Ysabelle, I get a ton of collections calls, too, and I haven't been able to stop them. So don't be surprised if it doesn't work. No amount of explaining that this is a wrong number will get them to stop calling. I don't think "do not call" applies in this case, where they believe you or someone at your number owes them money.

And, OP: definitely send the mail back, marked "unknown." You might consider taking it to a mailbox, even, to ensure that the mail carrier isn't part of some identity theft scheme (it's been done).

On the other hand, I get a lot of bills addressed to me, mostly subscription renewal reminders and domain registration stuff, that are totally bogus. So they could be weird fake bills. Either way, "return to sender/ recipient unknown" is the way to start.

Posted by: amanda at March 31, 2009 2:04 PM in response to Mailing Address Scam?

I kind of wonder how important photos are? They make for good real estate porn, but do they sell the property? If it is the right size in the right neighborhood for the right price, you call the agent and take a look at it. Anyone who is seriously looking for a house is looking for code words (TLC, "bring your architect") and specifics. Not pretty pictures.

Posted by: amanda at February 2, 2009 1:30 PM in response to House of the Day: 1217 Ditmas Avenue

Chase is great, it is your mortgage broker you shouldn't trust.

Eons ago (last spring/summer) we got a pre-qualification letter from Chase at a pretty decent rate (5.5%) but wound up putting our actual application in through a broker (it was a complex application with some self-employment history and reliance on rental income) who couldn't get us a rate below 6.875%. Big difference. I asked him why it was so high and he gave me a lot of slick talking. So I went back to our original loan officer at Chase (who'd done our pre-qualification) and gave him the story, including all the reasons the broker had rattled off about why we couldn't get a better rate. Jason (at Chase) took about 20 minutes to call me back and confirm that, while he couldn't do 5.5%, he could do 6%). So I called our mortgage broker and asked him to forward our loan application to Chase. He f-l-i-p-p-e-d. Accused me of lying. Told me that Chase is horrible and will put all kinds of obstacles in our way, and then accused me of lying some more.

What Chase ultimately told us was that they've had too many bad experiences and as a result they don't offer brokers any express lane anymore, and that they want to use their own appraiser and won't accept the appraisal that the broker got for us. All of which seemed entirely reasonable. It sucked that we'd already paid a fee to our broker and had to pay a second application fee, but Chase turned our application around in record time and, though we never closed (the seller had a freak out, long story) Nothing that happened leading up to the closing gave me the impression that Chase wasn't perfectly forthcoming. We accepted our deposit back three days before closing so we were *right* on the cusp.

If we'd had time to mess around, I would have tried to stop payment on our mortgage broker because he was flatly refusing to forward the application he'd compiled for us to Chase and there is no good legal reason why he can do that. We never committed to only take a mortgage from someone who'd give him a commission and the paperwork we signed said only that we understood that he may receive financial consideration from the lender. Unfortunately, we thought we had to leap to action to get our mortgage application processed through Chase in time for a closing that never happened.

I'm pretty sour on all brokers after our experience, but at a minimum if a reputable bank is offering you a better rate, your broker is probably just trying to cling to the threads of their commission.

There are plenty of fly-by-night banks out there, but Chase is not one of them.

Posted by: amanda at January 16, 2009 11:31 AM in response to question about mortgage brokers

I'm pretty sure that any factual assertions about what you "should" do are just subjective enough to stay legal. If they say you owe them money or that you will loose your home if you don't do this, that is one thing. But saying you might or you could ... those are different.

Posted by: amanda at January 16, 2009 11:12 AM in response to Deed Scam in Brooklyn?

I was freelance for many years and had a home office that I could deduct (I did, I swear. And it was a freaking luxury.) That made a difference in my income. So did any books I bought, meals I could deduct, etc. These were legitimate deductions, and I wasn't cheating anyone, but I was actively minimizing my taxable income.

However, laying out the papers to show that I bring in $X and spend $Y of it on deductions and so I really ought to be judged on X and not my adjusted gross income: that is not a "no income verification mortgage."

