One of the worst experiences a homeowner can ever experience is coming home to find a foreclosure notice on the door. The details are often grim, with the mortgage servicing company demanding a combination of missed payments, late fees, interest, and attorney costs that you simply cannot afford. At that moment, you feel as though […]
Scams and Frauds: How To Avoid Them
With the increasing accessibility of information in this digital age, it is unfortunate that some take advantage of the web to deceive people. From typical email spams, scammers have now proliferated in the real estate market. As consumers, we are called for vigilance. Fox 21 News report that scammers are targeting low-income families who are seeking affordable […]
New California Law Causes Significant Drops in Foreclosure Activity
Foreclosure activity in a large part of the country appears to be decreasing significantly. In fact, according to RealtyTrac, it has dropped 7 percent in a single month. Throughout the country, foreclosure filings, including default notices, bank repossessions, and scheduled actions were numbered at 150,864 in January, down from 162,511 in December. Compared to January […]
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s New Life Vest for Underwater Homeowners
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are issuing new guidelines for mortgages in early November to provide homeowners with a much simpler way to know if they qualify for a short sale. These guidelines are designed to streamline the difficult process so that struggling people can get help faster. It’s a sort of “cheat sheet” for […]
What Congress Has in Store for California Homeowners
Homeowners that are interested in loan modification or short sale should be familiar with the expiration of the mortgage debt cancellation provision, which ends Dec. 31, 2012. The mortgage debt forgiveness issue is only one of approximately 60 expiring tax provisions that Congress appears unable to extend prior to its recess for the November elections. […]
New Anti-Deficiency Protection for Refinance Loans Made After January 1, 2013
Starting January 1, 2013, a new California law will protect homeowners who default on their refinance loans from personal liability for any deficiency following foreclosure. Existing anti-deficiency law protects a borrower from personal liability for the difference between the principal balance and what the lender receives at foreclosure if the loan is a purchase money […]
Fresh Opportunity to Qualify for a HAMP Loan Modification
New rules that recently took effect are giving financially pressed homeowners a fresh opportunity to qualify for a HAMP loan modification. The changes ease restrictions on borrower debt limits to qualify for the government-backed mortgage assistance program, and while opening it up to owners of investment properties as well. Some borrowers may even be able […]
HARP Refinances Surge in First Quarter
More than 180,000 homeowners refinanced their loans through the Home Affordable Refinance Program in the first quarter of this year compared with approximately 93,000 in the fourth quarter of 2011, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s (FHFA) March 2012 Refinance Report. FHFA officials attribute the increase to the removal of the loan-to-value (LTV) ceiling […]
Foreclosure: Beverly Hills Style
Strategic Defaults: Foreclosure, Beverly Hills Style According to a Reuters analysis of statistics from RealtyTrac, about 180 homes in Beverly Hills are currently being foreclosed, served with a notice of default, or scheduled for auction. Though the increase of blighted homes in affluent neighborhoods such as Beverly Hills may come as a shock, homeowners are […]
The Double Standard between American Homeowners and American Airlines
When American Airlines filed for bankruptcy it did so deliberately. The airline had four billion dollars in the bank and could have kept paying its bills but it had been losing money for a while, and its board decided that it was foolish to keep throwing good money after bad. Analysts hailed it as a […]
