we have all heard about why applications and the documents...
Last week, the House of Representatives passed HR 1153, the Mortgage Choice Act. The Act, sponsored by Representatives Bill Huizenga (R-MI), Steve Stivers (R-OH), Mike Doyle (D-PA) and David Joyce (R-OH), passed with a small amount of bi-partisan support and was strongly supported by the...
This is not meant to be an indictment on all house flippers. Most are hard working and honest. But like any profession, there are bad apples and this tale shows the worst. But on closer look, it wasn't just the purchasing house flippers who were...
This post promises to be a short one. It could be much longer because I could cut and paste any number of sections from any number of municipal zoning codes to make my point. But I won't. I will state my case succinctly. As a real...
The pictures and videos of the wide spread flooding in Houston and Southeast Texas are horrifying. Hurricane Harvey is officially the largest rain event in US history, dumping nearly 4 feet of rain. Generally, when we think of hurricane caused flooding, we think of storm...
For all the positive steps that cities are taking to affordable housing policy and programs, there is another level of housing that government too often does not handle well: housing and other programs for the homeless. Homelessness is a politically tricky and sensitive subject for...
Florida likes to hold itself out as an inexpensive place to do business because it is one of only 7 states that does not have state income tax. This is certainly attractive to both businesses and individuals. However, the state has to make up this...
When President Trump announced that the US would withdraw from the Paris Climate Accord last week, he said that we as elected "to represent the citizens of Pittsburgh, not Paris". Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto immediately rebuked the president in a Tweetstorm. "As the mayor of...
Commercial loan documents generally provide very strong remedies for lenders in the event of a borrower's default. I know this before I even begin to review a set of loan documents when representing borrowers. I know that there isn't going to be much that I...
Republicans in Congress have long talked about the need to replace the Dodd-Frank Financial Reform Act. President Trump made replacement of the Act one of his campaign promises, notwithstanding that components of Dodd-Frank were instrumental in helping to jump start the economy following the financial...