US HOUSING RELIEF

Author

Bill Franks

Loan Modification Counselor

February 23, 2010

Life is unpredictable and circumstances often arise that can prevent you from making your mortgage payments.

I would like to take this opportunity to tell you a little about options available to help.  My mission is to inform homeowners of their options and exit strategies when faced with foreclosure. I would like to preserve the American dream of home ownership, but statistics have shown that homeowners facing foreclosure will wait until the end of the proceedings to take any course of action, unfortunately it maybe too late! Some   Homeowners have had more than their fair share of difficulties through this real depression. The true killer is the adjustable rate mortgage (ARM). Maybe this is all a big mistake and the payments you’ve been sending were rerouted or lost do to the fact your mortgage was sold unbeknown st to you. Whatever your dilemma the Investor that is the true Mortgage holder do not care what it feels like to choose between a mortgage payment or groceries. The Investor is interested in only one thing- money! Most of which is collected on a predatory note the Investor purchased from a Mortgage Broker Warehouse or Bank which are now serviced by a servicing company. These Indemnities are one thing and one thing only- Debt Collectors. I understand what it’s like to have continual phone calls from a Debt Collector, calls at home, calls at work and letters in the mailbox.  You want to save your home, you need to save your home but your lender is asking for money that you can’t come up with in the time allotted. You’re not asking for them to forgive the loan but you need help creating a payment plan that you can handle.  You just need someone on your side.

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Pathway to Loan Modification

Typically asked questions:
What is a forensic loan audit?
What is the benefit to have one of these audits done?
What could happen to your mortgage company if found in violation of law or a congressional act?
How do you present the audit findings to your mortgage company?

A Forensic loan audit is an audit that finds violations of State law or Federal congressional acts which are supervisory authorities that monitor for violations of said acts all which have different directives.
Such as
RESPA-“Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act
TILA-“Truth-in-Lending Act
HOPEA-Home Owner and Equity Protection Act
HMDA- Home Mortgage Disclosure Act
GLB-Gramm-Leach-Billey Act
FTC-Federal Trade Commission Act
FHA-Fair Housing ACT
ECOA-Equal Credit Opportunity Act
FACTA-Fair and Accurate Reporting Act
FCRA-Fair Credit Reporting Act

Violations can happen from the start of the loan process a good example is when the application is taking from the borrower and the Good Faith Estimate is not delivered with in three business days of the application “this is the rule if the application is taken by phone” if the application is taking in person the Loan Originator must disclose the good faith right then and their. Not supplying a GFE in the time outlined in the directive is a RESPA violation and could result in a very bad day for your mortgage company. Most violation can be up to $10,000 dollars Plus possible criminal prosecution if the criminal activity is found.

The audit documents include your original mortgage loan transcripts from the initial Application all the way to the mortgage contract prepared by your lender which you execute and sign at the title company.

Approximately 75-83% of U.S. residential mortgage loan documents and transactions have Federal, state and local violations of law, errors and omissions.

Forensic Loan audits use legal compliance partners; Audits use a technology and online legal mortgage compliance engine “special software.

Forensic loan audits are best performed by professional organization with knowledge to conduct such an audit usually special software is used to evaluate the original loan documentation the audit is best conducted by a mortgage attorney. Top notch Loan Modification Companies have retained mortgage attorneys to supply them with forenizic loan audits when necessary.

With all that said Mortgage companies take Forensic Loan audits very seriously and forward them directly to their legal departments to get an Idea of the severity of the violation or violation.  “Some can be considerably worse than others such as ethnic or racial discrimination this is a direct violation of HOPEA “Home Owner and Equity Protection Act.

Your audit can provide an objective basis for equitable discussions and facilitate your loan modification negotiations. In other words your mortgage company could be facing penalties sanctions, associated with the violations plus a big law suit from you.

How do you present your findings to your mortgage company?
Well this is a complicated question and actually has many correct answers. Much will depend on the severity of the violation and what you are trying to achieve in your negation with your mortgage company.

Most lenders were aware that a very high percentage of the adjustable rate mortgage loans funded between 2004 thru 2007 would soon be worthless, but it was a price that had to be paid if these greedy banks were to expand and grow. The Feds had these quasi-governmental companies called Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae that would buy these mortgages anyway. Certainly a government backed company could not fail…could it? These loans were then bundled up and sold to Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae who held them for a time and then re-packaged them again to sell to other institutions and banks, which were understandably eager to reap the benefit of potentially rising interest rates from the adjustable rate loans. The banks and investment firms certainly thought the Fannie and Freddie loan bundles were sound since they came from governmental agencies. The expectation was that these loans would soon be paid off when rising home values led borrowers to “tap” their equity through a re-finance or sell to move up to a nicer home. Those drastic increases in real estate values didn’t happen, did they? No Just the opposite.

The whole reason that real estate prices in many areas escalated so quickly was because there was such an incredible amount of money available. Now that the money is not readily available we see the complete opposite. Home prices are decreasing on a daily basis. In some areas home values have dropped over 75% since 2007.

Today this government created crisis is being peddled to the American public. We have given 11.5 trillion dollars in bailout funds. For those of you that don’t know how much a trillion dollars is. It would take you 192 years to count to a trillion.

Anytime government gets involved in anything other than what it was Constitutionally set up to do, the result is bureaucracy, failure, poor performance, and shoddy results that are easily outpaced by the private sector. And they want to take over health care? They can’t even manage the VA, let alone all the hospitals in the country. They semi-took over education and look at the mess we’re in. Most kids can’t even find the US on a globe.

