More Good News

We announced here last Friday the foreclosure moratorium by Fannie, Freddie and Citigroup for the holidays. The major lenders instituting such forbearance has expanded since then to now include both Bank of America and JP Morgan Chase. It is expected that others will likely jump on the bandwagon in coming days, but these are definite so far.
Happy Holidays!

More Good News!

Just announced!! Both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have announced a suspension of evictions from REO properties for the holiday season. From December 19 through January 3, 2010, eviction actions will be suspended. Additionally, Citigroup has announced a suspension of both foreclosure sales and evictions on its own loans (loans it services for other lenders are not included). Good luck and a Happy Holiday season!

Good News in NY

For homeowners in New York state facing foreclosure, there is a somewhat merrier holiday season today. Governor Paterson has just signed a bill providing additional protections for both homeowners facing foreclosure and tenants living in homes about to be foreclosed upon. In the former case, lenders will have to provide mandatory settlement conferences to attempt to work out an alternative to the actual foreclosure before they can proceed to foreclosure. In the latter case, tenants, any tenant living in a property being foreclosed will be permitted to remain in the property for the longer of 90 days or the remaining term of the lease. Good news for all concerned!

Facing Foreclosure in California?Maybe Some Hope!

If you're one of thousands of Californians currently facing foreclosure, there may be some new hope of relief.The legislature is currently discussing creation of a mediation program to help you work things out with your lender. If created, it would bear some similarity to programs of this sort in a number of other states. While final details are not yet set, and will take quite a bit of discussion by lawmakers, the basic way it would work is that borrowers facing loss of their home by foreclosure would request a mediation with their lender. The parties would then sit down and try to work out a loan modification that would create more manageable loan payments for the borrower, thus helping his avoid foreclosure. Such items as fees for the process, to help cover its costs, are one of many things under discussion. Likely they would be a few hundred dollars, and would go to the mediator hearing the case.
Final discussion on the bill would likely be in January after the legislature gets back in session.

Do you have a Countrywide Loan?

For those of you who took out a mortgage from the now-defunct Countrywide, there may be good news. Bank of America, who took over Countrywide, has helped 100,000 borrowers in this group avoid foreclosure. This was done through its National Homeownership Retention Program (NHRP), a program to provide mortgage foreclosure relief to homeowners who are eligible under the program. If you are one of the lucky ones, you know about this already. If you haven't heard about it and have a loan from Countrywide, call your BofA office IMMEDIATELY! You may save your home! Good luck--and a Happy Thanksgiving.

Possible Good News!

Although it's just an idea at the moment, Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass) has proposed extending the TARP relief program for financial institutions beyond its scheduled December 31 end--PROVIDED it include funds to assist unemployed homeowners make their mortgage payments until they are again fully employed. The proposal would take funds for these payments from the already repaid $12 Billion that TARP-receiving banks have repaid. Whether this proposal becomes law remains to be seen, but it does show that someone in Congress is at least looking out for the 'little guy' who's having trouble making the mortgage through no fault of his own.

BEWARE!

One thing that's becoming very obvious as we move through the third consecutive year of the foreclosure crisis is that sometimes a loan modification doesn't help the homeowner at all! This is largely due to the fact that when the mod was approved, the terms, though an improvement over the loan's original terms, still were set at levels that the borrower could not comfortably afford, if they were affordable at all. When negotiating a loan mod, you must keep in mind that a mod with terms still too difficult for you to comply with is as good as no mod at all. CAREFULLY examine terms offered to you for any modification. If they are workable, by all means give serious consideration to them. Take the additional precautions of discussing them with your financial advisor and attorney. Then, if the terms are still good, go ahead. Good luck!

Is More Time To Avoid Foreclosure A Possibility?

Based on the latest news reports, it appears more and more common that many major lenders in the United States are delaying taking a home to actual foreclosure. The homes involved are just as delinquent on their mortgage payments, but the powers that be in the banks seem to have decided that if they delay actually taking back the properties, they may help the overall market for homes already repossessed. This is because they appear to have realized that the more homes dropped onto an already slow market will only further depress prices and that, in turn, could lead to much slower recovery of funds lost by the foreclosure tidal wave. Understand, the banks are not by any means telling borrowers not to worry about making their mortgage payments. Many of the lenders are just going through the default/foreclosure process a little more slowly so as to minimize the effects of the foreclosures on the market.

What could this mean for homeowners in trouble? Well, if your lender is not rushing to foreclosure, it may provide you a few extra weeks at a minimum to try to work out a loan modification or possibly, a refinance of your loan. It is, in effect, more time to work to save your home! Use it! Don't wait!

Loan Mods--Are They Working?

Hello, again. As we move further through the foreclosure crisis in the country, we now have received news from Freddie Mac that casts a possible shadow on the loan modification situation. While the Treasury Department recently announced that over 500,000 'temporary' mods have been complete, many of these have not continued to permanent modifications, even after as many as five monthly payments in some cases. Part of the issue is the documentation necessary. This could be a troubling situation because if these temp mods do not become permanent, then many homeowners will be back where they were before doing the mod. Officials are attempting to rectify the situation by reducing documentation to as few as two pages. So this problem may get resolved in the next few months. For now, it is something to keep watch over.

