Training Time: Running a Property Title Search

We tricked you already! You may be interested in running a property title search because you want to verify things like who owns a home and the financial status of the home – registered mortgages, etc. Many mortgage professionals think that searching for this type of information is running a property title search. In fact, a property title search is something that a lawyer performs that involves a variety of searches and other information including things like the homeowner’s status with the municipality.

If you want to verify who owns a home or what mortgages are registered against the home, a basic property search in Purview For Lenders will do it! Check out these training videos below to learn how to access homeownership information, registered mortgages and more…

The more you know, the better prepared you’ll be to mitigate fraud and avoid toxic deals. Contact Purview For Lenders today at 1.855.787.8439.

How to validate homeownership information

How to find registered mortgages on title

 

For more info on Purview For Lenders please visit www.purviewforlenders.com. 

HPI Monthly Report - Home Prices UP 0.1% in October

In October the Teranet–National Bank National Composite House Price Index™ was up 0.1% from the previous month, a 10th consecutive monthly increase. This rise was about average for a month of October. Prices were up on the month in only five of the 11 metropolitan markets surveyed – 1.9% in Winnipeg, 0.6% in Vancouver, 0.3% in Toronto and Victoria and 0.2% in Edmonton. For Vancouver it was the 10th consecutive month in which prices did not fall, for Toronto the eighth – a trend consistent with the seller’s-market conditions prevailing in those two markets, as measured by the ratios of listings to sales calculated from the data reported by the Calgary and Toronto real estate boards. Elsewhere prices fell – by 0.2% in Quebec City, 0.3% in Montreal and Hamilton, 0.6% in Ottawa-Gatineau, 0.8% in Calgary and 1.7% in Halifax. For Quebec City it was the fifth consecutive monthly decline, for Montreal the third (the fourth for the Montreal condo market). The October rise in Edmonton ended a run of four straight months with no increase. The decline in Hamilton ended a run of five straight rises.

Teranet – National Bank National Composite House Price Index™

In October the composite index was up 5.6% from a year earlier, the same 12-month rise as in September and the strongest since May 2012. In Vancouver (+9.8%) and in Toronto and Hamilton (+9.3%), the 12-month gain was well above the countrywide average. In Victoria (+6.4%) it was closer to the average. Prices were up only 1.4% from a year earlier in Edmonton and were flat in Winnipeg and Ottawa-Gatineau. Prices were down from 12 months earlier in Montreal (−0.6%), in Calgary (-1.0%), in Halifax (-1.1%) and in Quebec City (−3.2%). It was the first month since October 2009 that prices were up from a year earlier in only five of the 11 metropolitan markets surveyed.

Adapting to Canadian Market Conditions: 2015 Turbulent Housing Markets

When it comes to real estate investment, where are Canada’s worst markets? Well, nowhere that we could classify as turbulent at least. Housing numbers stayed steady, nationally, the entire year.

It has widely been reported throughout the year that the Canadian economy could be headed for trouble. Some would even say that the BOC’s rate drop this past summer is evidence of that, and articles like this one are suggesting that provinces such as Alberta are headed for a correction: http://globalnews.ca/news/1860605/sturdy-as-a-house-of-cards-a-look-at-canadas-property-boom/.

It can be hard to forecast and adapt to Canadian Market conditions with wide speculation of turbulent housing markets and the potential that a housing bubble exists in Canada. After all, a wise person once said there are two sides to every story, but the truth lands somewhere in the middle!

The best way to adapt to Canadian market conditions is to be in the know and this could involve a multi-lateral approach.

1.      Make sure you are subscribed to all the financial/news publications in your area of focus and not just one – only subscribing to one could leave you influenced by that publication’s positioning. Pick out your top 3-4 trusted publications to receive in your inbox.

2.      Who releases white papers? National corporations like Pricewaterhouse Cooper routinely release annual publications about Canadian real estate trends http://www.pwc.com/ca/en/real-estate/publications/pwc-emerging-trends-in-real-estate-2015-en.pdf.

3.      House price indices – Consider subscribing to Canadian house price indices like the Teranet-National Bank House Price Index™ to keep on top of national housing numbers.

4.      Provincial reports – Provincial reports like the Ontario Mortgage Insights Report drills down on provincial housing data at a more granular level.

5.      Automated valuations – you can use AVMs to generate assessments of cities or even entire neighbourhoods.  

Taking the above 5 actions means more reading, yes, however it also means that you can hand your intel down to your team to not only identify areas of risk but also areas of opportunity! You can either act using this intel to mitigate risk in these areas or work with your marketing group to ensure that you are maximizing your efforts in hot areas, even marketing the right products according to the market.

One thing that is very positive is that, throughout 2015, despite the low oil prices impacting the dollar and economist speculation, the Canadian housing market appears as strong as ever and a great market for lenders and real estate investors.

Don’t let a lack of knowledge about the Canadian housing market mean lost opportunities. Stay on top of what is happening. Contact Purview For Lenders today at 1.855.787.8439.

Mortgage Fraud in Canada – What Are You Doing About it?

We write a lot about mortgage fraud in Canada, for various reasons. Obviously offering a tool that is a solution for mortgage fraud is one reason, but another, far more important, reason is because of the dire impact that mortgage fraud has in Canada and how it can lead to overall economic instability.

The more aligned our industry is – whether you are a lender, broker, lender, insurer, technology and other service providers, etc. - the more we can work together to combat fraud.

You can neatly sort into groups who commits fraud and why:

1.   The seasoned fraudster – This is someone who knows that they are committing fraud and do it for profit – this could be the borrower, a mortgage agent or flat out delinquent.

2.   The client who “forgot” or was “confused” – This is when the customer’s actions result in fraud. It could be missing, undisclosed or incorrect information. If uncovered, the customer’s usual response is that they were confused or simply forgot – not that they internally omitted or gave wrong information. Often this proves to be true.

3.   The mortgage agent who turned their cheek – This is when flags are appearing that an agent/broker chooses not to see because they think their deal will go through anyways. This is when mortgage agent underwriting steps into the grey and your bottom line takes a hit as a result.

You can perform a strong interview and ask that the client or broker to provide supporting documents as well as conducting your own independent verifications to ensure that you have a good, clean deal.

When it comes to doing your due diligence on a property to which you are thinking of extending financing, there are certain things that you can independently verify that will help mitigate the likelihood that fraud, with respect to the property being financed, will occur. Here are 5 things that you can independently verify at the application stage that can significantly reduce mortgage fraud:

·         Validate homeownership information

·         Check the financial history on the property

·         Check the sales history on the property

·         Look at the property from the sky and from the street

·         Generate an AVM to validate value

Now, we know that are you a lender, not the RCMP, and unfortunately some fraud will slip past you, but the more you do to ensure that you are not dealing with a fraudster, the better. You are somewhat challenged because if the deal is coming from an agent or broker they may not give you direct contact with the client. The more you do to independently verify applicant information, the higher the likelihood of stopping fraud in its tracks.

Basic due diligence, the type made easy with the tools from Purview For Lenders, can help you mitigate the losses caused by fraud, and make the industry more stable as a whole. 

Call us today at 1.855.787.8439.