Here’s our follow up Q&As from class.

Here’s the statistical data on Pay Option ARMs and here’s the reset chart.  A big thank you to CalculatedRiskBlog who allows me to use his charts in class for educational purposes. Thanks, CR!

Here’s a link to homeownership.wa.gov with free help for homeowners facing foreclosure from HUD-approved Housing Counseling Agencies.

Here’s more information on The President Obama Administration’s Making Home Affordable Loan Mod program.

Jillayne does requests!

There was a request for information on loss mitigation requirements for a lender servicing an FHA loan.  Here you go.

And there was a request for personal bankruptcy statistics nationwide.

Here’s the most recent unofficial problem bank list. Note: this list is updated every Friday evening or Sat morning by CR.

Some folks were curious about the 3 investor groups that represent buyers who want to buy homes at the foreclosure auction like the one we watched in class..

Those companies are: Vestus, Foreclosure Resolutions NW, and RE Investment Firm.

Here’s my youtube channel in case you want to watch a more recent foreclosure auction where I interview the above three investors about rumors I had heard that some lenders were cutting the opening bids a few days before the auction.

and here’s the most recent story about mansion squatters on the eastside.

Here’s the follow up from today’s class.

Here’s a link to the REO inventory graphs from the first hour of class.

Here’s the unofficial problem bank list.  CR updates this every Friday night or Saturday morning.

Here’s the blog post Val mentioned regarding the list of links to bank-owned REOs for sale.

Here’s that story about a Windermere office in Northern Cali that created an entire REO division.

Here’s a movie to rent about fear. The idea here is to understand that whoever is speaking (or maybe it’s a voice inside you) might have a vested interest in keeping you afraid and that once you look closer, maybe there was nothing to be afraid of after all.  The other theme that runs through this movie is that you can’t run from sorrow; it will find you no matter where you are in this world and emotions are just part of being human. I simply can’t wait for this same writer’s new movie coming out in September called Devil, but then again, I love scary movies. 

There was also a request for more information on HUD’s “limited denial of participation” list and the federal ”general services admin” list.

Thanks for a fun class today and all your kind comments on the end-of-course evaluations. Wow!

Here’s the follow up from today’s class.

There was a question about whether or not the short sale debt is considered a taxable event when the lender forgives the shortfall.  Here’s a link to the IRS website explaining the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act; who is and is not exempt. By the way this was going to sunset in 2012 and has been extended through 2014 as part of the recently passed Wall St Reform Act.

There was a question about third party short sale negotiators that we did not get to.  Here are two articles I recently wrote about these guys:
Predatory Short Sale Negotiators
and
21 Questions to Ask Short Sale Negotiators Before Hiring Them

There was a question about community property:

A borrower acquired real property as a single person and then gets married (in a community property state), moves into a home owned by her new husband, and now wants to short sale the real property acquired as a single person.  Can the lender demand to see all community assets in order to determine whether or not the borrower qualifies for debt forgiveness?

There is no “financial distress event” that triggered the need to sell short. The borrower is still gainfully employed and was making mortgage payments as agreed. She just no longer needs the home acquired as a single person.

I have sent the above question to several attorneys and will post the answer when I receive it.

I am having a hard time visualizing how she will answer the question on the lender’s short sale paperwork: “Reason for hardship” seeing how there is no hardship and her financial situation is actually improved. 

There was also lots of questions about HAFA, the government’s Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternative program for homeowners who do not qualify for a loan mod and now need to sell short.   Here is a link to the HAFA website. The main question we need to answer tonight is as follows: Is the HAFA program ONLY for loans held in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s portfolios or is HAFA something that is available for all mortgage loans? 

The answer is as follows: All loans held in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s portfolio are eligible for consideration for any program within the “Making Home Affordable” government program. Here’s how to determine if a loan is held by F or F.

Part of the confusion surrounding who is/is not eligible for HAFA is because the homeowner must first have been turned down for a loan mod under HAMP (Home Affordable Modification Program.)  People who qualify to try for a HAMP loan mod are people whose loans are held in F&F’s portfolio. So they try to get a loan mod and are TURNED DOWN for the mod probably because they do not have sufficient income to qualify to repay the modified loan.  People are turned down for a loan mod because their debt-to-income ratios are so out of line that they really should be selling the home; chance of a re-default is very high. From the website:

“These options are available for homeowners who: 1. do not qualify for a trial mortgage modification under the Making Home Affordable Program; 2. do not successfully complete the trial period for their modification; 3. miss at least two consecutive payments during their modification period; or 4. request a short sale…”

Here’s a list of loan servicers that are participating in the HAMP program. This is DIFFERENT from HAFA.  HAMP is the Home Affordable Modification Program.  Just because a homeowner makes payments to this loan servicer doesn’t necessarily mean that the servicer will participate in HAFA should the homeowner be denied a loan mod. What we do know is that if a homeowner’s loan is held in Fannie or Freddie’s portfolio, the homeowner can pursue a HAFA short sale….yet the lender is under no obligation to approve the HAFA short sale. The final decision is still up to the lender/servicer.

