I had a client who recently contacted me regarding a foreclosure notice from her Home Owners Association. I initially told her to disregard due to the fact that if an HOA wants to foreclose they are in a subordinate position and would have to buy out the 1st and 2nd. Well guess what, not true because I received another call the same week from a friend who told me the association actually did foreclose. I said that’s impossible and pulled title and I was stunned when I saw the HOA was now on title as the owner. No way this could happen, I thought what happened to the 1st and 2nd? Were they bought out? Actually we called the 1st lienholder and they had no idea the home foreclosed. Insane! I called 8 trusted Real Estate friends who all told me that was impossible but it was true. The crazy thing was the 1st is in negotiations on a short sale and per them they were moving forward. I did’nt know what to say to my friend. This is so new to me but I guess its happening in Texas quite often now. I would love to hear other stories about how the home is ultimately disposed of. From what I understand the homeowner has a 90 day redemption period but the problem is the homeowner can be 3 months late and owe 10,000 in fees. That’s the scam. Somehow they jack the fees so its next to impossible to pay to get the house back then the Management Company for the HOA holds the deal hostage and I heard can ask for as much as 25% of the balance owed on the first. Talk to me out there, this is insane.

I have loan modifications on my desk now for officially 6 months and they’re not even getting looked at now. Seems Bank of America has 2 departments. Eminent Default and Loss Mitigation. From what I gather Eminent Default is for people who are looking to modify but aren’t late on their mortgage while Loss Mitigation is for borrowers who are at least 1 month late but I’ve heard need to be as long as 3 months past due. Maybe someone out there knows or does any one really care. Seams the latest stats about successful modifications aren’t very promising. Percentage approved are under 6% for all mods submitted. That’s industry not just B of A. Mods that actually stick, in other words get approved with the borrower actually making the new payment are under 50%. Either way its an uphill battle. Here come the Short Sales.

“Countrywide loan modification News — Bank Of America Loan Modification news”

Here’s the latest on Countrywide B of A Loan Modifications 9/19/09

Seems Bank of America has come to their senses lately.  I have heard of 4 loan modifications all over 1 million dollars that have been approved that were initially Option Arm loans.  Seems that lenders are realizing that squatting doesn’t increase the bottom line revenues for the company.  Don’t get me wrong,  If you can live rent/mortgage free for a year without any notices or pressure from your lender, i think most people, even the honest ones would do it to survive.  Whats interesting is that no one knew what these lenders were going to do with these option arm loans and now its apparent they don’t want the homes back.  I know that all 4 of these borrowers had not made a payment in over a year and were actually trying to get a modification but were getting the run around from the lender who said throughout the year they were working on it.  I think they are overwhelmed but also didn’t know what to do with these borrowers.  After all its hard to modify someone who has been paying 1% for the last 3 years.  Whats the new rate going to be .25%  Don’t think so.  But they had to do something and here’s what they did.  They came back and gave 3% interest only for 3 years and did a forbearance on the  balance in arrears.  A pretty sweet deal considering 2 of these homes were second, vacation homes.  This is actually smart of the lender.  Why foreclose on a property that is down 30%, pay all the costs to foreclose then take the property back only to incur a huge loss on the deal when it sells.  Better to cut a deal with the current owner, reduce the rate to match almost what they were paying, generate some revenue and wait to see if the market corrects.  At least they’re generating some cash flow and the home will be maintained.  If the market rebounds in 3 years the equity comes back and the banks loss might be substantially less if not eliminated.  Bout time they think outside the box a bit.  Let me know if you have an option arm loan, we can fix them now.

Just got an approval on one of my first super Jumbo loan modification through Countrywide now B of A.  The loan was 1.2 million and it was a fixed rate for 30 years at 6.5%.  I was told originally that fixed rate loans in this category were not eligible for modification but I kept pushing and was able to get 4% for 3 years reverting back to the original not rate of 6.5%.  The relief saved my clients $74,800 over the 3 years.  Not bad.

Needless to say my clients are very happy and will enjoy the next 3 years of lower payments.

More good news to follow.

Good Loan Modification from Saxon Mortgage

I am happy to report a very successful loan Modification with Saxon Mortgage.  My client had a rate over 8% and fell off his 3 payment plan modification last month.  I gathered his documents, crunched the numbers and called Saxon.  I spoke with a nice gal who took the information and put me on hold for awhile.  When she came back on line she said she had great news.  My client was approved for a modification that was substantially better than what he had been approved for previously.  Bottom line figures is he went from 3480 per month to 1456.17 and that includes impounds for taxes and insurance.  Trust me when I say this, he cried when i told him.  The home was foreclosing on the 22nd of June and now he is saving $2000 per month and saving his home.  He has that rate for 5 years then the rate adjusts 1% per year up until it gets to his current rate. By then I’ll have him in a 30 year fixed.

Grab my book and find out how all this cool stuff works. www.GoProLoanMod.com

More Issues with Aurora loan Mods.

Just had a gentleman call me and asked if I could help him with a loan modification.  My first question is always, “who is your lender”.  He made the grave mistake of saying Aurora Loan Services.  Why a mistake you ask, because I have never had any luck with ALS including my own loan which as much as I hate to admit, I’m trying to modify and have seen no relief in terms of a modification.  I have had so many calls from people with ALS who have negotiated a 3 payment repayment plan under the promise of a new rate and upon completion of the payments end up denied.  Very frustrating.  I cant figure out what the repayment plan is for.  Is it the lender simply trying to recapture as much as they can before they implode again?  Who knows but bottom line is they deny the modification and ask to re-establish the payment plan as many as 3 times per some of my callers.  I’ve yet to have one person say they received a better rate or terms from them.

