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Foreclosure Activity Remains Near Record Levels

September 18, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Homes being lost to foreclosure in San Diego, Califorina and nationwide have not slowed significantly according to the latest RealtyTrac report.   California continues to be one of the leading states for notices of default, foreclosures, and short sales.  Economists project that this market will remain for months to come and almost half of all homeowners will lose significant equity in their home.

You may be able to save the equity in your house using a forensic loan audit.  Apply today.

FORECLOSURE ACTIVITY REMAINS NEAR RECORD LEVEL IN AUGUST 2009

By RealtyTrac Staff   

 Foreclosure Activity Decreases Less Than 1 Percent From Record High in July

Activity Up 18 Percent From August 2008 Despite Year-Over-Year Drop in REOs

 IRVINE, Calif. — September 10, 2009 — RealtyTrac® released its August 2009 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report™, which shows foreclosure filings — default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions — were reported on 358,471 U.S. properties during the month, a decrease of less than 1 percent from the previous month but still an increase of nearly 18 percent from August 2008. The report also shows one in every 357 U.S. housing units received a foreclosure filing in August.

 “The August report demonstrates that there is still an ample supply of properties filling the foreclosure pipeline even while the outflow of bank-owned REO properties onto the resale market is being more carefully regulated,” said James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac. “After hitting a high for the year in July, REOs dropped 13 percent in August, but we also saw a record high number of properties either entering default or being scheduled for a public foreclosure auction for the first time.”

 Nevada, Florida, California post top state foreclosure rates

 With one in every 62 housing units receiving a foreclosure filing in August, Nevada continued to document the nation’s highest state foreclosure rate despite an 8 percent decrease in foreclosure activity from the previous month. A total of 17,902 Nevada properties received a foreclosure filing during the month, still an increase of 53 percent from August 2008.

 Florida documented the nation’s second highest state foreclosure rate, with one in every 140 housing units receiving a foreclosure filing, and California documented the nation’s third highest state foreclosure rate, with one in every 144 housing units receiving a foreclosure filing.

 A 10 percent month-to-month decrease in foreclosure activity helped lower Arizona’s foreclosure rate from the nation’s third highest in July to fourth highest in August. One in every 150 Arizona housing units received a foreclosure filing in August — still more than twice the national average.

 Six states account for more than 60 percent of national total

 Six states accounted for 62 percent of the nation’s total foreclosure activity in August despite decreasing REOs in all six states. California REOs dropped 32 percent from the previous month, but the state continued to post the highest overall total of any state, with 92,326 properties receiving a foreclosure filing in August. California’s total was down 15 percent from the previous month and was also down 9 percent from August 2009 — the first year-over-year decrease in California foreclosure activity in RealtyTrac’s monthly reports.

 A total of 62,401 Florida properties received foreclosure filings in August, the nation’s second highest state total and an increase of more than 10 percent from the previous month despite a 5 percent decrease in REO filings. Initial default notices in Florida increased 12 percent from the previous month, and scheduled auctions increased 13 percent from the previous month.

 A new law in Michigan requiring lenders to file a separate public notice of default before scheduling a foreclosure auction boosted overall foreclosure activity numbers in the state for August. A total of 9,789 of the new default notices were reported in August, bringing the total number of Michigan properties receiving foreclosure filings to 19,359 for the month — a 134 percent spike from the previous month and third highest among the states. Michigan’s foreclosure rate leapfrogged from 19th highest in July to fifth highest in August.

 With 17,902 properties receiving foreclosure filings in August, Nevada posted the nation’s fourth highest total despite a 24 percent decrease in REO filings from the previous month, and with 17,807 properties receiving foreclosure filings in August, Arizona posted the nation’s fifth highest total despite an 11 percent decrease in REO filings from the previous month.

 Illinois REO filings decreased 15 percent from the previous month, but the state’s total of 13,078 properties receiving foreclosure filings was still sixth highest among all the states in August.