Posted by: amanda at December 18, 2008 4:59 PM in response to No income check mortgage

Once again: I think brownstoner should let us make home profiles that are anonymously attached to our login profiles, where we can say how many families, how many square feet and what we pay for utilities.

I find these to be some of the most useful threads and it would be really interesting to be able to see that most people with a three family brownstone are using half as much water as me. For instance.

Not that I have a house. Sigh.

Posted by: amanda at December 18, 2008 4:52 PM in response to Yikes..Could this Heating Bill be Right?

Queenie,

I'll third the suggestion to talk to another lawyer. We were getting jerked around and I spoke with two other real-estate attorneys who basically told us the same thing: sounds frustrating, but it doesn't sound like your lawyer is leaving rocks unturned. So we stuck with our lawyer.

Point is, don't be afraid to start talking to other lawyers.

-Amanda

Posted by: amanda at December 16, 2008 12:04 PM in response to Help! Closing Nightmare

There is a difference between "no income verification" and verifying an unusual or inconsistent income. If you can't put together paperwork that basically lays out how you could have payed a mortgage last year and the year before and can reasonably pay a mortgage next year, I don't think anyone is going to be breaking down doors to lend you money today.

Go listen to The Giant Pool of Money if you don't want to read up on the mortgage industry:

http://www.thislife.org/radio_episode.aspx?episode=355

Posted by: amanda at December 16, 2008 11:55 AM in response to No income check mortgage

I know that some people like new and all, but I'm altogether confused by spending almost a million dollars for a loft when you could have a whole brownstone a block away for about the same price.

Posted by: amanda at December 16, 2008 11:26 AM in response to Yet Another Round of Price Cuts at Lofts on Lex

Kind of reminds me of the "Christotora Treatment Center" -- Gregg Singers' bizarre bluff about putting a shelter and outpatient clinic in a school building cum Charas community center in the East Village, after residents who'd fought to keep the community center in place challenged his international youth hostel plan.

Charas is still vacant.

I don't know where people get the idea that community zoning (that would be a community facility such as educational, recreational, religious or health facility) is ever going to mean "Oyster Bar" -- the zoning is there for a reason. Developers get these FAR breaks to include community space and they don't just get to turn it into commercial space because no one can think of anything between "methadone clinic" and "oyster bar."

Posted by: amanda at December 15, 2008 1:37 PM in response to No Oyster Bar? How About a Methadone Clinic?

PropertyShark.

Posted by: amanda at December 15, 2008 1:32 PM in response to Foreclosure Listings

I like how everyone offered a rough range for price per square foot.

Posted by: amanda at December 12, 2008 3:17 PM in response to what is the price range for having a hardwood floor installed?

Try http://www.wecandoit.coop -- there's some discussion of them in the archives:

http://www.brownstoner.com/forum/archives/2008/08/cleaning_servic_6.php

Posted by: amanda at December 12, 2008 2:42 PM in response to One Time Cleaning Person

sorry. their way. not there.

Posted by: amanda at December 11, 2008 7:19 PM in response to Tipping the Postman

If people go out of there way for you, you should tip them. The train conductor doesn't. Your super does. So does your postal carrier. Unless they don't, in which case you shouldn't tip them. Or you should try tipping them and see if that might have been the problem all along.

Posted by: amanda at December 11, 2008 7:13 PM in response to Tipping the Postman

And this feature is in no way based on Fedder's Fridays?
http://www.newyorkshitty.com/?cat=33

Seriously: Miss Shitty has this topic covered twice over. Maybe you could bring her in as a Federtecture Expert stringer?

Posted by: amanda at November 14, 2008 2:16 PM in response to Horror Show Friday

just me, it is possible that only Gotham Gazette caught the ballot initiative:
http://www.gothamgazette.com/article/issueoftheweek/20080929/200/2712

Posted by: amanda at November 5, 2008 11:58 AM in response to Tuesday Blogwrap

No Working Families Party? Column E.

