Saturday, September 25, 2010
What’s the Next Big Solution for Housing?
Monday, September 20, 2010
REO News Reports on Bill that sets 45-day deadline on lender short sale decisions
Real estate brokers who have long complained about the time it takes to complete a short sale now have two U.S. congressmen in their corner who are sponsoring a bill that would require lenders to respond to consumer short sale requests within 45 days.
Real estate brokers — and homeowners – have long complained about the length of time it takes to get a short sale done....
...“The short sale, which requires lender approval, is an important instrument for homeowners who owe more than their home is worth,” said NAR President Vicki Cox Golder, owner of Vicki L. Cox & Associates in Tucson, Ariz., said in a news release. “While the lending community has worked to improve the size and training of their short sales staffs, they still have a long way to go on improving response times.”
Read the rest of the story here.
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Avoid Foreclosure Rescue Scams
With foreclosure rescue scams widespread as more homeowners fall behind on mortgage payments, be smart if you seek help.
A record high 2.8 million properties were hit with foreclosure notice in 2009, putting even more Americans at risk of facing foreclosure rescue scams. Homeowners who fall behind on mortgage payments need to tread carefully when seeking assistance, since foreclosure rescue scams come in many guises. A day spent researching legitimate options, from a mortgage modification or principal forebearance to a short sale or deed-in-lieu, could keep you from becoming a scam victim.
FORECLOSURE RESCUE SCAMS RUN RAMPANT
Homeowners facing foreclosure are prime targets for scam artists. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission identified 71 companies running suspicious foreclosure rescue ads, and the Better Business Bureau counts foreclosure rescue rip-offs among its top 10 scams. Understanding how these scams work can help you avoid becoming a victim.
The variations are endless, but one popular foreclosure scam involves a representative of a so-called foreclosure rescue company promising to negotiate a deal with your lender. The rep, vowing to take care of everything, will instruct you not to contact your lender, lawyer, or credit counselor during the supposed negotiations. The more brazen ones will even tell you to pay your mortgage directly to them.
Once you pay an upfront fee or hand over a few months' worth of mortgage payments, the scam artist will disappear. You'll be left with an emptier wallet and a mortgage that's in even deeper trouble because no deal was cut and no payments were made on your behalf. According to John Riggins, chief executive of the Fort Worth, Texas, office of the Better Business Bureau, upfront fees can range from $500 to $5,000.
RIP-OFFS COME IN MANY FORMS
A bankruptcy foreclosure scam can involve a promise to fend off foreclosure in exchange for an upfront fee. Instead of getting you legitimate relief, the fraudster will pocket the fee and secretly file a bankruptcy case in your name. The scam may seem to work initially, because a bankruptcy filing will stop foreclosure proceedings temporarily, but they'll resume. Compounding your problems, a bankruptcy can mar your credit report for 10 years.
Another common scam, called the bait-and-switch, results in a scam artist taking ownership of your home. You sign documents supposedly for a new loan that will make your mortgage current. What's really happening is you're signing over the deed of your house. In this scenario you would still owe on your mortgage but no longer own the home.
In a rent-to-own scheme, you're told to surrender a home's deed as part of a deal that lets you stay put as a renter. The scam artist, perhaps claiming to be able to refinance at a better rate with you off the title, promises to sell the house back to you in the future. However, terms of the deal may make it all but impossible for you to repurchase the home, or the scammer may get you evicted by raising the rent beyond your means. Either way, you end up losing the home while remaining on the hook for the unpaid mortgage.
LOOK OUT FOR RED FLAGS
Being aware of the warnings signs can protect you from foreclosure rescue scams. Red flags include:
Demands for high upfront fees.
Guarantees to stop a foreclosure.
Instructions to make mortgage payments to someone other than your lender.
Pressure to sign over a deed.
Legitimate foreclosure counselors won't put on a full-court press, nor will they guarantee that you won't lose your home to foreclosure. What they will do is review your financial situation and offer up options. Foreclosure counselors approved by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development won't charge you a fee either.
LEGITIMATE WAYS TO GET FORECLOSURE HELP
There are a number of legitimate ways to contend with foreclosure. If you've missed mortgage payments, start by getting in touch with your lender. Ask to speak with someone in the Loss Mitigation Department and explain your situation.
Your lender may be able to arrange a repayment plan, called a special forbearance, based on your current economic circumstances. The lender could even give you a temporary reduction in your monthly payment or suspend payments for a period of time.
With a principal forbearance, the lender will reduce the amount of your mortgage, thus reducing your monthly payments. However, the amount of the principal reduction doesn't disappear. Rather, it's tacked on to the end of the loan, effectively creating a balloon payment.
A federally facilitated mortgage modification could also help. The Making Home Affordable modification program pays lenders to re-work loan terms and lower monthly payments. Be prepared to gather lots of paperwork and undergo a trial modification.
If all else fails, you may need to give up your home. If so, look into the federal Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives program. HAFA offers lenders financial incentives to opt for a short sale or deed-in-lieu rather than a foreclosure. In a short sale, a lender agrees for a home to be sold for less than the outstanding mortgage, and then considers the debt paid off. In a deed-in-lieu, a homeowner turns over the home to the lender, and the mortgage is closed.
By: Donna Fuscaldo
Donna Fuscaldo has written about personal finance for Dow Jones, the Wall Street Journal, and Fox Business News for more than a decade. Like many homeowners, her mortgage is precariously close to being underwater.
Reprinted from HouseLogic (houselogic.com) with permission of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS (R). Copyright 2010. All rights reserved.
