Truth in Foreclosure

10 Ways to Delay a Foreclosure Sale

Todd Temaat — Wed, 12 May 2010 11:27:51 +0000

Once you receive the foreclosure sale notice, panic often sets in. You think you're going to lose your home no matter what and the sheriff's coming soon to put your family out on the street. These 10 strategies can help you delay the sale. Delaying the sale could...

Chase Plans Foreclosure Prevention Events

Todd Temaat — Tue, 11 May 2010 11:56:28 +0000

Over the next five months, up to 40 Chase counselors will work with homeowners as long as 12 hours a day for four or five days in a central location, like a civic center or community college. Many of the counselors are based in the 51 Chase Homeownership Centers across the country. Come see if one of the sessions is nearby you...

Underwater? Thinking About a Strategic Default?

Todd Temaat — Mon, 10 May 2010 11:30:43 +0000

If you're severely underwater on your mortgage, it’s likely you’ve considered stopping your mortgage payments and letting the bank foreclose on you. If so, you’re not alone by any stretch of the imagination. I discovered a program today that might make it easier for you to decide to stick it out.

5 Secrets to Getting Your Home Back After the Foreclosure Sale

Todd Temaat — Wed, 05 May 2010 11:45:19 +0000

Even after you lose your home at a foreclosure sale, you still have a couple ways you can get it back even after it has sold! And you have a few legal rights to be aware of as well. Find out your options before it's too late...

Is My Hardship Severe Enough to Save My Home From Foreclosure?

Todd Temaat — Mon, 03 May 2010 11:37:54 +0000

With more and more people dealing with potential real estate hardship, it's important for you to understand what it is and how you might possibly find relief--that is, if you can qualify for it. Come find out if the bank's definition of hardship is the same as yours...you might be surprised...

Thinking About Filing Bankruptcy to Stop Foreclosure? You Might Not Be Eligible

Todd Temaat — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 12:02:17 +0000

With the changes to bankruptcy laws over the past few years, many people that were once able to slow foreclosure by filing bankruptcy are no longer able to do so. There are even more hoops you must jump through to file and doing so takes time. So if your foreclosure sale date is looming, you'd be wise to read this and take action so you'll be ready if you need to file for bankruptcy at the last minute.

11 Ways to Keep Someone from Stealing Your Home

Todd Temaat — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 12:32:39 +0000

Being behind on your bills is probably a new experience for you. It's normal to feel overwhelmed and not know what to do. When someone offers help...especially easy help, you want to believe what they're saying is true and that they can solve your problem. The truth is, some of them can help you...but some of them are only claiming they want to help you when they really want to scam you out of your home. So what should you do? How can you tell the difference?

What Happens to My Credit Score with a Mortgage Loan Mod?

Todd Temaat — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 12:23:37 +0000

The companies behind the new VantageScore credit score just finished up a study of over 400,000 credit files to see what the impacts of different foreclosure workouts are. Their results aren't probably as bad as you think...some people could actually see an increase in scores because of modifications. Come find out how...as well as what to expect if you have a short sale, a foreclosure, or a bankruptcy instead of a mod. Plus, I share what's happened to my credit because of my short sale.

Bankruptcy and Foreclosure – 6 Terms You MUST Know to Stay Out of Trouble

Todd Temaat — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 11:45:56 +0000

If you know these terms you'll be miles ahead of most people walking into a bankruptcy lawyer's office. Do you know what an automatic stay is? What about discharge or exemptions? If not, you need to come read this article!

What No One Tells You About Bankruptcy, Foreclosure and Your Credit

Todd Temaat — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 11:32:35 +0000

When you're going through foreclosure, many people will tell you that you can use bankruptcy to slow or stop the process. And they're right. But what they usually don't tell you are the consequences of filing bankruptcy and the fact that over 95% of bankruptcy workout plans fail.

10 States Now ‘Hardest Hit’ and Get Additional Foreclosure Relief Funds

Todd Temaat — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 12:14:26 +0000

Last month, I wrote 5 Hardest Hits States Get More Money, which described the Treasury Department’s plan to give more financial assistance ($1.5 Billion more to be exact) to the five hardest hit states. After a month of campaigning for their states, five more states have been added to the list and will share $600 million of the $1.5 Billion. Come see if your is one of them and what it means for you and your home.

What Happens When I Can’t Complete My HAMP Trial Plan?

Todd Temaat — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 11:51:00 +0000

As part of The Administration’s new plans last week, they’ve clarified what you can expect to happen if you are unable to make your HAMP trial plan payments and want to try a short sale. In addition, they've released guidance that limits your servicer's ability to foreclose until they've evaluated you for HAMP.