 Other states with totals among the 10 highest in the country were Georgia (11,947), Ohio (11,368), Texas (11,261) and New Jersey (8,316).

 Three states dominate top 10 metro foreclosure rates

 Foreclosure filings were reported on 14,940 Las Vegas properties in August, one in every 53 housing units — more than 6.7 times the national average and the highest foreclosure rate among metro areas with a population of at least 200,000. The city’s foreclosure activity was down 11 percent from the previous month but still up 48 percent from August 2008.

 With one in every 86 housing units receiving a foreclosure filing in August, the Reno-Sparks metro area joined Las Vegas in the top 10, posting the seventh highest metro foreclosure rate.

 Six California metro areas documented foreclosure rates among the top 10 in August. Stockton posted the nation’s second highest metro foreclosure rate — one in every 74 housing units received a foreclosure filing — followed by Merced at No. 3 (one in 78), Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario at No. 4 (one in 80), Vallejo-Fairfield at No. 5 (one in 82), Modesto at No. 6 (one in 84), and Bakersfield at No. 10 (one in 94).

 Two Florida metro areas documented foreclosure rates among the top 10: Orlando-Kissimmee at No. 8 with one in every 87 housing units receiving a foreclosure filing, and Cape Coral-Fort Myers at No. 9 with one in every 88 housing units receiving a foreclosure filing.

Filed Under: Debt Crisis, Debt Settlement, Mortgage Fraud, Real Estate Educational Materials, Short Sale, Uncategorized Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Economist Nouriel Roubini States More Bank and Housing Failures To Come

September 18, 2009 By

Economist Nouriel Roubini, chairman of RGE Monitor and economics professor at New York University’s Stern School of Business, says the US economy is threatened with “double-dip” recession.

At best the US economy will be a slow-growth U-shaped recovery, that is slow and anemic growth, rather than a V-Shaped rapid return to potential growth.

Bank failures and foreclosures will be the norm. Roubini predicted more than 1,000 financial institutions may fail before this recession is over. He predicts housing prices to fall another 12 percent in the next year. That an average of 40 percent nationwide since the market began its steep decline.

San Diego homeowners may see the real estate prices fall to 50 percent or more. This would leave about half of all homeowners owing more on their mortgages than their houses are worth. “The gap between supply and demand is so huge we could stop producing new homes for a year to get rid of all the inventory,” he said. “This price adjustment, in my opinion, is going to continue for another year.”

San Diego homeowners facing financial difficulty should consider a forensic loan audit combined with either a loan modification or short sale.

Filed Under: Debt Crisis, Debt Settlement, Loan Modification, Short Sale, Uncategorized Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Loan Modification Scams – FTC Stepping In to Stop Loan Mod Scam Artists

September 17, 2009 By

With so many loan modification scams, particularly in San Diego and Orange County, and for that part the rest of the nation, the FTC is considering banning the collection of up-front fees to stop loan modification scam artists from stealing people’s money.  There are a lot of legitimate loan mod companies operating, but there are also many loan mod businesses that collect up front fees that are 100% legitmate and can get the job done.

Our philosophy is that we will not take on a client that will not qualify for a loan modification.  We have a strict pre-approval process that we go through before moving forward with any client. If we don’t think we can get your loan modification through, then we will not take you on as a client. Why waste your time and ours!  If we don’t think you can qualify for a loan modification, then we will steer you into another direction such as a forensic loan audit or a short sale.

Call us today if you need guidance on what to do: 1 (619) 631-4546.

See below for the complete article on stopping loan modification scams at the federal level.

FTC Considering Ban on Up Front Fees For Loan Modification: Stop the Scams

 FTC considering ban on upfront payments for loan help; FTC files charges against 2 firms in San Diego and Orange County

 By Alan Zibel, AP Real Estate Writer

On Thursday September 17, 2009, 12:02 pm EDT

 WASHINGTON (AP) — The head of the Federal Trade Commission said Thursday the agency is considering banning upfront payments to companies that advertise help for borrowers who are in trouble on their home loans.

