October 1 a new Florida law went into effect that makes it illegal to charge up front for home redemption or short sale processing services unless you are an attorney. Many investors have moved into the business of home redemption, helping homeowners to request loan modifications and forebearance agreements, while others are working with homeowners to negotiate a short sale with lenders.

On average, specialists in the foreclosure market have charged from $500 to $1500 up front to manage the paperwork process and negotiate with the lender.  It is a time-intensive process, and there is, frankly, no guarantee that the bank will accept the proposal.  To make sure there is some financial reward for starting the process, most charge something up front.

What seems to be happening is that now homeowners are spending more, because the average attorney fee to get a loan mod or negotiate a short sale is $1500 to $2500.  Many investors and Realtors continue to charge, at great risk of being reported to the state Attorney General’s Office.  The fines are very stiff.

I recently listened to a teleconference where members of the Ft. Lauderdale Real Estate Investors organization interviewed two attorneys from the State of Florida who were involved in writing the legislation.  It became clear that most of the ways Realtors and investors have invented to get around the law are not, in fact, legal, including aligning with an attorney and running the business through the attorney’s office.  This could be construed as practicing law without a license.  A definite no, no!

The only process that the two Florida Attorney General’s office lawyers found to be viable is by breaking the service into small pieces and billing for services completed in small increments.  This limits the loss if the homeowner backs out or gets a negative reaction from the lender, but gets payment for services actually rendered immediately after the service is complete.

So, investors and Realtors trying to help Florida’s desperate homeowners, be aware that you need to follow the new law.  To ignore it is risking your client turning you in to the state Attorney General’s office and being fined $15,000.  That money, by the way, specifically goes to the homeowner and not the lender, so there is great incentive for homeowners to turn in anyone who is not offering completely above board service.

Liz Nichols

Technorati Tags: Florida anti-investor law, Florida foreclosures, Florida home redemption, Florida short sale

The Southwest Florida Real Estate Investor’s Association publishes a regular newsletter for members.  Some interesting statistics are included in the New Years issue.  December saw a total of 2304 lis pendens filings in Lee County, Florida, while only 863 properties were conveyed due to foreclosure.  It is hard to tell exactly what is going on but the best guesses are that:

–The uptick in foreclosure filings is due to a hurry on the part of the mortgage lenders to get to the courthouse before the end of the calendar year.  Florida has asked for a voluntary moratorium on homesteaded filings, and the REIA group is trying to determine whether the largest portion of actual filings were in the non-homestead group, or whether the mortgage lenders are ignoring the government’s call for a homesteaded filing moratorium.

–Filings are not at their very highest.  They bounce around, but they are still somewhat lower than earlier in 2008 when filings bounced up above 2500.  It is hard to say if this is a sign of a downward trend, or whether the process will see a second round in the coming year.

–There is a large backlog of delinquent mortgages that have not been filed on.  The REIA is not sure what is going on.

I’ll venture an opinion on that one.  More mortgagelenders are trying to be proactive in coming to a solution short of foreclosure and are willing to hold off on a formal filing in order to work out a modification deal or a short sale with the homeowner.

Other lenders are taking completely the opposite approach.  They essentially shut down communications and go after the owner with all barrels blazing to sue personally.  This latter scenario is particularly the case when the owner is an investor living in another state and the mortgage holder suspects that there are other assets that can be seized to make up for the difference between the mortgage owed and the current value of the property.  Mortgage lenders may well be granted full restitution in a personal suit and get the judgment faster, than waiting for a traditional foreclosure judgment in a state absolutely backed up with cases, like Florida.  In heavily impacted states like Florida or California, there’s no guarantee a judge will grant a deficiency judgment.  After all, the householder probably had less to do with the drastic loss in market value of the property than the lender, whose risky lending practices precipitated the slide in property value.  Why should the householder have to pay for the loss in value, when it was very much beyond their control?  At the very least, shouldn’t the lender share in the loss due to the bad economy?

The poor home owner who gets slapped with a personal suit has little recourse except to file for bankruptcy, unless they really are flush with assets.  When that happens, everyone loses.

–The Lee County, FL Clerk of Court is expecting an avalanche of deeds to be conveyed in the new year.

Liz Nichols

Technorati Tags: Florida foreclosure, foreclosure statistics, lis pendens

The Pew Center on the States published a state by state update of its white paper on foreclosure in America, “Defaulting on the Dream” that was published in April 2008.  The new report brings the state activity current to October 1.

