Real Estate Links

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Governmental

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) - Banking law, federal regulations; FDIC publications, statistics on banks and banking, regulations and the quarterly Survey of Real Estate Trends.

Federal Housing Authority (FHA) - Information about buying and financing residential real estate using Federal Housing Administration insured mortgages, and about servicing these loans; includes RESPA statute and regulations, escrow accounting procedures, proposed and final HUD rules and regulations.

Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) - Information on the national flood insurance program, disaster management and recovery and geographical mapping of flood/disaster zones. Includes forms library and information for filing flood/disaster claims.

Home Path - A FNMA site with information on buying and refinancing homes. Includes calculation directions for consumers to determine what home price they can afford and a glossary of mortgage and financing terms.

Dept. of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) - Information about FHA insured mortgages, lending and servicing. Includes proposed and final HUD regulations and all mortgagee letters from 1976.

Veteran's Administration (VA) - Veteran's Administration guaranteed mortgages and programs; includes frequently asked questions about qualifying for VA guaranteed loans.

Quasi-Governmental

Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (FREDDIE MAC) - Information about purchasing and repackaging mortgages as securities for sale and investment; includes current and historical prime mortgage rate information, public relations materials about the secondary mortgage market, and a listing of Freddiemac owned real estate for sale.

Federal National Mortgage Association (FNMA) - Information from FNMA, a private corporation with the National Housing Act as its "mission" and the largest source of home mortgage funds and secondary mortgage market to increase the availability and affordability of homes; Includes information for home buyers and lenders, and monthly newsletter discussing federal regulations relating to mortgages, and the text of guidelines and lender letters relating to servicing of mortgages.

Miscellaneous Sources

Law Journal EXTRA! - Current news and in-depth articles for practitioners in real estate. Includes analysis of current trends, collection of law firm memorandum on real estate topics, and links to related Internet sites. Click on the "practice areas" button at the home page.

AllRegs - Database of current residential mortgage lending regulations and guidelines; includes a daily industry update and announcements from FNMA, FHLMC, GNMA, HUD and VA. Both free and fee-based services.

Fair Lending Guide Page - Maintained by the law firm of Fried, Frank, Harris Shriver & Jacobson to market their book "The Fair Lending Guide," covering the Fair Housing Act, Equal Credit Opportunity Act and Community Reinvestment Act; full text and archives of the Fair Lending Alert Newsletter and articles by FFJSK attorneys. At the FFJSK home page, click on "specialized pages".

Current Mortgage Information - Current and statistical data relating to mortgage rates; daily and weekly rates, market trends and forecasts, home equity rates, ARM index rates, financial calculators and articles.

Illinois Real Estate Lawyers Association (IRELA) is a local organization of real estate practitioners in northern Illinois which meets monthly to discuss topics of interest and survival in their area of concentration. Their homepage has articles of interest and materials on local real estate practice and concerns.

Discussion Groups

Real Estate Internet Talk Soup - Newsletter and discussion forum relating to real estate tax issues and development maintained by Tax Analysts, a non-profit organization; includes archived newsletters and directions for subscribing. At the home page, click on the "discussion groups" entry and scroll for the real estate group sign-up.

DIRT - Largest real-estate-law discussion group on the Internet, maintained by Prof. Patrick Randolph of the University of Missouri Law School; includes a daily case note offered for discussion by e-mail. To subscribe send message "subscribe" to dirt-request@cctr.mke.edu.