FHA Will Now Do a Short Refi — If You Haven’t Missed Payments

Todd Temaat — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 11:17:35 +0000

The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) is making some changes to its existing refinancing program guidelines to allow more lenders to perform mortgage principal write-downs for underwater homeowners in mortgages not currently insured by FHA.

Plenty of Loopholes in New HAMP Writedown Plan

Todd Temaat — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 11:54:35 +0000

If you’re more than 15% underwater on your mortgage and are eligible for HAMP, you could benefit from changes that will hopefully motivate lenders to writedown more principal in more cases. The changes will require all servicers to consider an alternative modification approach which includes writedown of some principal for loans that are over 115 percent of the current value of the property (LTV).

Details of HAMP Forbearance for Unemployed Released

Todd Temaat — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 11:57:04 +0000

The administration released the details of their new Temporary Assistance for Unemployed Borrowers last week. Here are the highlights....

5.66 Percent of Eligible Mods Go Permanent

Todd Temaat — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 12:04:09 +0000

5.66% of eligible mods were permanent in January according to the Treasury Dapartment. GMAC leads the pack at over 19% and Wachovia is in last place according with 1.39%. Check out how your lender is doing...

President Obama, the Treasury, and the News All Have It Wrong!

Todd Temaat — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 11:47:47 +0000

Have you noticed the shift in the everyone’s language over the past few months? It doesn’t matter if you’re listening to President Obama, the Treasury Secretary, members of Congress, the news media, or even your lender. They’ve all started talking about saving homeowners from foreclosure rather than keeping homeowners in their homes.

7 Fatal HAMP Flaws – Why Servicers Won’t Modify Your Mortgage

Todd Temaat — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 11:45:00 +0000

If you’ve been struggling with your lender to get a Home Affordable Loan Modification, the fact that a measly 5% of ‘eligible’ homeowners (170,000 to be exact) have actually entered into a long term modification plan with their lender won’t come as surprise. It’s likely that your effort has drug on for months or, worse, you’ve been denied one or more times just to be told to reapply. Why is this? Well, as it turns out and we’ve reported before, there are actually 7 major flaws with HAMP that put its success in jeopardy and act as disincentives to lenders and servicers.

Get Your Short Sale Approved

Todd Temaat — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 11:54:39 +0000

For those out there (like me) going through a short sale, I found this interesting interview on the Mortgage Servicing News website. The interview is with Kevin Beck who is the Foreclosure & OREO Manager for Fremont Bank in Northern California. He explains why short sales often fail and discusses the short sale process when you have a second mortgage. It's quite enlightening...

New Proposal: Guaranteed Forbearance for the Unemployed

Todd Temaat — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 11:56:17 +0000

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) announced it has developed a concept for a new MBA Logo forbearance program that would allow qualified borrowers who had lost their jobs to remain in their homes while they seek new employment. According to the proposed program, loan servicers would reduce the borrower's mortgage payment to an affordable amount for up to nine months while the homeowner looked for employment.

The Standard Second Mortgage Modification Process

Todd Temaat — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 11:37:52 +0000

Ever wondered how your lender decides how to modify your second mortgage in a HAMP modification? It's complicated and intricate, but we pulled this step-by-step guide off their administration website for your reference.

HAMP for 2nd Mortgages

Todd Temaat — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 11:46:19 +0000

Under 2MP, when your first lien is modified under HAMP and the servicer of the second lien is a 2MP participant, that servicer must offer either to modify your second lien or agree to extinguish it. Come see if your second mortgage is eligible.

States Hardest Hit by Foreclosure Get More Money

Todd Temaat — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 11:57:56 +0000

The Obama Administration released the next steps in the recently-announced Housing Finance Agency Innovation Fund for the Hardest Hit Housing Markets ("HFA Hardest-Hit Fund"). States where house prices have fallen more than 20% from their peak will share $1.5 billion in funding. Those states are ...

HAMP Trial Plan Fraud: What Can You Do?

Todd Temaat — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 12:00:26 +0000

Have you been offered a trial plan from your lender through HAMP? Did you complete all your trial plan payments but now your lender isn’t doing what you thought they agreed to do? What options do you have? Can you make them perform?

Produce the Note Campaign Produces Uncertainty for You

Todd Temaat — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 12:04:25 +0000

There’s been a lot of reports in the news and on foreclosure websites about the Produce the Note campaign. There havve been a few landmark cases where homeowners have been able to get their homes awarded to them by the court (and the mortgage nullified) because their lender couldn’t produce the actual deed of trust promissory note that proved they owned the mortgage. According to the OptionARM Lawyer Blog, there was a recent California court ruling on a case where the homeowner’s sole defense was that the lender couldn’t produce the note. Here’s a synopsis of what happened.