The first report is available at http://www.pewcenteronthestates.org./uploadedFiles/PCS_DefaultingOnTheDream_Report_FINAL041508_01.pdf

Pick up the state-by-state update at: http://www.pewcenteronthestates.org/uploadedFiles/wwwpewcenteronthestatesorg/Fact_Sheets/Subprime_state_factsheets.pdf

More states are developing strategies to cope with the staggering impact of foreclosures on state-wide economies.  On average, every 33 households will fall victim to foreclosure through 2010 in the United States.  The new factsheets describe how each state ranks compared to the national averages and the legislation and other activities that have taken place in recent months to help stave off foreclosures.

In California, for example, it’s projected 1 in 20 homeowners will be in foreclosure by the end of 2010, much worse than the national average. About 64% of homeowners are expected to feel the ripple effects of foreclosure as homes in neighborhoods high in foreclosures are expected to lose value as a result.  This will lead to a loss of $107 billion to the local and statewide tax base.  In California there is now a state-wide task force devoted to finding foreclosure solutions.  Lenders must discuss options cheapest ultram prices other than foreclosure with every homeowner who goes into default.  The legislature has approved a refinance program and has initiated homeowner counseling. 

Similar information is available on a state by state basis.

Liz Nichols

Technorati Tags: California foreclosure, Foreclosure help, foreclosure information

Did you happen to catch “60 Minutes” on Sunday? 

I watched the segment about foreclosures and realized that we are (at best) only half way through the nightmare!  Over the next two to five years the next round of disaster loans will be the Alt-As and the Option ARMS.  One speaker predicted that half the Option ARMS will go into default.

Figures bandied about on “60 Minutes” included the statistic that 8 million American homes will eventually go into default.  With the Alt-A and Option ARMS about to kick in about 10% of the housing stock in the U.S. is in some stage of default.

Things are bad all over.  I was talking with one of my tenants the other day and she just lost her job.  She has about 3 months of income available to pay the mortgage on the home she has in Illinois that she was never able to sell when she moved to accept a new job 18 months ago.  If she doesn’t land another job right away that home will be in cheapest ultram online default.

Many of us who are landlords are experiencing high default and heavy turnover on our rentals.  This is going to start washing out as higher defaults on commercial property.  The “60 Minute” report also predicted that commercial real estate will be hit with higher defaults next.

My mother has an Option ARM loan on a property in Detroit.  It has been readjusting for the past year. Now, the good news is the interest rate has gone down from 8.5% to 6% in a year.  However, she has never seen any reduction in her payments, despite the letter stating that the amount is coming down.  The payment that they said should be her new full mortgage and interest payment still comes out as the option 1 (less than interest only on the statements each month).  What they seem to be doing is adding an exhorbitant amount to the escrow each month to represent the difference between the advertised rate and what we are paying. They only catch up on that problem once per year when my mother gets a nice fat check from the mortgage company.  They AREN’T adding it to principal, that is for sure.  Seems to me this has to be deceptive, if not downright illegal.  I plan to take this up with the Michigan Attorney General’s Office.  In case you’re wondering, this is an EMC loan.  I get NO WHERE with them when I talk with them. Needless to say, I do not think much of EMC as a mortgage company.

“60 Minutes” said that there are even crazier loans coming down the pike.  Just when we thought that the industry was getting regulated, it appears that the industry invents a new way to get more and more people into financial trouble.

Liz Nichols

Technorati Tags: Foreclosure trends, Foreclosures in Illinois, Foreclosures in Michigan, Option ARMS

According to Yahoo News Real Estate the top foreclosure cities in the country are currently:

1.  Merced, California

2.  Modesto, California

3.  Stockton, California

4.  Riverside, California

5.  Detroit, Michigan

6.  Fort Lauderdale, Florida

7.  Cape Coral, Florida

8.  Vallejo, California

9.  Las Vegas, Nevada

10. Sacramento, California

Even though foreclosure filings are down in the Los Angeles cheapest soma online area, the fact that 6 of the top 10 foreclosure cities in the country are in California, does not bode well for a turnaround any time soon in that state. The rapid escalation of prices in Fort Lauderdale, Cape Coral and Las Vegas during the mid-2000s explains their prominence on the list right now. 

