Despite tremendous growth in the number of real estate licensees in California, the staff for the state Department of Real Estate has dropped dramatically, according to Real Estate Commissioner Jeff Davi.Speaking at the California Association of Mortgage Brokers annual convention in San Jose, Mr. Davi said there are now 510,000 real estate licensees in the state. Under the current regulatory scheme, many mortgage brokers are licensed as real estate agents. With the turn in the real estate market, the department is expecting to deal with an increase in phone calls and complaints, Mr. Davi said. The department does not do random audits -- any audits it conducts are based on complaints from consumers or competitors. Right now the DRE has 303 employees, but the department has persuaded the legislature and the governor to allow it to hire 38 more, he said. All the new employees will be dedicated to enforcement.
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Doxo plans to fight the FTC complaint, which focuses broadly on consumer finance, but there are signs of confusion about the company's role in mortgages too.
April 25 -
Members of the LGBTQ community were most likely to have experienced housing bias, according to a Zillow survey, which also found many people don't recognize how fair lending laws could help.
April 25 -
Senior executives making over $151,000 would still be subject to such clauses should the rule go into effect this year.
April 25 -
Christopher J. Gallo and his aide, Mehmet A. Elmas, allegedly withheld information in mortgage applications, hiding that borrowers were purchasing second home properties.
April 25 -
Mortgage rates rose 7 basis points this week, Freddie Mac said, and more increases are likely following a weaker than expected gross domestic product report.
April 25 -
Independent mortgage bankers lost the most money ever on every loan originated last year due to higher rates and lower volumes, an industry trade group said.
April 25