What's coming--and How to Avoid It

Well, everyone is talking about the economy possibly reaching the start of recovery--and you're still in danger of losing your home! Something's wrong here! It's true. Houses and the various economic signs have been showing some brighter signs in the last 2-3 months. However, many people no longer showing up as unemployed are that way because they're UNDEREMPLOYED. They took any job they could find because some cash is better than none at all. However, that may still leave you in danger of not being able to pay for the mortgage. If you're having trouble, start working with your lender sooner rather than later. If you keep getting the runaround--"we're examining your case" or "it will take some more time", don't sit back and take it. Make yourself a pain in the ass. Keep pushing for some action. Even if you're denied in your application for loan mod, or short sale, you may force the issue and gain some time to work on an alternative solution. More and more banks are doing modifications and short sales, but the total is still well under 50% of all troubled loans.
Prepare all of your info, then sit down with the lender face to face whenever possible and discuss what can be done. You may be able to save your home. Don't forget the possibility of a regular sale, if your home isn't 'under water' to the loan.
For more advice< get a copy of "Save Your House From Foreclosure!". It's available at Amazon.com, or through the publisher, iUniverse.com.

More Cash from HUD

HUD just announced a $50 Million program to provide local municipalities with funding to rehab damaged foreclosed homes in their areas. This will allow the local cities assistance to avoid these homes' further deterioration. This program will help avoid urban blight. HUD, as part of the plan, will also send experts on rehab into local communities in order to help the local rehab program gain the best benefit for its program.
The largest share of the national funding – $26.2 million – will go to three groups: ICF Incorporated, Enterprise Community Partners and the National Council for Community Development. The local grants will be distributed in $500,000 and $750,000 increments to groups in 10 states.

Important News!

Congress last week unanimously passed a rule promoting the leasing of homes to owners who have lost their homes to foreclosure. This was done as a way of trying to keep people in their homes even after they've been foreclosed.

Coming Soon!

Keep your eyes tuned to You-Tube! I'll be posting a video or two designed to help anyone facing foreclosure. I'd say very likely in the next few days.

Loan Mod Hope

I've mentioned this before when the President established the program, but it's worth a fresh look. If you are having trouble making your payments because they are just too much of your pay, or perhaps because your economic situation has deteriorated, take a look at loan modifications. Under the President's program, you may be able to restructure your loan and have more affordable payments. For more info, either go to: www.995hope.com , or call: (888) 995-HOPE. Again, good luck! The house you save may be your own.

Help for Fannie Mae Borrowers

If you are having problems keeping up with your payments because of some of the adverse things that life can visit upon you, there may be some additional ways to cope. If your mortgage is an Fannie Mae loan, there are two programs that may be of interest to you. Both are designed to help make your payments more affordable, and, in some cases, can be used for up to 125% of value of the home. In other words, if your home is worth, say, $100,000, and you fit into the program, you could refinance up to $125,000, if necessary. For more information, check out the web site: www.efanniemae.com and click on Home Affordable Refinance Program. You may be glad you did! Good luck!

California Moratorium

Effective this past Monday, June 15, a 90 day moratorium on foreclosures went into effect. While it does give jeopardized homeowners some additional hope of avoiding a foreclosure, it is not as finite a solution as the name might sound. What it does do is require lenders to make additional efforts at loan modifications before they can foreclose during the next 90 days. If, after the modifications have been attempted without success, the lenders can then proceed with the foreclosure sale. But they do have to maintain proof of their pre-foreclosure modification efforts.

Bad News From the Senate

Yesterday, even though a Democratic-led Senate is in power, the Senate defeated a bill that would have allowed Bankruptcy judges order potential foreclosures into bankruptcy. Had it passed, this bill would have helped avoid many foreclosures. Bank supporters were able to convince enough Senators that doing this would drastically raise interest rates and harm the chances of a recovery for the economy.

A Breather in California

With the stroke of a pen, Governor Schwartzennegger yesterday signed into law a moratorium on all foreclosures on loans made to homeowners in a specific five year period. If the mortgage is a first mortgage made between January 1, 2003 and the same date in 2008, the new law requires a moratorium on any foreclosure action for 90 days. The law is subject to a few exemptions, most notably that a lender is exempt if it already has in place a loan modification program that includes principal deferral, interest rate reductions for at least five years or extended loan terms. Further, the revised loans cannot exceed 38% of the borrower's income, which is a bit looser than the recently enacted Federal limit of 31%. Needless to say, many banks oppose the new legislation.

