May 28, 2010 in Our Blog by Towns Realty

Short Sale Team choosing the right agent .

The choices you make when pursuing a short sale will determine the outcome every single time
Short Sales are not rocket science, but choosing the right Agent to help you with selling your property in a short sale to avoid foreclosure could make all the difference in the world. You get one shot with your lender to submit all the necessary documentation that provides a clear picture of your hardship. The wrong language used, or incomplete financial package submitted without knowing what a lender is looking for to render an approval decision and your short sale request could be closed. This could lead you down the fast track to foreclosure and ultimate auction of your property.
Every agent out there is jumping on the Short Sale / Pre-foreclosure Sale bandwagon.
It takes a certain type of Agent with a Team of knowledgeable, seasoned professionals to work with you and your best interests through the entire short sale process.

This starts with the upfront interview – and asking the right questions.
One must know what your hardship is, how to best approach the particular lender in which holds the note on your property. The most important step in the entire short sale process is the pricing of your property. Most agents either price the property so far under market value that submitting an offer to your lender – with an under market value offer is wasting everyone’s time, most importantly your lender – which will leave a bad taste in their mouth from the start.

When you price a short sale to list on MLS service or any of the 100s of websites used to market your property it is always best to go with market value – You lender would be more apt to look at and consider a short sale for an offer on your property that is at market value that if it is not.

Think of it this way, your lender is taking a loss just as you are in a short sale. Your lender must determine if the loss is greater approving a short sale and allowing you to sell your property for less than what is owed, or, if it is in their best interest to take the property in foreclosure and their losses would be less.

It is the job – and duty – of your Real Estate Agent to make sure to present the best and highest offer to your lender, in addition to negotiation the short sale in a way that will prove to the lender this is the better way to go. This in most case is very easy to do –
However – as said previously, if an inexperienced agent is submitting willy nilly offers to the lender without doing the market research needed on what is selling and for how much, this can hurt you rather than help you.

These are all reasons why choosing the right agent to assist you in the selling of your property in a short sale – but most importantly the processing and negotiating of the short sale with you lender is most important.
To learn more – at no cost to you, Please contact Towns Realty – Central Florida Short Sale Specialists.

May 27, 2010 in Our Blog by Towns Realty

Investors and Short Sales – YES YOU CAN!

Florida’s Short Sale and Pre-foreclosure market does not leave the investor out when it comes to hardship.

A short sale is when you attempt to sell your house – and the purchase offer based on market values is less than what you owe on your mortgage. You are ultimately asking your lender to accept less than the amount due to release the lien on the property and in the best of circumstances release you from all liability.
This will depend mostly on your lender, the loss incurred and if a mortgage insurance company is involved.
When you think about hardship of average consumers losing their jobs, it is just the same for the average investor whose only source of income or the primary source of income is and was their investment properties.
With the massive inventory of vacant homes and condominiums in Orlando and the surrounding areas in Central Florida it is safe to say that investors are experiencing hardship as well. Lenders know this.

The typical rental home or condominium isn’t worth what it used to be, and it is a renters market out there. Condominium short sales and bank owned; are saturating the market, making it tougher and tougher to rent for what you owe, or come even close.
All short sale cases ( with hardship ) are workable, so don’t shy away from a short sale if the property you want to sell happens to be an investment property or a second home, these are all viable and workable short sales. Again, hardship is the key.

Towns Realty is a short sale specialist in Central Florida – Please give us a call to determine your options free of charge.

May 24, 2010 in Our Blog by Towns Realty

Loan Modifications: A $4 Billion Con Game.

Since last year nearly 1 million struggling homeowners facing foreclosure have been offered trial modifications on homes that have depreciated in value. The modifications reduce the monthly payments for homeowners and many have scrambled to make the new payments. Some have taken second or third jobs, borrowing from family, and depleting savings in hopes of being approved for a permanent modification on a home that is most probably underwater (worth less than what is owed).

In truth, a disturbingly large percentage are denied permanent modifications and given no reason as to why they are denied. These people will most likely face foreclosure, ruined credit, and shame, despite their best efforts and their proven ability to afford and pay the new mortgage. Bank of America for example, in what I can only assume is their “friends and family plan” permanently modified 98 mortgages of the 156, 864 trial modifications they started.