The devastation that high foreclosure rates have on a community are very apparent every time I visit Cape Coral where every block has a house or two in foreclosure. Some neighborhoods have had to put up with half built abandoned buildings that serve as eyesores.  Prices of land have fallen by about 90%. Prices of homes have fallen by half or more.  There were signs earlier in the year that prices had fallen to the point were people were willing to buy again. Still, there is a common believe that even in this devastated market prices have not fallen as far as they must in order to attract people back to the community.

In my native Iowa there were 4,203 foreclosures posted in September 2008 for an annual total of 35,773. There were 56 foreclosure homes sold in Iowa in September for an annual total of 796.  The year to date average foreclosure sale price was $79,553.  Iowa has just started to see layoffs.  The floods last summer also affected businesses and people lost jobs and homes because of that.  My guess is a lot of the existing Foreclosures in Iowa are in communities that saw a lot of flood damage like Cedar Rapids, Palo and some neighborhoods in Des Moines. Many were too disheartened to try to clean up and salvage their homes and they picked up and left. Still, compared to the cities listed above, the cities in Iowa seem pretty insolated from the worst of the foreclosure news.

Liz Nichols

Technorati Tags: Foreclosure trends, Foreclosures in Iowa

I watched the Barbara Walters interview with Barack Obama Wednesday night.  He cheapest price viagra seems to be having a positive influence, so far, on the financial markets thanks to some astute selections for his financial team, and an advance look at the policies he wants to put in place soon after his is inaugurated.  I’m thankful for the strengthened market and hope that it continues to show some strength.

I’m thankful that the rate of foreclosures seems to have slowed in some of the states that have been hit hardest, and particularly in California.  But will this be permanent, or are we gearing up for another round because of the weakening economy?

I’m thankful that a number of financial institutions seem to be better prepared to negotiate with homeowners for a solution short of foreclosure.  In a recent news article, the head of lending for Wells Fargo said that a year ago only about 8% of homeowners were contacting lenders before default.  Now lenders are being proactive at contacting homeowners and offering options before things get too far out of control. It still takes work to outline the hardship and come up with the documentation that a bank needs to approve a workout plan or a short sale, but the willingness to listen is the first important step homeowners need.

These are all small steps in the right direction of what is still going to be a long haul.

Liz Nichols

Technorati Tags: Foreclosure help

According to news reports Congress is close to a $700 billion mortgage market bailout plan that will be ready to go to the floor of the House on Monday. It is a compromise measure that both political candidates appear willing to support, and it appears to have enough Congressional support to pass.

The first reports give these details. The plan tentatively includes:

1. A $250 billion initial authorization and $100 billion more that the President can spend if needed. An additional $350 billion will require more negotiation with Congress before it can be spent.

2. No golden parachutes for executives of companies that partake in bailout funds.

3. The government can choose to insure some of the bad mortgages rather than buy them.

4. The government can decide to accept stock warrants from beleagered banks who participate in bailout as a way of taking an equity stake in the eventual recovery.

5. Mortgage lenders will need to first try to negotiate with troubled homeowners to lower payments in lieu of foreclosure.

6.  In 5 years, if sale of the problem assets is not complete, the government will need to propose a new plan for disposal of the bad assets.

It appears that this plan has more oversight and equity-building options built in than the original Bush Administration plan. It seems to have bipartisan support now, including the support of the two presidential candidates.

How will it impact homeowners who are in foreclosure trouble?  Well, it appears that homeowners who have received the cold shoulder from their lenders in the past, will get a second opportunity from many of these lenders to discuss lower payments and other modifications that may make it easier to Avoid foreclosure and/or bankruptcy.

Perhaps the bailout will spell an end to the precipitous slide in housing prices that have ruined many local real estate markets because there will be fewer new foreclosures and less pressure to continually cut prices in order to sell. Banks may no longer have as much incentive to accept rock bottom short sale prices as they will have other options available for getting rid of bad property.

Certainly there will be pressure to increase taxes to pay for the bailout. But the negatives of higher taxes should be less onerous than the catastrophic results of a frozen economy that will make it impossible for many to borrow, drive many companies out of business, cost tens of thousands of jobs, and further fuel foreclosures.

I know that my good friend and real estate coach, Matt Gillogly, is in favor cheapest price levaquin of letting the chips fall where they may with the banking industry and, like most of the callers into Congressional offices this week, is opposed to the bailout.  For Matt’s viewpoint on the matter, see  his blog at Createtrueriches.com.  In theory, I agree, a bailout is a terrible idea.

