Monday, March 26, 2012

How To Stop Foreclosure

Foreclosure is not a word that any of us wants to even hear, let alone think about the process happening to us. But, financial hardships may befall the most responsible people and the foreclosure process may look more and more like it may happen in your life or the life of someone you love. Thankfully, there are some things that you can do to stop from being foreclosed on. Foreclosure isn’t easy, and stopping foreclosure isn’t easy, but if you are well informed you can keep from losing your home.

Stop the process in its tracks

The best thing you can do is to stop the foreclosure process in its tracks. As you may or may not know, foreclosure is a long, drawn out process that gives the owner of the home plenty of chances to stop the process and deal with their debt. The first interactions that the bank or lender has with you is not part of the formal foreclosure process, and that is a good time to get a handle on the situation and really keep it from going any further. If you have missed a handful of mortgage payments, don’t write it off as too late to save your home and your current lifestyle. If the bank has not yet sent you a notice of foreclosure, the process is not yet official and you still have plenty of time to turn it around.

The first thing you should do is respond to the phone calls and the letters that are coming in the mail for you about your late payments. This may be painful and something you don’t feel like doing, but it will be less painful than having your home taken right out from under you. Call the bank your lender; you may be surprised to learn exactly how willing they are to work with you. If you explain what your financial situation is, your bank will likely be willing to work with you and will just be happy to hear from you. Sometimes, all it takes to stop the process from becoming a formal one is a response from you.

Once you contact the bank or lender you need to be prepared to set up payment arrangements that will get you back on track. Let the bank know exactly how much you can pay each week. Even if you can only pay a couple hundred dollars each week, this will eventually get you back to where you should be and the bank will consider it a good faith effort to keep your home and as long as you keep up with these scheduled payments, you’ll find that the bank is willing to work with you as long as you need them to so that you can keep your home as well as keep them off your back. It might take awhile, but you can get on top of your late payments. Remember, your bank doesn’t want to foreclose on your home, so you should take all of the chances you are offered and communicate with the bank about the issues you’ve had paying your mortgage, and then arrange payments, and be sure to make them.

Show the bank you mean business
Once you’ve received a notice of intent to foreclose, you still shouldn’t lose all hope. Most of the time you can still keep your home and reconcile the debt with your bank. You might have to make a larger payment or the bank may actually try to demand that you pay the debt in full, but if you get a foreclosure attorney involved you may be able to undo these issues. Most of the time if you can pay a portion of the missed payments on the spot you’ll be able to proceed normally and set up new monthly payments so that you don’t have to lose your home. An attorney can often step in and help you set up payments that will not leave you broke, but will also satisfy the needs of the bank. Sometimes it is easier to have an attorney present to sort of act as a middleman since this is a very stressful situation for most owners, and it can be difficult to keep emotions out of it. Attorneys will also be able to ensure that your rights are protected and that you have every chance possible to save your home from being foreclosed on.

If you miss the boat on this type of thing, you can actually show up at the auction for your home. As long as you are the highest bidder, the bank doesn’t care who buys the home just that the home sells. If you are intent on saving your home, the auction is a great place to be because there may only be a handful of people there that bid on the home and if you are able to put down a large sum of money, you might just win your house back! Don’t dismiss every chance possible to win your house back, as you may figure out how to come up with the money just in the nick of time.

As you can see, there are many ways to keep from being foreclosed on. Many people simply sell their homes, sell belongings, stock, or take money from savings accounts to pay off their debts and get back on track. Foreclosure does not only mean the loss of your home, it means damaged credit and the need to look for a new place to live. If more people would realize that the bank really does not want to foreclose on their homes and that they can take advantage of these offers by just picking up the phone and getting in touch, fewer homes would be foreclosed on. Banks will often help you refinance if you are just not able to make such big payments each month, or they’ll make payment arrangements for you to get on top of the debt. Don’t be afraid to ask questions, get help, and get aggressive about keeping your home because you can stop foreclosure.

Author : John Nazareno
@copyrighted 2006 all right reserve
you may used this article providing that you provide a live link back to this blog
Stopping Foreclosure

stopping foreclosures, foreclosures, Reo's, Foreclosure investing

Monday, March 19, 2012

How to Keep From Getting Judgment Liens

Judgment liens can be placed against ones home or other assets when they refuse to pay credit card bills, home improvement bills, or just about any other type of bill. All a creditor needs to do is pursue payment and if the homeowner is not able or unwilling to pay, the creditor can go to court and a judge can place a lien against the home of the person that owes the debt. While a judgment is often said to not be as serious as a tax lien, it is still something that someone should try to avoid and do away with if they have a judgment lien placed against them. Whether it’s a tax lien or a judgment lien, these things are best dealt with right away rather than ignored.