Anybody out there with an Aurora succes story, I would love to post it here.  I’m betting it wont exist.

FTC Issues Final Telemarketing Sales Rule Amendments Regarding Prerecorded Calls

From August 2008

The Federal Trade Commission today announced two amendments to the Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR). One will expressly bar telemarketing calls that deliver prerecorded messages, unless a consumer previously has agreed to accept such calls from the seller. The other related technical amendment modifies the TSR’s method of calculating the maximum permissible level of “call abandonment.”

The amendments will not affect consumers’ ability to continue to receive calls that deliver purely “informational” prerecorded messages - notifying recipients, for example, that their flight has been cancelled, that they have a service appointment, or similar messages. Such purely “informational” calls are not covered by the TSR because they do not attempt to sell the called party any goods or services.

Effective Dates

The provision requiring that all prerecorded telemarketing calls provide an automated interactive opt-out mechanism will become effective on December 1, 2008. The provision requiring permission from consumers to receive such calls will become effective September 1, 2009. The amendment modifying the method for measuring the maximum allowable rate of call abandonment will become effective on October 1, 2008.

See full article  http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2008/08/tsr.shtm

I am hearing of so many loan  modification companies including attorney based modification companies who are being shut down right now.  Regulators are really dropping the hammer on these groups for deception and outright fraud.  Being in the business I am seeing several groups that I know of locally who built big shops, staffed up, found a couple attorneys to make em legit and  now they’re either being seized by the feds or business has slowed to a crawl forcing them to shut their doors.  The math is simple, loan mods are hard and take a lot of time to complete properly.  When effective marketing generates big supply huge staff is needed to negotiate all these loans.  You cant simply take borrower paperwork and turn it in and wait for an answer.  Each mod is different and each lender is different.  All my mods require several calls to the borrower as well as the lender.  There’s no way to simplify the process.  When groups offer money back guarantees and lack staff at the same time, something has to give and that’s where the fraud comes in.  Mods don’t get submitted and pile up.  Be serious do you really think theres refund money?  It’s gone to suport giant offices with seas of cubicles and staff.  First the staff goes then the mods start piling up, then the doors shut.  I have several clients who have been taken for more than $3000.  When they call their lender to check status, nothing has been turned in.  Hopefully the feds will keep on their blood thirsty warpath.  It makes us all look bad. Do it yourself loan modification and stay away from fraudsters.  www.goproloanmod.com and download my free book.

Freddie Mac official found dead

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

David Kellermann, the acting chief financial officer of Freddie Mac, was found dead at his home Wednesday morning in what broadcast reports said was an apparent suicide.

WUSA-TV and WTOP Radio reported that David Kellermann was found dead in his Northern Virginia home. The 41-year-old Kellermann has been Freddie Mac’s chief financial officer since September.

Sabrina Ruck, a Fairfax County police spokesman, confirmed to The Associated Press that Kellermann was dead, but she could not confirm that he committed suicide.

Kellermann’s death is the latest blow to Freddie Mac, a government controlled company that owns or guarantees about 13 million home loans. CEO David Moffett resigned last month.

McLean, Va.-based Freddie Mac and sibling company Fannie Mae, which together own or back more than half of the home mortgages in the country, have been hobbled by skyrocketing loan defaults and have received about $60 billion in combined federal aid.

Kellermann was named acting chief financial officer in September 2008, after the resignation of Anthony “Buddy” Piszel, who stepped down after the September 2008 government takeover. The chief financial officer is responsible for the company’s financial controls, financial reporting and oversight of the company’s budget and financial planning.

Before taking that job, Kellerman served as senior vice president, corporate controller and principal accounting officer. He was with Freddie Mac for more than 16 years.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.

WASHINGTON — Reports say the acting chief financial officer of Freddie Mac has been found dead in an apparent suicide.

WUSA-TV and WTOP Radio are reporting that David Kellermann was found dead in his Northern Virginia home Wednesday morning.

The 41-year-old Kellermann has been Freddie Mac’s chief financial officer since September.

Sabrina Ruck, a Fairfax County police spokesman, confirmed to the AP that Kellermann was dead, but she could not confirm that he committed suicide.

AKA: SPS, Select Portfolio Services

I Just received an approval for a loan modification from SPS (Service Portfolio Select).  The terms were as follows.

Self Employed borrower with a decrease in business volume (construction)

Current Loan Amount around $400,000

Old Rate 7.5% (5 Year Interest Only)

New Rate 2.0% 30 year fixed for life of loan (27 years)

Savings was approximately 865.00 monthly

I was very happy to get this approval due to the fact that I guarantee my loan modification services.  It’s high pressure when you prepare all the paperwork and allocate several hours on the phone with negotiators to potentially receive a denial.  I felt if I could get the rate down to around 3% then my client could save the home.  I am now working on the 2nd with First Franklin and they are pretty tough to work with.  I’ll post when that battle is over.

Note:  Appproval on SPS Loan modifications have to go through a 3 month payment plan at the payment negotiated then if the financials jive and the payments are on time they approve the modified rate for the balance of the note.  I’m adding this because the negotiator asked me what the borrower could afford and actaully asked for more than the new payment of 1448.00.  She asked if he can make 3 payments at the old 2400.   I told her this is a legitimate hardship and he just cant afford it right now.  She agreed to the  1448.00 for 3 months.  The borrower had just under 10,000 in savings and I managed to protect that by saying it was retiremnt.  Also the financials have to be entered into the system online so make sure you are prepared.  You need to have access to the borrowers account so its best to enter the numbers with the bowower present.  Follow up that submission after 2-3 days and verify the numbers and they can give the conditional approval right then.  Good luck.