 Government officials say scammers seeking to take advantage of borrowers in danger of default often charge upfront fees of $1,000 to $10,000 for help with loan modifications that rarely, if ever, pay off.

The FTC announced it filed civil charges against two companies, San Diego-based Nations Housing Modification Center and Infinity Group Services of Orange County, Calif.

 The government accused both companies of charging homeowners large fees for assistance in working with their lenders, but doing “little or nothing” to actually help borrowers.

 Leibowitz said the FTC was also considering restrictions on how mortgage rescue companies can advertise their services. Ads for loan modification companies frequently appear on late-night TV and on billboards in some parts of the country. Nations Housing, for example, mailed homeowners official-looking letters purporting to be from an address on Pennsylvania Avenue in the nation’s capital.

 They were designed to trick consumers into thinking that they were participating in a government program, regulators said.

 The government has filed charges against 22 companies operating such schemes and say the firms often have names or ads designed to make borrowers think they are using the Obama administration’s efforts to help modify or refinance millions of mortgages.

 Authorities emphasized that help is available for free from government-approved housing counselors.

 On Thursday, 12 state attorneys general met with U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan to discuss their anti-fraud operations.

 ”A lot of these scams operate nationwide, from outside our borders,” said Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal.

Filed Under: Loan Modification, Uncategorized Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Warning: Loan Modifications May Disappear in California

September 16, 2009 By

Don’t Be Late on Your Mortgage if You Want a Loan Modification in California

Recently in the California legislature our government has made it harder for loan modification companies to operate.  The new law, which is currently at the governor’s desk would prohibit the collection of up-front fees.

 What does this mean? 

It means both those loan modification scam artists and the legitimate loan modification companies may be put out of business.

 So if you are looking to do a loan modification, get the process started before you are late!

 See below for the details on the California loan modification law.

 SB 94 (Calderon and Corbett and Steinberg)

Mortgage loans. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

 SB 94, as amended, Calderon.  Loan Modifications.

 (1) The Real Estate Law provides for the regulation and licensure of real estate brokers and real estate salespersons by the Real Estate Commissioner. The California Finance Lenders Law provides for the regulation and licensure of finance lenders and brokers by the Commissioner of Corporations. The California Residential Mortgage Lending Act provides for the regulation and licensure of residential mortgage lenders and servicers by the Commissioner of Corporations. The Banking Law provides for the regulation of state commercial banks by the Commissioner of Financial Institutions. The California Credit Union Law provides for the regulation of state credit unions by the Commissioner of Financial Institutions. A willful violation of specified provisions of those acts is a crime. This bill would, until January 1, 2013, prohibit any person, including a real estate licensee, who negotiates, attempts to negotiate, arranges, attempts to arrange, or otherwise offers to perform residential mortgage loan modifications or other forms of mortgage loan forbearance, as specified, for a fee or other compensation paid by a borrower, from demanding or receiving any pre-performance compensation, as specified, requiring any security as collateral for final compensation, or taking a power of attorney from a borrower, and would make a violation of that prohibition a misdemeanor or subject to specified fines. By creating a new crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

This bill would also provide that these provisions do not apply to actions taken by a person who offers loan modification or other loan forbearance services for a loan owned or serviced by that person, including, but not limited to, collecting principal, interest, or other charges under the terms of a loan, before the loan is modified, including charges to establish a new payment schedule for a non-delinquent loan.  This bill would also require any person, including a real estate licensee, who negotiates, attempts to negotiate, arranges, attempts to arrange, or otherwise offers to perform residential mortgage loan modifications or other forms of mortgage loan forbearance, as specified, for a fee or other compensation paid by a borrower, to provide a specified 14-point bold type statement regarding loan modification fees. The bill would make a violation of that prohibition a misdemeanor or subject to specified fines, thereby creating a new crime and imposing a state-mandated local program. The bill would also provide that a real estate licensee who fails to comply with specified provisions related to mortgages, including the loan modification provisions, would be subject to disciplinary action by the Real Estate Commissioner, and would provide that a violation of the above by an attorney may also subject him or her to disciplinary action. The bill would add to the California Finance Lenders Law a prohibition on making a materially false or misleading statement or representation to a borrower about the terms or conditions of that borrower’s loan, when making or brokering a loan. Because a willful violation of these provisions by certain licensees may be punished as crimes under their respective licensing laws, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

