Simplified FHA Loan Mods Start Today

July 1 2013 a new simplified loan modification process starts for anyone with a Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac Loan. Simplified means that you do not have to go through the process of documenting your income and hardship situation.

First find out if that is you - go to this site and see if your loan is owned by Fannie or Freddie

Fannie Mae Look Up: www.knowyouroptions.com/loanlookup

Freddie Mac Look Up: www.freddiemac.com/mymortgage

Then call your loan servicer and ask for for the the new Streamlined Modification

To participate in this program you must be 90 days delinquent on your loan and you must be able to make the three monthly trial payments after which the loan will be permanently modified.

If you have questions on the short sale or loan modification process please call or email us today. More information can also be found on our website psagent.com

Keeping Your Home Will Get Easier For Some...

Effective July 1st 2013

New options coming for homeowners who want to stay in their homes and avoid Short sales or foreclosures. The key here is your loan must be a Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac backed loan.

Fannie and Freddie will begin implementing sweeping new loan modifications guidelines. Lenders and loan servicers will be required to send a "Streamlined Modification Solicitation Offer" to borrowers who are at least 90 days delinquent and meet the initiative’s eligibility requirements.

See if Freddie Mac Owns Your loan here.
See if Fannie Mae owns your loan here.

It differs from previous efforts: Borrowers will not be required to document their hardship or financial situation, but will be able to accept a “Streamlined Modification Offer” by simply making the trial period payments and agreeing to the terms of the mod.

There are some requirements, one is that you must be 3 months delinquent! I don't really like that but it is the way this program is set up

UPDATE:  

It is 2018 now and these rules have changed. There are many things that will be different. If you live in California please go to this website for more information about keeping your home out of Foreclosure.

Help For California Home Owners

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dg4y96bz9yI?rel=0&w=560&h=315]

This site offers clear programs that can help some California home owners stay in their homes or ease the transition of getting out of it.

Well worth a look and

PLEASE NOTE

this is a totally free service. If you are asked for money or payment you have gone to the wrong site. Recheck the link. As always if you have questions give us a call at 760-408-5300. We will help you for free as well!

The main website this video came from:

http://www.keepyourhomecalifornia.org

Breaking News! Foreclosure Reviews Pending

November 1, 2011 it was announced that consumers who were foreclosed on may be eligible for a review of their foreclosure and possible compensation for any wrong doing. Banking regulators are stepping up to the plate and acknowledging that massive irregularities, in 2009 and 2010,  in the processes of the 14 major loan servicing companies requires this review.

The most likely candidates for this review are homeowners who knew something was wrong with their mortgage paperwork but could not get anyone to listen to them back when banks became flooded with foreclosure actions. Many of these homeowners were actively pursuing mortgage loan modifications when the foreclosures took place.

Bank regulators are starting the process by requiring the banks to mail a letter to the former owners of the estimate 4 million cases they intend to review. The reviews will be done at no cost to consumers.  This is a plus as a typical review, often called a forensic audit, could cost a private individual anywhere from $2,500-$5,000.

If you feel like there was something wrong with your foreclosure, now is the time to act. Even if you do not receive one of these letters now is the time to take action.

More information can be found at:

IndependentForeclosureReview.com,   or  toll-free phone line, (888) 952-9105

See more information about short sales and foreclosures on our website

Why Helping Underwater Mortgage Holders Is Big Deal

RELIEF FOR SOME:

This week the administration came up with a new plan.  Their intention is to help people who are currently living with a mortgage on a home that is worth less than the face value of the loan, get a lower payment. For those who don't follow home lending very closely, the problem right now is that if you owe say $150,000 on your home and it is only worth $120,000 then you are shut out of refinancing to take advantage of the historic low interest rates.

Right away I started hearing negative comments that this would "help as few as 250,000 homeowners" but certainly no" more than 1 million."  That this just was "not enough" and would "never help the economy to the extent that it needs to be helped."  And on and on and on.

First I would like to say ....come on people,  just stop it! The negativity is not helping and since when is helping up to  1,000,000 people stay in their homes NOT a good idea? I bet it is going to feel like a real good idea to those people. I bet the banks will appreciate having up to 1,000,000 loans no longer at risk of default. Most of all I think we should note that there are several very fair parts of this proposal.  First, homeowners have to be current on their mortgage. No one can say that bad behavior is being rewarded. Secondly, no one is getting any principle reduction it is just a rate reduction. The program will simply help get around some rules about loan to value ratios that where set in place in different economic times.

