KEEP YOU HOME CALIFORNIA: WHO IS ELIGIBLE
KEEP YOUR HOME CALIFORNIA PROGRAM: Who Is Eligible
The “Keep Your Home California” program is a $ 1.83 billion-with a B-program designed to help low to moderate income California homeowners to keep their homes. They have a target of an estimated 100,000 California homeowners. A key requirement to qualify for the program is that the homeowner must have endured a verifiable loss of income.
Who is Eligible?
- The program is being administered by CalHFA (California Housing Finance Agency). They also back loans to qualified borrowers. A borrower does NOT have to be a CalHFA borrower to qualify.
- The borrower MUST own and occupy the home as their primary residence
- The borrower must meet the low to moderate income limits. The limits are set by county. The limits are fairly liberal. In El Dorado, Sacramento and Placer counties a family of two may not have a combined income over $ 70,150 per year. $ 78,950 for a three person family.
- The borrower must complete and sign a hardship affidavit and document the reason for their hardship. Losses of employment, reduction of income, disability or illness are all acceptable for this program. Supporting documents may NOT be more than 60 days old.
- The borrower must have sufficient income to sustain the modified mortgage payments, according to lender guidelines.
- The borrower must be able to meet the CalHFA guidelines
- The borrower’s mortgage must be delinquent or the servicer must have received documentation from the borrower that substantiates an imminent default that meets the hardship qualifications.
- Borrowers who have recently encountered a financial hardship due to their military service are presumed eligible on the condition that their servicer has received a financial hardship statement provided by the borrower.
General Property Eligibility Requirements
- The mortgage involved must be a first lien. Second mortgages are not part of the program.
- The total original mortgage can not exceed $ 729,750
- The property must not be abandoned, vacant, condemned or in a serious state of disrepair.
- The property must be owner-occupied, the borrower’s principal residence and located in California.
For more information about the “Keep Your Home California” program go to http://www.KeepYourHomeCalifornia.org .
If you are in need of assistance in avoiding or stopping foreclosure contact Mike West at (916) 337-0658 for a no cost consultation.
KEEP YOUR HOME CALIFORNIA PROGRAM
KEEP YOUR HOME CALIFORNIA PROGRAM
The California Housing Finance Agency (CalHFA) reported this week that its “Keep Your Home California” program implementation will be delayed. They report logistical problems have delayed the original November 1st start date.
The “Keep Your Home California” program is a $ 1.83 billion-with a B-program designed to help low to moderate income California homeowners to keep their homes. They have a target of an estimated 100,000 California homeowners. A key requirement to qualify for the program is that the homeowner must have endured a verifiable loss of income.
There are two primary forms of aid. The first is $ 875 million earmarked for unemployed Californians. The program plans to help them make up the shortfall in their mortgage payments. The second is $ 790 million earmarked to directly reduce mortgage loan balances for qualified Californians.
A major reason for the delay in implementation is that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac instructed their loan servicers to participate in this program. These two quasi government agencies handle the vast majority of mortgages sold on the secondary market and the volume has overloaded the CalHFA staff.
Although the program has been delayed for several weeks, homeowners struggling to make their mortgage payments are encouraged to contact their loan servicer or lender and advise that they wish to be considered for the program. DO NOT WAIT! These programs tend to run out of funds quickly.
For more information about the “Keep Your Home California” program go 
tohttp://www.KeepYourHomeCalifornia.org .
Stay tuned for more information.
If you are in need of assistance in avoiding or stopping foreclosure contact
Mike West at (916) 337-0658 for a no cost consultation.
FORECLOSURE FREEZE: UPDATE
The Foreclosure Freeze: Update
The foreclosure freeze continues be a hot topic in the media. With hundreds of thousands of homeowners in some level of distress with their mortgages it continues to be an item of interest.
John Stumpf, Chairman and CEO of Wells Fargo, announced that Wells Fargo has no plans to freeze foreclosures today or in the future. He advised that Wells Fargo procedures have always been through and in full accordance with the law.
Apparently, not all mortgage lenders have had the same level of confidence in their procedures. “Robo-signing” of foreclosure files seems to have been a standard practice with many. However, most have gone back and reviewed suspect files and the moratorium is over for a majority of lenders.
One new development has resulted from the recent scandal, New York has become the first state to pass legislation requiring attorneys handling residential foreclosures for these lenders to sign an affidavit that they took “reasonable” steps to review and verify the accuracy of the foreclosures files.
Other states are almost certain to follow. The New York Court of Appeals estimates that there are 80,000 foreclosures actions pending in the state’s courts.
The “robo-signing” scandal is focused on 23 states where judicial foreclosures are the norm. California I not one of those states.
If you have questions or want to discuss a specific situation, feel free to call for a no cost consultation. We are here to help by stopping foreclosure one home at a time. Call (916) 337-0658 TODAY.
El Dorado Hills, Folsom, Cameron Park, Shingle Springs, Placerville, Sacramento, it makes no difference; $ 100,000 homes and million dollar homes; banks are still foreclosing and distressed homeowners need assistance.
THE FORECLOSURE FREEZE AND WHAT IT MEANS!