Posted by: amanda at November 4, 2008 5:05 PM in response to Tuesday Blogwrap

You should use Selectricity, Brownstoner.

http://selectricity.org/

Posted by: amanda at October 24, 2008 3:06 PM in response to Top 50: Who'd We Leave Out?

Are you kidding me?

What about all the people who grew up in San Francisco and couldn't afford to stay after college? I would have loved to make my life in the city I was raised in but I couldn't figure out how to afford it and since my siblings had already moved back in with my parents there wasn't a lot of room for me to do likewise.

Posted by: amanda at October 9, 2008 9:14 AM in response to New Yorkers: Look to San Fran for Inspiration

Bed-Stuy starts at Classon. Even wikipedia says so: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bed-stuy

Seriously, Franklin Ave is in Community Board 3 and Al Vann's council district. It is in Bed Stuy.

Posted by: amanda at September 24, 2008 6:23 PM in response to Streetlevel: Clinton Hill Bed Stuy Gets Photo Studio

Citizens Union, who sponsored the Conner-Squadron debate has clips of the debate on their site: http://www.citizensunion.org

And, if you want more details on the other local races that will be decided tomorrow, Gotham Gazette has thorough coverage:

http://www.gothamgazette.com/article/fea/20080902/202/2633

Posted by: amanda at September 8, 2008 1:40 PM in response to Time to Vote, People

Not a lot of reasons to cheer? C'mon Mr B: you assume we're all sellers here. I'm no What, but I'm definitely hoping the market will eventually stoop to my level.

Meanwhile, I would love it if you all added a specific category for the sixth month follow ups. I find them far more interesting than the Open House picks.

Posted by: amanda at September 4, 2008 12:00 PM in response to Open House Picks: Six Months Later

One thing 311 is actually good for is finding out the rules on stuff like this.

Call them, give them the address of the business and ask if there are time restrictions on loud operations. That is how I found out that the construction site across the street from me and the one immediately behind me are both allowed to start at whatever ungodly hour they start work. Seven AM, think it was. Deafening cement trucks at seven AM. Don't quote me on that, it could be that I started getting up earlier so's to get out of the house by the time they start work.

Point is: 311 can answer that question, even if you don't want to file a complaint.

Posted by: amanda at September 4, 2008 11:51 AM in response to loud-beep on backing up

thanks shayla.

The holes are pretty substantial, I think that an animal got in there and scratched it somehow, since it happened really suddenly: it was full, it was full, it was half full. We filled it, it emptied halfway. We looked around and saw these gashes.

We have a thriving ecosystem in there, which is part of why I'm loathe to disturb it. Our pond is 3 or 4 years old -- are you saying we should expect to drain it and replace the liner every few years? Eek!

Posted by: amanda at September 3, 2008 6:26 PM in response to Pond Liner Ideas?

As long as you were hanging out with your camera you shoulda counted the floors. There are more than 12.

Rumor has it that there will be tennis courts and a pool eventually. For now there is at least serious mosquito breeding ground.

Posted by: amanda at September 2, 2008 3:35 PM in response to Development Watch: 339 Greene Avenue

I'm wondering what constitutes a fence. If I string a chain across the stoop, does that count?

I don't really have a beef with someone sitting down on my stoop, though the crew that is happily erecting a 15 story monolith that has already obliterated my tiny view of sky ... it doesn't thrill me that they sit on our stoop to watch their work.

Posted by: amanda at August 29, 2008 11:07 AM in response to Is Your Stoop Private Property?

You're kidding, right?

How long have you lived in Brooklyn?

Every summer Celebrate Brooklyn does a few high profile benefit shows that aren't free and every time they put up higher fences and post security. You might like it, you might now, but it is mos def *not* new.

Posted by: amanda at August 13, 2008 11:02 AM in response to Fencing In Bob Dylan

We talking about a Brooklyn brownstone here?

We've gotten deep enough into a couple of places to ask questions about "code violations" -- in both places, the inspector told us about real fire hazards -- they took the boiler room pretty seriously, the door to the cellar being fireproof. But the plumbing and electric they just laughed when we asked about code violations. Basically, they said that if we want to play that game these places are full of code violations. They see their job as discussing what is safe and what isn't.