Personally I think the administration should be given some credit for coming up with a proposal that is pretty positive. It is not a giveaway - it will not be another program to throw money at. It is an adjustment of terms that will create a relief valve for hundreds of thousands of homeowners in a troubled economy. Sure there is more to do but this is a pretty reasonable step in the right direction.

THE DIRTY TRUTH:

As a full time Real Estate agent I can tell you very clearly what I see. It is very easy to paint one big picture of struggling homeowners as either deadbeats who won't pay their bills or unfortunate scenarios of health issues and job losses. But there is a big middle ground full of people that do not fall into either category. Every week I sit with people who are on the edge. They see homes just like theirs selling for $100,000 less than they paid. They have huge financial pressures on them.  They are struggling with pay cuts, layoffs, increased work loads and rising health care costs. It may not seem "responsible" but I have to tell you these people are seriously contemplating walking from their mortgages.

Sure they can make the mortgage this month and perhaps next month but they are on edge. There is a temptation to go that route. They feel so close to the breaking point they are actively considering it ..they are thinking "it wouldn't be so bad to have to rent for awhile" These people are your friends and neighbors. The receptionist at the insurance office, the retail store clerk, the cable TV installer, the retired couple next door who sees their nest egg dwindling much faster than they ever imagined it would. We can insist that what they are thinking about doing is not right - not fair - but IT IS REALITY.

THE REALLY BIG DEAL:

This is why the current proposal is such a big deal. By preventing the "on edge" section of the population avoid this choice there is a much larger ripple effect. Preventative rather than reactive. By putting several hundreds dollars a month back into household budgets, with a policy change not a giveaway, we are taking a step towards housing market stability that is much bigger than people may realize.

Foreclosure Can Mean Different Things - Depending Where You Live

Mention the word foreclosure and most people can conjure up the mental image of someone forced out of their home for not paying the mortgage.  Of course this is the broadest and truest sense of what Foreclosure really means and in the last few years it has become distressingly common to hear about in our daily lives.

As a Real Estate Agent I deal with it on a daily basis. The primary way it comes up in my life is a homeowner expressing fear about the inevitability of being foreclosed on.  The mental image most of my clients seem to have is the ultimate end point of foreclosure where the sheriff shows up, guns drawn forcing you to the street.

That point is very far down the road.  The banks are slow to act (more on that below) and the process is much more predictable than most people realize. First you have to understand the process in your particular state.  Part of the US has a process that is called judicial foreclosure where the lenders actually have to go to the court system to take the house back.  The New York Times recently wrote that in New York State the lenders would need 62 years to process all the 213,000 homes currently in some stage of default.

A little more than half the US states do not use the judicial foreclosure process and things can move a little quicker than that.  However, there is still a process, a set time frame in which the foreclosure takes place – do not allow fear to take over. The same article in the New York Times says that all the defaults in California could be processed in three years.  This is still a considerable mess and a huge expenditure of time effort and energy on the lending industry to attempt to get back on course.

So what is the point?  Well even if you only read the headlines you have probably noticed that they are saying that the rate of foreclosures is slowing. There are many factors here. Banks are slowing down the actual foreclosures and going for more loan modifications and short sales. Then you have a higher percentage of homeowners who are trying to fight to stay in their homes.  The people who had 100% financing and “no skin in the game” as it were have pretty much moved through the system.  Those loans were the first to turn sour and get foreclosed on.  More of the people in default now have, or had, an equity stake in their property. Finally there is intense regulatory pressure on the banks by the government. Talk to anyone in the mortgage industry and it quickly becomes clear that the ever changing but increasing pressure from the Government is helping in someways and hurting in others but the end result is a slowdown in the process.

If you or someone you know is in default on your mortgage. Talk with a trusted professional about the process in your state. Start your conversation by first understanding the process then apply it to your situation.  A Realtor, CPA or legal counsel are a good places to start. Scam artists and people who want up front payments to help you save your home should be avoided at all costs. They will only make your situation worse and do no good. Your home is too important an asset to operate in the dark – you must understand the process and come up with a plan of action that is fact based not fear based.

Read More about Foreclosures

Read More about Short Sales

Search Homes In Palm Springs California

Should You Fight the Bank To Keep Your House Part II

In the first part we covered the basics of how you should decide if you are capable of keeping your home and what the first steps are. Here we cover what happens next:

So you have gathered all your paperwork and are ready to send it in. Typically you have to fax all this stuff in with your account number written on every page.  You usually have to update the things like bank statements and pay stubs as you get new ones.

