As a housing counselor here in Southern Oregon working day in and day out with homeowners who have encountered financial difficulties the one common thread I see throughout my day is their stories are complicated!

The homeowners who own property that has been in their families for 100 years – are they going to walk away because when their turn came to take over their family’s American Dream it was at a market peak and they are now sitting at 140% LTV? Or the family who took cash out to build an additional dwelling unit because their brother lost their job in the construction industry, and he and their sister-in-law, nieces and nephews needed a home since they still haven’t secured living wages and then encountered a major medical situation with insufficient insurance?

With the high percentage of devaluation since our area is one of the Hardest Hit with unemployment and foreclosure, how quickly will values appreciate when the economy stabilizes and our citizens are able to secure living wages again…more than 20%? Most of the homeowners I meet are wrestling desperately with the fact they AGREED TO PAY, but now cannot, and are desperately trying to find a way to meet their obligations… I don’t think 20% negative equity means much to them.

Suze Orman, maybe the ABC World News report was a clip, but it just isn't that simple...

See you out there!

It’s that time of year again, one that many Rogue Valley families and visitors have enjoyed over the past 45 years. The Jacksonville Children’s Festival held at the Britt Garden County Park is a wonderful family event that every kid enjoys.Not only do you get to experience the many different hands-on activities, but our kids throughout the Rogue Valley come out to show their talents and put on shows for you on the Britt Stage .

An amazing group of volunteers comes together to put this on for Our Children every year, giving the kids a ton of fun and the parents hardly a dent in the pocket book. When we first arrived in Medford Oregon in 2004, one of the founding members of the Jacksonville Children’s Festival, Susie Truscott, told us about this great opportunity for our 7 year old to enjoy which we did for several years, both as participants and later as a volunteers in the face painting booth and part of the Queen’s Court.

If you are looking for a fabulous Summertime Event sponsored by the Storytelling Guild to take your children to, bring them out to the Britt to enjoy over 30 different hands on science, arts and crafts, including face painting, beading, nature crafts and so much more… all for only $2.00 each person!!!!

The festival runs a total of 4 general sessions over a 3 day period:

Sunday July 10th – Session #1: 5:30-8:30pm

Monday July 11th – Session #2: 9am until noon and Session #3: 6:00-8:30pm

Tuesday July 12th – Session #4: 9am until noon

The Britt Garden is located in Jacksonville, Oregon, about five miles west of Medford and 20 miles north of Ashland. Parking is available in lots on C & D Streets at the bottom of the hill (off of Oregon St.), with overflow parking at Bigham Knoll (formerly Cascade Christian School) at E and 6th Streets. If you park on a residential street, please be respectful of neighbors’ privacy and property. Please obey posted signs regarding parking on the streets or you may be ticketed.

See you out there!

This is a great program Gene Mundt from Chicago Bancorp in Illinois talks about for home buyers planning to purchase a Fannie Mae owned foreclosure home to live in. There were some great comments on Gene's post, too, discussing the need for home buyers to prepare for ALL costs associated with buying a foreclosure home. Since banks don't disclose the condition of the home, buyers MUST beware!!!!

Today was a bad day. A day generating results I really did not expect to have to face. Yeah, I know…”get over it Karen – we ALL have bad days”. I also know that there are many, MANY people out there facing the loss of their home due to circumstances beyond their control. I WORK with and FIGHT for these people every day, but I really did not ever envision finding myself where I am today.

Today was the day I learned that justice can be more blind than we could ever possibly envision – the day I learned that our blind judge utilizing a hearing device made the determination that the destabilization and flooding damage we are experiencing at our home was not clearly proven to be a result of the grading,  fill dirt, construction and later deconstruction of the additional dwelling unit on the lot topographically above ours. I learned it is very, VERY difficult to translate a case built to be presented by Presentation Boards and Photographs into words to relay to a judge incapable of seeing them who also struggles to hear your words.

Today is the day I know I have done almost all I can do to save our home. My last ditch effort is mediation with our lender to find out if they are willing to reduce our monthly payments and principal balance enough to try to take on this financially devastating work we are facing to protect our home from water coming from above us that we and the geotechnical engineer we hired believe to be the source of the structural cracking and water entering our garage and lower level that we are currently experiencing. I learned we made the mistake of not hiring this geotechnical engineer be our expert witness in small claims court due to financial hardship, relying solely on the report we already paid for, as they were needed to offset the opposing parties’ engineer brought in as expert witness to contradict our report.

Today is the day I learned that the forum of social networking and peer group interaction is still not fully understood by many. Their ignorance was NOT my bliss.

Today is the day I learned that if you choose the high road you may lose to someone willing to do anything to twist scenarios to back their position regardless the effect on others. If you make the choice to not stoop to their level, you may lose on this earth and have to hold desperately to the belief that in spite of your pain and troubles you have to know the Highest Court will make this right in the end.

Today was a day I will work hard to break down in to pieces I can use to help the families in need who come to me seeking guidance and assistance with their fight to keep their family home. I will work hard to learn from this experience. I have to find some positive in this fiasco so I can move on.

Today was my bad day. Tomorrow will be better if my prayers are answered.

See you out there!

I have almost 100 active cases in my role as housing counselor for homeowners seeking help with their financial hardship. Many of these cases are for Southern Oregon homeowners wanting to keep their home. Homeowners who have taken the time to investigate the options available to them, and homeowners who need help figuring out what their options are. Many of these homeowners applied for modification of their home loan. When I review the documentation we collect to verify their financial hardship, I see that many of these homeowners appear to be pretty darn good candidates for the mortgage modifications they are seeking. Chaos reigns in the servicers' back rooms. They are flooded with these request for modification and are grossly understaffed - and/or their staff is inexperienced and under-trained. Mistakes are common.