The Foreclosure Freeze And What It Means
Most of us are is aware of the foreclosure freeze that has been all over the media in recent weeks. In essence, GMAC mortgage had a process in place to maximize the efficiency of their foreclosure handling process. That process had one employee in place to sign 400 foreclosures a day (good old American knowhow and efficiency) that had not been reviewed by anyone at that institution. GMAC, the nation’s fourth-largest mortgage lender, called this little omission a technicality! Fortunately, the courts forced them to halt all foreclosures in 23 states (California not included).
It turns out that Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase and other lenders were following similar practices, known as the 
use of “robo-signers.” They were processing delinquent loan files and no one in management was reviewing the files for errors. They were efficiently throwing delinquent borrowers out of their homes without reviewing the conditions of each transaction. They were not even following the law in many of the states in which they were operating. What supreme arrogance!
As a result of the actions started in Maine last month GMAC Mortgage was forced to stop all foreclosures and go back and review each file for the 23 states involved. Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase and many other lenders followed suit, in fact Bank Of America also stopped foreclosures in California.
Today Ally Financial (GMAC’s mortgage unit) and Bank Of America are now proceeding with the foreclosure process. You can guess how much scrutiny these files have received.
Unfortunately, far too many paid attention to the media storm, distressed homeowners/borrowers pinning their hopes on a moratorium, prospective buyers halting their buying plans until they could determine where all of this activity would lead. This was also an opportunity for pre-election posturing for incumbent candidates and want-to-be candidates as well.
In the end, it turned out to be a lot of noise over little. The foreclosures continue, the lenders may have changed their processes slightly, but distressed home owners are still losing their homes.
There is some positive action in this arena. The lenders are becoming more agreeable to allowing distressed borrowers to get approvals on their short sales and thus avoiding the blight of a foreclosure on their credit record. Some lenders have streamlined their processes so that short sales do not take as long. However, one factor remains constant. Distressed homeowners should engage the services of a Realtor who specializes in helping homeowners avoid foreclosure in the early stages of their foreclosure process. They need help in navigating the treacherous waters of a pending foreclosure. There are solutions available to most and the earlier one starts the more options they have.
If you have questions or want to discuss a specific situation, feel free to call for a no cost consultation. We are here 
to help by stopping foreclosure one home at a time. Call (916) 337-0658 TODAY.
El Dorado Hills, Folsom, Cameron Park, Shingle Springs, Placerville, Sacramento, it makes no difference; $ 100,000 homes and million dollar homes; banks are still foreclosing and distressed homeowners need assistance.
9 DEADLY MISTAKES HOME SELLERS MAKE – #7
DEADLY MISTAKES HOME SELLERS MAKE – #7
Selling the most expensive asset that most families own is serious business, not something to be taken lightly. It can be a highly stressful process and costly mistakes are easy to make. In order to net the most from the sale it takes careful planning and some work on the seller’s part.
Based on our years of first-hand experience, we have compiled a list of the 9 Deadly Mistakes Home Sellers Make to help home sellers avoid them. As the old proverb says, “forewarned is forearmed.”
A copy of the list is available at no charge to anyone who requests one by e-mail. Send your request to: Mike@SellYourVilla.com
DEADLY MISTAKE #7 –
Not knowing how to price your home to sell.
For most homeowners, this is probably the most difficult part of the selling process. The key to selling a home, or anything else, is to price it properly. Any home, even one in terrible condition, will sell if a buyer perceives that there is value in the price that they are paying. This is one of several areas where the assistance of a skilled Realtor can pay dividends.
One thing to keep in mind is that a raising, or falling, tide floats all boats. It makes little difference at which stage the market is when you make a decision to sell. If you have to take a hit on price when you sell the seller of the home 
that you intend to buy will have to take that same hit. If you rake in a nice profit when you sell your home, you are going to have to pay a high price on the home that you buy.
Over the past few years market prices have declined. It is difficult for many homeowners to accept the drop in the actual market value of their home. Too may have their hearts and minds tied up in 2005 pricing (the height of the market). Sellers frequently do not take the time to look at their competition when considering pricing their home. They do not look at it from the buyer’s side. Most buyers look at anywhere from five to fifty homes before they find the one they want. Before they make that offer, they have a good idea what the market values are. Their agent will do a market analysis for them before they make a decision, making them even better prepared. If your asking price is too high they won’t bother making an offer because they will be confident that you are not in tune with current market prices and will not be willing to negotiate.
Some sellers want to start high, thinking that they can always drop their price if they don’t get any offers. This is flawed thinking. The will have lost many opportunities because buyers will pass their home up in favor of well priced homes. Once your listing becomes “stale,” buyer interest wanes. Price reductions, chasing the market down usually end up with a no sale situation.
Pricing a home too low is also a bad idea, unless you can create a buyer bidding situation in which the winning bed is well above your original asking price. This is difficult to accomplish and usually works out very well for the seller when it happens. The danger is that if the final offer price is too high the home will not appraise and the buyer will not be able to get financing to complete the purchase. Lenders are VERY CAUTIOUS right now and many deals fall apart because of the appraisal.
When prices are raising or falling quickly pricing becomes more difficult. You have to depend even more on your Realtor to get the pricing right.
It makes no difference if you are in El Dorado Hills, Folsom, Cameron Park or any other city or town in California, or in any other state. The same rules apply. If you are considering selling, contact your Realtor today!
If you have any questions or want to put your home on the market call today: (916) 337-0658. You will get a no-cost market evaluation and suggestions on how best to maximize your selling net!