Don’t be surprised but the first answer is usually – NO! (If the bank says yes please read  section 4)

3) After The Bank Says NO: Don’t let this deter you.  Ask for the specific reasons in writing.  Ask for supervisors to explain what your options are. Ask what the review process is and tell them you want to be reconsidered. Unless they can tell you specifically that you do not qualify based on your income I would not accept no from this level at the bank.  I would keep pushing until they refuse to consider your paperwork anymore. Sometimes they will cite the type of loan you got originally. Ask for this in writing so you can show it anyone else you may seek help from. You should assume that you will have to push and you will have to raise the stakes.  Don’t lose your cool but be persistent in letting them know you want a solution.

If you get that final “no we won’t look at your file or try to help you any more” answer you should then try to get outside help. There is a non-profit organization that will help you with this process. NACA.com.  Go to their website and see how the system works. Basically they negotiate with the banks to try and get you modified loans and reduced payments and interest rates.  Since you will have all the paperwork together you can start  their system right away.  Again, this is not loads of fun but it can be done –I personally know multiple people who have received help, with great success,  from NACA.  You could start with NACA and skip trying to do it yourself but I do not think you should.  As the banks customer you should trying asking for help from them directly first.  Document your efforts – keep a small notebook with dates and times of calls made, faxes sent, answer received.

Lastly, if the Bank won’t help, if NACA says they can’t help you you can try two other routes.  One is called a forensic Audit of your loan.  There are firms out there who do this for about $3,000 – many are attorneys.  They will examine your original loan for inconsistencies and help you go back against the bank to reset the terms based on faulty original paperwork.  This is a very aggressive approach and you must be careful to avoid scam artists.  Check out anyone you are thinking of hiring with the Better business Bureau and the Attorney Generals office in your state. The other option is an attorney.  There are many attorneys now specializing in debt reduction –debt relief and bankruptcy.  These would be a good place to start.  Find one who will help you try to negotiate with the bank and any other creditor you may have to try and keep you in your home.

4) The Bank Said Yes! Hopefully you will get to a yes long before you consider a forensic audit or a attorney.   So if the bank says yes read their terms very carefully.  There are basically two types of yes answers.  One is a temporary reduction of payment and/or interest rate that sets your monthly payment at a rate you can afford.  The total amount of principal that you are not paying is often wrapped to the end of the loan – in other words you are not getting out of paying any amount due you are just putting it off. This is often called forbearance.  A better version of this is a permanent reduction of interest rate (if your problem iis that your rate is too high) The second type, and less common one is the mortgage modification or principal reduction where your note is lowered by a cancellation of some of the debt.  They are reducing the total amount due on the loan.

Staying in your home is well worth the effort you will have to make for most people. Don't be discouraged and don't fall for scam artists who say they will do all the work for you.  No matter which route you take you will have to gather organize and prepare all the paperwork listed above that will be used to make the decision about your mortgage payments.

The programs available to help you and the banks willingness to help change constantly so keep asking questions.  I believe that we are in a 10-15 month window of time where these programs and options are at their peak.  After this window passes I think we will start back towards a market where many of these options for you as a homeowner will be phased out and no longer available.  The time to act is now before they start disappearing.

If you know you cannot afford your home now or in the near future a short sale may be the answer for you.  You can read more about short sales at PSagent.com

Should You Fight The Bank To Keep Your House?

PART I:

If you are at risk of losing your home in a foreclosure you may think there is nothing you can do and that it is too late. Not so.  The tables have turned and the  programs to help you and the regulatory pressures on the banks to make sure they have exhausted every effort to help you keep your home are pretty strong. This first part of a two part entry will help give you some basic guidelines of how you might be able to save your home.

As the foreclosure crisis continues to unfold across America we are learning that everyone is not foreclosed on for the same reason.  Homeowners who can simply not make their payment are the easiest story to understand.  Be it a medical situation, a job loss or other debts that just grew too large.  This is the classic story of people losing their homes. They can’t pay and there is no hope or circumstance on the immediate horizon that will change that picture.

However, in the realities of today’s market there are situations that are not so cut and dried.