Remember, your client is better off going for HAFA if they qualify because the lender/servicer is required to not pursue the homeowner for the short sale deficiency.  This is good outcome for your client. 

Also…there’s been FORTY policy changes to the Making Home Affordable program since its inception a year ago. MHA is a moving target and I’m sure more changes are in its future. Stay tuned.

Thanks for a fun class today and I hope to see you all again next Monday!

Wow, what a fantastic class today…so many interesting questions and so MANY questions on Deeds-in-Lieu of Foreclosure. As promised, here’s the follow up:

Here’s some reading material on loan modification plan for people with Pay Option ARMs seeking principal balance reduction.

Here’s the statistical data on Pay Option ARMs and here’s the reset chart.  A big thank you to CalculatedRiskBlog who allows me to use his charts in class for educational purposes. Thanks, CR!

Here’s a link to the IRS publication, “Mortgage Forgiveness and Debt Relief Act.”

Here’s an article from the Legal Hotline Attorney Annie Fitzsimmons regarding deficiency judgements and second mortgages.  There’s a searchable database of Annie’s articles inside the WA Realtor’s website. Look for her article dated May 15, 2009 on short sales and second mortgage deficiencies.

Some folks were curious about the 3 investor groups that represent buyers who want to buy homes at the foreclosure auction like the one we watched in class..

Those companies are: Vestus, Foreclosure Resolutions NW, and RE Investment Firm.

Here’s my youtube channel in case you want to watch a more recent foreclosure auction where I interview three investors about rumors I had heard that some lenders were cutting the opening bids a few days before the auction.

and here’s the news story about squatters taking over a foreclosed home in Kirkland.

Thank you for coming to class today!

Fannie Mae REOs
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Freddie Mac REOs
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HUD FHA REOs
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FDIC REOs
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USDA REOs
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VA REOs
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American Home Mortgage REOs
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Bank of America REOs
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BECU REOs
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Citibank REOs
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Flagstar REOs
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Golf Savings Bank REOs
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Home Street Bank REOs
(click on green icon “bank owned lots and land”)
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HSBC REOs
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IndyMac Bank REOs
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JP Morgan Chase Bank REOs
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M&T Bank REOs
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Ocwen Financial/Altisource REOs
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PNC Mortgage REOs
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SunTrust REOs
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Taylor Bean REOs
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US Bank REOs
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Wachovia REOs
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Wells Fargo Premier Asset REOs
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Here’s the follow up from today’s class.

Nobel Prize winning economist Dr. Paul Krugman gives us some nice data about the Community Reinvestment Act and how CRA is not to blame for the meltdown.  All you have to do is google or bing this: community reinvestment act harvard
and the Harvard PDF will come up right at the top of the search engine.  Thanks for asking this question! It comes up often.

Here’s a link to the graph showing the Fannie/Freddie/FHA REO inventory estimates.

Here’s the graph showing that 96.5 percent of all loans are being backed by the government.  Thanks again to CR who allows me to use his graphs in the classroom. 

Here’s the story about FHA seller concessions and how they will likely go down to 3 percent soon.

Here’s a link to Fannie and Freddie’s regulator, the Federal Housing Finance Agency. This is a good website to become familiar with in relation to questions about Fannie and Freddie.

And here’s a link to the website for the movie Inception. Ha! I couldn’t resist. 

Have a great weekend everyone!

Here’s the folow up from today’s class.

Here’s the graph showing 96.5 percent of all loans now backed by the federal government.

Here’s the New York Times interactive map showing the subprime loans made during the real estate bubble run-up.

Here’s a way to see the FHA default rate of your favorite lender.

Here’s that story about a Windermere office in Northern Cali that created an entire REO division.

Nobel Prize winning economist Dr. Paul Krugman gives us some nice data about the Community Reinvestment Act and how CRA is not to blame for the meltdown.  I’m having trouble linking directly to the Harvard study but all you have to do is google or bing this: community reinvestment act harvard
and the Harvard PDF will come up right at the top of the search engine.

Thanks for a fun class today!

Wow, what a fun class today!  Here’s the follow up:

Here’s the story from the L.A. Times about the FBI filing criminal charges against 1200 people today for mortgage fraud.

