Real Estate Directory

Countrywide Financial Saved 80,000 from foreclosure

Thru implementation of  loss mitigation initiatives, Countrywide reports they saved 80,000 borrowers from foreclosure. Fully 69% of the company's efforts to save borrowers were thru loan mods.

“Countrywide is proud of the progress made toward helping our customers sustain homeownership,” said Steve Bailey, senior managing director, Loan Administration at Countrywide. “Home retention efforts in the second half of the year increased 148-percent compared to the first six months, and we anticipate helping even a greater number of borrowers in 2008.”

Countrywide has partnered with some of the nation's largest home retention programs—the Homeownership Preservation Foundation, the HOPE NOW Alliance, the Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, and the California Reinvestment Coalition. 

Upside Down? Not so Taxing

The U.S. House of Representatives voted on Thursday to get rid of a tax burden for home owners who have had a loan forgiven or foreclosed on their home because they were unable to make their mortgage payments. The Mortgage Cancellation Tax Relief Act, H.R. 3648, passed by a vote of 386 to 27. Similar legislation is making its way through the Senate.

Whose Losing the Most Homes to NOD?

Foreclosure Activity for the Nation's 100 Largest MSAs -- Jan to Jun 2007

Rate Rank	MSA	Foreclosure Filings	1 filing for every #HH	Properties with Filings	%? from prev  6 months	%? from First Half 2006
1	STOCKTON, CA	8,169	27	4,239	116	256
2	DETROIT/LIVONIA/DEARBORN, MI	28,705	29	20,231	26	99
3	LAS VEGAS/PARADISE, NV	22,928	31	13,028	72	142
4	RIVERSIDE/SAN BERNARDINO, CA	41,351	33	22,291	80	198
5	SACRAMENTO, CA	20,516	36	10,708	162	241
6	DENVER/AURORA, CO	23,842	42	13,149	14	11
7	MIAMI, FL	20,275	46	10,191	24	74
8	BAKERSFIELD, CA	5,365	47	2,721	85	222
9	MEMPHIS, TN	10,800	49	5,401	12	17
10	CLEVELAND/LORAIN/ELYRIA/MENTOR, OH	18,844	50	13,444	54	106
11	FORT LAUDERDALE, FL	15,720	50	7,162	16	72
12	ATLANTA/SANDY SPRINGS/MARIETTA, GA	36,502	54	22,412	20	17
13	FORT WORTH/ARLINGTON, TX	13,221	57	6,250	7	-10
14	FRESNO, CA	4,867	60	2,679	66	183
15	INDIANAPOLIS, IN	11,677	62	8,093	-3	-6
16	DAYTON, OH	5,966	63	3,881	56	96
17	DALLAS, TX	23,284	65	12,725	-9	-15
18	AKRON, OH	4,378	70	3,686	65	85
19	OAKLAND, CA	13,482	70	7,491	63	152

  Sales of existing homes fell in 41 states during the April-June quarter while home prices were down in one-third of the metropolitan areas surveyed, a real estate trade group reported Wednesday.

Foreclosure: Good, Bad, or just normal?

Foreclosures in some states are at all time highs however Moody's says don''t worry about it.

Foreclosure: Steps Homeowners at Risk can Take to Avoid Foreclosure.

So you've fallen behind a couple of months on your mortgage payment, what should you do? Contrary to popular belief, your bank does NOT want your home to enter foreclosure, and is willing to work with borrowers that are delinquent and/or have potential to default on their mortgage.  For a lender, the cost of foreclosure can cost them as much as 20% of the remaining principal balance. Also, a delinquent loan showing as a nonperforming asset on the books leads to lenders viewing foreclosure as a very unattractive last resort.

            However it, it important for the borrower falling behind on their mortgage to take a proactive approach to finding a resolution to this circumstance.  It is extremely important for the borrower to contact their lender as soon as possible to discuss the situation.  The earlier you discuss it with your lender, in most cases leads to a more attractive alternative to avoid foreclosure.

            When you call your lender, some of the questions you can expect to be asked include: What caused the borrower to fall behind in their payments, whether the cause has been remedied, and how/if the situation can be fixed.  For example, a borrower that is suffering an illness to themselves or a family member will require a different alternative as opposed to the borrower that suffered a temporary job loss.

