Florida Real Estate

Licensing Portal - Homepage Quick Topics Right Here. Right Now! DBPR Home Page Using This Site Activate My Account FAQs Technical Info Privacy & Security Term Glossary Site Map Contact Us Email Telephone Mail More information for... - Select - AB&T Boxing Commission Certified Public Accounting Hotels and Restaurants Land Sales, Condominiums, and Mobile Homes Pari-Mutuel Wagering Professions Real Estate Service Operations Unlicensed Activity Renew a License Change License Status Maintain Account Change My Address Make a Payment -- View Messages My Continuing Education Search for a License, Permit, or Registration Search for Inspections File a Complaint Search Unlicensed Construction Complaints Search All Other Unlicensed Complaints AB&T Delinquent Invoice and Activity List View License Requirements -- Apply for a License View Application Status Apply to Retake Exam Find Exam Information Find a Continuing Education Course Request Public Information View CE Requirements File a Complaint [Coming Soon] -- Hot Topics DBPR Extends License Renewal for Hurricane-Impacted Cosmetologists Access to State of Florida Procurement Opportunities and Information If you are interested in learning about conducting business with the State of Florida, you may visit: www.myflorida.com/portal/Business Businesses interested in learning about vendor diversity programs and opportunities may contact the Office of Supplier Diversity, Department of Management Services, at 850.487.0915, or may visit: http://www.osd.dms.state.fl.us/ Architecture & Interior Design Continuing Education Information The 2005 Architecture and Interior Design renewal cycle ended February 28. View more information about continuing education requirements, provider course reporting and online CE history. Professional Engineers Renewal 2005-2007 / Online Payment Renewal notices for professional engineers and certificate of authorizations were mailed in early December 2004. View instructions and license renewal requirements for professional engineers. CAMs Continuing Education Rule Change Continuing Education Deficiency Letters DBPR's Online Services provide online access 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to the public and to nearly one million licensees. For the first time in the history of state government, users can apply for and maintain their licenses, search license records, find exam information and file complaints in just one site. Under the leadership of Governor Jeb Bush, DBPR is changing the way you interact with state government. As we work towards revolutionizing state government, we welcome your input on any features that would be of value to you at communications@dbpr.state.fl.us. Para asistencia en Español, por favor llame a nuestro Centro Para Servicio Al Publico al 850-487-1395.

Texas Land Trusts About

About Texas Land Trusts Maincontent Local Navigation print friendly search Regulations Publications Outdoor Learning Kids Game Warden Grants Get Involved Shop FAQ Calendar Español Experience Texas Fishing & Boating State Parks & Destinations Hunting & Wildlife Land & Water Doing Business Home Land & Water Land Private Tltc Trusts Texas Land Trusts About Texas Land Trusts Starting a Land Trust Texas Land Trust Directory Foreword Listing Regional Index About the Texas Land Trust Council ( TLTC ) TLTC Board of Directors and Honorary Council News 2004 TLTC Conference Speech Bulletin Board TLTC Publications Land Trust Resources Texas Land Trusts Top 1-Million Mark in Acres Conserved Texas has thirty-nine (39) not-for-profit land trust organizations operating at a statewide, regional or local level in the state. Land trusts are a creative answer to today's land conservation challenges. Land trusts provide local solutions to local needs: that might be the protection of a watershed, an archeological treasure, a prairie, farm and ranch land, or a portion of a larger ecosystem. 2003 Protected Land Inventory Summary Conservation Method Sites Acres Fee Simple Ownership 191 269,179 Conservation Easement 142 281,080 Transferred N/A 322,361 Other* N/A 435,061 Total N/A 1,307,681 * Includes conservation leases, management agreements, will donations, etc. Land trusts offer various conservation approaches - many of the organizations willingly hold conservation easements or provide technical assistance to landowners; they may buy or accept donated lands; many provide local conservation education and planning assistance. Land trusts in Texas help protect more than 1,300,000 acres in 86 counties. To learn more about Texas Land Trusts, view the Texas Land Trust Directory . Information: Did you know... Land trusts conserve 499 sites throughout the state? Contact Us | Help | Accessibility | Media | Site Policies | Complaints | Intranet | State of Texas | TRAILS Search | TexasOnline | Compact with Texans Texas Parks and Wildlife Department , 4200 Smith School Road, Austin, TX 78744 Toll Free: (800) 792-1112, Austin: (512) 389-4800 Content of this site © Texas Parks and Wildlife Department unless otherwise noted. Last modified: July 29, 2005, 3:50 pm

