The Form File Is the Hazard: Wraps, Subject-To, and Seller Financing Under Post-2014 Rules

Rick Guerra, Managing Attorney | Guerra Days Law Group

Rick Guerra represents real estate brokers, agents, mortgage brokers, investors, and homeowners in matters ranging from owner-financing transactions to million-dollar property disputes and litigation. Over the past decade, he has handled everything from complex real estate litigation to property transfers, prevailing twice before the Texas First Court of Appeals on behalf of homeowners in wrongful foreclosure and fraudulent robo-signing cases. He is the Managing Attorney of Guerra Days Law Group and Of Counsel to the Giron Kirby Law Group in Houston.

• Education & Credentials

Mr. Guerra earned his J.D. from South Texas College of Law and his B.A. from the University of Houston, following an education in computer information systems, accounting, business, and law. He is admitted to the State Bar of Texas and to the United States District Courts for the Southern and Western Districts of Texas, and he is pursuing a CPA license. He practices in English and Spanish.

• Recognition & Leadership

As Managing Attorney of Guerra Days Law Group, Mr. Guerra is responsible for meeting both the firm’s goals and its clients’ needs, and he manages the firm by one measure: what he would expect from his own attorney if he were the client. His two appellate victories at the Texas First Court of Appeals, in a fraudulent robo-signing matter and a wrongful foreclosure matter arising from a loan modification, anchor his foreclosure work.

• Professional Involvement

Mr. Guerra’s Of Counsel association with the Giron Kirby Law Group allows that firm to coordinate comprehensive legal services for its clients in real estate, business, and litigation. Through Guerra Days Law Group he serves clients from offices in Houston, San Antonio, and Edinburg.

• Experience

Mr. Guerra’s real estate practice centers on the transactions and disputes that surround owner financing: structuring and documenting owner-financed sales, litigating property disputes, and defending homeowners against foreclosure, including the robo-signing and loan-modification appeals he won at the Texas First Court of Appeals. His practice areas at Guerra Days Law Group span real estate law, probate, construction law, family law, and commercial law. On the business side, Mr. Guerra draws on his accounting background and his experience as a business owner to advise on entity formation, taxation, dissolution, and litigation, in business-owner disputes and dissolutions ranging from thousands of dollars to multi-year, million-dollar matters.

SESSION 1 – Structuring Residential Seller Financing Inside the Dodd-Frank Exemptions | 12:00pm – 1:00pm

This session covers the two-tier seller-financing exemption structure under 12 CFR § 1026.36 the one-property and three-property paths and the structuring decisions, documentation requirements, and common drafting errors that determine whether a transaction qualifies. Attorneys gain working knowledge of how the SAFE Act licensing exemption differs from the Reg Z loan originator exemption, how the CFPB’s August 2024 contract-for-deed advisory opinion affects existing deal structures, and how reduced federal enforcement affects but does not eliminate client exposure under TILA’s private right of action. The session addresses the practical compliance demands facing attorneys who represent sellers, investors, or buyers in owner-financed residential transactions under current post-2014 rules.

BREAK | 1:00pm – 1:10pm

SESSION 2 – Subject-To and Wraparound Deals: Due-on-Sale Counseling and Exit Design | 1:10pm – 2:10pm

This session examines the legal mechanics, risk profile, and documentation requirements of subject-to and wraparound mortgage transactions, with particular focus on due-on-sale clause exposure under the Garn-St. Germain Act and state-level regulatory frameworks. Attorneys will learn how to counsel clients on acceleration risk, structure compliant wrap arrangements, and build enforceable exit pathways into every deal at origination. Attendees leave with a working knowledge of the disclosure obligations, insurance hazards, licensing thresholds, and common documentation failures that define this practice area.