            As a borrower that is at risk of foreclosure, its important for you to make a call to your lender as fast as possible. Run don't walk to the telephone.  Its your responsibility to be truthful and realistic in your dealings with the lender.  Unrealistic repayment promises can lead to a debilitating loss in faith that will further erode the relationship between you and your lender. Nay lenders have loss mitigators whos job it is to find a viable solution that will keep you in the house. Make sure to ask the name of the person you are dealing with from the lender, and also ask that any agreement that is reached on the telephone is confirmed in writing and sent to you via fax, email, or snail mail.  If the conversation goes well and you are feeling brazen, you can request for all or part of the late fees to be waived.  If you've ever dealt with the collection types before, then you know most of them have the personality to match the demands of the job, so refuse to lose your cool and remember that the person on the other end of the phone is only doing their job.

SubPrime Sale Irony

Home sales rebounded in January, reaching the highest level in seven months, the National Association of Realtors said Tuesday. It was because of the warm winter they say.So slaes  rose 3%. And single-family homes showed the biggest sales increase, rising 3.5%.  Despite the dramatic rise in home sales in January, no one should overreact to the gain, analysts say. "I'm trying to be careful because we could see the next month down a little," says David Lereah, the NAR's chief economist.This because of  February 's Cold, which could cause a near-term home sales dip.

While sales jumped in January, there was still a downturn in existing home prices. Last month, prices fell 3.1% from January 2006 to $210,600. And the price softness is expected to continue until spring, Lereah says. Many believe the price decline is helping but inventories are still high.. That represents a 6.6-month supply.However the peak was 7.4 month peak in October.

As if home builders do not have it bad enough, a press release Lerach, Coughlin, Stoia, Geller, Rudman & Robbins LLP law firm, says the Beazer builder not only provided mortgage originations and title insurance  neglectfully causing some of the buyers to lose their homes through foreclosure.

Meanwhile UCLA  Forecast Says Subprime Fallout Has Consequences for the Country

I am glad I am a Trojan fan! The forcast released this week, contains both positive and negative predictions for the current economy and the subprime lending market. A recession is not imminent, but he does expect a period of below average growth in the U.S. that will last longer than originally expected.

  “For a housing market that has already witnessed starts declined by 36 percent this is not good news,” the report concluded. “We previously had thought that housing starts would bottom in the 1.4-1.5 million range; we now think the bottom could be around 1.2-1.3 million units with the risks still on the down side. Moreover, the recent weakness we have experienced in home prices will likely tend to accelerate with the nationwide peak to trough declines ranging from 5 to 10 percent,” according to the report.

UCLA report also says California, has a great future in job growth, with growth up to 52,000 and job creation rates up to 1.8 percent from 1.1 percent. However, when it comes to the real estate sector, economist Ryan Ratcliff did predict some sort of fallout in California. According to the report, Ratcliff, when discussing the topic of California, said, “We expect to see the pattern of deepening real estate (job) losses combined with a slowdown in the rest of the economy – now it's just the first half of 2007 instead of the second half of 2006

And to remind everyone about the subprime mess amidst the good sales news was, Irvine, California-based lender New Century Financial Corp.  whom officially filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Monday.

BUBBLE OVER?

ForeclosureS.com released a report  saying the real estate market is normalizing while foreclosure filings nationwide dropping from 109,851 in January to 106,074 in February. The market also is doing considerably better since the number of foreclosure filings nationwide were significanty higher three months ago in December when they reached 113,486.

“The foreclosure numbers finally are beginning to reflect the stabilization in housing markets that we've been talking about for the last few months,” said Alexis McGee, president of ForeclosureS.com. “Of course time will tell for sure whether we've seen the bottom or not. However, other economic indicators reflect a leveling off between housing supply and demand, and reinforce the opinion that the worst really is behind us,” she adds.

Defaults NODS

According to Realtytrac foreclosures across the U.S. are up 63% over last year.But 1% less than last month. 1 out of every 1,030 U.S. households has been filed for foreclosure proceedings.

This according to their September 2006 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report, which shows 112,210 properties nationwide entered some stage of foreclosure during the month, a decrease of less than 1 percent from August, and a 63 percent increase from September 2005.