Many of the trial modifications have been extended unreasonably beyond the requisite three month period. The banks attribute the delay to questionable claims of lost paperwork and a lack of effort on the part of homeowners. Some homeowners have been stuck in a modification limbo for five or six months only to be denied a permanent modification after making the required payments.

With close to a million homeowners forking over a conservative estimated average of $3,000 – $4,000 over the course of the trial, that’s nearly $4 billion banks and servicers have fleeced from homeowners on false hope and empty promises, only to foreclose any way.

For the relative few, like my wife and I who received permanent modifications after a 15 month battle, the fight is far from over.

One of the more populist arguments to the mortgage mess is principal reduction. Another is simply walking away, like corporations do all the time without the same perceived moral obligation homeowners are made to feel. Without equity in the property, it makes little financial sense to keep paying.

Ocwen’s General Council Paul A. Koches was recently quoted in the New York Times as saying “We realized early on that if we don’t include principal treatment, you just don’t get the buy-in from the borrower to stay with it,” referring to principal reductions.

Paul Koches was also notably quoted as saying, “We roll up our sleeves; we talk directly with the borrower. We find out what their situation is and we provide counseling and basically a complete underwriting of the delinquent loan, perhaps the way it should have been done at the point of origination.”

But in speaking with Jennifer Levy, an Ocwen Bank Loan Workout Specialist and Ocwen CEO Ronald Farris’ own secretary, Linda Ludwig, about our loan, both women stated emphatically that Ocwen never reduces principal, despite what their executives are quoted as saying. Ludwig even accused us of taking what they said out of context.

After my last post, I Refuse to be Ripped Off, Jennifer Levy of Ocwen called our home and screamed at my wife, “Don’t call my number or e-mail me again. I will not be threatened,” referring to her having been mentioned in the article. An ironic statement to make after having threatened to take our home for the last 15 months.

See more at: huffingtonpost.com

May 24, 2010 in Our Blog by Towns Realty

Chase Sued AGAIN Over Mortgage Modifications Gone Wrong: HUFFINGTON POST

Three frustrated homeowners in New York City are suing JPMorgan Chase over the bank’s failure to permanently modify their mortgages under the Obama administration’s plan to help homeowners avoid foreclosure.Earns Jpmorgan Chase

The complaint, filed in federal court in New York, says the plaintiffs, who are represented by attorneys with the nonprofit Urban Justice Center, relied on promises by Chase that they could have their loans modified if they made reduced payments per the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP). Despite making payments on time, they’ve received foreclosure threats but no modifications.

One of the plaintiffs, Alex Lam, a 35-year-old restaurant manager, alleges Chase told him to actually stop making payments in order to be eligible for help. In early 2009, Lam contacted Washington Mutual (since absorbed by Chase) about a modification after his adjustable-rate mortgage blew up in his face. He was told he didn’t qualify for help because he was current on his payments.

“Mr. Lam was specifically told that if he stopped making payments for several months, he could be considered for a modification,” the says the complaint.

The next big surprise came in December, when, after making trial payments of $1,568 for the previous six months, Lam was told he owed the bank $12,000. When he protested, Chase relented and told Lam to apply once again for a mod, this time under HAMP. He made his payments until March, when Chase told him he’d failed HAMP’s opaque “Net Present Value” test, meaning the bank determined the investors who owned the loan would make more money via foreclosure than modification. Lam alleges Chase used bogus inputs for the NPV test and that Chase refuses to show its work.

Lam called the situation “very upsetting” in an interview with HuffPost. “I trusted them because they’re a big bank. I did whatever they asked me to.”

HuffPost asked Lam what he wanted from suing Chase.

“Just to get a modification, that’s all I’m asking for,” he said. “Since day one, that’s all I’m asking for.”

HAMP lawsuits have been flying. Last week a 91-year-old veteran of three wars named Peter Ruplenas sued Bank of America over mortgage mod malfeasance in West Virginia.

In April, Faiz and Khadija Jahani of California sued Chase for reasons similar to Lam’s — the bank told them to stop making payments to qualify for help, then foreclosed. A similar case is brewing in Seattle.

Homeowners are supposed to be eligible for HAMP mods if they’re having trouble making monthly payments, owe less than $729,750, took out the loan before January 2009, and if their payment on their first mortgage is more than 31 percent of their income. In theory, if homeowners make reduced payments (typically $500 cheaper) for three months, they are put in “permanent” modifications that last for five years.