Even in this market (which isn't spiraling out of control but sure doesn't seem to be tanking into my reach) I wouldn't expect a seller to correct more than minor code violations in the wiring or plumbing. You can try, but I wouldn't expect it. If you think it is going to be a real undertaking (hint: it is) you can haggle over the price.

Wiring and plumbing (and, apparently, roof sealing) are things you're better off doing yourself. A seller is going to do the bare minimum to close the deal. You are going to (you should be going to, anyhow) do some research and make a real decision about how much of the electrical system you want to address now, and how much you're going to undertake later.

Did he not even open the panel? That does seem odd. I think the deal with electric panels is that an inspector who knows what he's looking at can tell from the manufacturer what decade it was installed and make some reasonable assumptions about what is inside. But he should have at least opened it -- there can be all manner of hellish jerry rigging inside.

My advice though, after spending months on one house before we decided that we couldn't do it (the inspector said "get a plumber to look at this line, all I know is it is funky"; the plumber said "this will be a project, but did you notice this huge ding in the sewer line?" It just kept getting worse and we reached the point where we'd found everything (we think) and had enough money to address it all and move tenants in and ourselves in ... if not one other thing went wrong. So we walked away and the seller's got a higher offer (this was a few years ago) so everyone was happy (except us, but our disappointment wasn't anyone's fault) is not to be afraid to go back ten times with contractors or electricians to get a handle on what you're getting yourself into. They'll tell you other people are looking at the house and it is possible it will get snatched up in the meantime, but for the most part any other buyer is in the same boat: they want to look at the wiring more closely before they buy the building and make a realistic budget for the work it will need.

Posted by: amanda at August 9, 2008 10:16 AM in response to Home Inspection - how carefully was the Electric Panel reviewed?

I've noticed an increase "lately." In general, I know they fly lower when it is stormy out.

I'd actually say that in the last two years I've noticed an increase over my first seven years on the Bed Stuy/ Clinton Hill border.

Posted by: amanda at August 4, 2008 4:52 PM in response to Increase in flight traffic over Clinton Hill

Hmm. Thought I corrected myself on Friday!

But yeah: the Public Administrator administers estate sales when the heirs can't be found.

I don't know where they get their starting prices from then.

Posted by: amanda at August 4, 2008 2:21 PM in response to 82 Cambridge Place Coming Up For Auction

We filed an application directly with the bank and had it approved in 10 business days. Appraised, the whole nine yards.

And, yup: at a much lower rate than our broker was coming up with.

Posted by: amanda at August 1, 2008 5:48 PM in response to Mortgage Brokers

I would not go spraying madly. You have an ecosystem. You can't kill pests without disrupting it. You could just wear jeans ...

I have this problem in my vegetable garden. I wash up when I get itchy. Planting marigolds helps a lot. Keeping planting from getting too dense helps.

Posted by: amanda at August 1, 2008 3:37 PM in response to backyard bugs

FWIW, according to every (both) inspector we've hired, in a 4 family building you need to have an enclosed staircase to the basement.

Posted by: amanda at August 1, 2008 3:35 PM in response to Open Stairs/ Floating Stairs?

I'm looking at the photos of 223 Van Buren and wondering about the state of the mortgage crisis.

If that building is in great shape inside, it would make sense that someone borrowed $620K on it. Maybe. But it is a three story, two family building, which makes that a hell of a lien, unless this is actually an estate auction of some sort.

Property Shark shows a modest sale in 1995 and little since then. So I wonder what the story is.

Posted by: amanda at August 1, 2008 3:03 PM in response to 82 Cambridge Place Coming Up For Auction

Thanks, Schultz. I did notice that they're listed on PACC's resource list:

http://www.prattarea.org/homeservices.htm

which is a good sign. Some of the other resources listed there look useful as well.