So why isn’t this story front page news? Why aren’t the big TV networks leading off the evening news with stories about how the Feds screwed up yet again? Come on, are you kidding me? Do you really expect the media to blame this mess on the biggest clients they have? No they say it was caused by the shady mortgage brokers and dead beat customers. They tell you the complete opposite from the truth. They tell you to trust your investor or banks and most certainly our Government.

Do you realize that nearly every retirement account In the United States lost more then 40% of its value in 2008 and people still keep there hard earned money in the same account? It is one in the same with home mortgages. People still have faith in there bank or mortgage company. The same company that is trying to take the roof over there head away. When are the American people going to wake up?

It’s going to get much worse. Come to find out, Lenders nationwide have a vast “shadow inventory” of foreclosed homes that banks are holding off the market could wreak havoc with the already battered real estate sector, industry observers say.

Lenders\banks are sitting on hundreds of thousands of foreclosed homes that they have not resold or listed for sale, These Lenders & banks will unload these foreclosed homes at fire-sale prices. This is a major factor in future declining values. It almost appears lenders and banks are driving home values down.

There are 600,000 properties nationwide that banks have foreclosed on but not put on the market. This is going to be disastrous when the banks suddenly flood the market with these foreclosed properties. Every Home owner in America will see greater depreciation in the months and years to come. This is just the beginning of homes being foreclosed. Expert statistics show we are less the an third of the way through our foreclosure catastrophe.

The “Making Home Affordable Plan” was created to help two groups of homeowners:

• People who are making their mortgage payments, but were unable to qualify for refinancing in the past because they owe more on their house than it’s currently worth.
• People who are at risk for imminent foreclosure.

Making Home Affordable Plan One:  You owe more on your home than it’s worth.

If you owe more than your home is worth (also known as negative equity or “being underwater”), the new Obama housing plan offers a special refinancing program known as the Making Home Affordable Refinance Plan. (This plan is called DU Refi Plus™ at Fannie Mae and Relief RefinanceSM at Freddie Mac.)

The Making Home Affordable Plan will allow more than 5 million people who didn’t qualify for a mortgage in the past to refinance.

To qualify:

• You need to have a Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac mortgage.
• You need to have satisfactory credit.
• You can now have up to 105% loan-to-value (meaning you can now owe as much as 105% of your home’s current value).
• You can’t refinance for more than the amount of the mortgage (no cash out).
• If your current loan doesn’t have PMI (Private Mortgage Insurance), then PMI will NOT be required on the new loan.
• This program differs from a “regular refi” by benefiting:
• People who cannot qualify for a traditional refi because they do not have enough equity.
• People who would have had to pay Private Mortgage Insurance with a traditional refi.

 If you are having problems making your payments and are at risk of foreclosure, the plan provides a special loan modification program for troubled homeowners.

A loan modification is exactly what it sounds like – a lender modifies the terms of your original loan, typically to reduce your interest rate or payment. In this program, your mortgage rate would be reduced for five years.

It’s important to note that the loan modification program in this plan is intended to help keep the most troubled homeowners in their homes. It is not for people who can currently pay their mortgages. The new requirements are very specific.

 To qualify for a loan modification under the Making Home Affordable Plan, you will have to:

• Prove in writing that you have a serious hardship that is preventing you from making your mortgage payment, or that your income has dropped significantly, or your rate or payment increased drastically.
• Document all of your personal expenses, income and assets, to prove that you are unable to pay your mortgage.
• Depending on your situation, you may be required to receive financial counseling as a condition of participating in the program.

A few other things to know about Making Home Affordable Plan

If you’re in a situation where you are in default or at risk of default, The Making Home Affordable Plan may help you keep your home by:

Most lenders were aware that a very high percentage of the adjustable rate mortgage loans funded between 2004 thru 2007 would soon be worthless, but it was a price that had to be paid if these greedy banks were to expand and grow. The Feds had these quasi-governmental companies called Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae that would buy these mortgages anyway. Certainly a government backed company could not fail…could it? These loans were then bundled up and sold to Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae who held them for a time and then re-packaged them again to sell to other institutions and banks, which were understandably eager to reap the benefit of potentially rising interest rates from the adjustable rate loans. The banks and investment firms certainly thought the Fannie and Freddie loan bundles were sound since they came from governmental agencies. The expectation was that these loans would soon be paid off when rising home values led borrowers to “tap” their equity through a re-finance or sell to move up to a nicer home. Those drastic increases in real estate values didn’t happen, did they? No Just the opposite.

The whole reason that real estate prices in many areas escalated so quickly was because there was such an incredible amount of money available. Now that the money is not readily available we see the complete opposite. Home prices are decreasing on a daily basis. In some areas home values have dropped over 75% since 2007.

Today this government created crisis is being peddled to the American public. We have given 11.5 trillion dollars in bailout funds. For those of you that don’t know how much a trillion dollars is. It would take you 192 years to count to a trillion.

Anytime government gets involved in anything other than what it was Constitutionally set up to do, the result is bureaucracy, failure, poor performance, and shoddy results that are easily outpaced by the private sector. And they want to take over health care? They can’t even manage the VA, let alone all the hospitals in the country. They semi-took over education and look at the mess we’re in. Most kids can’t even find the US on a globe.

So why isn’t this story front page news? Why aren’t the big TV networks leading off the evening news with stories about how the Feds screwed up yet again? Come on, are you kidding me? Do you really expect the media to blame this mess on the biggest clients they have? No they say it was caused by the shady mortgage brokers and dead beat customers. They tell you the complete opposite from the truth. They tell you to trust your investor or banks and most certainly our Government.