short sales: Short Sales and Loan Modification -FTC says no advanced fees - 01/25/11 06:28 PM
Three take aways
1. Unless you are an attorney, no advance fees for upside down home owners
2. Watch out before you tell someone not to speak with the bank
3. Be very careful about claim you will be able to stop a foreclosure.
Short Sale Attorney
" From the FTC website
The FTC is issuing the Mortgage Assistance Relief Services (MARS) Rule to protect distressed homeowners from mortgage relief scams that have sprung up during the mortgage crisis. Bogus operations falsely claim that, for a fee, they will negotiate with the consumer’s mortgage lender or servicer to … (3 comments)
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short sales: Bank of America - New Deficiency Release Policy - 05/14/10 05:32 PM
Bank of America has recently issued a new template with written deficiency release language. Some of this change may have been caused by a newly written Fannie Mae policy. (at least it was new to us.)
We created a video showing the two short sale approvals. click below.
Short Sales and Bank of America
… (2 comments)
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short sales: Short Sales negotiations and Pictures - 04/20/10 01:48 PM
Short Sale Negotiations and MLS pictures
I agree with the agents who say agents should show professionalism when it comes to photos.
Some slr cameras take great pictures all by themselves. you press auto focus, take a lot of pictures... and yield some really nice photos. You might even look at them on the MLS or Realtor.com and say - wow did I do that?
However, if you are and experienced short sale agent and your are a professonal.... you have to wonder if you really wish to make your listing look great?
Once a negotiator says that looks like a … (3 comments)
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short sales: Short Sale Bank of America - Recourse loans - Brokers need to step up - 04/16/10 01:33 PM
Short Sale Question from a seller between a rock and a hard place.
Here is a question I got on another thread:
We are in the process for a short sale in Northern CA. I have a recourse loan since i bought the house in may 2005 (480k 80/20) and refinanced it 18 months after and took 20k from it. Now the B of A approved the short sale but gave me 2 options. 1) no deficiency and pay 29k for 1st loan and 9k for 2nd loan. 2) 1st loan will have a deficiency notice and able to chase … (3 comments)
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short sales: California to pass Mortgage Debt forgiveness Act - 04/09/10 11:12 AM
Until this bill passes Californian's with recourse loans had to be fearful of 1099's after a short sale or a Foreclosure. For a background on short sales and taxes.
California Legislature approves tax break for people in foreclosures, short sales - latimes.com
The bill would waive state income taxes on mortgage debt that has been forgiven in a foreclosure or short sale. It is expected to affect about 34,000 taxpayers. (be alert to capital gain exposure.) Example - BofA issues a 1099 (a or c) on a recourse loan for $100,00.00. IRS- If acquisition debt and principle residence = no taxes … (23 comments)
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short sales: Walk Aways form Bank of America and Chase on the rise in CA - 02/27/10 01:34 PM
I would say about 15 out of the las 20 people who have contacted me have been interested in taking a foreclosure and walking away.
I have 3 or 4 pending requests in my emails from people who are in the middle of short sales and want me to review their paperwork with BofA. I really do not enjoy getting paid to tell them it may be too late to do anything short of filing a lawsuit. (which is expensive and something I do not do right now.)
Why - because it is clear that Bank of America reserves … (0 comments)
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short sales: short sales in California - CA FTB clears up the non recourse loans issue - 10/27/09 11:12 PM
Non Recourse Loans (see CCP 580b)
Short Sales and Taxation by the State of California has become a little less risky.
In July of 2009 the California wrote this in one of their tax newsletters
"The most common situations when a foreclosure or a short sale does not result in cancellation of debt (COD) income involve a non-recourse loan. A non-recourse loan means the lender’s only remedy in case of default is to repossess the property the lender cannot pursue you personally in case of default. A purchase money loan (that is, a loan taken to “purchase” … (0 comments)
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short sales: Is it right to walk away from your Mortgage - The law says yes in CA - 07/09/09 01:01 PM
I blogged on this subject many months ago. Recently the debate has popped up again.
A recent study determined that homeowers are willing to walkaway after their homes start to decline by more than 10%.
http://news.prnewswire.com/ViewContent.aspx?ACCT=109&STORY=/www/story/06-26-2009/0005051034&EDATE=
There is a debate here on activerain about whether this is a moral issue or not.