Property Search DIY &

Property search from Channel4.com/4Homes E4 More4 FilmFour FourDocs TV Listings Site A-Z NEWS FILM HOMES LIFE ENTERTAINMENT HISTORY SCIENCE COMMUNITY SHOP SPORT CULTURE CARS MONEY VIDEO LEARNING HEALTH MUSIC GAMES Home Welcome News On TV Grand Designs Grand Designs Abroad Previous Houses Features Information Streets Ahead Property Ladder Location, Location Relocation, Relocation Home from Home City Gardener Selling Houses Room for Improvement Up Your Street Making Space A Place In The Sun The Great Garden Challenge Home or Away A Place in France A Place in Greece A Place in Greece House Auction More Programmes Presenters TV Listings Buying & Selling Where to Buy How to Buy How to Sell Special Cases House Price Index Renting Property Search DIY & Building Guides Building a House Ask the Expert Style Design Guides Features Living Rooms -- Bedrooms -- Kids Rooms -- Storage solutions -- Dining Rooms -- Home Office -- Hall -- Outdoor Living -- Period Styles -- Buying Abroad Country Guides Features Property of the Week Chat, Vote & Win Vote Win Forum -- Newsletter Forum Profit from Property Buy to Let Property Development Money Deals SEARCH All 4Homes: On TV Buying & Selling Renting Property Search DIY & Building Style Buying Abroad Chat, Vote, Win Profit from Property PROPERTY SEARCH Property Search Search our database of over 150,000 properties currently for sale. Sell Your House Online Advertise your home to a huge audience by submitting it to the 4Homes property search Guides Buying At Auction A great opportunity to pick up a bargain but definitely not for the uninitiated Buying & Selling Everything you need to know when it comes buying or selling property How to Buy Not sure what freehold and leasehold mean? Let us help. How to Sell Smartening up your home for a faster sale. Finding The Right Property Finding the right property can be a long and tiring process, especially with so much choice on the market. Finding The Right Area Finding the right area to live in is invariably trickier than finding the right house UK PROPERTY SEARCH Over 150,000 homes Type a location: Price range: Min Price £0 £50,000 £75,000 £100,000 £125,000 £150,000 £175,000 £200,000 £225,000 £250,000 £275,000 £300,000 £325,000 £350,000 £375,000 £400,000 £425,000 £450,000 £475,000 £500,000 £550,000 £600,000 £650,000 £700,000 £750,000 £800,000 £850,000 £900,000 £950,000 £1,000,000 Max Price £50,000 £75,000 £100,000 £125,000 £150,000 £175,000 £200,000 £225,000 £250,000 £275,000 £300,000 £325,000 £350,000 £375,000 £400,000 £425,000 £450,000 £475,000 £500,000 £550,000 £600,000 £650,000 £700,000 £750,000 £800,000 £850,000 £900,000 £950,000 £1,000,000 £10,000,000 Min bedrooms: Min Beds 1 2 3 4 5 6 New homes only 4HOMES MAIL Enter your email to sign up to the 4Homes newsletter CROSS PROMO 1 Property search poll text text text text text text CROSS PROMO 2 Property book text text text text CROSS PROMO 3 Property link text text text text About C4 | Jobs | Text Only | Access Advice | Contact Us | Terms and Conditions | Privacy | Help | Online Ad Sales

