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» 11 years in federal prison as a consequence of his actions. If you engage in fraud related to TARP, you will be held accountable and brought to justice by SIGTARP and our law enforcement partners." Survey: Most California Investors Opting to Hold Rather than Flip A survey from the California Association of Realtors (C.A.R.) revealed preferences and strategies of typical California property investors. For the most part, investors in the Golden State plan to hold on to their purchases for at least a year. According to the survey, 26 percent of investors who worked with Realtors during the 12-month period ending in April intend to flip their properties within a year, while 66 percent plan to rent out their properties for more than a year. However, three-fourths of investors plan on retaining their properties for less than six years. About 75 percent of investors fell into the "mom-and-pop" category, meaning they own one to 10 properties, while just 6.6 percent own 11 to 20 properties, and 4.8 percent have 50 to 100 properties. Investors were largely drawn to singlefamily homes. According to the survey, 78 percent of transactions over the year-long period were for single-family homes, while 14 percent were for multifamily properties. The survey also showed a strong preference for cash purchases, with 67 percent of investors buying with cash. Investment properties in California sold for a median sales price of $272,500, while the median price spent on repairs was $10,000. The median rate of return was 14 percent. CoreLogic Buys BofA's Flood Zone Determination, Tax Processing Assets CoreLogic, a provider of property information, analytics, and services, announced the acquisition of Bank of America's flood zone determination and tax processing services assets and operating platforms. The Irvine, California-based company said it has entered into a services agreement to continue providing related services to Bank of America (BofA). Through the pur- chase, BofA's flood zone determination and tax processing operations will be integrated in CoreLogic's flood and tax servicing business units. "We are excited to provide flood zone determination and tax processing services to Bank of America. We believe this agreement will further deepen our longstanding relationship with this important market leader," said CoreLogic president and CEO Anand Nallathambi. The purchase transaction closed on July 1 and was funded with cash. CoreLogic says it will be reported within the company's mortgage origination services segment. "This arrangement is in line with our long-stated business imperative of driving scale and operating leverage in our mortgage origination services segment," said CoreLogic CFO Frank Martell. "The integration of Bank of America's flood and tax servicing operations into CoreLogic's existing business units is expected to create significant revenue growth and margin expansion opportunities over the balance of 2013 and beyond." California Men Sentenced to Jail for Mod Scams Four California men face jail time, probation, and restitution fees for alleged mortgage modification scams. The men defrauded hundreds of homeowners of more than $130,000, according to the Office of the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (SIGTARP). The four defendants sent promotional letters to homeowners offering to modify or refinance their home loans. They collected upfront fees for their services and did not deliver on their promises, SIGTARP said. The defendants promised full refunds if they were unable to modify the loans and claimed to have a 95 percent success rate for obtaining modifications on customers' behalves. After receiving the fees from customers, SIGTARP said the defendants did not obtain modifications nor return the fees. They set up numerous false businesses and changed business names, phone numbers, and addresses to elude their customers and continue their scams. After successfully defrauding more than 100 victims, the men began promising refinances at 2.8 percent, sending "Conditional Approval" letters to victims with their servicers' logos on the letterhead. VISIT US ONLINE @ DSNEWS.COM Jacob John Cunningham, 26; John D. Silva, 28; Justin Dennis Koelle, 23; and Dominic Adam Nolan, 32; all pleaded guilty to felony counts of conspiracy to collect illegal upfront fees and conspiracy to commit theft by false pretenses. The four men face between six and eight months in jail, five years' probation—during which they cannot be involved in loan modifications or loan consulting—and restitution fees. The amount of restitution each man will pay will be determined in an upcoming hearing. Fannie Mae Selects National MI to Insure $5B in Loans National Mortgage Insurance Corporation (National MI) announced it will insure about $5 billion in residential mortgages in its first risk transfer transaction with Fannie Mae. National MI received the offer through a formal bid process to private mortgage insurers. According to a company release, Fannie Mae's decision was based on the mortgage insurer's favorable terms and conditions as well as beneficial risk share attributes. Emeryville, California-based National MI is a newer company that was approved by the GSEs as a qualified mortgage insurer in January and began writing business in April. Government Intervention Drives Down Distressed Sales in California Distressed property sales have declined drastically in California over the last year, a recent report from PropertyRadar notes. The company found in June, sales for distressed homes and condominiums plunged 46.5 percent year-over-year. On the other hand, nondistressed property sales shot up 31.3 percent. Government intervention is the main driving force behind the declines in distressed property sales, according to the report authored by Madeline Schnapp, director of economics research at PropertyRadar. For example, PropertyRadar reported California foreclosure sales totaled 2,159 in June, representing a 14.1 percent decrease from May and a 63.6 percent decline from a year earlier. The total for June is also the lowest level for foreclosure sales in the state since January 2007. 111

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