Archive for the 'Stop Foreclosures' Category

The city of Indio in California has nearly 2,600 bank foreclosed homes for sale, and about 1,100 of these properties are vacant. To control the spread of foreclosure and protect communities from deterioration, the city launched several programs and services to address the foreclosure problem.

The city has been battling foreclosure fallout for some time now. It has implemented a foreclosure ordinance which will be used to develop a national model for towns and cities nationwide.

The foreclosure ordinance requires owners of repossessed homes to register their properties with Indio and take responsibility for the maintenance of these foreclosed houses. Failure to comply with the city’s ordinance may result in fines and worst, arrest of violators.

Since the foreclosure ordinance has been adopted, about 458 properties have been put in registration by banks and a total of $68,700 fees were collected.

City code enforcement officer Jennifer Stroud said that the foreclosure ordinance has made a big difference because once the banking institutions comply, repairs were made and houses were sold easily.

Because of the success of the city’s foreclosure ordinance, Jason Anderson, a code enforcement officer, and some city officials were invited to Washington D.C. to discuss and share details of the law with federal officials and several cities. Anderson helped draft the foreclosure ordinance.

Meanwhile, members of the city council have approved the transfer of the Housing Resource Center to a bigger building to better serve homeowners. The larger and better resource center plans to expand its services to include tenant landlord mediation, workshops on home property maintenance, fair housing and training for first-time homebuyers.

Housing programs manager Jesus Gomez said that the transfer is one way the center can better serve the communities and residents.

The city’s Housing Resource Center provides free and confidential counseling on how to prevent mortgage default and foreclosures. The center operates in concurrence with the Inland Fair Housing and Mediation Board.

In addition, the city has allotted $2.8 million to buy about 20 foreclosure properties, repair and resell them to low and moderate income first-time homebuyers.

The funding for the program is provided by the Federal Neighborhood Stabilization Program of the Riverside County Economic Development Agency. Sales revenues from the bank foreclosed homes for sale will be turned over to the county.

It seems that President Barak Obama’s housing stabilization plan is starting to take off. Already, the loan modification scheme, which is the core foreclosure prevention measure under the housing stabilization plan, has helped thousands of distressed homeowners save their properties from bank foreclosure listing.

JP Morgan Chase’s servicing unit, Chase Mortgage has helped modify over 15,000 troubled loans. Furthermore, the Bank of America has notified through mail about 100,000 borrowers who are eligible to avail of the loan modification plan under the foreclosure prevention program of the Obama Administration.

Last March 4, when Obama announced the implementation of the plan to reduce the number of properties in bank foreclosure listing, he predicted that the program could help an estimated 4 million homeowners save their distressed properties from foreclosure.

The plan works by encouraging lending institutions to help at-risk or delinquent borrowers by reducing interest rates, allowing the total monthly mortgage payments not to exceed 31 percent of the gross monthly income of borrowers.

To become eligible for the loan modification plan, you must visit a government Web site and answer some questions that will determine your eligibility. The site will automatically tell you after you have answered five questions if you are a potential candidate for the loan modification under Obama’s foreclosure prevention program.

Potential loan modification candidates must have their properties purchased before January 1, 2009, they owe a mortgage debt of lower than $729,750, they are delinquent on their mortgage payments, their payment is over 31 percent of their monthly gross income and they are using their distressed properties as their primary residences.

Furthermore, eligible candidates must submit several documents, such as household income documentation, including tax returns, pay stubs, mortgage statements and savings account records, second mortgage paperwork, credit card bills and other debt information such as car and student loans.

Eligible homeowners must be prepared to write a letter explaining why they need help to avoid foreclosure. Valid reasons may include income or job loss, divorce and health problems.

According to foreclosure rescue counselors, a well-written letter explaining why you need foreclosure prevention assistance can make a big difference in obtaining a loan modification.

Meanwhile, under the plan, foreclosure prevention counselors are made available to help distressed homeowners save their properties from bank foreclosure listing.

Search Bank Foreclosure Listings by City:

• Indianapolis Bank Foreclosures
• Philadelphia Bank Foreclosures
• Las Vegas Bank Foreclosures
• Hialeah Bank Foreclosures

The California Legislature has enacted the Home Equity Sales Contract Act (HESCA) to help distressed homeowners who are subject to foreclosure properties due to fraud, unfair dealing and deception.

Basically, the law protects distressed homeowners from home equity purchasers, these are investor buyers of foreclosure properties occupied by owners who have received notice of default.

One example of the law’s application is a case before the California First Appellate District Court of Appeal. The case involved a troubled homeowner who filed a bankruptcy and whose property was acquired by a real estate agent for $220,000.

Under the agreement between the homeowner and buyer, the latter allowed the former to remain in the foreclosure properties under a 12-month leaseback deal. Also, the buyer granted an option to the homeowner to buyback the foreclosure properties for about $260,000.

The win-win deal provided the homeowner a way to pay his debt and allowed him to stay in his property. On the case of the buyer, he would have a positive cash flow and an option to profit on foreclosure properties.

However, the deal becomes favorable only on both parties if the homeowner continues to meet his monthly mortgage payment. In case the homeowner becomes delinquent again on his payment, he could not qualify for a mortgage loan.

After a year and the expiration of the repurchase option, the broker offered the foreclosure properties to the homeowner for $315,000 which the latter could not possibly purchase. The broker would then list the foreclosure properties for about $369,950 and give the homeowner a 60-day notice to leave the property.

This case invoked HESCA which is designed to help distressed homeowners make an intelligent and informed decision about the sale of their foreclosed homes.

The law also protects the public against financial difficulties and deceit. It encourages and promotes fair and honest dealing in the purchase and sale of foreclosure properties and discourages any false representations.

Mortgage fraud is becoming rampant in California due to the state’s high foreclosure rate. California foreclosures in 2007 were 84,600 and rose dramatically in 2008 to 237,200. And in 2009, the state’s foreclosures are expected to reach 253,600 and 450,000 in 2010.

Industry experts anticipated California foreclosures to peak this year, surpassing 2008 by 16,000.

The foreclosure prevention plan, Hope for Homeowners has failed to live up to expectations that it would help homeowners avoid bank and government foreclosures.

The long-awaited foreclosure prevention plan of President Barack Obama has produced conflicting reactions because of its focus on helping only homeowners who are at risk of defaulting on their mortgage payments. Many questioned why help should not be provided also to homeowners who are in some form of foreclosure.

President Barack Obama, who is currently on a road trip to gather support for his economic recovery plan, is expected to disclose details of his foreclosure prevention plan in Arizona, one of the states that suffered greatly from the housing crisis.

Rep. Barney Frank, the Head of the House of Financial Services Committee, said on Thursday that the new Treasury Department under president-elect Barack Obama will be more transparent about the bank bailout funds. This is to make sure that money goes to the right places, being able to rescue homeowners and preventing more foreclosures to happen.

The entire U.S. banking industry and millions of foreclosure-troubled homeowners are awaiting Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner’s bailout plan. They expect that his plan is vastly different from that of Henry Paulson, as Paulson’s plan largely failed because he focused only on helping financial institutions.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development recently allotted $91 million dollars to address the Florida foreclosures. The amount is expected to help the entire state, according to Gov. Charlie Crist.

As the housing market continues to fall due to falling home prices and home sales, and the flood of foreclosures, the government continues to come up of ways to address these problems.