A record high 2.8 million properties were hit with foreclosure notice in 2009, putting even more Americans at risk of facing foreclosure rescue scams. Homeowners who fall behind on mortgage payments need to tread carefully when seeking assistance, since foreclosure rescue scams come in many guises. A day spent researching legitimate options, from a mortgage modification or principal forebearance to a short sale or deed-in-lieu, could keep you from becoming a scam victim.
FORECLOSURE RESCUE SCAMS RUN RAMPANT
Homeowners facing foreclosure are prime targets for scam artists. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission identified 71 companies running suspicious foreclosure rescue ads, and the Better Business Bureau counts foreclosure rescue rip-offs among its top 10 scams. Understanding how these scams work can help you avoid becoming a victim.
The variations are endless, but one popular foreclosure scam involves a representative of a so-called foreclosure rescue company promising to negotiate a deal with your lender. The rep, vowing to take care of everything, will instruct you not to contact your lender, lawyer, or credit counselor during the supposed negotiations. The more brazen ones will even tell you to pay your mortgage directly to them.
Once you pay an upfront fee or hand over a few months' worth of mortgage payments, the scam artist will disappear. You'll be left with an emptier wallet and a mortgage that's in even deeper trouble because no deal was cut and no payments were made on your behalf. According to John Riggins, chief executive of the Fort Worth, Texas, office of the Better Business Bureau, upfront fees can range from $500 to $5,000.
RIP-OFFS COME IN MANY FORMS
A bankruptcy foreclosure scam can involve a promise to fend off foreclosure in exchange for an upfront fee. Instead of getting you legitimate relief, the fraudster will pocket the fee and secretly file a bankruptcy case in your name. The scam may seem to work initially, because a bankruptcy filing will stop foreclosure proceedings temporarily, but they'll resume. Compounding your problems, a bankruptcy can mar your credit report for 10 years.
Another common scam, called the bait-and-switch, results in a scam artist taking ownership of your home. You sign documents supposedly for a new loan that will make your mortgage current. What's really happening is you're signing over the deed of your house. In this scenario you would still owe on your mortgage but no longer own the home.
In a rent-to-own scheme, you're told to surrender a home's deed as part of a deal that lets you stay put as a renter. The scam artist, perhaps claiming to be able to refinance at a better rate with you off the title, promises to sell the house back to you in the future. However, terms of the deal may make it all but impossible for you to repurchase the home, or the scammer may get you evicted by raising the rent beyond your means. Either way, you end up losing the home while remaining on the hook for the unpaid mortgage.
LOOK OUT FOR RED FLAGS
Being aware of the warnings signs can protect you from foreclosure rescue scams. Red flags include:
Demands for high upfront fees.
Guarantees to stop a foreclosure.
Instructions to make mortgage payments to someone other than your lender.
Pressure to sign over a deed.
Legitimate foreclosure counselors won't put on a full-court press, nor will they guarantee that you won't lose your home to foreclosure. What they will do is review your financial situation and offer up options. Foreclosure counselors approved by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development won't charge you a fee either.
LEGITIMATE WAYS TO GET FORECLOSURE HELP
There are a number of legitimate ways to contend with foreclosure. If you've missed mortgage payments, start by getting in touch with your lender. Ask to speak with someone in the Loss Mitigation Department and explain your situation.
Your lender may be able to arrange a repayment plan, called a special forbearance, based on your current economic circumstances. The lender could even give you a temporary reduction in your monthly payment or suspend payments for a period of time.
With a principal forbearance, the lender will reduce the amount of your mortgage, thus reducing your monthly payments. However, the amount of the principal reduction doesn't disappear. Rather, it's tacked on to the end of the loan, effectively creating a balloon payment.
A federally facilitated mortgage modification could also help. The Making Home Affordable modification program pays lenders to re-work loan terms and lower monthly payments. Be prepared to gather lots of paperwork and undergo a trial modification.
If all else fails, you may need to give up your home. If so, look into the federal Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives program. HAFA offers lenders financial incentives to opt for a short sale or deed-in-lieu rather than a foreclosure. In a short sale, a lender agrees for a home to be sold for less than the outstanding mortgage, and then considers the debt paid off. In a deed-in-lieu, a homeowner turns over the home to the lender, and the mortgage is closed.
By: Donna Fuscaldo
Donna Fuscaldo has written about personal finance for Dow Jones, the Wall Street Journal, and Fox Business News for more than a decade. Like many homeowners, her mortgage is precariously close to being underwater.
Reprinted from HouseLogic (houselogic.com) with permission of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS (R). Copyright 2010. All rights reserved.
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Realty Times Reports on California's Slice of the Bailout Pie
Broderick Perkins of Realty Times reports, "California struck gold, receiving the biggest chunk of a special $1.5 billion federal fund pie for programs that target struggling homeowners in states hardest hit by the housing crash."
Perkins goes on to report that the California Housing Finance Agency (CalHFA) recently announced the fat $7,000,000 slice would go toward four different programs ultimately assisting 40,000 homeowners.
Read on to find out more about this windfall for California homeowners in distress.
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Thursday, July 15, 2010
The Recovery Continues
Monday, July 12, 2010
MGIC's HAMP - Explained
MGIC - Mortgage Guaranty Insurance CorporationHAMP - Home Affordable Modification Program
Visually explained.
If you are looking for a loan modification, this may be helpful.
Sunday, July 04, 2010
Thursday, July 01, 2010
Homebuyer Tax Credit Deadline Extended
It's almost official according to all the news sources. President Obama just has to sign the bill.
For Team Patereau, this bill doesn't have any impact. All of our homebuyers who qualified closed before June 30th.
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