 2) The Real Estate Law provides for the regulation and licensure of real estate brokers and salespersons by the Real Estate Commissioner. As used in the Real Estate Law, the term “advance fee” is defined as a fee that is claimed, demanded, charged, received, collected, or contracted from a principal for a listing, advertisement, or offer to sell or lease property, and as specified. This bill would redefine the term “advance fee” to mean a fee, regardless of the form, that is claimed, demanded, charged, received, or collected by a licensee from a principal before fully completing each and every service the licensee contracted to perform, or represented would be performed, as specified. Existing law authorizes the commissioner to require that materials used in obtaining advance fee agreements, as defined, be submitted to him or her at least 10 calendar days before the materials are used and makes it a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine not exceeding $1,000, or imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding 6 months, or both, to use any agreement that the commissioner has ordered not to be used. This bill would increase the maximum fine for using any advance fee agreement that the commissioner has ordered not to be used from $1,000 to $2,500.

 (3) Existing law provides that certain persons are exempt from regulation under certain provisions of the Real Estate Law dealing with real estate loans. This bill would further exempt from those provisions specified organizations that have been approved by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development to provide counseling services, when those services are provided at no cost and in connection with residential mortgage loan modifications.

 (4) Existing law defines a foreclosure consultant as a person who offers, for compensation, to perform specified services for a homeowner relating to a foreclosure sale, and imposes regulations upon foreclosure consultants when servicing a foreclosure sale, as specified. Existing law excludes specified persons from the definition of a foreclosure consultant, including a person licensed under the Real Estate Law when making a direct loan or engaging in specified acts, and a person licensed to make loans as a finance lender, subject to the authority of the Commissioner of Corporations to terminate this exclusion, as specified.

This bill would instead specify that a real estate licensee and a finance lender are excluded from the definition of a foreclosure consultant when acting under the authority of that person’s license, and would delete the commissioner’s authority to terminate the finance lender’s exclusion. The bill would also delete obsolete statutory references from those provisions.

(5) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

 (6) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

Filed Under: Loan Modification, Uncategorized Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

$8000 Tax Credit For New Homeowners Up For Review in Congress

September 16, 2009 By

The San Diego housing market has been a boom since the $8,000 tax credit has been put in place. Many are hoping that it will be extended for another year in San Diego, to allow the San Diego real estate market to recover.

Fight in Congress Looms on Tax Break for Home Buyers

 By DAVID STREITFELD, New York Times

Published: September 15, 2009

 DALLAS — When Congress passed an $8,000 tax credit for first-time home buyers last winter, it was intended as a dose of shock therapy during a crisis. Now the question is becoming whether the housing market can function without it. As many as 40 percent of all home buyers this year will qualify for the credit. It is on track to cost the government $15 billion, more than twice the amount that was projected when Congress passed the stimulus bill in February. In the view of the real estate industry and some economists, all that money is well spent. They contend the credit is doing what it was meant to do, encouraging a recovery in the housing market that is gathering steam. Analysts say the credit is directly responsible for several hundred thousand home sales. Skeptics argue that most of the money is going to people who would have bought a home anyway. And they contend that unless it is allowed to expire on schedule in late November, the tax credit is likely to become one more expensive government program that refuses to die.

 The real estate industry, including the powerful 1.1 million-member National Association of Realtors, wants Congress to extend the credit at least through next summer. The group hopes to expand the program to $15,000 and to allow all buyers, not just those who have been out of the market for at least three years, to qualify. The price tag on that plan: $50 billion to $100 billion. Joseph and Chassity Myers are among the two million buyers eligible for the credit this year. The newlyweds heard they could get money from the government for something they were tempted to do anyway. “It was a no-brainer,” said Mr. Myers, a commercial underwriter. “Owning something is the American family dream.”