1. By giving credit to anyone with a pulse the banks allowed to demand to outpace supply. Prices went up.
(The fed created the bubble by allowing credit to loosening during a bubble. The fed is owned by regional member banks. Those banks are owned by … (4 comments)
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short sales: short sales - who should be doing the negotiating - 02/22/09 09:06 PM
There is an interesting current thread started on activerain discussing who should be doing the short sale negotiating.
There were various answers - the agent, the broker, someone hired by the broker, the title company, an attorney.
I suggest a combination.
Getting short sales approved is not that hard if the buyer's offer comes in near the appraisal. Getting a release from a deficiency in writing is much harder. Doing all that and getting the approval while the buyer is still interested, is even more impressive.
Even though I am an attorney - I advise the Realtors in my brokerage to … (3 comments)
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short sales: Loan Modifications from the lender - just before short sale approval - 12/16/08 05:41 PM
How many of your sellers have gotten unsolcited loan modfication approvals. Mine have.
Other Realtors have told me the same thing has a happened to their clients.
After you get a negotiator assigned you may wish to prepare your clients.
Unexpected approvals may be coming to derail your short sale.
I am not against loan mods, in fact they are part of a useful workout plan.
But a surprise one can be a problem.
Sellers should have in mind what would be acceptable.
What kind of payment reduction. 2 years 5 years 30 years 40 years?
How … (6 comments)
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short sales: Lenders will not release the deficiency in a short sale - What to do - 10/09/08 02:42 PM
Question:
Is there a way to get the first and the second to sign off on any deficiency owed. the first is getting 90% of their amount owed and the second is getting $4K of the $73K owed. They are saying this short sale does not release the Sellers of the full debt. I look forward to your response! Respectfully,
Name omitted
Answer
Short sales do not automatically release sellers from the deficiency ( liablity for the remaining loan balances) your lenders are correct. Getting the release of a deficiency frequently requires negotiation and leverage. Unfortunately many "loss mitigators" incorrectly advise … (0 comments)
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short sales: California Sues Countrywide - Opens the door for homeowners in distress - 06/26/08 07:00 PM
This lawsuit (link below to a san diego news article) may give homeowners the leverage they need to strengthen their arguments just enough to avoid taxation and fight the destruction to their credit.
Watching for the facts that come out of this case.
If you own Real Estate in San Diego or anywhere in California, you may wish to speak with an attorney or other tax or credit professional about using this case to dispute the debt.
You can still do your short sale or follow your walk away plan, but now you may be in postion to dispute the debt … (0 comments)
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short sales: short sales, deficiencies and 1099s question from a realtor - 10/09/07 02:23 PM
There were some comments to one of my earlier blog entries on short sales.
Comment 1:
A real estate short sale is when you owe more than your properties currently valued but you need to sell. You find a buyer and negotiate with the lender to approve the sale (a short sale). California is non judicial and therefore, it is still in the air if the seller will be charged later for the difference in that sale and the FMV of the property - right now it is forgiven by the lender and you have to report it to IRS
California is … (3 comments)
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short sales: Real Estate Short Sale law? - Full and final Settlement? - 09/22/07 09:18 PM
If you type short sale into google - you will see the ads from all of the short sale advisors and short sale realtors out there. One statement you consistently see is - a short sale enables the borrower to avoid a deficiency because it is a full and final settlement of your mortgage or loan.
Question -- Does a short a sale in California, or another state, automatically become a full and final settlement of a borrowers loan?Answer - clearly not, some consumers have posted to my blog saying that their lender is pursuing them for a deficiency after a … (12 comments)
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short sales: Are Short sales practices destroying the market? (part 2) - 09/04/07 01:41 AM
Below is a comment from a thoughtful Realtor - with some interesting points. I will break his comment down. His comment is in quotes and my thoughts are below each section.
"Interesting take John. But it's been my experience that the lender will not even talk to me until I have an offer on the property. Unless you know something I don't I have NEVER been able to get an "approved price" prior to presenting an offer. I wish I could though. It would make my job so much easier."
Response -
After offering a deed in lieu, I have had a lender ask … (11 comments)
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