Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Monday, August 27, 2012
Video Blog: Short Sale/Foreclosure Tax Exemption Set to Expire in 2012
San Diego Realtor Mark Kunce talks about Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act.
The Mortgage Debt Relief Act of 2007 generally allows taxpayers to exclude income from the discharge of debt on their principal residence.
Fore more information, visit http://www.sdmyhome.com
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
Short Sale News: New Short Sale Guidelines for GSEs Will Make Process Easier
Starting November
1, 2012, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will implement new short sale guidelines to make the approval process
easier for eligible borrowers.
“These new guidelines demonstrate FHFA’s and Fannie Mae’s and Freddie Mac’s commitment to enhancing and streamlining processes to avoid foreclosure and stabilize communities,” said
FHFA Acting Director Edward J. DeMarco in a statement. “The new standard short sale program will also provide relief to those underwater borrowers who need to relocate more than 50 miles for a job.”
The changes are part of the FHFA’s Servicing Alignment Initiative and will require a streamlined approach with documents, leading to a reduction in documentation requirements. For example, borrowers who are 90 days or more delinquent and have a credit score lower than 620 will no longer be required to provide documentation for their hardship.
The GSEs will also waive their right to pursue deficiency judgments. Borrowers with sufficient income or assets can make cash contributions or sign promissory notes instead.One major barrier that is also being addressed is the issue with second lien holders. To prevent second lien holders from stalling the short sale process, the GSEs will offer up to $6,000.
The new guidelines will also enable servicers to approve a short sale for borrowers who are not in default but face certain hardships including the death of a borrower or co-borrower, divorce or legal separation, illness or disability or a distant employment transfer.
In addition, all servicers will have the authority to approve and complete short sales that follow the requirements without first going to the GSEs for approval.
Provisions were also created for military personnel with Permanent Change of Station (PCS) orders. Servicemembers who are required to relocate will automatically be eligible for for short sales even if they are current. They also won’t be obligated to contribute funds to pay for the remaining deficiency.
“Short sales have become an increasingly important tool in preventing foreclosures and stabilizing communities,” said Leslie Peeler, SVP, National Servicing Organization, Fannie Mae. “We want to help as many homeowners avoid foreclosure as possible. It is vital that servicers, junior lien holders and mortgage insurers step up to the plate with us.”
Tracy Mooney, SVP of Single-Family Servicing and REO at Freddie Mac, said, “These changes will make it clear that Freddie Mac servicers have the authority to approve short sales for more borrowers facing the most frequently seen hardships. These changes will further empower the industry to minimize foreclosures and help Freddie Mac in its mission to minimize credit losses and fortify a national housing recovery.”
Fannie Mae will send the announcement for the new changes to servicers Wednesday. Freddie Mac sent their announcement Tuesday.
In April, the GSEs also announced they were setting requirements to have a decision on a short sale offer made within 30-60 days.
Source: DSnews.com
Reported by Esther Cho
“These new guidelines demonstrate FHFA’s and Fannie Mae’s and Freddie Mac’s commitment to enhancing and streamlining processes to avoid foreclosure and stabilize communities,” said
FHFA Acting Director Edward J. DeMarco in a statement. “The new standard short sale program will also provide relief to those underwater borrowers who need to relocate more than 50 miles for a job.”
The changes are part of the FHFA’s Servicing Alignment Initiative and will require a streamlined approach with documents, leading to a reduction in documentation requirements. For example, borrowers who are 90 days or more delinquent and have a credit score lower than 620 will no longer be required to provide documentation for their hardship.
The GSEs will also waive their right to pursue deficiency judgments. Borrowers with sufficient income or assets can make cash contributions or sign promissory notes instead.One major barrier that is also being addressed is the issue with second lien holders. To prevent second lien holders from stalling the short sale process, the GSEs will offer up to $6,000.
The new guidelines will also enable servicers to approve a short sale for borrowers who are not in default but face certain hardships including the death of a borrower or co-borrower, divorce or legal separation, illness or disability or a distant employment transfer.
In addition, all servicers will have the authority to approve and complete short sales that follow the requirements without first going to the GSEs for approval.
Provisions were also created for military personnel with Permanent Change of Station (PCS) orders. Servicemembers who are required to relocate will automatically be eligible for for short sales even if they are current. They also won’t be obligated to contribute funds to pay for the remaining deficiency.
“Short sales have become an increasingly important tool in preventing foreclosures and stabilizing communities,” said Leslie Peeler, SVP, National Servicing Organization, Fannie Mae. “We want to help as many homeowners avoid foreclosure as possible. It is vital that servicers, junior lien holders and mortgage insurers step up to the plate with us.”
Tracy Mooney, SVP of Single-Family Servicing and REO at Freddie Mac, said, “These changes will make it clear that Freddie Mac servicers have the authority to approve short sales for more borrowers facing the most frequently seen hardships. These changes will further empower the industry to minimize foreclosures and help Freddie Mac in its mission to minimize credit losses and fortify a national housing recovery.”
Fannie Mae will send the announcement for the new changes to servicers Wednesday. Freddie Mac sent their announcement Tuesday.
In April, the GSEs also announced they were setting requirements to have a decision on a short sale offer made within 30-60 days.
Source: DSnews.com
Reported by Esther Cho
Thursday, August 9, 2012
Just Listed! Little Italy Aqua Vista 1BR unit with bay views
For information on short sales visit http://www.sdmyhome.com/short-sale.html
.
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
Monday, July 23, 2012
Short Sale News: Short Sale Bill Addresses Slow Approval from 2nd Lien Holders
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
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
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
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