Rep. Jerry McNerney (D-Stockton) recently introduced a bill to speed up the short sale process by requiring subordinate mortgage lien holders to make a decision on a short sale within 45 days.
McNerney’s bill proposes that if the lender does not make a decision within the given time period, the short sale will be approved on the 46th day.
The bill, titled Fast Help For Homeowners (FHFH) Act, received strong support from the National Association of Realtors (NAR).
“Second mortgage lien holders frequently hold up and cancel the short sale transaction while trying to collect the largest possible payout in exchange for releasing the homeowner’s lien, even though the secondary lien holder often gets nothing if the home ends up going into foreclosure,” said NAR President Moe Veissi, in a statement. “While efforts have been made to improve primary lien holders’ response times, issues still abound with second and subsequent lien holders, and this legislation is a step in the right direction.”
The NAR also stated that its members continue to report delays in completing short sale transactions due to drawn out response times for whether or not an offer was accepted.
In a recent DS News interview with RealtyTrac VP Daren Blomquist, issues with second liens was also noted as problem for servicers when attempting to complete a short sale transaction.
The bill is cosponsored by Reps. Dennis Cardoza (D-California), Tom Rooney (R-Florida), George Miller (D-California), Jim Costa (D-California), Barbara Lee (D-California), and Richard Nugent (R-Florida).
Source: DSNews.com
Reported by Esther Cho
Monday, July 23, 2012
Saturday, July 14, 2012
Short Sale News: RealtyTrac: 2Q foreclosure activity rises as some states see reboot
Foreclosure starts in the second quarter saw a 9% increase from the first quarter and rose 6% from 2Q 2011, marking the first year-over-year increase in quarterly foreclosure starts since the fourth quarter of 2009, according to RealtyTrac's Midyear 2012 Foreclosure Market Report.
"Foreclosure starts began boiling over in more markets in the first half of the year, particularly in the second quarter, when rising foreclosure starts spread from primarily judicial foreclosure states in the first quarter to more than half of all nonjudicial foreclosure states in the second quarter," said Brandon Moore, CEO of RealtyTrac.
A total of 31 states posted year-over-year increases in foreclosure starts in the second quarter — 17 judicial foreclosure states and 14 nonjudicial foreclosure states.
In California, June also brought a 18% year-over-year increase in foreclosure starts, boosting the state's foreclosure rate to the highest nationwide for the month, marking the first time California's monthly foreclosure rate ranked No. 1 since RealtyTrac began reporting the numbers in 2005.
Nevada's foreclosure starts were up 61% from the first quarter to the second, indicating lenders are beginning to adjust to an October 2011 law that required additional documentation to initiate the foreclosure process.
The report shows a total of 1.05 million properties with foreclosure filings, including default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions, in the first half of the year, up 2% from the previous six months, down 11% from the first half of 2011.
Nevada, Arizona and Georgia came in the top spots for foreclosure filings for the first half of the year.
Despite Nevada's 61% year-over-year drop in foreclosure activity, the state still ranked No. 1 on the list with one in every 57 homes having a foreclosures filing compared to 1 in 126 nationally.
Arizona, which had the second highest foreclosure-filing rate, saw first-half filings decrease 37% from the same time last year, but one in 53 homes still had a foreclosure filing.
Coming in third, Georgia's foreclosure starts in the second quarter increased 5% from the first quarter and were up 23% from the year-ago quarter.
Nationwide, overall foreclosure activity decreased in June on a year-over-year basis for the 21st straight month, while foreclosure starts for the month increased annually for the second consecutive month.
Brandon Moore, CEO of RealtyTrac, said the additional scrutiny on how lenders and mortgage servicers process foreclosures along with additional measures by the federal government and several state governments to prevent foreclosures kept foreclosures down on a national scale, but several states still saw dramatic rises.
The first six months of 2012 saw a 2% increase in foreclosure from the last half of 2011, but filings were still down 11% from the same time period last year.
First-half foreclosure activity increased from a year ago in 20 states, including Indiana (32%), Pennsylvania (24%), South Carolina (23%), Connecticut (23%), Florida (23%) and Illinois (22%). But even with those dramatic increases, Nevada, Arizona and Georgia posted the top state foreclosure rates in the first half of the year.
