Ilyce Glink

How and why credit scores work are a mystery to most people.

Real Estate Matters: Homeowner’s credit score drops after mortgage sold to new servicer

December 28, 2023 at 12:00 p.m.

Q: My mortgage got sold again to a new loan servicing company. And, again my credit score went down. My score went down when they closed my oldest loan. My...

Real Estate Matters: Timeshare owner feels niece, nephew took advantage of their kindness

December 21, 2023 at 6:26 p.m.

Q: My parents purchased a timeshare with a floating week in a nearby town many years ago. One of the nicer aspects of the timeshare was that if your name...

Lenders, or their mortgage servicing companies, are only allowed by law to collect the full amount they need to pay those bills plus a little cushion.

Real Estate Matters: Homeowner’s mortgage company uses escrow balance for final mortgage payment

December 14, 2023 at 10:12 p.m.

Q: Our local paper published your letter from the folks who had to send a certified check for their final mortgage payment after 30 years of monthly payments. We experienced an unexpected...

We should all be worried about how fast cyber crime is growing.

Real Estate Matters: Fidelity National Financial hack highlights why many are increasingly concerned about cybersecurity

December 7, 2023 at 10:29 p.m.

Recently, Fidelity National Financial, a Fortune 500 provider of title insurance for buyers and sellers, was hit by a devastating cyber attack. Fidelity National Financial submitted regulatory documents to the U.S....

It is important to learn all the details and tradeoffs of the plan before dissolving an HOA.

Real Estate Matters: Residents in some areas could benefit from trading HOA costs for an increased tax bill

November 30, 2023 at 9:18 p.m.

Q: We recently read a reply you gave to a question about a homeowners association (HOA) in Maryland that is having trouble getting people to run for the board. We live in...

A tax professional can help with questions regarding the sale of inherited property.

Real Estate Matters: Heir seeks clarity on possible taxes owed for sale of inherited property

November 23, 2023 at 11:46 p.m.

Q: I inherited my mother's home. That part went well, but boy was I uninformed. As I've now learned, and Ilyce's site (ThinkGlink.com ) made this clearer, when one inherits a house:...

Payment is required for the removal and reinstall of solar panels when a new roof is needed.

Real Estate Matters: Seniors on fixed income concerned about cost of solar panels, roof replacement

November 16, 2023 at 7:31 p.m.

Q: Five years ago we contracted with a solar panel company to install a system on our house. We now find out we will need a new roof in about...

The whole purpose of a living trust is to set up an arrangement for the transfer of title to the home upon your death and the death of your spouse.

Real Estate Matters: No need to add child to title with trust in place

November 9, 2023 at 10:38 p.m.

Q: Is there any risk, concern or benefit to simply adding a child to title through a quitclaim deed (not replacing homeowner on title, but adding)? This child is the...

What should be a simple task of recording a document requires knowledge about the system and the backup paperwork you' ll need to get the process completed.

Real Estate Matters: Chicago residents puzzled by process of transferring title of home to living trust

November 2, 2023 at 9:24 p.m.

Q: I wanted to record a quitclaim deed to transfer title of our home into our respective living trusts in order to avoid probate. Our plan was to record this...

A good real estate and estate planning attorneys to help sort out issues with trusts and paperwork.

Real Estate Matters: Mom passes before filing paperwork for trust, children split on selling home

October 26, 2023 at 8:14 p.m.

Q: My boyfriend's mother died two years ago. Back in 2007, she added her kids to the deed to the home and created a life estate for herself. Then, about...

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