Posted by: amanda at July 23, 2008 5:13 PM in response to Legitimate Foreclosure Counseling

Call a mortgage broker and ask for a referral.

Posted by: amanda at July 20, 2008 9:37 AM in response to Need Appraiser

Was this a fully executed contract? Meaning, had the seller *also* signed the contract? Was your money in escrow? If so, you can sue.

If, however, you signed a contract and sent it back to the seller and they decided they weren't going to sign, you have less recourse. You can drag the realtor's name through the mud, but I'm not sure you can do more than that.

I am not a lawyer, but you probably figured that out.

We had a broker pushing a seller to do just that -- send out a second contract while we were deliberating over details (we wanted to require them to fix the fire escape before closing). The seller said "no" but it did give us occasion to talk to our lawyer about it. Basically, he seconded John (5:21)'s insight: we could make a huge stink about it, but we wouldn't have any specific legal recourse.

The contract is only a fully executed contract when both parties have signed.

Posted by: amanda at July 20, 2008 9:18 AM in response to Respnses to Multiple Buyers

Bats. Frogs. Fish.

Mosquitoes can breed in a tablespoon of water -- clean your rain gutters. Here is a good list of common breeding sites that might not be obvious standing water. It is a little suburban (boat?), but it might give you some ideas:

http://www.co.jackson.ms.us/DS/MosquitoControl.html

Posted by: amanda at July 17, 2008 9:38 AM in response to Best way to deal with mosquitos?

We're halfway through and I should probably keep my mouth shut so I don't jinx myself, but basically we did find that going straight to the bank got us a lower rate. We're not trying to do anything fancy. We have a conventional down payment and we've got sufficient income to support our mortgage payments.

I applied for a mortgage pre-qual ~5 years ago and my experience was about the same: they wanted thorough documentation of our income, savings and employment history.

Otherwise, it doesn't seem to me that there is anything special afoot.

My guess is that people who are looking for HELOCs or were counting on refinancing have a different story though?

Posted by: amanda at July 17, 2008 9:25 AM in response to Who is trying to get a Mortgage and what problems you are facing?

Thanks Chas. Those are made up numbers for the purpose of an example. I think we've been told 6.8 -> 6.675 or 6.5 -> 6.375 (two different lenders, duh).

Now I just want a formula for including some interest.

It seems like a person can get a 10 year CD at 5% (at least at WaMu) Using Moneychimp's calculator (http://www.moneychimp.com/calculator/compound_interest_calculator.htm)
it seems like if that $3000 were invested instead in a 10 year CD, it'd be worth $4,886.68 at the end of that period. Assuming your interest is compounded annually, which may or may not be accurate. At $19.94/month it will take more like 20 years to break even on your $3000 if you look at the lost interest. But if, after 10 years you reinvest that money ... you can see where I'm going with this.

Thanks Chas.

Posted by: amanda at July 16, 2008 12:12 PM in response to Points (what am I missing)

Can someone clean off "gibbswill" and "steaven" and their dumb spam?

I think the lesson here is ... read your contract. A contract can say anything, and if it doesn't have a clause that says you can get your deposit back if your mortgage is denied, don't sign it unless you don't need a mortgage.

Posted by: amanda at July 16, 2008 9:55 AM in response to Mortgage on credit report?

He wasn't sitting on our originals but we did pay a fee and he did have everything in a file that he could have flipping walked over to the bank had he chosen to. We had to spend a lot of time at the copier preparing another application.

Though ... we did give him originals, originally. We sat down with him turned over the originals and he was like "my copier is really slow. instead of making you wait I'll fed ex these to you." He did FedEx them (he's not a scoundrel at all) but if I had it to do over we would have shown up at his office with originals and copies side by side. Hopefully, I won't have to do this over!

I'll let you all know how it plays out.

Posted by: amanda at July 16, 2008 9:17 AM in response to Mortgage Brokers

Does anyone know the address of the East New York coop?

Posted by: amanda at July 15, 2008 11:22 AM in response to CSAs, Food Co-ops Take Root All Over Brooklyn

Talk to your neighbor.