Foreclosure completion time was up in the second quarter, increasing to 378 days from the initial foreclosure notice to the completed foreclosure, compared to the first quarter's 378 days. The number is a record high going back to the first quarter of 2007.
A few states with some of the longest foreclosure timelines, however, saw their average foreclosure time decrease. The average time to foreclosure in New York was down from 1,056 days in the first quarter to 1,001 days in the second quarter — a 5% drop — though the state still has the longest foreclosure timeline nationwide.
It was also down 3% in New Jersey, the state with the second longest timeline, and was down 1% in Pennsylvania, which has the seventh longest timeline.
"Lenders and servicers are slowly but surely catching up with the backlog of delinquent loans that under normal circumstances would have started the foreclosure process last year, and that catching up is why the average time to complete the foreclosure process started to level off or decrease in some states in the second quarter," Moore said.
"The increases in foreclosure starts in the first half of the year will likely translate into more short sales and bank repossessions in the second half of the year and into next year."
Source: Housingwire.com
Reported by Kerri Ann Panchuk
"Foreclosure starts began boiling over in more markets in the first half of the year, particularly in the second quarter, when rising foreclosure starts spread from primarily judicial foreclosure states in the first quarter to more than half of all nonjudicial foreclosure states in the second quarter," said Brandon Moore, CEO of RealtyTrac.
A total of 31 states posted year-over-year increases in foreclosure starts in the second quarter — 17 judicial foreclosure states and 14 nonjudicial foreclosure states.
In California, June also brought a 18% year-over-year increase in foreclosure starts, boosting the state's foreclosure rate to the highest nationwide for the month, marking the first time California's monthly foreclosure rate ranked No. 1 since RealtyTrac began reporting the numbers in 2005.
Nevada's foreclosure starts were up 61% from the first quarter to the second, indicating lenders are beginning to adjust to an October 2011 law that required additional documentation to initiate the foreclosure process.
The report shows a total of 1.05 million properties with foreclosure filings, including default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions, in the first half of the year, up 2% from the previous six months, down 11% from the first half of 2011.
Nevada, Arizona and Georgia came in the top spots for foreclosure filings for the first half of the year.
Despite Nevada's 61% year-over-year drop in foreclosure activity, the state still ranked No. 1 on the list with one in every 57 homes having a foreclosures filing compared to 1 in 126 nationally.
Arizona, which had the second highest foreclosure-filing rate, saw first-half filings decrease 37% from the same time last year, but one in 53 homes still had a foreclosure filing.
Coming in third, Georgia's foreclosure starts in the second quarter increased 5% from the first quarter and were up 23% from the year-ago quarter.
Nationwide, overall foreclosure activity decreased in June on a year-over-year basis for the 21st straight month, while foreclosure starts for the month increased annually for the second consecutive month.
Brandon Moore, CEO of RealtyTrac, said the additional scrutiny on how lenders and mortgage servicers process foreclosures along with additional measures by the federal government and several state governments to prevent foreclosures kept foreclosures down on a national scale, but several states still saw dramatic rises.
The first six months of 2012 saw a 2% increase in foreclosure from the last half of 2011, but filings were still down 11% from the same time period last year.
First-half foreclosure activity increased from a year ago in 20 states, including Indiana (32%), Pennsylvania (24%), South Carolina (23%), Connecticut (23%), Florida (23%) and Illinois (22%). But even with those dramatic increases, Nevada, Arizona and Georgia posted the top state foreclosure rates in the first half of the year.
Foreclosure completion time was up in the second quarter, increasing to 378 days from the initial foreclosure notice to the completed foreclosure, compared to the first quarter's 378 days. The number is a record high going back to the first quarter of 2007.
A few states with some of the longest foreclosure timelines, however, saw their average foreclosure time decrease. The average time to foreclosure in New York was down from 1,056 days in the first quarter to 1,001 days in the second quarter — a 5% drop — though the state still has the longest foreclosure timeline nationwide.
It was also down 3% in New Jersey, the state with the second longest timeline, and was down 1% in Pennsylvania, which has the seventh longest timeline.