Of course, it goes without saying that if you really ant to avoid having judgment liens placed against your home that you should pay your bills. But, we’ve all been in a situation where we just can’t afford all of the things we need to pay. If you are in this situation, there is no shame in it because every now and again things come up and our bills just seem to grow and grow. Thankfully, judgment liens will not be filed the first day you have a late bill. If you are just going through a tough period where you need a little more time than usual, you’ll usually be just fine and will not even have to think twice about judgment liens. Judgment liens don’t happen when you’re a couple weeks late on your credit card bill or if you forget to pay the landscaper for a month or even two.

But, if you go for long periods of time without paying a bill and without responding to attempts to collect the debts you owe, you might have to deal with judgment liens. Thankfully, this won’t happen without your knowledge. You will usually receive notices from the creditor that they are going to court to file liens against you so that they can receive payment for their services or products. At this point it is a good time to swallow your pride and call the creditor and try to work out a payment plan that is something you can stick to in your financial situation and is something that the creditor will be happy with. In the end, no one wants to go to court, not you, or the creditor, so if you just communicate you can usually get him or her to stop the legal action and allow you to pay him or her off as you can, as long as you actually intend to do so. Most creditors will be happy to work with you, as they’ll make more money on the interest they can charge you! Also, a creditor loses money when they have to take the time to prepare their case against you for court, so they’d rather get the payments a little late than have to go through the court process.

If you receive a notice that a hearing is scheduled in the attempt to place a lien against your home for nonpayment for services or products, you should show up to the hearing. You should state your case, especially if you believe that you do not owe the creditor, or if you dispute the amount that they are charging. Creditors are often willing to forego late fees and even interest charges if you are willing to pay them off sooner rather than later. If you are not present to defend yourself, the court will assume that the debts are valid and will go ahead and place the lien against your home, so it is in your best interest to go to the hearing as the court will often order a continuance or even a dismissal if they think that the circumstances warrant it. The worst thing that can happen if you show up is that the court does order the judgment lien, the best thing that can happen is that you are given more time to pay the outstanding debts before any legal action is taken.

Judgment liens typically are not something that will affect you right away; it just means that you cannot sell your house without paying off the debt. This means that the lien placed against your home will be paid off before you see any of the proceeds from the sale. If the lien is small, perhaps this isn’t a big issue for you. If the lien is larger this might be something you want to think about because it could keep you from having a large enough down payment for a new home. Judgment liens typically have an interest rate attached to them according to state statute. This means that a lien isn’t just a long-term loan between friends; it means that the lean holder is compensated for not having been paid for their services or products right away. The interest on the lien can grow quickly, making the debt more and more difficult to pay off before the sale of the home.

The best thing to do is deal with your bills right off. When the collection agencies start calling, don’t be afraid to talk to them. Tell them that you want to pay your bills, but that you can’t afford their arrangements. While the creditor may initially balk at the idea, eventually they’ll see that they can get their money from you if they do it on your terms. So, if you can’t pay your bills right away, pay them as you can and let the creditor know that you are making every attempt possible to pay the bills. If you can show a judge that you have been communicating and making regular payments to the creditor you may be able to avoid a judgment lien altogether. Judgment liens are not the end of the world, but they are best avoided so pay your bills or communicate with your creditor and attempt to pay off the debt, as you are able.

Info Provided by : John Nazareno Real Estate Foreclosures @copyrighted 2006 all right reserve you may used this article providing that you provide a live link back to this blog

Friday, March 16, 2012

Rich Americans Walking Away from Million Dollar Homes


Continuation from "Foreclosures : The Rich Walks Away from Homes" 


Rich Americans Walking Away from Million Dollar Homes

But with housing market still years away in recovery, many are finding that foreclosure to be a worthwhile solution after all. Stuck with puffed up home mortgages following a long run up in home values, numerous high-end homeowners have decided on to engage in a strategic default. Although they can manage the regular monthly mortgage obligations, they continue to decide to walk away from their property for the reason that they will owe more on the home than it is worth.

In the more affordable housing (under one million) you might see much more homeowners defaulting because they are unable to pay for the payments and it's a decision between providing for their family and having to pay the home loan on a home that's under water.

In million dollar properties, you might be looking at folks who can manage it, but has made a business and financial decision to just walk away.