There were several questions regarding Homeowner’s Associations and how many month’s worth of dues they can force the lender to pay after foreclosure, and how a HOA can pursue the former homeowner for unpaid HOA dues. There is LOTS to read on this page so slow down and read the whole thing if you’re one of the students who had a high interest in understanding this issue.  Take a look at number 11:

     (11) Except as provided in subsection (3) of this section, the holder of a mortgage or other purchaser of a unit who obtains the right of possession of the unit through foreclosure shall not be liable for assessments or installments thereof that became due prior to such right of possession. Such unpaid assessments shall be deemed to be common expenses collectible from all the unit owners, including such mortgagee or other purchaser of the unit. Foreclosure of a mortgage does not relieve the prior owner of personal liability for assessments accruing against the unit prior to the date of such sale as provided in this subsection”

Read number (3) to confirm the “six month rule” regarding homeowner’s dues the foreclosing lender is liable for.  And here is the condo statute.

I didn’t find the news story in the Seattle Times about utility companies (PS Energy?) being able to only collect 4 month’s worth of utility bills (with the rest being covered by us) against a foreclosed homeowner. If anyone has a link to that story, please post it in the comment section.

Here’s a link to the mortgage delinquency stats charts we looked at during the first hour of class.

Here’s a link to the most recent “unofficial troubled bank list” courtesy of CR. Which WA bank will fail next…will it be Sterling or Pierce Commercial Bank? BTW, PC Bank has the highest FHA default rate of out of all WA State FHA lenders with 17 percent seriously delinquent loans.  Want to check your favorite lender’s FHA default rate?  Choose “all lenders” and then search only by WA State. 

Here’s a link to REO-Insider.

I had a request for some suggestions on REO software. Check out TazaREO. Salesforce software has an REO add on, but be sure to read the fine print and check to see if there are any hidden charges to add on the REO templates. 

Someone asked me at break about ideas for how to learn to do BPOs. I recommend taking appraisal courses. North Seattle CC has courses like this.  It looks like BCC has really stepped away from offering many appraisal courses.  The Appraisal Institute offers the most classes (classroom style.) Follow the link on the left that says “education” and select Wa state, etc.

There was a request to see graphs comparing the 1990s recession with our “Great Recession.”

Here’s the most recent “unofficial problem bank list” from CR.  This list is updated every Friday evening on calculatedriskblog.com

Here’s a link to HAFA: The Making Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternative program for loans serviced by Fannie and Freddie.

Here’s a good blog article on HAFA, which will help us understand why many homeowners won’t be helped under this program.

Here’s a link to the WA State Bar Assoc website with info on their free legal aid program for WA State homeowners facing foreclosure.

Here’s a link to my attorney referral page.

I mentioned a website for WA State homeowners who need access to the free, HUD-approved housing counseling agencies.

Here’s more info about the changes to the WA State Deed of Trust Act. Scroll down to read “bill as passed by legislature.”

Here’s an article from the Legal Hotline Attorney Annie Fitzsimmons regarding deficiency judgements and second mortgages.  There’s a searchable database of Annie’s articles inside the WA Realtor’s website. Look for her article dated May 15, 2009 on short sales and second mortgage deficiencies.

Here’s a link to the IRS publication, “Mortgage Forgiveness and Debt Relief Act.”

Speaking of the IRS, somebody asked if the IRS has a website to show homes/property for sale seized by the IRS. They do.

I mentioned a hot story about a guy who was caught faking lost mortgage notes! Yikes! Taylor Bean was a HUGE wholesale lender.  This is definitely not the end of the story.

Ken Harney has a nice article on how a person’s credit score is affected by short sale v. foreclosure.

Some folks were curious about the 3 investor groups that represent buyers who want to buy homes at the foreclosure auction like the one we watched in class, and the one I filmed in May here.

Those companies are: Vestus, Foreclosure Resolutions NW, and RE Investment Firm.

And here’s my youtube channel in case you can watch the more recent foreclosure auction where I interview three investor groups about rumors I had heard that some lenders were cutting the opening bids a few days before the auction.  All three confired what I had been hearing. 

I’m not finding anything on the auction company called Redic. If anyone has the link, please post it in the comment box.

Thanks for an awesome class and we’ll see you in July!

Here’s the follow up Q&A from today’s class.

Q: Do I have to become a managing or designated broker in order to supervise my assistant?

Since there is no clear answer here, I will email DOL direct. When they respond, I will post the response back here on the blog.

Q: Does DOL have definitions for the language used in the recordkeeping portion of the new licensing law? In particular, we would like to know if a designated broker is required to keep records on offers submitted but the offers did not receive mutual acceptance. Here is the scenario from the DOL FAQ page:

Q: When a real estate firm would like to offer property management services in addition to real estate services, does the firm need to obtain another UBI number from the state?

A: It depends on if the firm wants to separate real estate services and property management services.  This is the scenario and its answer provided by DOL:

Here is the link to the Department of Licensing’s website. Notice the links in red that will take you to the summary of the new changes and the frequently asked questions section, which continues to be updated on a regular basis as new questions are answered by DOL.

Thanks for a fun class today and for your great suggestions and feedback. I especially like the idea of taking what Lisa drew on the white board for us and creating another handout similar to the handout/graph on education requirements to show the “chain of command” flow from one person to the next.