FORECLOSURE REVIEW STARTED YESTERDAY
FORECLOSURE REVIEW STARTED YESTERDAY
We recently published a post about the government foreclosure review. That review started yesterday. The important thing to remember is that there is a deadline of April 30, 2012, for review requests.
Distressed homeowners who went through foreclosure in 2009 or 2010 may be affected. There are 14 loan servicers, listed on the Office of the Controller of the Currency web site, who may not have followed proper legal procedures during the foreclosure process.
The loan servicers involved for this program include:
- America’s Servicing Co.
- Aurora Loan Services
- BAC Home Loans Servicing
- Bank of America
- Beneficial
- Chase
- Citibank
- CitiFinancial
- CitiMortgage
- Countrywide
- EMC
- EverBank/EverHome Mortgage Company
- Financial Freedom
- GMAC Mortgage
- HFC
- HSBC
- IndyMac Mortgage Services
- MetLife Bank
- National City Mortgage
- PNC Mortgage
- Sovereign Bank
- SunTrust Mortgage
- U.S. Bank
- Wachovia Mortgage
- Washington Mutual (WaMu)
- Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.
- Wilshire Credit Corporation
If you, or someone you know, lost your home to foreclosure during the specified period and one of the 14 loan servicers completed that foreclosure, you may have some money coming.
You may request an independent audit of your foreclosure at no cost to you.
If the independent audit determines that the foreclosure caused you financial harm due to loan servicer error, the government will order remediation (you get money back).
The important thing to remember is that a request for an independent audit DEADLINE IS APRIL 30, 2012. The will not consider requests post marked after that date valid for this program.
We ask that you pass this information on to anyone you know who may have been harmed. It is about time the little guy wins a round!
Select this link to review the full article and links for additional information:
http://www.occ.gov/news-issuances/news-releases/2011/nr-occ-2011-133.html
HOUSING CRISIS TO END IN 2012
HOUSING CRISIS TO END IN 2012
D.S.News.com reports that Capital Economics experts predict that the housing crisis will end this year. The primary reason is that banks are loosening credit standards. You no longer have to be Donald Trump to buy a basic home!
Five years ago buyers could qualify for a loan when their FICO credit score was in the mid to low 500s. (Fair Isacc Corporation developed a formula to apply to an individuals credit history which predicts the likelihood of a that borrower being 90 days late on their mortgage payment. The scores range from 300 to 850) The factors considered are: 1) payment history, 2) credit history length, 3) Recent searches of their credit record, 4) Other factors, such as types of credit used, recent improvements or declines, court or tax liens…) It now takes a FICO score of 700 to qualify for a mortgage loan.
During the housing spike, one could obtain a loan for 100% of the purchase price. In the past year, few borrowers could get a loan for more than 75% of that purchase price. Lenders have recently loosened that requirement and most are back to a loan of 80% of the purchase price if other factors pass muster.
Lenders are also now lending amounts of up to 3.5 times a borrower’s annual income, up from 3.2 times in recent years.
The days of 100% financing and “liars loans” are long gone. Borrowers still have to meet stringent standards to qualify for financing. The good news is that lenders are loosening up on most of those standards a little bit at a time.
The lenders are being very cautious, however, they have new loans to stay in business, so the market is slowly righting itself.
Select this link for the full DS News story:
If you have questions about obtaining a loan, feel free to call or text (916) 337-0658 or e-mail Mike@BuyYourVilla.com .
THIS MONTH IN REAL ESTATE – December 2011
THIS MONTH IN REAL ESTATE – December 2011
This is one in a series of brief videos designed to provide buyers and sellers information about the sale and purchase of real estate. The data provided helps people better understand the market place and the process of buying or selling. The tips are offered so that you can leverage your position in that purchase process. Knowledge is power, or at least a tool with which to increase your chances of success.
If you are thinking of buying or selling in our area, we will be happy to assist. Just call (916) 337-0658, text or e-mail us at Mike@BuyYourVilla.com.
EL DORADO HILLS HOME SALES DATA
EL DORADO HILLS HOME SALES DATA
El Dorado Hills is a beautiful area, an ideal location to raise a family and meet life’s challenges. Since El Dorado Hills is a bedroom community, there are many fine homes from which to choose at any given time.
A prudent buyer will investigate an area before they decide if it is right for them. They will also learn as much as they can about the local real estate market. The purpose of this post is to provide home sales data for single-family homes in El Dorado Hills.
Contrary to all of the media hype about the “national” real estate market, real estate markets are local and one can be very different from another.
For those of you who remember your Economics 101 class, the laws of supply and demand still apply, especially in the real estate market. One of the statistics Realtors® monitor carefully is supply, or the inventory of homes available on the market.
Pundits consider a six-month supply to be a neutral market. An inventory of less than six-months is a seller’s market and an inventory of more than six-months is a buyer’s market.
The graph below provides the inventory data for El Dorado Hills for the past 15-months. You can see that there were two months in which the inventory level exceeded a six-month supply, both at the beginning of last year. Homeowners are reluctant to put their homes on the market when sales prices are low.
The second graph lists the actual price per square foot that single-family homes sold for in each of the past 15-months. This is an important statistic to Realtors®, one used to determine to value of any specific property.
Naturally, there are fluctuations but there is no measurable trend. We submit that the price point is bumping along at the bottom of the market.
We can provide this data for any town in our seven county areas. If you have an interest in a specific home, we will be happy to help you determine a value and assist you in getting the best possible deal. Call (916) 337-0658 or e-mail Mike@BuyYourVilla.com
REMEDY FOR SOME FORECLOSURE VICTIMS!
REMEDY FOR SOME FORECLOSURE VICTIMS!
If you lost your home through foreclosure in 2009 or 2010 there may be a remedy waiting
for you. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has ordered an independent review of foreclosures processed by GMAC Mortgage, HSBC Finance Corp., Sun Trust Mortgage and EMC Mortgage.
If one of these loan servicers processed your foreclosure, and you believe that you were financially harmed during their foreclosure process, you may have some cash coming!
The government has determined that there may have been flaws in the foreclosure processing in some cases. Homeowners/borrowers who feel that they were financially harmed may request an independent review. If errors are found, the servicer will be required to compensate the borrowers for that financial injury.
Borrowers are eligible if:
- The home lost in foreclosure was the borrower’s primary residence
- The loan was at any step of the foreclosure process between January 1, 2009 and December 31, 2010
- The loan was serviced by one of the organizations listed above
- The request for a review must be received by the independent reviewing authority by April 20, 1012.
The review process is a free program, so there will be no charge to borrowers.
For more information, select this link:
http://www.federalreserve.gov/consumerinfo/independent-foreclosure-review.htm