But the banks voluntarily participating in HAMP have given permanent mods to just 230,000 homeowners in the program’s first year, a far cry from the three to four million officials said HAMP would help. Meanwhile, frustrated homeowners’ stories of lost paperwork, dishonesty, and incompetence by banks are piling up.

A Chase spokesman declined to comment on the lawsuit.
see more at: Huffingtonpost.com

May 24, 2010 in Our Blog by Towns Realty

Foreclosures Are More Profitable For Banks Than Loan Modifications

Mortgage companies are more likely to foreclose on homeowners than modify their loans because they make more money off foreclosures, argues a new report by a consumer advocacy group.

While homeowners, lenders and investors typically lose money on a foreclosure, mortgage servicers do not, says report author Diane E. Thompson, of counsel at the National Consumer Law Center. Servicers are the companies that manage the mortgages and collect payments.

“Servicers may even make money on a foreclosure,” she writes. “And, usually, a loan modification will cost the servicer something. A servicer deciding between a foreclosure and a loan modification faces the prospect of near certain loss if the loan is modified and no penalty, but potential profit, if the home is foreclosed.”

Thompson attributes this to a system of perverse incentives created by lawmakers and rulemakers in the market, like credit rating agencies and bond issuers. The private rulemakers typically dictate how a servicer can account for potential losses and profits. They hold enormous sway over securitized mortgages, which are owned by investors. More than two-thirds of mortgages issued since 2005 have been securitized, notes the report, using data from the industry publication Inside Mortgage Finance.

In those cases, the servicer is empowered to handle virtually all aspects of the mortgage, from collecting the monthly payments to initiating foreclosure proceedings. While they’re obligated to do what’s best for the ultimate owners of the mortgage — the investors — servicers have some latitude in deciding what course of action to pursue, be it a foreclosure or loan modification.

When a homeowner is delinquent on a mortgage that’s been securitized, the servicer must front the late payment to the investors. When a home is foreclosed, the servicer is typically first in line to recoup losses. But if a mortgage is modified, the servicer typically loses money that isn’t necessarily recoverable.

“Servicers lose no money from foreclosures because they recover all of their expenses when a loan is foreclosed, before any of the investors get paid. The rules for recovery of expenses in a modification are much less clear and somewhat less generous,” she said.

That’s part of the reason why the Obama administration created a $75 billion program to limit foreclosures. The money is to be distributed to servicers who successfully modify home loans, with the hope that the incentives to modify outweigh the incentives to foreclose.

Thompson’s report outlines eight specific steps to reverse this trend. They include mandating that servicers attempt to modify a loan before initiating foreclosure proceedings and reforming bankruptcy laws so judges can modify distressed mortgages.

See more at: huffingtonpost.com

May 8, 2010 in Our Blog by Towns Realty

Towns Realty Is Now Equator Platinum REO and Short Sale Certified.

Orlando, Florida, May 6, 2010, 2010 –Florida licensed real estate broker, Orlando REALTORS Association member, and Short Sale Task Force Member, Albert Stimer has been awarded Equator ( formerly REOTrans.com ) Platinum REO and Short Sale Certification for the system to be used in all of Bank of America’s REO and Short Sale programs. The Bank of America program currently processes all REO and Short Sales through the online Equator System.
Bank of America borrowers that qualify for the Home Affordability Foreclosure Alternative (HAFA) program will be handled by the Equator platform.
Mr. Chris Saitta, CEO Equator states “If you haven’t already, it’s time to embrace Short Sales! Lenders and Homeowners search the 665,000 agents on Equator to assign REOs and Short Sale listings. They rely on Certification to know who is knowledgeable and dedicated. Certified Agents show up at the top of the search results and have their Certification icon next to their name Currently only 1% of the Agents on Equator are Certified.”
Albert Stimer is a licensed Real Estate Broker in Orlando Florida and has personally helped 100’s of homeowners avoid foreclosure and sell their property in a short sale. Albert and his team use their combined 30 years of experience in the Real Estate and Mortgage arena to expedite the once long frustrating process into a smooth and effortless transaction for all parties involved. Towns Realty also has a short sale division in house that can help other agents in the industry in the processing of their short sales which will allow for the agent to do what they do best, sell properties!
You can learn more about Albert Stimer and his Team by visiting www.townsrealty.com