 The couple bought a two-bedroom condominium here in the spring for $171,000 and amended their 2008 taxes immediately, receiving their windfall by direct deposit a few weeks later.Their home is now a monument to the government’s generosity. They bought a leather couch, a kitchen table, a bed, television stand, china cabinet, kitchen table, coffee table, grill and patio set. “We did exactly what the government wanted us to do,” said Ms. Myers, a third grade teacher. “We stimulated the economy.”

 Mortgage applications increased nearly 10 percent for the week ending Sept. 3 from late August, the largest gain since early April and the latest of many signs of life in real estate. The upturn can be attributed to several factors: the return of confidence, very low mortgage rates, and prices in some markets that are at decade-low levels.  But the looming expiration of the tax credit on Nov. 30 seems to be playing a role too, particularly in relatively low-cost markets like Phoenix, Las Vegas and Dallas.

 The 50-year-old complex that the Myerses live in, grandly named the Lawn at Bluffview, provides a snapshot of the credit’s influence — and limitations. Two years ago, the buildings were converted from apartments to condominiums by their owner, a local developer. In January, before the credit, only 30 of the 70 units had sold. Since then, another seven units have sold, including the one bought by the Myerses. Brian Denbow, who works for a subprime auto financing firm, also was spurred to action by the credit. He too intends to use the money for furniture. Five of the buyers did not qualify for the credit for various reasons. The Lawn at Bluffview remains nowhere near full. Potential buyers “just want a deal,” said the sales agent, Beverly Bell. Two weeks ago, the price of the unsold units was cut 10 percent. The National Association of Realtors estimates that about 350,000 sales this year would not have happened without the lure of the tax credit. Moody’s Economy.com used computer modeling to put the number at 400,000.

 The government’s efforts to directly reward home buyers began more than a year ago with a $7,500 tax credit that had to be repaid over 15 years. Last winter, amid fears of another Great Depression, the Senate came up with a much sweeter $15,000 package as part of the stimulus bill. That measure was ultimately reduced to the $8,000 credit. Now the sponsor of the original Senate bill, Johnny Isakson, Republican of Georgia, is back with a new bill that would give a maximum $15,000 credit to any buyer who stays in a home for at least two years. “The problem now is not first-time buyers, it’s the move-up market — the guy transferred from Chicago to Atlanta who can’t sell his house,” said Mr. Isakson, a former real estate agent. Without a new and more generous credit, he warned, there would be a downward spiral of home sales and more foreclosures, provoking a second recession.

 The real estate industry is lobbying heavily for the bill, but acknowledges that in an atmosphere that is less crisis-driven than last winter it will almost certainly have to settle for less. “There will be a lot of water under the bridge, a lot of compromise, between now” and a final bill, said Richard A. Smith, chairman of the Business Roundtable’s Housing Working Group. Economists are sharply split on the merits of another round of government help. Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody’s Economy.com, favors expanding the credit to all home buyers, even investors, into next summer. “The risks of not doing something like this are too great,” he said. “I don’t think the coast is clear.”

 James Glassman of JPMorgan Chase echoed those views but said he favored continuing to restrict the credit to first-time buyers.  On the other side of the issue is the Tax Policy Center, a joint venture of the Brookings Institution and the Urban Institute. It labeled the original credit as one of the worst provisions of the stimulus package, on the grounds that the money is a bonus for people who would buy a house anyway. The center has an even dimmer view of extending the credit to all buyers.

 “Is this the best way to spend money we don’t have?” asked senior fellow Roberton Williams. Dean Baker of the Center for Economic and Policy Research called the credit “a questionable redistributive policy” from renters to home buyers, but said that he used it himself when he bought a house.

 He wrote on his blog: “Thank you very much, suckers!”

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