#13- Interlake, Bellevue;

#20-International, Bellevue;

#45-Newport, Bellevue;

#56-Sammamish, Bellevue.

http://www.newsweek.com/feature/2010/americas-best-high-schools/list.html

If you don’t know if you are involved in a possible fraud transaction or have questions, please call Freddie Mac Fraud Hotline: 800 4 FRAUD 8

New flood insurance policies have been suspended across the whole US.  Congress has recessed without extending authority for the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) which expired on March 28, 2010.

“Six of the nation’s largest lending authorities have issued guidance to administer the federal flood insurance regulations during the current National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) lapse in authority. In most cases, loan closings may still occur during the NFIP lapse with verification of the submission of a NFIP flood policy application and premium payment submission to the insurance provider. Lenders should follow all normal flood risk evaluations prior to closing and establish follow up practices to monitor full compliance upon the re-authorization of the NFIP program. Lenders should become familiar with and follow the specific guidance offered by their lending authority.”

If you are planning to buy a property in a flood zone in the next couple weeks, please discuss this with your real estate agent, lender, insurance agent and your title company.

For further info, Federal Emergency Management Agency: http://www.fema.gov/business/nfip/

http://ping.fm/gKPdp

According to the HAMP (Making Home Affordable Program) report Jan 2010, successful permanent loan modification has increased almost 50% from the previous month.  Here are the highlights:

-The majority of permanent modifications –57.4% –are helping people who are coping with unemployment or who have seen a reduction in hours or wages.

-110servicers have signed servicer participation agreements to modify loans under HAMP, and new servicers continue to join the program each week. In addition, approximately 2,300 lenders service loans owned or guaranteed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac; these GSE loans are automatically eligible for HAMP.

-Loss of income is the primary hardship of the borrowers for permanent modification.

-In Washington State, there was a total of 18.835 cases.  Among that,  16,255 trial cases; permanent modifications 2,580; 5.01%-10% of 60+days delinquency rate.

-Top 3 servicers  (trial + permanent modifications) nation-wide are:

1. i) Bank of America (total: 234,156);
2. ii) JP Morgan Chase (total: 162,483);
3. iii)Wells Fargo (total:137,128).

Source: Making Home Affordable Program, Jan 2010.

This year it includes:

• recent tax-law changes such as First-time Home-buyer Credit, American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, and Making Work Pay Credit,..,etc.
• Info on calculating capital gain/loss, claiming dependents, standard deductions Vs itemizing deductions, IRAs or retirement saving plans;
• Available in Spanish:
• Free hard copy; free download at http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p17.pdf

If you need tax help, what know how to eFile or get tax advocate’s advice, visit www.irs.gov or call 800-829-3676.  There are electronic links for Q&A online.

Good luck!