Oregon instituted Senate Bill 628 to help protect homeowners seeking modification. When a homeowner is facing foreclosure on their Oregon home and their servicer/investor has filed the Notice of Trustee Sale, notification must be sent with that Notice of Trustee Sale/foreclosure notice that the homeowner may request to be considered for modification. The homeowner needs to submit a complete up-to-date financial hardship package even if they have done so previously, a package usually consisting of:

• Request for Modification Notice included with foreclosure notice
• Financial Statement
  
• Complete Household Budget breaking down all income and expenses
  
• Income verification (paycheck stubs covering the past 2 months, Year-to-Date Profit & Loss Statement if self-employed, last 2 years federal tax returns signed/dated)
• Last two months bank statements (do NOT include retirement fund statements, even if they are asked for - they are not required for consideration for modification)
• Completed, signed, dated 4506-T for past 2 years tax returns
  
• Completed, signed, dated Dodd-Frank Certificate
  
• Documentation supporting hardship - i.e. medical bills, divorce decree/death certificate, letter explaining job loss/ reduced income (must have become re-employed for modification)

If an Oregon homeowner provides the above within 30 days of the Notice of Trustee Sale being filed, their servicer/investor MUST REVIEW THEIR MODIFICATION REQUEST WITHIN 45 DAYS!!! I suggest all homeowners seeking modification that appear eligible to file this notice and submit their financial hardship package via the instructions on the notice, even if they've applied repeatedly before - no matter where they are in the process for being considered. I also tell them to file a complaint with the Oregon Attorney General if this Notice pertaining to Senate Bill 628 is not included or if their servicer/investor do not respond in the required time frame.

If you are - or know of - a Southern Oregon Homeowner seeking assistance for a financial hardship, call ACCESS...(541)779-6691. This is a HUD certified housing counseling agency, and foreclosure interventions services provided by certified, educated professionals are free.

See you out there!

In my role as housing counselor, I see people facing financial hardship - LOT's of them right now with the high unemployment rate and foreclosure rate we see here in Southern Oregon. There is a rule out there that I try to make people aware of, especially when their mortgage and checking/savings accounts are with the same banking institution. That rule is the "Right of Offset" which gives the bank the right to "sweep" the balance out of a person's checking/savings account when that person has a delinquent debt with that same institution. I just heard about it happening again recently when a homeowner who is fighting to keep their home fell behind on other bills, and those bills were with the bank where their checking account is at. They now have $80 to pay their utilities and food for the month. It's a good thing our HUD certified housing counseling agency also has an energy assistance program and supplies food to pantries throughout the Rogue Valley. This single mom and child are going to need them!

See you out there!

James Quarello makes a great point about taking the first step in order to obtain your goal. When working with homeowners in financial distress, it is part of our work to establish the steps they need to take in order to reach their established goal. Whatever the goal, one can't get there without taking that first step, and focusing on the steps can break down an intimidating process making it a manageable one. Great point and photo, James!

I came across an article by First Tuesday about the banks regulating themselves in the current environment we are in. I can vouch that this is NOT an acceptable solution, as we HUD Housing Counselors continually run in to situations where the Big Banks do not abide by the rules, guidelines and laws they've agreed to follow. States and their Attorney Generals are working toward resolving the many gaps in our systems to make protection available to our consumers, but we aren't quite there yet. I agree that accountability and restitution are indeed part of the equation that appears to be missing in this whole formula...

Mortgage servicers to regulate…themselves?

By Giang Hoang-Burdette • Apr 18th, 2011 • Category: real estate newsflash

What Mike Jones learned about the low FICO FHA financing wasn't great news. But, knowledge IS power in my mind, even when the knowledge isn't necessarily great news!

I've seen moves by a tiny handful of lenders addressing this market segment. We'll see where it goes from here...  Great job, Mike!

We finally made it to the Sunrise Café & Catering at 130 E. Main Street in Downtown Medford tonight, getting to this popular lunchtime destination – but for dinner. This family owned business run by brother and sister, Ed Chun and Carol Hendricks was worth the wait. Having experienced the delectable Kalbi Tri Tip Special and a sampler platter, with some of the most tender, flavorful meats we’ve tasted (pulled pork, teriyaki beef AND chicken - YUM!), we’ll be back to see the friendly, personable Ed and Carol again very soon. Dinner for two with drinks came to just over $25.00, which doesn’t put too big a dent in our wallet during these challenging economic times, and with leftovers from the sampler platter, one of us will get a lunch out of it, too (sweet dreams, sweetheart - MIDNIGHT SNACK, HERE I COME!).

Ed shared his story with us, and that he is “serving up his childhood memories” for us. And some happy memories those are for us now, too, Ed!  Ed is proud that they lay claim to fame for not having a can opener in their Café – fresh fresh FRESH is what you get! So close to the Medford Library, RCC’s Medford campus and the RCC/SOU Higher Education Center, I can see why the Sunrise Café & Catering is a popular choice in Downtown Medford, whether it is for lunch, catering of special events or the occasional dinner - better call 541-245-0555 to check on Friday or Saturday for dinners, since they may be catering an event.

Ed Chun & Carol Hendricks have just celebrated their one year anniversary of the opening of the Sunrise Café & Catering in Downtown Medford. I can't wait to try out Ed & Carol's catering service - Ed promises to take all the stress off of us with the food preparations and serving... doesn't that sound wonderful? Check them out – you’ll be glad you did. I know we are!

See you out there!