FYI: Sellers of real estate must now be licensed to offer seller-financing (McAllen: foreclosed)

[sshurgot]

According to an article in Texas REALTOR magazine, written by Associate Counsel for the Texas Association of REALTORS Edra Anderson, you must now be a licensed residential mortgage loan originator if you plan on extending seller financing to your buyer, unless the property is your primary residence or the buyer is a family member. She says,

"According to Texas Savings
and Mortgage Lending Department
Commissioner Douglas Foster,
people who intend to continue seller-financing
properties other than
their homesteads must complete the
licensure process prior to May 31,
2010. Seller-financing these transactions
without the appropriate license
is a misdemeanor offense in Texas."

[kevcrawford]

Interesting article. I don't agree with their decision one bit. This is just another way for the state to get money and take advantage of others while doing it. If one person has a free and clear house, they should be able to offer seller financing if they wish, without having to jump through hoops to do so.

[sshurgot]

I agree with you Kevin. Some buyers who may not be able to get a loan through a bank will miss out, and sellers miss out on interest. Since banks don't pay any on people's savings, seller financing is a nice way to make money grow. The way I see it everybody loses. Fortunately I got a LO license a couple of years back.

[RGJ]

I think a lot of this stems from the guy from McAllen, TX who owned Casa Linda Builders(not to be confused with Casa Linda remodeling). He, or his company, did "seller financing" with no title insurance, closing, deed transfer, etc. The people eventually were foreclosed on by contractor liens, liens to lenders that the buyer never knew about.

Texas AG goes after Casa Linda Homes : News : KGBT 4