"Lenders and servicers are slowly but surely catching up with the backlog of delinquent loans that under normal circumstances would have started the foreclosure process last year, and that catching up is why the average time to complete the foreclosure process started to level off or decrease in some states in the second quarter," Moore said.
"The increases in foreclosure starts in the first half of the year will likely translate into more short sales and bank repossessions in the second half of the year and into next year."
Source: Housingwire.com
Reported by Kerri Ann Panchuk
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Short Sale News: HOPE NOW Reports 38,000 Short Sales in May
HOPE NOW released its May loan modification data Monday, revealing that the month saw nearly 38,000 completed short sales.
The May short sale total brings the organization’s overall total (since December 2009) to nearly 906,000. Executive director Faith Schwartz said that short sales have contributed greatly to HOPE NOW’s foreclosure prevention efforts.
“We have been tracking short sales for almost two years, and we now have meaningful data that shows the impact of short sales on the housing market,” said Faith Schwartz, executive director of HOPE NOW. “Since 2007, the industry has completed 6.43 million permanent solutions, which includes short sales and loan modifications. This figure compares to 4.5 million foreclosure sales in the same period of time-and shows that real progress has been made by the industry, non-profits, and government on behalf of at-risk homeowners since the housing crisis began.”
In addition, HOPE NOW reported that an estimated 63,000 homeowners received permanent, affordable loan modifications during the month, 17,590 of which were completed under HAMP. Approximately 45,000 loan modifications were completed via proprietary programs.
An estimated 81 percent of all proprietary modifications were mods with reduced principal and interest payments-73 percent of proprietary modifications reduced principal and interest payments by 10 percent or more. Fixed-rate modifications accounted for 90 percent of all proprietary modifications.
May saw increases in both foreclosure starts and sales compared to April’s data. Foreclosure starts were up 15 percent to 204,000 in May (compared to 177,000 in April), and completed foreclosure sales were up 9 percent to 65,000 (from 60,000 in April).
Delinquencies of 60 days or more remained relatively flat at 2.53 million (from April’s 2.52 million).
HOPE NOW’s release reaffirmed the organization’s focus on aggressive borrower outreach and noted its commitment to maintaining a high profile at outreach events, including several at military bases in the second half of the year.
“Foreclosures still have a negative impact on communities across the country, and our highest priority remains proper education and implementation of alternatives to foreclosure,” said Schwartz.
The May short sale total brings the organization’s overall total (since December 2009) to nearly 906,000. Executive director Faith Schwartz said that short sales have contributed greatly to HOPE NOW’s foreclosure prevention efforts.
“We have been tracking short sales for almost two years, and we now have meaningful data that shows the impact of short sales on the housing market,” said Faith Schwartz, executive director of HOPE NOW. “Since 2007, the industry has completed 6.43 million permanent solutions, which includes short sales and loan modifications. This figure compares to 4.5 million foreclosure sales in the same period of time-and shows that real progress has been made by the industry, non-profits, and government on behalf of at-risk homeowners since the housing crisis began.”
In addition, HOPE NOW reported that an estimated 63,000 homeowners received permanent, affordable loan modifications during the month, 17,590 of which were completed under HAMP. Approximately 45,000 loan modifications were completed via proprietary programs.
An estimated 81 percent of all proprietary modifications were mods with reduced principal and interest payments-73 percent of proprietary modifications reduced principal and interest payments by 10 percent or more. Fixed-rate modifications accounted for 90 percent of all proprietary modifications.
May saw increases in both foreclosure starts and sales compared to April’s data. Foreclosure starts were up 15 percent to 204,000 in May (compared to 177,000 in April), and completed foreclosure sales were up 9 percent to 65,000 (from 60,000 in April).
Delinquencies of 60 days or more remained relatively flat at 2.53 million (from April’s 2.52 million).
HOPE NOW’s release reaffirmed the organization’s focus on aggressive borrower outreach and noted its commitment to maintaining a high profile at outreach events, including several at military bases in the second half of the year.
“Foreclosures still have a negative impact on communities across the country, and our highest priority remains proper education and implementation of alternatives to foreclosure,” said Schwartz.
Saturday, July 7, 2012
Short Sale News: California Homeowner Bill of Rights passes, sent to governor
Two central provisions of the California Homeowner Bill of Rights passed the California State Legislature Monday.