If they're loving their mulberries (they're good!), you ought to be able to work out a way to have the tree pruned to everyone's satisfaction and you don't have to just hack the branches at the property line and leave a frankentree.

Posted by: amanda at July 14, 2008 6:10 PM in response to Blackberry's Everywhere!

That all sounds typical of a "project." If you're prepared to roll with the punches and put on a dust mask yourself from time to time, don't sweat it.

The whole fair/good/excellent rating isn't nearly as useful as the fine print. Are there problems that could turn out to be major? A cornice you can fix. Wiring, you have to tear up walls to get to. Tearing up walls is like pulling at a piece of loose thread.

Posted by: amanda at July 14, 2008 6:03 PM in response to "fair" condition from house inspection

Can anyone be more explicit about "fair prices" and "$500 less than the other bid"?

Was that $500 less than $15,000? Or $500 less than $750?

Posted by: amanda at July 14, 2008 5:57 PM in response to Asbestos Removal

Can you take it on the subway or is this a ceiling fan?

On 25th between sixth and seventh, north side of the street, there is a clock repair shop. I brought an old fan in there onetime and he fixed it for me on the spot.

Posted by: amanda at July 14, 2008 5:48 PM in response to re-wiring a fan

This has been really helpful, thanks folks.

Posted by: amanda at July 10, 2008 5:23 PM in response to Mortgage Brokers

Craigslist has lots of apartments that are for rent by owner. Same for the New York Times and the Village Voice.

Honestly, though, if I get an email that is totally inconsistent about capitalization and spell checking and the story sounds off somehow, my first thought is that my next email from you is going to be about how you're going to wire me the money site unseen and I just have to [insert scam here]. If I got ten other responses, yours will be at the bottom of my list.

Do yourself a favor and use whole words. There isn't a landlord out there who is going to say "sheesh, they weren't cool enough to abbreviate?" but there are plenty who will ask themselves "If you don't have time to finish typing 'apartment' are you going to find time to sort your recycling so I don't get fined?" If you can't find all ten errors in your posting above, enlist a friend to help you with proofreading.

This isn't meant as a personal attack, I'm just saying that you want to put your best face forward.

Then read the classifieds and follow up with people directly with a clear email asking anything that wasn't clear in the listing. Figure out a time when you can come out here to look at places and set up some appointments.

Posted by: amanda at July 9, 2008 6:28 PM in response to Apt search in Brooklyn

You can also write to A.G.'s office, FCC, BBB & so on. When I get really riled I plaster every public service person & group w/ complaints - at the very least it minimizes the possibility of my being held responsible.

Posted by: Arkady at March 31, 2009 3:51 PM in response to Mailing Address Scam?

We get numerous T-Mobile bills (up to 5 per day), different names, all to our address. Names like Lion King, crap like that. T-Mobile doesn't require positive ID or proof of address to open an account. A wonderful policy, particularly if you are a drug dealer, mobster, or terrorist. No way to track you.

Anyway, I tried for a while to get someone at T-Mobile to care, but I gave up. Now I just write return to sender on the envelope and put it back in the mail. And hope the FBI doesn't come to my apartment looking for Mr. Lion King.

Posted by: curiositykilledthecat at March 31, 2009 7:16 PM in response to Mailing Address Scam?

amanda: actually you should be able to issue "cease to exist" statement and they must stop calling. I am not sure about details - but you can find such things on creditboards.com - very good place to follow up with identity theft and credit reports.

Ysabelle: if you get t-mobile bills, you can go to their website, login under account number and wreath the chaos to the account. Order 10 more phones. Cancel service. Change the voice mail message to something inappropriate. Today is the fools day - teach this moron a lesson.

Posted by: bobjohn at April 1, 2009 9:56 AM in response to Mailing Address Scam?

also person with heavy accent, who uses fake address to get cell phone might be up for no good - call DoHS or "you see something - say something" hot line and report him.

Posted by: bobjohn at April 1, 2009 9:59 AM in response to Mailing Address Scam?