The Obama Administration instituted the Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternative Program (HAFA) as a last resort to facilitate short sales and help some of the estimated 11 million underwater borrowers who fell out of HAMP. However, HAFA eligibility rules were so strict so as to render the program almost ineffectual. Both HAFA and HAMP have struggled. The Treasury has spent only $4.3 million through HAFA, inducing roughly 661 short sales since the program launched, according to the Congressional Oversight Panel, the Troubled Asset Relief Program watchdog.
To bolster the program, the Treasury instituted the following changes: Read more...
Home sellers should consider a Short Sale when the value of their home is LESS than the amount of their outstanding loans. For example, if your home is worth $250,000 but you have a loan of $260,000 then a short sale is a consideration. Obviously, if you do not have to sell your home, you could wait out the market and hope for a turnaround in real estate values. Read more...
Looking for New York Foreclosure Help? This is the right place.
With the tough economic times of today foreclosure rescue scams are sweeping the nation. Homeowners that are dealing with difficult financial situations and are facing foreclosure are seeing all kinds of offers. From solicitation letters with the promise of stopping the foreclosure and saving the home, to home buyers attempting to “flip” the house, homeowners are being bombarded with offers of help.
Foreclosure rescue scams usually fall into one of three categories:
Phantom Help – In this scam the homeowner will be charged very high fees up-front or the scammer will promise to represent the homeowner, but will not follow through. Read more...
The credit consequences of a short sale and foreclosure vary greatly. The general consensus is that a short sale will show up on your credit report as a ‘settlement’, ‘settlement for less than owed’ or a “pre-foreclosure in redemption”. Also, since most lenders will not consider allowing a short sale until a few payments have actually been missed you may also have a few ‘lates’ on your credit report. Neither of these marks is a good thing to have, but it’s possible to get them off of your credit report within a few years or less. A short sale can drop your credit score by 80-100 points. There is also the possibility that through negotiation with the lender you can avoid having the short sale reported to a credit agency. Read more...
Seems foolish right? A bank is going to say “nah, we don’t need all of our money…you can pay us some of it”?? Well folks thats right, Banks are accepting short payoffs left and right and with good reason too!
Lender’s Incentive
The incentive for the lender is to avoid foreclosing on the premises as this process is both time-consuming and expensive. On average the foreclosure process takes a year to complete. Over this period the lender will have to retain an attorney to repossess the property. As you can imagine there are many legal hurdles to overcome which can cost the lender tens of thousands of dollars depending how on vigorously the homeowner defends themselves in court. If the bank agrees to a short sale, this expense can be avoided in its entirety. Read more...
A loan modification is something that many people utilize to try and improve the terms of their home loan. Unfortunately, this subject is fairly confusing to most people. If you are thinking about attempting to renegotiate your loan then here are some frequently asked questions to help you understand the process a little better:
What is loan modification?
It’s an adjustment of at least one of the major terms of the mortgage. It basically results in more agreeable payoff terms for the homeowner. The modification might result in a lower interest rate or a longer payoff period. Read more...
The federal government has made various initiatives to try to help troubled homeowners with their efforts to remain in their homes. I wanted to revisit the current loan modification program, HAMP as well as the refinance program, HARP, that is already in effect for non-defaulting borrowers to refinance their current mortgage. The question is: Will you qualify? Question yourself the following questions:
Do I have to really fall behind on my loan payments to be eligible for a loan modification? Read more...