The bills will travel to Gov. Jerry Brown’s desk, where other provisions of the bill also await approval. Brown has not indicated whether he will sign or veto the legislation.
The Assembly, by a vote of 53 to 25, and Senate, 24 to 13, approved the Foreclosure Reduction Act, which restricts the process of dual-tracked foreclosures and the Due Process Rights Act, which guarantees a single point of contact for struggling homeowners to discuss their loan. The latter also imposes civil penalties on the practice of fraudulently signing foreclosure documents without verifying their accuracy.
The Foreclosure Reduction Act bars lenders from filing notices of default, notices of sale, or conducting trustees’ sales while also considering alternatives to foreclosures like loan modifications or short sales.
“These common-sense reforms will require banks to treat California homeowners more fairly and bring more transparency and accountability to their practices in our state,” said California Attorney General Kamala Harris. “Responsible homeowners will have a better shot to keep their homes.”
The bills' passage comes the day after the release of a study authored by research and consulting firm Beacon Economics on behalf of industry groups, concluding that if the Homeowner Bill of Rights were signed into law it would ultimately harm the vast majority of California homeowners.
The bills impose stricter rules on mortgage servicers seeking to nonjudicially foreclose on homes with mortgages in default and expose mortgage servicers to substantial new legal liability, according to Beacon.
Beacon argues the bills could add to the financial burden of distressed homeowners.
“The nonjudicial foreclosure process is more efficient compared to the judicial foreclosure process, and it comes with an important caveat," the study notes. "When using nonjudicial foreclosure, lenders … cannot seek compensation for their mortgage losses out of the borrower’s other assets. If the nonjudicial route is lengthened and made more costly, many lenders may decide to pursue a judicial foreclosure ... and thus pursue remedies like deficiency judgments, ultimately costing the borrower more in the long run,” the study said.
Calling the bills “monumental,” State Sen. Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, said people came together from different points of views over the course of 20 hours.
“This is how the process should work,” Steinberg said. “We achieved a middle ground. Let this be the first of a number of things we get done this week.”
Source: housingwire.com
Reported by Justin T. Hilley
The bills will travel to Gov. Jerry Brown’s desk, where other provisions of the bill also await approval. Brown has not indicated whether he will sign or veto the legislation.
The Assembly, by a vote of 53 to 25, and Senate, 24 to 13, approved the Foreclosure Reduction Act, which restricts the process of dual-tracked foreclosures and the Due Process Rights Act, which guarantees a single point of contact for struggling homeowners to discuss their loan. The latter also imposes civil penalties on the practice of fraudulently signing foreclosure documents without verifying their accuracy.
The Foreclosure Reduction Act bars lenders from filing notices of default, notices of sale, or conducting trustees’ sales while also considering alternatives to foreclosures like loan modifications or short sales.
“These common-sense reforms will require banks to treat California homeowners more fairly and bring more transparency and accountability to their practices in our state,” said California Attorney General Kamala Harris. “Responsible homeowners will have a better shot to keep their homes.”
The bills' passage comes the day after the release of a study authored by research and consulting firm Beacon Economics on behalf of industry groups, concluding that if the Homeowner Bill of Rights were signed into law it would ultimately harm the vast majority of California homeowners.
The bills impose stricter rules on mortgage servicers seeking to nonjudicially foreclose on homes with mortgages in default and expose mortgage servicers to substantial new legal liability, according to Beacon.
Beacon argues the bills could add to the financial burden of distressed homeowners.
“The nonjudicial foreclosure process is more efficient compared to the judicial foreclosure process, and it comes with an important caveat," the study notes. "When using nonjudicial foreclosure, lenders … cannot seek compensation for their mortgage losses out of the borrower’s other assets. If the nonjudicial route is lengthened and made more costly, many lenders may decide to pursue a judicial foreclosure ... and thus pursue remedies like deficiency judgments, ultimately costing the borrower more in the long run,” the study said.
Calling the bills “monumental,” State Sen. Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, said people came together from different points of views over the course of 20 hours.
“This is how the process should work,” Steinberg said. “We achieved a middle ground. Let this be the first of a number of things we get done this week.”
Source: housingwire.com
Reported by Justin T. Hilley
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