In the Media

King 5 News – Heather Graf of King 5 news writes a piece on Seattle homeowners purchasing “air rights” in an effort to preserve their precious views. Richard Hagar, SRA states that these battles for air rights are heating up particularly in the Magnolia and Blue Ridge areas. Read

Blog on the Seattle Post-Intelligencer – Richard published articles relating to real estate on the Seattle PI’s reader blog. Read

Real Estate Information on NPR and Seattle’s KUOW – Quarterly, Richard Hagar spends an hour with KUOW’s “Weekday” with Steve Scher. The show answers listener’s questions and provided information concerning foreclosures, short sale frauds, real estate and mortgage fraud, along with general questions about the real estate market – local and national.

KUOW List of Past Shows

Real Estate Information on NPR and Seattle’s KPLU – Richard Hagar and Maynard have show on KPLU/NPR (now KNKX) radio – Street Cents. The show is broadcast several times a day on the first Tuesday and Saturday of each month. The duo offer timely insight into the real estate industry and market.  There are several years of Podcasts available at:
Street Cents

Topics include:

• Home Loans to Get More Scrutiny
• Buying a Recreational Home: Is the Couch Included?
• Key Questions to Ask Before Letting an Appraiser in the Door
• Property Values: Computers Versus the Human Eye
• New Apartments Filling Up While Retail Space Below Sits Empty
• Buying a Historical Landmark
• In Seattle’s hot housing market, expert says ‘buy; don’t rent’
• Money for thin air: Selling your home’s ‘air rights’
• Better to talk more and text less when buying a home
• Foreclosed houses at higher risk of meth contamination
• Are you living on a garbage dump?
• Seattle property values: Catching up with San Francisco?
• High tides and storms risky for waterfront property
• Fewer parking spaces in Seattle apartments likely to drive up prices
• Full disclosure or risk a lawsuit
• Renting out your basement: Extra income or extra hassle?
• Will that remodel add to your home’s resale value?
• Population growth and housing in Seattle: Going up, up, up!
• Houseboats ahoy!
• It’s not an apartment or a condo. It’s a co-op!

Podcasts available at: Street Cents

Hot Real Estate Market Looks Ripe for Ripoffs – Detective Liz Cruthers and the Portland Police Department hook up with Richard Hagar to educate the general public on Real Estate Fraud and how to protect themselves. Read article by: Nick Budnick Portland Tribune – 9-04-07

Mortgage meltdown: The lawsuits – Richard Hagar was one of the background sources for the CNN article regarding the lawsuits that are now being filed against the lending industry. The industry is in a spotlight due to the foreclosure rates and many of the bad lending practices that lead to the problem. Mr. Hagar supplied copies of hundreds of criminal indictments along with civil complaints being filed against individuals, corporations and entire classes of lenders. Read article – 08-21-07

Home appraisers pressured to fudge the numbers – Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports on how appraisers are pressured to inflate numbers and overlook problems. Richard, quoted extensively throughout the article, discusses when and how appraisers are pressured to push up values of homes. Read article – 07-31-07

Lawsuits targeting mortgage schemes – The Arizona Republic ran an article on the number of lawsuits on the rise in the State of Arizona. “ Big lenders and Wall Street investors are going after Arizona mortgage brokers, appraisers, real estate agents, title firms and home buyers for fraud.” Richard warned Arizona that a wave of lawsuits and criminal indictments targeting lenders would be forthcoming. Read Article – 03-04-07

Real estate industry steps into mortgage-fraud fight, Arizona Republic – The Arizona Department of Financial Institutions brought in national mortgage and real estate fraud expert Richard Hagar to speak to Valley appraisers, escrow agents and mortgage brokers in January and then again in April .   Read article – 03-11-07

AZ moves to regulate mortgage lenders – Richard discussed and comments on the need for licensing mortgage brokers and loan originators in all states. Tuscon Citizen – 2-13-07

Real estate industry steps into mortgage-fraud fight. The Valley’s real estate industry is lending regulators a hand in cracking down on mortgage fraud. Several real estate, escrow and mortgage firms are working not only to educate their own employees but those at other firms on how to detect fraud and what deals to pass on. The Arizona Republic – March 11, 2007

First Citizen Bank’s online newsletter. Expert says fraud violations may be done unwittingly Appraisers, real estate agents and loan officers are committing crimes here and may not even know it, according to a real estate fraud expert. Read story here.

Fox News Chanel 11 in Arizona (On-line and Live news cast) and Associated Press
PHOENIX (AP) — Arizona regulators are cracking down on escrow officers for skimming hundreds of thousands of dollars off home sales as part of a wave of mortgage fraud that has hit the state.

Regulators are concerned that more escrow officers are stealing from their employers and homeowners and that others may be tied to mortgage fraud, a category of white-collar crime that has exploded across the country.

• FOX11AZ.com
• KVOA Tucson

McClatchy Newspapers a world wide syndication ran an article on people in foreclosure can be scammed by people offering a “rescue” or purchase of their home. Richard Hagar was mentioned as a source for the stories that ran in various newspapers across the nation.

• Olympia Washington
• Tacoma News Tribune

MSNBC ran a front page article: “Mortgage woes could be ‘tip of the iceberg”. It was a story on how abusive lending practices and appraiser pressure have crushed the dreams for millions of home owners. Richard Hagar SRA was one of the primary sources of information and research for John Schoen, Senior Producer for MSNBC. You can view the article in one of the various web sites or newspapers here:

• MSNBC

Lawsuits target mortgage scams and brokers who arranged loans. Richard was quoted in the following article on March 4th:

• Arizona Republic
• Mortgage Foundation

Foreclosure “Rescues” are not all they seem. As Foreclosures rise, scam artists flourish.
This news article used Richard as a source for explaining the problem and how large it will grow. The article ran in several newspapers around the nation.

