Archive for the ‘Finances’ Category
Monday, February 2nd, 2009
The biggest foreclosure advice that HUD and practically everybody gives is that you need to stay in contact with your lender. Avoiding your mortgage company when you can’t make your payments can speed up the foreclosure process. If you just need a little more time, talking to your lender will be the best way to get it and avoid foreclosure.
Below is the foreclosure process time line so that you know what to expect:
30 Days–1 Missed Payment. You’ll get a letter or phone call from your lender.
60 Days–2 Missed Payments. You’ll be contacted more frequently by your lender. It’s really important to find a way to make at least one mortgage payment so that you don’t fall three payments behind, which sets off more serious proceedings.
90 Days–3 Missed Payments. Typically, this is when you receive a “Demand Letter” or “Notice to Accelerate.” It will announce how much you’re delinquent and demand payment within 30 days.
120 Days–4 Missed Payments. HUD states that at the end of this period, you’ll be talking to the lender’s attorneys and will incur all attorney costs.
Sheriff’s or Public Trustee’s Sale. The time from the “Demand Letter” to this point can vary by state. The sale can be 2-3 months from that notice. The scheduling of the sale date is not a move-out date, and until it’s sold, you can still make arrangements with your lender.
Redemption Period. This option will depend on the type of foreclosure and the state in which you live. But there can be a redemption period after the sale to pay the outstanding mortgage and the foreclosure process costs so that you keep your home.
Once your home is sold, you will have to move out. Hopefully, it doesn’t come to that, but here are some resources for rentals and rental advice if you need them.
Tags: Add new tag, avoid foreclosure, demand letter, foreclosure, foreclosure advice, foreclosure process, foreclosure timeline, foreclosures, mortgage foreclosure, notice to accelerate
Posted in Finances, Housing, Lending, Renting | No Comments »
Monday, January 26th, 2009
The Housing and Urban Development Department (HUD) outlines three main types of foreclosures.
Judicial Foreclosure. This type of foreclosure is legal in all states, according to HUD. Some states may require this process. The lender files a suit in the legal system, and a letter demanding payment comes to the borrower via mail. If the borrower can’t pay within 30 days, then the local court or sheriff’s office sells the property to the highest bidder at an auction.
Power of Sale or Statutory Foreclosure. This comes into play in some states when a power of sale clause is included in the mortgage. After a homeowner has defaulted, the lender sends out a demand for payment letter, and if the payment is not made after a given waiting period, the mortgage company holds the auction. This can be a faster foreclosure process, although it still may be subject to judicial review.
Strict Foreclosure. In this last scenario, the lender files a lawsuit with the homeowner after the individual has defaulted. If payment is not made within a given time frame, then the property goes directly back to the mortgage holder. Only a few states allow this, and HUD states that “strict foreclosures take place only when the debt amount is greater than the value of the property.”
To find out which foreclosure scenarios may come into play for you, be sure to research the agreement that you signed with the lender as well as your state’s laws. Foreclosurelaw.org can help you find state specific laws.
HUD reminds you that you’ll have a very short time period to find a new place to live once your property is sold through an auction, so if foreclosure appears to be unavoidable, you may want to look into renting now before it hits.
Tags: foreclosure, foreclosure auction, foreclosures, homeowner, housing and urban development department, HUD, hud foreclosure, judicial foreclosure, power of sale, statutory foreclosure, strict foreclosure, type of foreclosure
Posted in Finances, Housing, Lending | No Comments »
Monday, January 19th, 2009
The Mercury News recently reported that California’s foreclosures in 2008 shattered the record set in 2007. California saw foreclosures jump 158% over the previous year with almost 250,000 foreclosures occurring. In 2007, there had been 97,000 foreclosures in California. Foreclosures in California represented about $108 billion in outstanding mortgages.
More California Foreclosures in 2009
California’s state government had enacted legislation (SB 1137) to require lenders to give 30 days’ notice to homeowners before beginning the foreclosure process. This had caused a dip in default notices being sent out, but unfortunately, December 2008 saw a big rebound in those numbers. It nearly doubled November default notice numbers by reaching 42,421notices sent out in California. Apparently this delaying maneuver to buy homeowners and the economy time looks to have failed.
Treading Water Not Possible for Many
Here’s how underwater some homeowners are now. According to the founder of ForeclosureRadar, Sean O’Toole, “the average foreclosed property has a market value $180,000 less than the homeowner’s mortgage balance.”
Part of the problem continues to be that with more foreclosures and auctions selling homes off at lower prices, the housing market continues to lose value and jeopardize other homeowners’ properties. However the continued decline in value may be very necessary as I mentioned in the Negative Equity post. Drops in value may well reach 30% before things settle down.
Check out our other posts if foreclosure is closing in on you or if you’re now looking for tips on getting back into the rental market.
Tags: california foreclosure, california foreclosures, default notices, foreclosed property, foreclosure process, foreclosures, foreclosures in California, homeowner's mortgage
Posted in California, Housing, Lending, States | No Comments »
Monday, January 5th, 2009
As of September 2008, 18% of homes have no equity or have negative equity, according to an article posted on RealtyTrac’s “Foreclosure Pulse.” Essentially, negative equity means that you owe more on your loan than your home is worth. This makes selling your house or refinancing extremely difficult. Quite simply, no one wants to pay you $400,000 for a home that’s now only valued at $300,000. Naturally, you want to be able to pay off your home loan, so you want to sell it for at least amount at which you originally financed it. The scenario leaves you quite stuck.
Unfortunately, a number of economists are predicting further home devaluation of at least 20%. Additionally, “Princeton economist and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman suggests a 30 percent decline is needed.”