At the very least everyone can take your time packing up all of your belongings. It takes around 350 days for a foreclosure to be completed (depends on how busy your area is, some states takes longer, some shorter). You may get nearly a year of free housing out of the deal and if you're smart, have the banks write you a check for your moving out expense. some of my clients on average have checks written to them on average of $4,500 - $15,000 (depending on home value). Free housing for a year and up to $15k!!!WOOT!

Anyway Don't be expecting a few million dollar homes in foreclosures to bring down the neighborhood. A single or two foreclosure in an otherwise affluent area is not going to impact surrounding values.

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Foreclosures : The Rich Walks Away from Homes


Foreclosures : The Rich Walks away from homes

Five years following the real estate bubble burst, Our country's wealthiest households are now sacrificing their properties to foreclosure at a more rapid rate than the remainder of the nation and the majority of are doing so willingly.

More than 36,000 properties valued at more than one million dollars were foreclosed on or at the very least served with a NOD or notice of default in 2011, according to some experts who track foreclosures. Although that's significantly less than two percent of all foreclosures across the country, it delivers a much larger share of foreclosure action than in previous years.

In all of the property foreclosure activity, the share of foreclosures on properties valued at more than one million dollars has climbed by 115% since 2007. The foreclosures of multi-million dollar properties or houses valued at more than $2 million reveals that it jumped by 273%. At the same time, the number of foreclosures on homes valued between half a million and one million dollars dropped by 21%.

Right until a short while ago, many property owners at the higher end of the real estate market were able to delay the foreclosure process. With other investments and choices, they had additional economic means to hold out from default.

On top of that, creditors are generally more agreeable to working with property owners that have other assets.

continue again next post

Sunday, March 11, 2012

Foreclosures - Bank Targeting Churches

Many Lenders are foreclosing on church buildings across America in increasing numbers as banks lose patience with religious establishments that have stopped sending their loans.

The surge in church Mortgage foreclosures provides a unique wave of distressed property seizures prompted by the 2008 financial crash, with many banking institutions no longer inclined to grant distressed religious organizations forbearance.

Ever since 2010, 270 church buildings have been sold after defaulting on their commercial loan, with the majority of those sales happened after a lender triggered foreclosure.

A record number of churches were sold by lenders in 2011, as 138 churches were sold, with no indication that these religious foreclosures are slowing. Considering just 24 church sales in 2008 and only a small number in the 10 years before.

The church foreclosures have affected all denominations throughout America, but with smaller to medium size churches the worst hit. The majority of of these institutions have ended up being sold to other churches.

The highest percentage have taken place in some of the states hardest struck by the home foreclosure catastrophe: California, Florida. Michigan and Georgia..

Church foreclosures are different from house foreclosures. Most of the mortgages in question are not the typical 30 year mortgages but rather commercial loans which typically mature after five years when the full balance becomes due immediately.

Its typical practice for lenders to refinance such commercial loans when they come due. But lenders have become more and more reluctant to do that because of demand from bureaucrats to clean up their balance sheets.

The reasons leading to the boom in church foreclosures will sound familiar to millions of foreclosed homeowners forced out from their houses in recent years. During the great real estate boom, many churches took extra loans to refurbish or enlarge, often with major lenders.

With the economy went tumbling down, millions lost their jobs, donations plunged, and so did the appraise value of the church building.

Saturday, March 10, 2012

Investors Guilty of Rigging Foreclosure Auctions in Contra Costa County


Investors Guilty of Rigging Foreclosure Auctions in Contra Costa County

Court document shows that three Northern Californian investors have decided to plead guilty for their involvements in schemes to rig auction offers and mail fraud deception at public real estate foreclosure sales in Contra Costa County.

Based on court records, Heisner, Leung and Wong collaborated with other individuals not to submit bids against each other at public real estate foreclosure auctions. The Investors rather selected a successful bidder to acquire determined real estate at the auctions, which had taken place in Contra Costa County at numerous times from August 2008 to January 2011.

Twenty other individuals that were part of the scheme have decided to plead guilty. The three investors also were charged with utilizing the mail to support out their scheme, which involved acquiring title to the purchased properties, generating and acquiring payoffs and redirecting funds to co-conspirators that were designed for home loan holders.

The Justice Department states that Wong, Leung and Heisner also organised exclusive auctions available only to associates of their conspiracy, and that those homes were granted to the conspirators who sent in the best bids. Those auctions had taken place at or in close vicinity to the courthouse steps in which the public auctions were done.