• McClatchy – Washington Bureau
• Charlotte Observer
• Financial Stuffs Web Site

Wall Street Journal – The Wall Street Journal did an article on how accurate, or inaccurate the various web sites are at determining real estate values. The article compared various web sites including Zillow against several different types of appraisals. American Home Appraisals performed three levels of appraisal; Desktop, Drive-By; Interior Inspection. Each of the appraisal methods utilizes different levels of information and facts about a property. We started with the same information that the online systems had then did a second appraisal based on an actual inspection of the property. The more information we had on the subject property, the lower the value conclusion. The online systems, didn’t have all of the information necessary to produce a good value conclusion.

Article was run in the Wall Street Journal, Seattle P-I, Pittsburg Post-Gazett, and several other newspapers.

Seattle PI View article here.

Pittsburg View article here.

King County Journal / Mercer Island Reporter – With the help of Richard Hagar, these newspapers did a comparison of the various online valuation services (Zillow, Realestateabc, and HouseValues), to see which were more accurate. Several gave value to a home that had burned down eight months prior; land value to a million dollar home. Online sites use a system called Automated Valuation Modeling (AVM’s). This is an algorithm that allows a computer to estimate the value of the home, based on county tax assessors information. Not exactly the best way to go about valuing a home….. but at least it’s entertaining. View article here. 

The Seattle PI – Discussion concerning the accuracy of online valuation web sites verses an inspection of a property by a professional appraiser. View article here.

Appraisal News Online – “The battle between appraisers, and everybody else.” Discussion about the accuracy of online valuation methods. Lender pressure on appraisers and fraud. View discussion here.

Realtor Forum and Real Estate Press – Discussion about the accuracy of online valuation methods. Real Estate Press | View Real Estate Forum discussion thread here.

Bend Bulletin – “Fraud Expert Educates Local Housing Group.” Appraisers puffing up market values to accommodate oversized loans. Mortgage brokers lying on applications to grease the wheels for their clients. Realtors boosting sales contracts above the market price to extract cash from lenders for fees and commissions. Loan fraud, big and small, accounted for 40 percent of all losses in the nation’s lending industry last year, a Seattle home appraiser told Central Oregon real estate agents, appraisers and mortgage brokers Wednesday. View article here.

Mortgage Fraud Blog – Attorney Rachel Dollar handles fraud recovery for lenders. She speaks nationwide on mortgage fraud. Ms. Dollar is licensed to practice law in California and maintains offices in Santa Rosa, she also runs the web site Mortgage Fraud Blog, a clearing house for fraud information. The web site has used several quotes from Richard Hagar SRA. Visit Mortgage Fraud Blog.

KQBZ The Buzz, FM 100.7 – “The Robin and Maynard Show, talk radio for guys” Richard Hagar was asked to be a one time guest on Seattle’s top rated talk show and discuss real estate values in the Seattle area. The plan was for a 20 minute segment, however between the trio having a good time combined with the overwhelming number of phone calls, Robin and Maynard extended the segment to over one hour. Live and unrehearsed. (5-12-2005) KQBZ Radio, a station owned by Entercom. | Listen to a one hour segment (5-12-2005).

KGMI AM 790 – “Radio Real Estate” Talk show host and real estate agent Mike Kent has had Mr. Hagar on the radio several times talking about appraising high value homes and real estate fraud. Mr. Kent is one of the champions fighting real estate and mortgage fraud…. plus he’s a great real estate agent.  www.MikeKent.com

KQBZ The Buzz, FM 100.7 – “Robin and Maynard Show, talk radio for guys” The real estate segment with Richard Hagar was so popular that he was asked to appear several times. His hour long time slots were a popular component during which callers could call in and ask a “Real Estate Insider” questions about real estate. Questions ranged from property values, value of view verses waterfront, growth in different areas of the state right down to what would be a good real estate investment. (10-31-2005) KQBZ Radio, a station owned by Entercom. 

KTOK AM 1000 – “Well Preserved” Eunice Khoury’s goal is to help you preserve your health, wealth and freedom to live life your way! Richard was a guest speaker talking about “Mortgage Elimination Scams” Eunice was aware of an individual that was becoming a victim of a Mortgage Elimination Scam and asked Richard to be a guest on her weekly radio show in an attempt to help the homeowner from becoming a victim of this terrible scam. The syndicated radio show is on the air throughout the SE corner of The United States. (10-15-2005) www.wellpreserved.info | The Show| Listen to the one hour segment.

FraudBloger.com – This web site is devoted to stamping out mortgage fraud and Richard Hagar’s classes and opinions are quoted here. Visit Fraud Blogger.

MKG Appraisals – A web site with links and information concerning real estate and mortgage fraud.  View resources here.

Seattle Times – A federal jury yesterday awarded $125,500 in damages to a former Issaquah couple whose home was flooded when a faulty Price Pfister faucet “turned itself on” and sent more than 17,000 gallons of water cascading from a second-floor bathroom. Richard Hagar SRA was the real estate appraiser hired by the insurance company to report on the true “market value” of the home. His value statement was the basis for determining the value of the home and potential loss. Read article here.

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