So should you stick it out or is it time to cut your losses before foreclosure becomes imminent? Your financial goals and the area in which you live will all have their unique factors. One online tool that might help is the “Should I Pay or Should I Go” mortgage calculator. Obviously, the best advice you can get is from your lender, but this is a quick way to get a general idea of how your home is doing. If you do decide to sell, be sure to read our “4 Tips for Returning to Renting After Foreclosure,” and you can check out MyNewPlace.com to check out rental listings.
Tags: foreclosure, home, home loan, negative equity, refinancing
Posted in Debt, Finances, Housing, Lending | No Comments »
Monday, December 22nd, 2008
While November 2008 foreclosures were down 7% compared to October, they’re still 28% higher than November 2007. No doubt, you may be a little nervous if you own a home, and we’re not saying you shouldn’t be. However, there are other alternatives to foreclosure if you can’t pay your mortgage payments as they stand.
Here are five financial options to consider straight from Fannie Mae to help you find a solution.
“1 Repayment Plan–An arrangement by which a borrower agrees to make additional payments to pay down past due amounts while still making regularly scheduled payments.
2 Advance (HomeSaver AdvanceTM)–A monetary advance to cure a delinquent loan.
3 Modification–Any change to the terms of a mortgage loan, including changes to the interest rate, loan balance, or loan term.
4 Pre-foreclosure or Short-Sale–The process in which a servicer works with a delinquent borrower to sell the house by a REALTOR™ prior to the foreclosure sale.
5 Deed-in-Lieu–The transfer of title from a borrower to the lender to satisfy the mortgage debt and avoid foreclosure; also called a ‘voluntary conveyance.’”
If any of these options sound like possibilities for you, you should contact your lender to discuss them.
Tags: advance, fannie mae, foreclosure, foreclosure alternatives, foreclosure solution, foreclosure statistics, foreclosures, lender, loan modification, modification, pre-foreclosure, repayment plan, short sale
Posted in Finances, Lending, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Thursday, December 18th, 2008
Perhaps you’re nearing a foreclosure situation, and you don’t think that you can avoid this coming financial catastrophe. One of the procedures that’s become popular and has been getting support from the likes of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae is the short sale. In case this is a new term for you, the RealtyTimes defines a short sale as when:
“home owners who can’t afford their mortgages sell their houses at substantial discounts, often below what they owe on the loan.”
A short sale can also be called (more…)
Tags: Credit, credit score, lender, mortgage, pre-foreclosure, preforeclosure, protect your credit, real estate agent, seller, short sale
Posted in Credit, Finances, Lending | No Comments »
Tuesday, December 16th, 2008
A recent MarketWatch article reports that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is pressing for a stipulation requiring some of the approved financial bailout money to be allocated for preventing home foreclosures. She’s supporting Congressman Barney Frank, the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, who is working on a bill to require the Treasury to modify mortgages at risk for defaulting as part of receiving the next $350 billion of the bailout money approved on October 3rd.
(more…)
Tags: Congressman Barney Frank, fdic, foreclosure, foreclosure forbearance, home foreclosures, homeownership preservation foundation, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, mortgage, mortgage modification, mortgage modification program, pre-foreclosure, rental market
Posted in Finances, Housing, Lending | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, December 16th, 2008
The National Commission on Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity released a report on December 9th with their latest findings concerning lending and other practices. Co-chair on the commission, Henry Cisneros, maintains that “housing discrimination helped lead us to this foreclosure crisis.”
The “Future of Fair Housing” report found that there are over 4 million fair housing violations every year. (more…)
Tags: fair housing, fair housing and equality opportunity, foreclosure, Future of Fair Housing report, housing discrimination, HUD, National Commission on Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity, office of fair housing and equal opportunity, predatory lending
Posted in Finances, Housing, Lending | No Comments »
Tuesday, December 16th, 2008
In this post, we’re looking at a snapshot of the foreclosure situation in one of the key states in the nation: California. RealtyTrac.com recently released information on foreclosure trends, revealing that over 60,000 California homes entered the foreclosure process in November this year. This is an increase of about 6% in foreclosures compared to the previous month. When compared to November of last year,
(more…)
Tags: california, california foreclosures, california home foreclosure, california home foreclosures, california housing market, foreclosed home California, foreclosure process, housing market, San Diego rental market, San Francisco rental market, San Francisco vacancy rate
Posted in Headline, Housing, Lending, Renting | No Comments »
Monday, December 15th, 2008
If you’ve just lost your home to foreclosure, you probably don’t want to have anything to do with other debt collectors who may be knocking on your door. Unfortunately, you can’t get away from those financial obligations, but you can be aware of what your rights are in the matter. The Federal Trade Commission offers a lot of good information so that you can protect yourself. The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act outlines a number of guidelines for debt collectors. Some of the rules are as follows:
“Debt collectors may contact you only between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m.”
“Debt collectors may not contact you at work if they know your employer disapproves.”
“Debt collectors may not harass, oppress, or abuse you.”
“Debt collectors may not lie when collecting debts, such as falsely implying that you have committed a crime.”
“Debt collectors must identify themselves to you on the phone.”
“Debt collectors must stop contacting you if you ask them to do so in writing.”
This act covers debts held individually, by the family, or by the household. You can get more information about your rights on this “Facts for Consumers” link from the FTC. This can help empower you as you move on during this tough transitional time.
Tags: debt collectors, debtors, debts, fair debt collection practices act, federal trade commision, foreclosed home, foreclosure, ftc, home foreclosure
Posted in Debt, Featured, Finances, Transition | No Comments »