Obama's Stop Foreclosure Plan

Just announced!!Obama has put forth his plan to relieve the foreclosure situation in the country. It won't save everyone. Even the President clearly stated that yesterday on announcing it. But it definitely WILL help a huge number of struggling homeowners to stay in their homes. THE HIGHLIGHTS: Loan Modifications: Under what is called the Homeowner Affordability & Stability Plan, the government, starting March 4, has a program to encourage lenders to make loan mods. Using up to $75 Billion, it will be available to homeowners who owe more than 31% of their gross monthly income on their mortgage.Money will come from TARP funds created last fall. Further requirements: the home must be the owner's principal residence; and the modified loan cannot exceed current loan limit standards of Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac.
Refinanced Fixed Rate Loans: allows qualified borrowers making their payments on time to refi into more comfortable fixed rate loans of 15 or 30 years.Loans under this aspect of the plan MUST be conforming loans, i.e., principal amounts not above $417,000.
Cram Downs: Allowing Federal judges to help borrowers avoid foreclosures by forcibly altering existing mortgage terms as a part of bankruptcy decision.Before this can be allowed, Congress must pass a law permitting it as it would alter existing Bankruptcy law.
Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac: The government will double the amount of loans it will absorb if they go bad, the new total being $200 Billion.

There's a lot to digest here, and it's not, as noted above, going to help everybody, but it certainly will help many.

And, if I may editorialize for a moment, it will give some breathing space to the common man or woman trying to save their home, when circumstances beyond their control have placed that home in jeopardy. Not something to complain about, any more than certain Wall Street types managed to not complain when their supporters were bailed out last fall.

Foreclosure Moratoriums?

As announced today, some large lenders are providing a suspension of foreclosures for three weeks as part of Federal loan support programs to the banks. BofA,Citibank,Goldman Sachs and Wells Fargo have agreed to some form of this moratorium. Citi & BofA have said they'll do so as long as the delay doesn't exceed three weeks, while the other two have indicated they already include suspension of foreclosure action as part of their overall aggressive loss mitigation activity, "where appropriate".

The Next Stage

Well, the folks at Wells Fargo just announced a new opportunity in its loan modification program, particularly if you're one of the 478,000 customers of Wachovia, whom they recently took over.If you're facing possible foreclosure or are already in the process that finishes with your home being foreclosed, you can get an extension from Wells to February 28 to work on a "new solution most appropriate for your circumstances". This could be extending the loan term to 40 years, cutting interest rates, or even a reduction in the amount of the loan principal.Call Wells NOW while you have the extra month and change to possibly avoid losing your home to foreclosure!

More Good Ideas

Well, at least there are plenty of people thinking of ways to ease the housing/foreclosure crisis. This past week, representatives of the National Association of Homebuilders were in Washington, DC pressing for passage of a bill they wrote that would, if passed, help straighten out the housing market. Titled "Fix Housing First", it would have the federal government provide fixed rate mortgages at rates not seen for over fifty years.

The bill would have the feds provide federally-subsidized mortgages of 30 years at a fixed interest rate of 2.99% on all home purchases, regardless if the home were new or a resale. The purchase and its related loan would have to close by June 30 of this year. If it did not close by then, the fixed rate would be a still spectacularly low 3.99% for the same loan, as long as it closed by the end of the year.

I don't think these rates are likely under a federal subsidy due to the sheer amount of money the government would have to front. However, had you asked me last June about some of the bailout numbers currently bouncing around, I also would have been very skeptical then too. So, it will all come down to what the new administration, working with Congress decides is a reasonable number, given the severity of the economy in general and the housing market in particular.

V-E-R-R-Y Interesting--and sad!

For those of you who have followed this blog regularly, and/or purchased my book, 'Save Your House From Foreclosure!', you've heard me say time and time again that when you find yourself in trouble making mortgage payments, one of the first things you should do is contact the bank and see what can be done to help you save the house, including a loan modification (change in the terms of the mortgage loan).
Well, it seems that some members of the lending community may not be living up to their commitment to help out homeowners.

In a court in New Hampshire, a couple is suing Countrywide for allegedly stringing them along for 8 months in hopes of a loan modification before denying them the modification, after which the lender foreclosed. The facts of what really happened will be determined as the case plays itself out, but what is really interesting is that, as reported on MSNBC today, Countrywide said in court that its ads offering loan modification assistance for troubled homeowners are "mere commercial puffery", and "Countrywide's vague advertisements", not an obligation or promise to actually do anything.

This is particularly troubling for Countrywide, because the lender is one of a number of institutions who joined the Hope Now group last year to try to work and stem the rising tide of foreclosures by a variety of means, including loan modifications.

Keep watching for more news as this case wends its way through court.

More Possible Relief

As the new Congress gets into its work, to be followed in a week by Obama's inauguration, there is increasing talk of additional ways to help homeowners facing foreclosure. While no specific plan is yet available or close to becoming law, a variety of things is being discussed. Among these are moratorium periods before foreclosure is initiated, a redrafting of the bankruptcy laws, an extension of the TARP bailout for homeowners facing foreclosure and a fee-driven incentive for lenders to be more pro-active on loan modifications.
While nothing is in writing yet, much less in stone, something is likely to happen. Keep your eyes here for updates when it happens.