Information and Expertise – Understanding the Process
In a major victory for REALTORS®, Governor Brown signed into law today a C.A.R.-sponsored bill, Senate Bill 458, prohibiting a deficiency after a short sale for one-to-four residential units, regardless of whether the lender is a senior or junior lienholder. Effective immediately for transactions closing escrow from this day forward, both senior and junior lienholders [...]
Daily Real Estate News | Thursday, March 15, 2012 As part of a settlement with state attorneys general, the five largest mortgage servicers are adopting new requirements for short sales, which is expected to speed-up what has been known as a lengthy process. Here are some of the new requirements for servicers under the settlement: [...]
LOS ANGELES (April 18) – The CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (C.A.R.) applauds yesterday’s announcement by the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) to streamline the short sale process to help more homeowners avoid foreclosure. The move calls for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to develop enhanced and aligned strategies for facilitating short sales, deeds-in-lieu, and deeds-for-lease. “C.A.R. [...]
Kathleen Pender Tuesday, May 1, 2012 Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have issued new guidelines designed to speed up short sales and make them more consistent, but real estate agents question whether they are achievable in the real world. In a short sale, a lender agrees to accept less than the amount owed on [...]
The offers seem like answers to the prayers of a struggling homeowner: A promise of legal tactics to forestall foreclosure, reduce mortgage balances and interest rates, or restore credit. But these so-called mass joinder lawsuits being advertising in mailings are fraudulent – sent out by companies purporting to be law firms, according to a consumer [...]
Borrowers considering inflating their income, even just a tad, checking the box to indicate they plan to live in the home when they’re not, or exaggerating their job description better think twice. Lenders are turning to websites and other tools to help nab fraudulent borrowers and perjurers looking to bilk lenders out of hundreds of [...]
May 18, 2012 | 0 comments | View Post
The offers seem like answers to the prayers of a struggling homeowner: A promise of legal tactics to forestall foreclosure, reduce mortgage balances and interest rates, or restore credit. But these so-called mass joinder lawsuits being advertising in mailings are fraudulent – sent out by companies purporting to be law firms, according to a consumer [...]
May 18, 2012 | 0 comments | View Post
Senators Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Scott Brown (R-Massachusetts), and Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) proposed the bill addressing the issue of short sales timelines on February 17. A short sale is a real estate transaction where the homeowner sells the property for less than the unpaid balance with the lender’s approval. “There are neighborhoods across the country full [...]
Feb 28, 2012 | 0 comments | View Post
A pilot program launched by Bank of America in Florida has drawn minimal interest from homeowners seeking short sales. The program pays up to $20,000 to homeowners who sell distressed properties in a short sale. However, as of late January, only 60 people have taken advantage of the program. Bank of America had targeted 20,000 [...]
Feb 03, 2012 | 0 comments | View Post
The Office of the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (SIGTARP) recently announced that it has shut down 85 alleged online mortgage modification scams that prey on vulnerable homeowners through Web banners and other Web advertisements. SIGTARP investigates mortgage modification schemes in which companies charge struggling homeowners a fee in exchange for [...]
Nov 24, 2011 | 0 comments | View Post
WASHINGTON, D.C. (November 17, 2011) — The seasonally adjusted delinquency rate for mortgage loans on one-to-four-unit residential properties fell to 7.99 percent in the third quarter of 2011, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) National Delinquency Survey. This is the lowest level recorded since the fourth quarter of 2008. The third [...]
Nov 24, 2011 | 0 comments | View Post
Foreclosure filings increased 7 percent compared with September, according to the latest report from RealtyTrac. Including notices of default, scheduled auctions, and bank repossessions – of which all increased month-over-month – filings were reported on 230,678 U.S. properties in October. Defaults in California, Florida, and Michigan all rose to their highest levels in at least [...]
Nov 18, 2011 | 0 comments | View Post
As another major victory for REALTORS®, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced today that it will generally not enforce the Mortgage Assistance Relief Services (MARS) Rule against real estate brokers and agents engaged in short sales. Real estate professionals must nevertheless comply with MARS prohibitions against misrepresentations and other laws prohibiting unfair and deceptive acts. [...]
Jul 18, 2011 | 0 comments | View Post
In a major victory for REALTORS®, and short sale sellers, Governor Brown signed into law today a C.A.R.-sponsored bill, Senate Bill 458, prohibiting a deficiency after a short sale for one-to-four residential units, regardless of whether the lender is a senior or junior lienholder. Effective immediately for transactions closing escrow from this day forward, both [...]
Jul 17, 2011 | 0 comments | View Post
The sheer volume of documents, price opinions, people involved, conflicting agendas and other considerations are daunting, and some agents say as few as 20 percent of short sales are successful on the first go-round. The pipeline is slowed by a still-high volume of short sales. The process of divesting yourself of a property this way [...]
May 25, 2011 | 0 comments | View Post
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