However, these are terrible times, and there is historical precedent to show that a short term fix of this time can work to make a recession shorter and less painful.  That is a recipe that this economy needs right now.

Liz Nichols

ednenterprises (at) gmail.com

Technorati Tags: Foreclosure help, mortgage bailout plan

For many months now I’ve been monitoring the offerings at Clickbank, the world’s largest repository of downloadable books, to see if there was anything that would help the average homeowner. There was nothing–except for material on how to buy a foreclosure meant for investors. I decided to write the definitive guide to Foreclosure help for homeowners.

It’s called “Understanding Foreclosure,” and you can get the downloadable version instantly at:

http://www.understanding-foreclosure.com. This 60+ page guide helps homeowners who are in danger of losing their homes or investment properties an easy to read, step-by-step checklist of what to do to Avoid foreclosure, and what to do after it happens if the worst case scenario cannot be avoided.

There is good news on the horizon about shoring up Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, so banks may be even more willing to negotiate refinance and other workout terms. Now is a great time to get armed with the information you need to make the best choices for your future. This guide will help you make those choices in a logical, informed manner.

Just in the last few weeks a couple additional guides have come on the marketplace. The difference is, Understanding foreclosure is written by someone who has been in your shoes, if you are a homeowner who is hurting. In fact, we’re still not out of the woods. I got educated in order to save myself, and now I am trying to help others as well. My guide will lead you to other free and small fee sources that will help as well.

Get foreclosure help today at: cheapest price alli target=”_blank” title=”Understanding Foreclosure”>http://www.understanding-foreclosure.com.

Liz Nichols

support@understanding-foreclosure.com

http://www.understanding-foreclosure.com

Technorati Tags: Foreclosure help, foreclosure information, Understanding foreclosure

I was talking with our financial analyst the other day. His company, Ameriprise, has one of the more pessimistic forecasts out there on when the turnaround will happen.  They predict that we won’t be back cheapest online carisoprodol to the October 2007 stock market levels until January 2010, but that once we hit that mark, we’ll be on a new surge that will be long-term and rapid.  He admitted that the analysis came out before the Feds decided to take over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Some analysts feel that the improvement in the housing market will occur mid-year in 2009 following a couple quarters’ drop in the stock of housing on the market.  Hopefully, with Freddie and Fannie able to help more home owners in distress, we will see a quicker end to the slide in housing prices and the increase in days on market because there will be fewer emergency sales due to foreclosure.

Now, according to the latest AP news story, Senators Sherrod Brown of Ohio, Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, Bob Menendez of New Jersey and Charles Schumer of New York are urging James Lockhart of the Federal Housing Finance Agency to do everything in his power to put a 90 day freeze on foreclosure and to approve as many refinanced loans for people who are late with payments as possible.

The article goes on to say that these Senators encourage Freddie and Fannie to follow the example of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., that has worked with IndyMac and other banks to negotiate with homeowners in default to switch loans to a low fixed rate.

No one knows if these measures will have a bandaid effect, rather like the economic stimulus checks, or whether there will be genuine turn-around in the economic affairs of the country coming out of these measures to shore up our housing guarantee programs.

Let’s hope for the best, and for a turn-around that starts sooner rather than later!

Liz Nichols

support@foreclosurenewsblog.com

Technorati Tags: Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, government intervention for foreclosure

Ask them to give you detailed information of their strategy to find you the best deal. For instance, you have found a for sale by owner home that you are interested in buying. Do you move forward, or do you hire a real estate agent from real estate abbotsford? Pick a real estate agent to help you. Realtors are members of the national association of realtors and must follow a strict code of ethics or lose their license. The quickest method to determine your realtor’s listening skills is with a test. Sometimes if you are looking for listening skills you will know right away that a particular person does not get your idea well.

Anyhow, the test is to carefully identify a few specific items you find important in a home. Those might be a large master, quiet neighborhoods and a south facing view and so on. It doesn’t have to be a long list since just like the salesperson may be sorting customers; you should be sorting real estate agents concord. Give a list to a prospective real estate agents five dock. Have them email you four to five homes that may satisfy your requirements. If your prospective realtor has good listening skills the homes showed will meet your list of features.

Technorati Tags: best properities, buying