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.