Posts Tagged ‘Lenders’
US Treasury Forcing Mortgage Principal Forgiveness
Late Friday the U.S. Treasury Department announced a major expansion of its Home Affordable Modification Program. Now taxpayers will pony up the cash, as Treasury is tripling the financial incentives to lenders and opening the program up to Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and investors in rental properties.
US Treasury Forcing Mortgage Principal Forgiveness
Late Friday the U.S. Treasury Department announced a major expansion of its Home Affordable Modification Program. Now taxpayers will pony up the cash, as Treasury is tripling the financial incentives to lenders and opening the program up to Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and investors in rental properties.
Fannie Mae Offers Investors New Financing Option
Remember how we all blamed investor/flippers using faulty financing for the housing crash? You know, these are all the bad guys who ran up home prices to their own profit, with no concern for the inevitable fallout; they colluded with overzealous, borderline blind, lenders who gave anybody and everybody a loan with no attention paid to their ability to repay said loan.
Jumbo Loans and the Move-Up Market
Big lenders like Chase, Wells Fargo and PHH have increased their jumbo volumes by a lot in just the first six months of this year.
Iowa AG Tom Miller on New AGs and Robo-Investigation
Seventeen out of the fifty state attorneys general currently investigating the robo-signing foreclosure scandal at some of the nation's largest lenders will be out of a job in a few months.
Pros & Cons of the Foreclosure Freeze
Many states in America were struck when orders of foreclosure freeze were released. On Friday, Bank of America announced to the world about their plans of halting all foreclosure sales nationwide. This, according to many news websites is the aftermath of revelations by so-called "robo-signers.'' Many popular lending companies like JPMorgan Chase, PNC and GMAC have also suspended their foreclosure operations as well as Fannie Mae foreclosure sales. Together, these lenders own more than 3,000 properties for sale in Florida alone. So what will happen with this foreclosure freeze? Halting the foreclosure sales means the bank will continue to bear the costs of maintaining properties it has reclaimed, and won't be able to cash in on bank-owned sales, which move relatively quickly and often above asking prices. The already hurting housing market will most likely see a record setting low fourth quarter for sales since foreclosure sales make up more than 25% of the homes sold in Florida. When you look at it closely, the freeze could actually benefit both homeowners and the housing market. Homeowners facing foreclosure will have extra time to stay in their home while the effects of robo-signing are figured out and fixed. Prices might stabilize because so many homes are penned up. People trying to buy these foreclosed homes will have to wait out the freeze or find another home if they are in a rush to move in. Click here for a free Central Florida Real Estate Market report.
Title Insurers Pause in Robosigning Scandal
You wouldn't know it from the hit their stock took on Friday, but the top title insurer, Fidelity National Financial spacer claims it will not be hit by additional claims exposure thanks to the robosigning scandal at some of the nation's largest lenders.
GSEs eye standards shift for appraisals
Recently enacted Wall St. reforms require the Federal Housing Finance Agency, the regulator of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, to come up with appraisal standards to replace the Home Valuation Code of Conduct (HVCC) by Oct. 21. The law retains the basic intent of HVCC, which is for lenders to keep an arm’s length distance between them and the appraiser, and it continues to allow appraisal decisions to be left in the hands of appraisal management companies, if lenders so choose. But it attempts to prevent abuses by, among other things, blocking AMCs from negotiating fees with appraisers. Lenders and AMCs must pay appraisers at the market rate. Source: American Banker, Brian Collins
BEST EXIT STRATEGY: SHORT SALE
Economic problems in United States have forced many citizens to face financial dilemmas like making mortgage payments when cash is tight. When somebody undergoes mortgage problems, a solution to always consider is letting the house go into foreclosure. Unfortunately, this kind of strategy won't just leave the house owners homeless but also affects credit scores. For this reason, I believe foreclosure is not a good option since a foreclosure sticks on one's credit record for at least 4 years. I believe, most people are better off doing a short sale. In a short sale, the lender allows the property to be sold for less than the total amount due on the loan. First you should consult a real estate attorney to look over your mortgage note... in some cases, the lender forgives the remaining debt if the attorney finds discrepancies. If the lawyer is unable to find any discrepancies (which is the majority of the time) you then hire a real estate agent to find a buyer for the house, you sell the house for a loss, and with the bank’s blessing, they agree to eat the loss. When the housing market was booming and real estate values were appreciating in the near double digits, short selling was virtually unheard of. But with a slower market, more and more home owners are looking to this practice as a way to avoid foreclosure. The benefits of short selling over foreclosure are obvious. A foreclosure puts a long-lasting black mark on your credit history and the process can be long and costly. Short selling can be much faster and less expensive, and it doesn’t look as bad on your credit report as a foreclosure. Of course, the better option is to find some way to stay in the house—by first, seeing if the lender is willing to restructure the loan, or forgo a couple of monthly payments to help you get back on your feet. More and more lenders are willing to make accommodations to avoid taking the property back. Banks hate to take over homes, especially in a declining market, so you shouldn’t underestimate the willingness of a bank to make concessions.
NAR: Bill could speed up short sales
Homeowners underwater on their mortgage may find relief through a bill strongly supported by the National Association of Realtors®. The bill, if passed by Congress and signed by President Obama, would force lenders to respond to a short sale request within 45 days. The legislation, H.R. 6133, “Prompt Decision for Qualification of Short Sale Act of 2010,” was filed yesterday in Congress by U.S. Reps. Robert Andrews (D-N.J.) and Tom Rooney (R-Fla.). “The short sale, which requires lender approval, is an important instrument for homeowners who owe more than their home is worth,” says NAR President Vicki Cox Golder. “While the lending community has worked to improve the size and training of their short sales staffs, they still have a long way to go on improving response times. As the leading advocate for homeownership issues, NAR believes that quicker attention to the short sales process is vital to help homeowners … as well as the nation’s economy.” The number of potential short sale properties is rising across the country. According to NAR data, in the second quarter of 2010, four states have a significant share of properties with short-sale potential: Florida has 27 percent, Nevada 32 percent, California 28 percent, and Arizona 24 percent. “Unfortunately, homeowners who need to execute a short sale are severely hampered because lenders (loan servicers) are unable to decide whether to approve a short sale within a reasonable amount of time,” Golder said. “Potential homebuyers are walking away from purchasing short sale property because the lender has taken many months and still not responded to their request for an approval of a proposed short sale price. Many consumers have mentioned that the delay in short sale price approval exceeds 90 days, and in many cases never arrives.” Golder says she commends Reps. Andrews and Rooney for their efforts on the bill and urges Congress to pass the bill quickly. © 2010 Florida Realtors®