Home Equity & Mortgages

Bank One - online banking, home equity & mortgage loans, checking accounts, loan calculators Log In | Find Us | Calculators | Help | Contact Us | Privacy December 29, 2005 About Us Careers Investor Relations Research & Education Log In Login Help Bank One Online CardMemberServices JPMorgan Funds CollegeChoice 529 Bank One Mortgage User ID: Forgot User ID? Password: Forgot Password? User IDs and Passwords are case-sensitive Security at Login Your login is secured using Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) technology. Learn More Enroll Our site is easy to use and gives you FREE access to your accounts. See for yourself. View a Demo . ¡Ahora! Bank One con información en español Personal Personal Checking Debit Cards Home Equity & Mortgages Credit Cards Loans Savings Investments Insurance Certificates of Deposit Online Services Bank One Real Estate Taxes Private Client Services Private Banking Investment Services Specialty Assets Insurance Trust Services Philanthropic Solutions Financial Planning Online Services Business Business Business Complete Business Services Cash Management Certificates of Deposit Checking Credit Cards Workplace Financial Services Insurance Investments Lines, Loans & Leases Savings Commercial Capital Markets Domestic Locations Global Services Industries Investment Services Loans & Leases Treasury Management Affiliated Services Group Banking Real Estate Appraisal Securities Safekeeping Special Offers In The News - U.S. Armed Forces Overseas - Protect Yourself from Identity Theft. Learn More. News Update What could be more convenient than investing where you bank? Find out about our investment services . Market information provided by Pinnacor. Equal Housing Lender Member FDIC Terms of Use | Security © 2005 JPMorgan Chase & Co.

