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US News has ranked the following schools in the list of Top Ten Best Law Schools for 2010. There are various things to take into consideration when choosing where to invest your future, and the quantitative and qualitative scores provided through these rankings can be very beneficial throughout your decision making process. Since there are a few ties in the list, the 12 schools have been broken into chunks of three, with a little tidbit about each.

1) Yale: New Haven, CT
2) Harvard: Cambridge, MA
3) Stanford: Stanford, CA

These top three powerhouses have been widely regarded as the best law schools in the nation for decades. All three are private, with gorgeous campuses, and dominating undergraduate football programs. They are each somewhat off the beaten path, allowing each student to breathe in scholarly air every moment.

4) Columbia: New York, NY
5) New York University: New York, NY
6) UC Berkeley: Berkeley, CA

For those of you who are looking for a city vibe surrounding an island of knowledge, one of these schools is best for you. While Manhattan is, quite literally, an island, the communities of Columbia and NYU Law are very close-knit. The staff is extremely involved in the students. Students do feel like they are on an island as there are certain buildings at NYU that have 24-hour security in the heart of the Big Apple. Berkeley Law has a New England feel to it, without such harsh winters and muggy summers.

6) University of Chicago: Chicago, IL
7) U Penn: Philadelphia, PA
University of Michigan at Ann Arbor: Ann Arbor, MI

Bigger does not always mean better. These large schools are ranked high based on their sheer volume of students, but it can be easy to fall through the cracks. Whenever considering a big school, be sure to get in contact with an advisor or counselor as soon as possible to ensure your own success.

9) Duke University: Durham, NC
10) Northwestern University: Chicago, IL
11) University of Virginia: Charlottesville, VA

For more of an experience, and less of a headache, these three schools tied for tenth place are in communities that do not revolve around the schools as much as most of the others. Charlottesville and Durham are small southern cities with quaint city charm and plenty of welcome distractions for the soon to be lawyers.

Each of the schools in the top ten is a highly regarded law school and will help you learn legal document review, supreme court case histories, and loopholes of various types of law.

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Online Law Schools Related Posts

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Tagged as: 2010S, Schools

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By Eva Rosenberg, MarketWatch

LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) -- While TaxMama is being deluged with calls and emails from taxpayers wondering where their refund went, the IRS has been busy processing over 1.8 million claims for home-buyer tax credits, according to IRS data through February.

About $12.6 billion has been pumped back into the economy as taxpayer refunds, said Bruce Friedland, an IRS spokesman.

Tax breaks you don't want to miss
Don't overlook valuable deductions and credits that may lower your tax bill. You can even deduct Haiti donations and the sales tax on a new car. Andrea Coombes reports.
• MarketWatch 2010 Taxes Guide
More tax advice, IRS news and filing help
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• Higher tax rates will cost you in 2011
• The tax benefits of refinancing your mortgage
• Can you deduct online-gambling losses?
• Unemployed? Here are 4 costly tax-filing errors
• Defaulted loans? Cancelled debt? A Tax Guide
• Itemizing vs. the standard deduction
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• Overpaid taxes? How to get your money back
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• Need free tax help? Here it is
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• Avoid identity theft -- file your tax return smartly

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Let's get this processing volume into perspective. IRS started processing claims for the first-time home-buyer credit when taxpayers started filing their 2008 tax returns in early 2009. That means IRS employees have processed about 150,000 claims per month.

It's a monumental task. Since discovering millions of dollars of fraudulent claims, the IRS has been reviewing a substantial portion of the claims instead of letting the computer process and pay.

That's where the delays start.

Steve B. said he feels he's being lied to about his tax-credit claim. He filed for his home- buyer credit in January, certain that everything the IRS requested was attached. It's now been over four months and IRS simply tells him "it is in the errors department" and they have no further information. Steve has tried calling the IRS "a million times," he said. He's even tried the Taxpayers Advocate Service, but they tell him they don't deal with this issue.

Steve isn't alone. Delays seem to run 25 weeks and more. When asked about the current expected processing time for the Form 5405 for claiming the tax credit, Friedland is as unable to get a definitive answer as any other taxpayer.

Rumors take root

When there are problems, rumors start. Steve B. said he heard thousands of these returns have been outsourced to third-party handlers to process the claims. The IRS's Friedland said no one outside the IRS is processing your tax returns. Relax.

There are rumors that the IRS is rejecting claims from people who have ITINs, the Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers issued to aliens who do not qualify for real Social Security numbers. This rumor happens to be true. There's no credit for non-resident aliens.

Here's an excerpt from the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008: "No credit under subsection (a) shall be allowed to any taxpayer for any taxable year with respect to the purchase of a residence if (3) the taxpayer is a nonresident alien."

The question is, are you automatically a non-resident alien because you have an ITIN? This is the kind of question stirring up strong emotions in Arizona and across the country these days, isn't it?

Without getting political, let's look at the law. There's a good possibility that many of these ITIN holders getting rejected should ask to have their claims re-examined. They may be resident aliens. The Recovery Act did not exclude resident aliens from the credit. The law was specific about nonresident aliens.

What is a resident alien? According to the IRS, you are considered a resident alien if you met one of the following two tests for the calendar year.

