Perhaps indirectly.
A short sale is worked out between you, your lender(s), and the buyer(s). Therefore, everything is open to negotiation. Continue reading ‘Can My Lender Grab My Personal Savings in a Short Sale Deal?’
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Loading ...Today I spoke with a friend who is at her wit’s end dealing with her two mortgages. She and her husband were fine until they were hit with economy-related work reductions and some unforseen expenses. Despite the fact that it would almost certainly be to their advantage to walk away from their home loans, they want to do the right thing, keep their house, pay their bills, and not uproot their kids. Continue reading ‘Second Mortgage Holder Jerking You Around?’
(7 votes, average: 4.86 out of 5) Loading ...It’s bad enough that you can’t pay your mortgage and have to go through foreclosure or a short sale. But it could get worse than that if you’re not careful. Continue reading ‘Foreclosure / Short Sale Pitfalls’
(9 votes, average: 5 out of 5) Loading ...Saw this article today, entitled Payday Loans Can Help You Save Your Mortgage from Foreclosure. Could not believe someone would write something so irresponsible. Let’s see, you can’t make the payments on the bills you have now, so of course the solution is to….get MORE debt! At a HIGHER interest rate! The author claims that the rate on payday loans is “nominal.” Think she has an agenda? You bet she does. Continue reading ‘Pay Your Mortgage with a Payday Loan?!’
(13 votes, average: 5 out of 5) Loading ...Foreclosure: Kiss Your Next Mortgage Good-bye
Lenders consider bankruptcy a serious credit issue, but not as bad as home foreclosure. Just being late with mortgage payments is counted heavily against you, worse than having a collection account. Those who skip their mortgage payment to pay other bills are doing their credit serious harm. Continue reading ‘Why Bankruptcy Is Better than Foreclosure’
(7 votes, average: 5 out of 5) Loading ...Fannie Mae doesn’t want to kick you out of your rented home. The mortgage behemoth is finalizing plans to allow renters who pay their rent to remain in homes that have been foreclosed upon. Residents can either sign a new lease with Fannie Mae and continue to live in the property until it is sold, or take a cash payment for moving expenses. Continue reading ‘Foreclosure Will Be Less Devastating to Renters’
(3 votes, average: 4.67 out of 5) Loading ...While lenders have come under fire for not doing enough to help borrowers remain in their homes, it looks as though those who have tried are meeting with surprisingly high failure rates. An Office of Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) report shows that mortgages which were modified by the lender (actual terms changed to lower payments, rates, and / or balances) to make the payments possible continue to fail. Continue reading ‘Modifications Malfunction: Surprising Failure of Foreclosure Prevention’
(1 votes, average: 5 out of 5) Loading ...The Troubled Asset Relief program (TARP) was originally touted to Congress and the public as a request for funds to purchase troubled home loans, helping lenders get them off the books and loosening up money for deserving mortgage borrowers. However, once passed, that plan was junked in favor of less direct help. Continue reading ‘When Will the Bailout Help Homeowners?’
(3 votes, average: 5 out of 5) Loading ...HOPE NOW, the private sector coalition of ownership counselors, mortgage lenders and servicers, and investors has focused its efforts on preventing foreclosures and keeping homeowners in their residences. As of today, the organization reported that nearly 2.5 million homeowners have avoided foreclosure and been able to stay in their homes since July 2007. In addition, cooperative mortgage lenders helped 212,000 homeowners sidestep default or foreclosure in September.
In September, mortgage servicers helped homeowners avoid foreclosure by creating 212,000 loan workouts, which involve modification to the terms, lowering the balance, refinancing arrearages, a combination of all three. Barring an unforeseen life event such as a job loss, death, or illness, all workouts are designed to enable a homeowner to remain in his or her home as long as he or she wishes to do so.
Here’s an example of how a loan modification might make it possible to avoid foreclosure. Miss Jones bought her home for $250,000 with a zero down ARM loan starting at 4%. Her payment was $1,195. Next year, her rate increased to 6% and the payment to $1,491. By year three, she was paying 7.75% and the payment had increased to an unaffordable $1,767. While she paid her balance down about $11,000 in three years, home values dropped too. So Miss Jones had’t enough equity to refinance–yet she could’t afford her payments either. She missed two payments, added about $3,000 to her principal–now she owed more than her home was worth!
Miss Jones was capable of making her mortgage payment when it was $1,491. By getting the lender to cut her balance to $200,000, she could get her payment to 1,475 at her current rate. But very few banks or investors are willing to take a $45,000 hit to avert foreclosure. What else can a lender do to help?
Suggesting that your lender write off huge loan balances doesn’t go down well with investors, and it’s harder to get that kind of concession. However, there are many things you can tweak to get a manageable payment and keep your home.
(7 votes, average: 5 out of 5) Loading ...The San Jose Mercury-News throws light on a problem in many housing markets. The surge in foreclosures not only hurts those trying to sell homes, it affects renters looking for homes too. Tenants may find themselves in a double bind–the landlords continue to collect their rents but do not make the mortgage payments on the properties. The landlords have the tenant’s security deposits as well. And while legally the deposits belong to the tenants, in foreclosure or bankruptcy proceedings the money may not be returned for a long time, if at all.
So the poor tenants find themselves evicted by the new owners, with no security deposits to give a new landlord. In addition, the explosion of foreclosed properties being rehabbed for sale has left a dearth of homes available for rent. So rents are higher and harder to get, adding insult to injury. In other words, it’s a great time to be a landlord and a lousy time to be a tenant.
How can you prevent this? First, check a property’s status before signing a rental agreement. The landlord checks your background, you should check his. Notices of Default are public filings and the county should make records pertaining to the property and the owner available to you. For example, in Washoe County in Nevada you could go to the County Assessor’s Web site, type in an address, and find out who owns the property. Then, you check the County Clerk’s Web site, type in the name of the owner, and any filings involving the company or individual will show up. Even if the property in question isn’t in default, a slew of filings on other properties should alert you that maybe this person isn’t a good risk. Finally, many court systems allow you to check for legal filings too. In Washoe County you can check District Court cases–enter the person’s name and up come any lawsuits in the system.
Remember: Your landlords will check you out–you owe it to yourself to return the favor.
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Gina Pogol writes for an online media company about mortgage and finance. In addition to a decade in mortgage lending, she formerly consulted for Experian and other credit bureaus, and worked as a tax accountant for Deloitte. She has a BS in Financial Management from the University of Nevada.
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