home equity. Why? Certain

Home Equity Scams: Borrowers Beware! Home Equity Loans : Borrowers Beware! D o you own your home? If so, it's likely to be your greatest single asset. Unfortunately, if you agree to a loan that's based on the equity you have in your home, you may be putting your most valuable asset at risk. Homeowners-particularly elderly, minority and those with low incomes or poor credit-should be careful when borrowing money based on their home equity. Why? Certain abusive or exploitative lenders target these borrowers, who unwittingly may be putting their home on the line. Abusive lending practices range from equity stripping and loan flipping to hiding loan terms and packing a loan with extra charges. The Federal Trade Commission urges you to be aware of these loan practices to avoid losing your home. The Practices Equity Stripping You need money. You don't have much income coming in each month. You have built up equity in your home. A lender tells you that you could get a loan, even though you know your income is just not enough to keep up with the monthly payments. The lender encourages you to "pad" your income on your application form to help get the loan approved. This lender may be out to steal the equity you have built up in your home. The lender doesn't care if you can't keep up with the monthly payments. As soon as you don't, the lender will foreclose-taking your home and stripping you of the equity you have spent years building. If you take out a loan but don't have enough income to make the monthly payments, you are being set up. You probably will lose your home. Hidden Loan Terms: The Balloon Payment You've fallen behind in your mortgage payments and may face foreclosure. Another lender offers to save you from foreclosure by refinancing your mortgage and lowering your monthly payments. Look carefully at the loan terms. The payments may be lower because the lender is offering a loan on which you repay only the interest each month. At the end of the loan term, the principal-that is, the entire amount that you borrowed-is due in one lump sum called a balloon payment. If you can't make the balloon payment or refinance, you face foreclosure and the loss of your home. Loan Flipping Suppose you've had your mortgage for years. The interest rate is low and the monthly payments fit nicely into your budget, but you could use some extra money. A lender calls to talk about refinancing, and using the availability of extra cash as bait, claims it's time the equity in your home started "working" for you. You agree to refinance your loan. After you've made a few payments on the loan, the lender calls to offer you a bigger loan for, say, a vacation. If you accept the offer, the lender refinances your original loan and then lends you additional money. In this practice-often called "flipping"-the lender charges you high points and fees each time you refinance, and may increase your interest rate as well. If the loan has a prepayment penalty, you will have to pay that penalty each time you take out a new loan. You now have some extra money and a lot more debt, stretched out over a longer time. The extra cash you receive may be less than the additional costs and fees you were charged for the refinancing. And what's worse, you are now paying interest on those extra fees charged in each refinancing. Long story short? With each refinancing, you've increased your debt and probably are paying a very high price for some extra cash. After a while, if you get in over your head and can't pay, you could lose your home. The "Home Improvement" Loan A contractor calls or knocks on your door and offers to install a new roof or remodel your kitchen at a price that sounds reasonable. You tell him you're interested, but can't afford it. He tells you it's no problem-he can arrange financing through a lender he knows. You agree to the project, and the contractor begins work. At some point after the contractor begins, you are asked to sign a lot of papers. The papers may be blank or the lender may rush you to sign before you have time to read what you've been given. The contractor threatens to leave the work on your house unfinished if you don't sign. You sign the papers. Only later, you realize that the papers you signed are a home equity loan. The interest rate, points and fees seem very high. To make matters worse, the work on your home isn't done right or hasn't been completed, and the contractor, who may have been paid by the lender, has little interest in completing the work to your satisfaction. Credit Insurance Packing You've just agreed to a mortgage on terms you think you can afford. At closing, the lender gives you papers to sign that include charges for credit insurance or other "benefits" that you did not ask for and do not want. The lender hopes you don't notice this, and that you just sign the loan papers where you are asked to sign. The lender doesn't explain exactly how much extra money this will cost you each month on your loan. If you do notice, you're afraid that if you ask questions or object, you might not get the loan. The lender may tell you that this insurance comes with the loan, making you think that it comes at no additional cost. Or, if you object, the lender may even tell you that if you want the loan without the insurance, the loan papers will have to be rewritten, that it could take several days, and that the manager may reconsider the loan altogether. If you agree to buy the insurance, you really are paying extra for the loan by buying a product you may not want or need. Mortgage Servicing Abuses After you get a mortgage, you receive a letter from your lender saying that your monthly payments will be higher than you expected. The lender says that your payments include escrow for taxes and insurance even though you arranged to pay those items yourself with the lender's okay. Later, a message from the lender says you are being charged late fees. But you know your payments were on time. Or, you may receive a message saying that you failed to maintain required property insurance and the lender is buying more costly insurance at your expense. Other charges that you don't understand-like legal fees-are added to the amount you owe, increasing your monthly payments or the amount you owe at the end of the loan term. The lender doesn't provide you with an accurate or complete account of these charges. You ask for a payoff statement to refinance with another lender and receive a statement that's inaccurate or incomplete. The lender's actions make it almost impossible to determine how much you've paid or how much you owe. You may pay more than you owe. Signing Over Your Deed If you are having trouble paying your mortgage and the lender has threatened to foreclose and take your home, you may feel desperate. Another "lender" may contact you with an offer to help you find new financing. Before he can help you, he asks you to deed your property to him, claiming that it's a temporary measure to prevent foreclosure. The promised refinancing that would let you save your home never comes through. Once the lender has the deed to your property, he starts to treat it as his own. He may borrow against it (for his benefit, not yours) or even sell it to someone else. Because you don't own the home any more, you won't get any money when the property is sold. The lender will treat you as a tenant and your mortgage payments as rent. If your "rent" payments are late, you can be evicted from your home. Protecting Yourself You can protect yourself against losing your home to inappropriate lending practices. Here's how: Don't: Agree to a home equity loan if you don't have enough income to make the monthly payments. Sign any document you haven't read or any document that has blank spaces to be filled in after you sign. Let anyone pressure you into signing any document. Agree to a loan that includes credit insurance or extra products you don't want. Let the promise of extra cash or lower monthly payments get in the way of your good judgment about whether the cost you will pay for the loan is really worth it. Deed your property to anyone. First consult an attorney, a knowledgeable family member, or someone else you trust. Do: Ask specifically if credit insurance is required as a condition of the loan. If it isn't, and a charge is included in your loan and you don't want the insurance, ask that the charge be removed from the loan documents. If you want the added security of credit insurance, shop around for the best rates. Keep careful records of what you've paid, including billing statements and canceled checks. Challenge any charge you think is inaccurate. Check contractors' references when it is time to have work done in your home. Get more than one estimate. Read all items carefully. If you need an explanation of any terms or conditions, talk to someone you can trust, such as a knowledgeable family member or an attorney. Consider all the costs of financing before you agree to a loan. For More Information The FTC works for the consumer to prevent fraudulent, deceptive and unfair business practices in the marketplace and to provide information to help consumers spot, stop and avoid them. To file a complaint or to get free information on consumer issues , visit www.ftc.gov or call toll-free, 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357); TTY: 1-866-653-4261. The FTC enters Internet, telemarketing, identity theft and other fraud-related complaints into Consumer Sentinel , a secure, online database available to hundreds of civil and criminal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad. FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION FOR THE CONSUMER 1-877-FTC-HELP www.ftc.gov April 1998