The department of Justice claimed the key objective of the conspiracies was to control and limit competitors and to cover up payoffs in order to obtain the homes at the public foreclosure auctions at noncompetitive selling prices. Profits from public auctions are applied to pay off the loan and other debt connected to the property with the leftover earnings paid to the homeowner if any.

Thursday, March 08, 2012

Freedie and Mae owes more than 2,000 Foreclosed Homes in the Bay Area


Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have turn out to be a significant residential owners in the Bay Area’s toughest Foreclosure hit neighborhoods, many thanks to the mortgage disaster.

Based on information supplied by local bay area experts, the two government controlled loan organizations now own over 2,230 foreclosed properties in the Bay Area, value believed to be around $500 million. Numerous homes covered in junk, are blighted, unkept lawns, junk cars, damaged paint and shattered windows.

In between the two, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, own the majority of California home mortgages in excess of over 60% and compared with most of the biggest banking institutions — will not agree to lower the balances on mortgages for debtors who owes far more on their houses than they are worth.

The East Bay of the Bay Area CA accounted for almost 60 percent of all of the homes possessed by the disorganized Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. Most of these homes are in hard hit cities such as Oakland (371), the bankrupted city of Vallejo (160), San Jose (137), and Richmond (110).

Tuesday, March 06, 2012


It's a typical annoyance talked about by struggling property owners: They submit an application for a mortgage modification and at the exact same time their lender proceeds the actions for a foreclosure. Often, while homeowners  awaits for a decision on mortgage modifications or make trial mortgage payments, the lender goes through with the foreclosure process.

Seriously to late for millions of homeowners, Federal regulators stepped in, demanding lenders to stop the "dual track" process, stating foreclosure process must halt once a property owners are accepted for a trial or permanent mortgage modification.

But don't expect things to happen instantly. Lenders have 120 days from the April 13 order date to put into practice the new method.

SB729, a pending California bill, will require lenders to stop foreclosure proceedings as soon as a people submit an application for a mortgage modification. It also necessitates lenders to fulfill numerous notice requirements and compose clear denial correspondence when needed. The Bills author intent is to prevent pointless and avoidable foreclosures.

Saturday, March 03, 2012

Split Rock Resort hotel and water park hit by Sheriff Sale



Portion of a vacation resort in northeastern Pennsylvania's Poconos is heading for sheriff's sale soon.

The Split Rock Resort hotel and water park will continue being open in spite of a planned April 13 foreclosure sale on a $21 million loan.

The Carbon County Sheriff's Office planned the business foreclosure sale on the loan owed to TD Bank, which is on of the 10 biggest bank in the U.S. today.

One chunk of property scheduled for auction is a forty acre lot, which includes a $19 million water park playground that opened up in late 2008. Another parcel due for a sheriff sale is around 260 acres and features a villa and some recreation facilities connected to the hotel.

These parcels, totaling near or about 300 acres, are owned or operated by Vacation Charters Ltd. A resort representative stated that the owners are working hard to come up with the capital required to halt the foreclosure sale.

Friday, March 02, 2012

Short Sales numbers are up 15%


Short sales are beginning to develop into the chosen procedure for banks to get rid of homes who are delinquent. In short sale, debtors who owes more on their mortgage loans than their properties are value agree with their lender to market their house at the lower market value. In return, the financial institution agrees to take up the loss.

There were far more than 88,000 short sales throughout the last quarter of 2011, an increased of more than 15% in comparison with a year earlier. Short sales amounted to ten percent of all properties sold for the duration of the quarter. At the same time, sales of real estate owned by bank or REO decrease twelve percent year-over-year to 116,000, amounting 13% of all sales during the quarter.

Thursday, March 01, 2012

Have your home mortgage review for errors for free!


Property owners have right until the end of July 2012 to utilize a federal mandate to review your mortgage if you believe the lender made errors in your house foreclosure. Federal government banking regulators are attempting to get this statement out online.

Far more than four million households are eligible for a assessment because of probable faults in some aspect of the home foreclosure process. Federal banking authorities mailed out millions of letters to give consumers notice.

If property owners believe that they encountered monetary losses simply because of bank blunders in the foreclosure process, they have to submit an application to have an third party panel review their case.

The feds have directed the financial institutions to provide independent consultants to review through each and every case and figure out whether "errors, misrepresentations or deficiencies" took place. The issue of how much capital a property owner may possibly get for a bank mistake is still up in the air.

Bank regulators have established up a toll free hotline to respond to inquiries about whether or not you are eligible for a review: 888-952-9105.

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