How about the person who is still working and capable of making a payment – but got bad advice about withholding payments to get a loan modification?  How about the person who had just a temporary job loss and is now back to work earning comparable pay? How about the lady who was pushed into a loan she could not afford or understand due to a language barrier and an unscrupulous loan officer?

Two important things to know before you read any further:

• Understand you have to set aside any anger, shame or irrational thoughts about the reduced value of your home or the situation that got you to this point.  None of that will get you anywhere and in fact might cause you to make bad decisions.


• Every state has a "foreclosure time line" in other words how many days will it be from your missed payment to foreclosure action being started. Be sure you know what this is. Know where you are in the process at all times.

1) KNOW YOUR BUDGET! Your first step, and the key to this whole process,  is to figure out your budget and expenses.  What can you truly spend per month on your home? Don’t forget taxes and insurance as you figure this out. Typically it should total no more than 28-30% of your total take home pay.  Know this number by HEART – no guessing allowed. Because to win this fight with a bank you are going to have to have real numbers that can be substantiated – and you are going to have to know them well.


2) YOUR FIRST CALL: to the bank will be to request a mortgage modification.  This is not easy – the bank wants endless paperwork – but you do not need to pay anyone to do this for you. It is not rocket science it is not very much fun - but even if you pay someone else to help you you still have to do this!  Usually the list consists of the last two Tax returns, pay stubs, bank statements, mortgage coupons (yes they want copies of their own mortgage coupons!) sometimes home owners associations statements and property tax bills. Then they want an itemized household budget.  Be careful with this one. You want to tell the truth and you don’t want to forget anything.  The cats’ medicine or the once a year tree-trimming bill  just make sure it is all in there. Then there needs to be a well written – 3 paragraphs or so letter – explaining why you are behind on the mortgage and why you think that you can now make a modified payment.

PART II:  What to do when the bank says no, what to expect and what to watch out for - coming up in part two

Treasury Department Issues Statement

Yesterday, November 18th, the Treasury Department issued a statement about the measures the government is taking to help home owners in distress. It is interesting to read for two reasons. One if you are in a modification program you can compare what you are being told and what the governments stated objective is for that program. Two, if you are wondering what options are really out there and confused by the media coverage it is spelled out pretty clearly in this speech.

To see the whole statement visit my page about it on this blog or use this link Treasury Department Statement.

Home Ownership Questions Answered

Fannie Mae has rolled out a pretty nice website that covers a wealth of information for the public. Know your options is probably overwhelming for the lay person. However, with a little guidance there is some great information here.

The site covers information on loan modification, foreclosure and short sales. Best of all no one is trying to sell you anything. It is pure information.

As always, we are happy to help with your questions about any of these subjects. Just contact us at www.PSagent.com  or 760-408-5300.

However, it is nice to have this resource as a back up.

This Month In Real Estate

This month we take a look at a typical Short Sale timeline. Remember if you think you might be a canidate for a short sale the sooner you get your questions answered the better. Be wary of scams that ask for money up front and seek council from a trusted advisor.

We have several staff members who are certified short sale agents and can help address any questins you may have.

Save your Home - Get Help Now!

Dramatic words but these are tough times. Many people are finding that they are in a place they never thought they would be - in Danger of losing their home.

As an Real Estate Agent I see this and talk with people everyday who have some sort of issue with their home loans. Many home owners need help right away but are afraid to call attorneys because of the cost.

In times like these there are some that would take advantage of you. It is hard to know who to trust. I have seen many foreclosure prevention scams come across my desk.

Recently I became aware of the a non-profit organization called Neighborhood Assistance Corporation Of America. NACA for short.

This organization offers, for no charge, a program that will help you analyze your problem and see if you need a loan modification, a refiance or a restructuring of your loan. They will even look for things that were done incorrectly in your initial paperwork.

As I said they do this all for free. Your requirement is to attend one two hour introduction session. Then the balance of the work can be done on the phone or online.

I have gone over their materials that they provided to a client of mine and was very impressed.

I have long urged people not to fall for scams that require upfront payments and absurd promises that they will do all the work and you will be debt free. With NACA I seemed to have found the real deal. Go to their website by clicking on the icon above and see what you think.

If any reader has had a bad experience with NACA I would like to know as so far I have only seen and heard good things.

Keep in mind any of the legitimate option to save your home, restructure a loan or reduce your payments will require paperwork. However, NACA has that all neatly detailed in their materials for you.

As always if you have questions about Real Estate in the Palm Springs California area contact Michael Layton.