Atty. Crispin Lozano

You can modify your loan before the date of Trustee Sale

Wednesday, 09 September 2009 22:47 Atty. Crispin Lozano

Three months ago, Mr. Rof Santa Clara County came to my office after a Notice of Default has been filed but before the date of Trustee Sale. We immediately contacted the lender and we submitted the required documents. We requested a reduction in interest rate from 7 percent to 4 percent; a reduction in principal to current fair market value and a forgiveness of all missed payments and late fees. After interview by the lender, Mr. Rwas granted a forgiveness of all missed payments and penalties, a reduction in interest rate to 4 percent and a reduction in the principal balance of the loan by $102,000. In this case, Mr. Rmade the right decision to request for loan modification before the date of Trustee sale.

Question: What is a Notice of Trustee Sale?

Answer: A Notice of Trustee Sale informs the borrower that his or her house will be sold at public auction by the lender (the Trustee) on the date specified in the notice. Usually, the lender is also the buyer in public auction.

Read more...

Why banks do not want to modify loans

Thursday, 03 September 2009 03:55 Atty. Crispin Lozano

Question: What is the reason why it is hard to deal with the banks when requesting a loan modification?
Answer: The main reason why it is hard to deal with the banks when requesting loan modification is that they will lose money in modifying loans. Although the government is sharing with the banks in the losses incurred in loan modification by about 50%, the banks share of the cost is the other half. Unless the bank is convinced that the borrower’s only option is to have the property foreclosed, they will not modify the loan.
Read more...

Foreclosures to hit high this fall 2009

Wednesday, 26 August 2009 22:06 Atty. Crispin Lozano

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reported that foreclosures will hit a high mark this fall. The actual data reported as of June 30, 2009 showed a record 9.24% of all mortgages are delinquent. This represents about 4 million homeowners who are 30 days behind on their mortgages. In addition, there are 4.3% of all mortgages that are already in the process of foreclosure. This means that there are a combined 13.16% of all mortgages that are delinquent and are in the process of foreclosure as of June 30, 2009.
The reasons for the increase in delinquencies are: (1) more option Adjustable Rate Mortgages (ARM) are resetting to higher rates triggering defaults and (2) more prime fixed-rate loans are defaulting due to job losses. In California, Notices of Default (the start of foreclosure process) were sent to 108,000 households in July 2009 alone.
Read more...

Foreclosures rise 7 percent in July 2009

Wednesday, 19 August 2009 23:06 Atty. Crispin Lozano

The Associated Press reported that the number of US households on the verge of losing their homes rose 7 percent from June to July 2009 as the escalating foreclosure crisis continued to outpace the government effort to limit the damage. RealtyTrac, Inc., a foreclosure tracking company reports the following:
Foreclosure filings were up 32 percent from the same month of July last year. One in every 355 homes received a foreclosure related notice, such as notice of default and trustee sale. That is the highest monthly level in the last four years.
Read more...

Treasury Department reports banks are slow on Loan Modification

Thursday, 13 August 2009 21:08 Atty. Crispin Lozano

The US Treasury Department reports last August 5, 2009, the slow progress of the banks on the loan modifications program. Of the 38 loan servicers that registered in the Obama Program, only 9 percent of the delinquent borrowers were modified. This is equivalent to 235,000 loans modified since the program started. Among the reasons the banks said is that the investors are not cooperating in the program. The other main reason is the shortage of staff in the bank’s loss mitigation department that handles loan modification. A summary of the banks performance on loans modified as a percent of delinquent borrowers is as follows:
Saxon Mortgage 25%
Aurora Loan Services 21%
GMAC 20%
J. P. Morgan Chase 20%
Citi Mortgage 15%
Wells Fargo Bank 6%
Bank of America 5%
Read more...

New FHA guaranteed Loan Modification Program

Thursday, 06 August 2009 02:01 Atty. Crispin Lozano

Question: What is an FHA guaranteed loan?
Answer: The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) insures the loan secured through its list of approved lenders where borrowers can secure a mortgage for their home. Beforehand, FHA loans are not covered by the Making Home Affordable program of the government. Only loans secured by borrowers from the banks through Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac qualify under the Obama plan.
Question: What is the new loan modification program under the FHA?
Answer: The US Secretary of Housing and Urban Development announced the FHA has implemented a change in its loan modification program to ensure consistency with the Obama Administration’s Making Home Affordable Modification program.
Read more...

Loan modification while in foreclosure process

Thursday, 30 July 2009 09:37 Atty. Crispin Lozano

Question: May a borrower request loan modification while in foreclosure?
Answer: Yes. A foreclosure process starts when you received a Notice of Default (NOD) registered with the county recorder’s office. It ends when the property is sold in a public auction at a Trustee Sale. Upon receipt of the NOD you should immediately contact an attorney to do a loan modification. It is important to do this immediately because the Loss Mitigation Department of the bank is very busy and it will take sometime before they finally look at your case. In the NOD you are given 90 days to come up with the payment for all missed payments. If you cannot come up with the payments within 90 days, the lender will send you a Notice of Trustee Sale and will publish the property for sale at a public auction within the succeeding 20 days. After the 20 days of publication and no loan modification is agreed upon, the property will be sold to the highest bidder in a public auction.
Read more...

Modify your loan before the Date of Trustee Sale

Thursday, 23 July 2009 01:30 Atty. Crispin Lozano

Two months ago, Mr. R of Santa Clara County came to my office after a Notice of Default has been filed but before the date of Trustee Sale. We immediately contacted the lender and we submitted the required documents. We requested a reduction in interest rate from 7 percent to 4 percent; a reduction in principal to current fair market value and a forgiveness of all missed payments and late fees. After interview by the lender, Mr. R was granted a forgiveness of all missed payments and penalties, a reduction in interest rate to 4 percent and a reduction in the principal balance of the loan by $102,000. In this case, Mr. R made the right decision to request for loan modification before the date of Trustee sale.
Question: What is a Notice of Trustee Sale?
Answer: A Notice of Trustee Sale informs the borrower that his or her house will be sold at public auction by the lender (the Trustee) on the date specified in the notice. Usually, the lender is also the buyer in public auction.
Read more...

When is the last time you can modify your loan?

Wednesday, 15 July 2009 21:12 Atty. Crispin Lozano

AS of July 12, 2009, there are about 100,000 loan modifications approved by the lenders in the whole United States since the start of the Making Home Affordable program of the government in March 2009. This number is very small in relation to the number of applications for loan modifications. It is very important that when you apply for loan modifications, you should know what the lenders are looking for. If your application is denied, the only way to avoid foreclosure is to pay the total amount of missed payments plus costs.
Question: When is the last time you can modify your loan?
Answer: Generally, you can apply for loan modification up to the end of the 90th day given under the Notice of Default (NOD). This is called the period of redemption. The 90-day period is given under the foreclosure law for the borrower to make his account up-to-date or current. The lender will also offer some suggestions such as forbearance of payment, short sale or loan modification during this period.
Read more...

«
Start
Prev
1
2
3
4
5
6
Next
End
»

Page 2 of 6