A few points of clarification:The legislation does not allow a deduction for pre-paying 2018 property taxes in 2017.The conference agreement also provides that, in the case of an amount paid in a taxable year beginning before January 1, 2018, with respect to a State or local income tax imposed for a taxable year beginning after December 31, 2017, the payment shall be treated as paid on the last day of the taxable year for which such tax is so imposed for purposes of applying the provision limiting the dollar amount of the deduction.

I guess I don't see the point of the legislation.

People who need to have honesty legislated before they practice it are never a good bet.

Attempts to legislate morality are commonplace on the right now.I don't have a problem with the agenda of SOME of the "Tea Party" folks.

Tom,Do you think think it is the legislated spending increases lately that will cause hyperinflation here or other factors such as legislated extension of credit that's been predetermined to be insolvent?

The checks and balances of our three branches of Government protect our constitutional rights, although it can seem like legislative laws with huge government spending ,enacted during bad times, erode our rights and privileges; but, we can always elect new leaders and go another direction, hence the wisdom of our founding fathers.

It's given me a life and lifestyle that I never thought I could achieve when I was in the corporate world and I'm certain that I have greater wealth than the people that ran the company that I used to be employed by.What's different about the paper business today is that, in addition to understanding title and the collateral, serving and collection practices are much more of an issue, particularly in states where legislation has been enacted to advocate for the slow or non-paying borrower.This doesn't mean you can't service your own loans, however in addition to the title and collateral aspects, there's a learning curve that may not be be worth the trouble to a novice note investor.Despite owning several large note portfolios myself, I decided a while ago that I'd only invest in non-performing bank paper as a partner.

There is probably a niche market there (and maybe a lucrative one for the right person and situation) but I quit doing seasonals in my area early in my landlording career.In my area, 3-4 month rentals are in demand in some time frames during the year (summer tourism, legislative session e.g.), but having done a few short term rentals early on, it just did not pencil out well for me. 

Utility liens and such may survive, depending on local legislation.

BP Folks, have you seen this potential new legislation in the works for California?