One, you have a green card. Two, you meet the "substantial presence test" -- meaning you have been physically present in the U.S. on at least 31 days during the current year, and 183 days during the three-year period that includes the current year and the two years immediately before. See Tax Topic 851 on the IRS site.

If you can prove that you have been living in this country all that time, and in all other ways you qualify, you should be entitled to the home-buyer tax credits.

Have unit number? Hit the road

Did you get a rejection because your new home has an apartment number? How odd is that? How many ways can you live in an owned residence in this country with a unit number? Let me count the ways:

• Condominiums

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Emerging Fraud Trends: Short Payoff Fraud

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Given increased defaults and declining property values in certain locations, the mortgage industry is experiencing an increase in short payoffs, sometimes called short sales. In fact, over the last two years, short payoff volume at Freddie Mac has grown more than 1,000 percent (2007-2009). This upward trend in volume leaves the market ripe for incidences of short payoff fraud.

What is a short payoff?

A short payoff occurs when a borrower cannot pay the mortgage on his or her property and is permitted to sell the property for less than the total amount due, at a loss to the lender, investor and/or insurer. All parties consent to the mortgage being paid "short," primarily because the property does not need to go through foreclosure. Please note that many legitimate short payoffs take place in the real estate market.

What is short payoff fraud?

According to a member of Freddie Mac's Fraud Investigation Unit, a slight variation of our general definition of mortgage fraud also defines short payoff fraud – "Any misrepresentation or deliberate omission of fact that would induce the lender, investor or insurer to agree to the terms of a short payoff that it would not approve had all facts been known." Misrepresentations in these schemes may include the buyer of the short payoff property, a subsequent transaction at a higher price, and/or the selling borrower’s hardship reason used to qualify for the short payoff. In many instances, the short payoff fraud will involve a "facilitator," engaged by either the listing agent or the selling borrower, to assist with negotiating the transaction.

How is short payoff fraud committed?

There are many variations of short payoff fraud. The example below is just one way this type of mortgage fraud can occur.

• A seller (delinquent borrower) owes $100,000 on a property that is worth $80,000.
• The short payoff facilitator negotiates with the bank to accept a $70,000 offer to purchase the property. In several instances, Freddie Mac has seen that this offer will be made directly by the facilitator or through an entity under his/her control.
• The lender/investor accepts the offer for $70,000.
• The facilitator neglects to disclose to the lender/investor that there is an outstanding offer between the facilitator and a second end-buyer for $95,000.
• Both transactions close on the same day with the net difference being pocketed by the facilitator and increasing the lender/investor’s net losses.

At first glance, this may look like a legitimate short payoff. However, in this example, the fraud is the failure to disclose the second, higher offer. The facilitator is willfully withholding important information the same way a scam artist would, and the lender does not realize they are walking into a premeditated short payoff fraud scheme. Because the facilitator is deliberately withholding the higher offer, Freddie Mac also experiences a larger than necessary loss on this sale.

Short Payoff Fraud Prevention Red Flags

Remain alert to the following flags, which may suggest short payoff fraud:

• Sudden borrower default, with no prior delinquency history, and the borrower cannot adequately explain the sudden default.
• The borrower is current on all other obligations.
• The borrower’s financial information indicates conflicting spending, saving, and credit patterns that do not fit a delinquency profile.
• The buyer of the property is an entity.
• The purchase contract has an option clause to resell the property.

Short Payoff Fraud Prevention

The following protective measures are recommended in order to detect and mitigate the severity of short payoff fraud:

• Review all short payoff documentation carefully, including the sale contract. This helps determine if there is an option clause to resell the property at a higher price without notifying the lender.
• Draft a short payoff arm’s-length affidavit/disclosure notice for all parties involved in the short payoff to help avoid any hidden contracts, or side agreements. The parties involved should be, but are not limited to: the buyer, seller, listing agent, selling agent, short payoff negotiator(s)/facilitator(s), and closing agent.
• Solicit information from your borrower.
• Inquire if the borrower is aware of any other parties involved with the short payoff other than real estate professionals.
• Is there a short payoff negotiator/facilitator involved?
• Is the borrower aware of any other purchase contracts on the property?
• Require an executed and signed IRS Form 4506-T, Request for Transcript of Tax Return,from each borrower and process the form to determine if the borrower’s qualifying income is accurate.
• Order an interior Broker Price Opinion (BPO) and review all other BPOs that have been ordered on the property (drive-bys and full interiors) to establish a high/low value variance. The BPOs should include a past and present Multiple Listing Service (MLS) listing history, as this will determine if the property was relisted in MLS while the short payoff is being processed.
• Review the Freddie Mac Exclusionary List to see if the parties to the short payoff are on the list. Seller/Servicers can access the Exclusionary List via the selling system, MIDANET®, MultiSuite®, and Loan Prospector®.
• Immediately notify Freddie Mac if you are aware of a second purchase contract for a higher price.

Important Freddie Mac fraud prevention resources

Leverage the following resources for more information on dealing with fraud:

• Freddie Mac Fraud Hotline: 800 4 FRAUD 8  
• Mortgage Fraud Prevention Web Page
• Quality Control Resources and Fraud Prevention Web Page

 

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