BofA FORGIVENESS: Bank of America, BofA, has announced that it is sending letters to 130,000 second mortgage customers across the country that it is outright forgiving their second mortgages to BofA. Saying that the recipients of these notifications, must achieve a "specific threshold" level of delinquency, without publicly defining what that level may be, the bank noted a borrower cannot volunteer for the forgiveness program. BofA determines who benefits and will receive the notices. They also note that being the lucky recipient of this notice won't also forgive a delinquency or pending foreclosure from a separate first mortgage held by BofA. A further note: if you are lucky enough to receive one of these forgiveness letters, you may still be liable for federal and/or state income taxes on the amount of the loan that is being forgiven. Check with your accountant for advice in this regard. How do you know if you're getting a notice? Wait for it to arrive, or, initiate action yourself by calling BofA and seeing if: a.) they will tell you directly before any letter is sent; and b.) if, given their willingnes to supply information, you are one of the lucky intended recipients. As always, Good Luck.

More Good News in California: Jerry Brown has completed the Homeowners Bill of Rights legislation. When passed, a total of six bills made up the legislation helping homeowners to keep their homes. He initially signed three into law, and yesterday signed the remaining three. For detailed info on how these can help you, contact either the Governor's office or the Attorney General's. As always, good luck.

A LITTLE HELP IF YOU'RE DISABLED & DEALING W/BANK OF AMERICA: If you're dealing with Bank of America and are disabled and using your disability funds for your loans, you may have had some issues with the way BofA works with this. Now, as a result of a lawsuit and subsequent settlement between BofA and the Justice Department, BofA has settled the DOJ suit without litigation. Accused of violating Fair Housing and Equal Credit Opportunity Acts, BofA was accused of requiring disabled mortgage loan applicants to get letters from their doctors documenting the borrowers' disability income amounts. In some cases the bank was accused of going beyond that by inquiring into the details of the borrowers' medical situations. In addition to paying a total of $125,000 to the three original litigants, the bank will also pay anywhere from $1-5,000 to every other loan applicant found to have been subjected to this process. They are also hiring a special third party administrator to review about 25,000 applications from people with SSDI benefits who may have been affected to help determine eligibility. If you're in this class of borrowers with BofA, good luck and hope this makes it a bit easier for you.

Foreclosure Agreement May Expand: You probably recall that a few months ago, the Attorneys General of 49 states reached a historic agreement with the five largest mortgage lending institutions (JP Morgan Chase, Citigroup, Wells Fargo, Bank of America, and Ally Financial [formerly known as GMAC] to try to allay at least some of the damage caused by such actions as robosigning and other improper practices by the foreclosing institutions and their representatives. Well, the same attorneys general are pushing another four major mortgage lenders to agree to the terms of the agreement. While these lenders are not of the same magnitude as the original five, they still do have a sizable portfolio of mortgages and related foreclosures/defaulted properties. The lenders in this latest action are reported to be: US Bancorp; PNC Financial Services Group; Sun Trust Banks and HSBC Holdings. The reported negotiations with the newest four lenders are unconfirmed as talks are 'private'. However, it's a reasonable bet that the identities are correct as the names wouldn't likely be reported if someone close to the negotiations hadn't leaked some info on them. What to do if you're mortgaged with any of these lenders or have lost your home to one of them. Pay close attention to the news for more info and check regularly with your state attorney general for any additional confirmation or info. As always, Good Luck.

Attention California

Well, it's the start of Labor Day weekend and amidst all of the long weekend relaxation, beach going or whatever you plan to do,a brief item of note has come up fpor those in California. The state's Atty. General, Kamala Harris, has announced that the final parts of the California Homeowners Bill of Rights have passed both houses of the legislature. They only await Governor Brown's signature to become law and begin helping California homeowners. For details, check with your legislator or the Atty. General's office. Have a great holiday weekend and see you in the autumn!

IMPORTANT: OHIO FORECLOSEES: If you're a victim of foreclosure in the state of Ohio, you may want to pay attention. While most foreclosures are unfortunately legitimate, there are, unfortunately, those that turn out to be fraudulent or erroneous and that possibly should not have occurred. In late July, a suit was filed in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court, alleging fraud in a number of foreclosures. Seven homeowners were named as plaintiffs, but as it's a class action suit, others can be added. For details, check with the firm filing the lawsuit: Kaufman & Co. of Cleveland. There are also four or five other law firms involved in the filing, but a call to Kaufman should reveal if you're someone who should consider joining in as a plaintiff. As always, good luck.

HOMEOWNERS RESOURCES TO HELP AVOID FORECLOSURE: You've heard me talk about the recent $25 Bn settlement between 49 states and the five largest mortgage lenders, as well as a number of other recent items to help you avoid a possible foreclosure. In line with that information, I'm providing for your info and use a number of websites that give specific guidance and help in these and related areas. Take them down; contact as many as you feel would be helpful in your case and good luck in your efforts. (Due to space involved in their info, I cannot provide specific info on each one beyond what I note here. The rest of the details will come when you log on. www.nationalmortgagesettlement.com -- this relates to the actual $25Bn settlement; www.oag.ca.gov/hbor -- helps with the recently passed California Homeowner Bill of Rights which goes into effect on 1-1-13; www.hud.gov/counseling -- alternatively, call (800) 569-4287; helps homeowners seek loan mods for free; www.independentforeclosurereview.com -- Helps those who were foreclosed upon in 2009 and 2010 get a fre review of the foreclosure by federal regulators to check for errors in the process, which could lead to compensation to the homeowner.Deadline is 12-31-12, so don't wait!; www.consumerfinance.gov -- From the new government agency that oversees both housing issues and credit cards, from the consumer's point of view; www.makinghomeaffordable.gov -- the site for the Federal foreclosure prevention program, it has links to a number of subjects including loan mods, underwater refis of homes, reduction of loan principal and loan payment forbearance for unemployed owners; www.keepyourhomecalifornia.org -- the site for a California state run program offering temporary mortgage help for unemployed, catch-up payment aid for those behind on payments, reduction of loan principal and other things. These may not cover the entire waterfront of helpful sites out there, but they make a damn good starting point. As always, good luck.