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Thinking of “walking away” from your mortgage?

Dennis Norman

You may want to consider possible legal issues before deciding to “walk away”

Homeowners who are considering “walking away” from their home to avoid making their mortgage payment need to know that their mortgage company may try to file a lawsuit to recover the amount owed on the home.

In addition, homeowners who sell their [...]

Appeals Court Rules Builder Incentive did not violate RESPA

Dennis Norman

The United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit recently consdered an appeal by the plaintiffs of a class action lawsuit again D.R. Horton, Inc. and DHI Mortgage, Co brought by John R. Yeatman and Eleanor E. Yeatman on behalf of themselves and all similarly situated individuals.

The lawsuit stems from the Yeatman’s [...]

FDIC’s Sale of IndyMac to One West Bank – Sweetheart deal or not?

Dennis Norman

Last week a friend emailed me a link to a video titled “The Indymac Slap in Our Face” that was created by Think Big Work Small.  I watched the video which gave a recap of the failure of Indymac bank back resulting in it’s seizure by the FDIC in July, 2008, and the [...]

Looking for Love? Try the laundry room!

Valentine’s Day is a time for love…Are you feeling left out because you haven’t found Mr or Mrs Right? 

Maybe you aren’t looking in the right places…. have you tried hanging out in the laundry room of Apartment complexes? 

All right, I know what you are wondering, what does this have to do with real estate and [...]

Justice Department Obtains $160,000 Settlement in Discrimination Lawsuit Against Atlanta Area Realtors

Atlanta real estate firms Coldwell Banker Joe T. Lane Realty Inc., Coldwell Banker Bullard Realty Company Inc. and Rodney Lee Foreman, one of their former real estate agents, have agreed to pay $160,000 to settle allegations that they illegally steered prospective homebuyers toward and away from certain neighborhoods based on race and color, the Justice [...]

Survey Shows Obama Falls Short on Housing Market Promises

Even in Tough Times, 77 Percent of Americans View Homeownership as a Part of Their Own Personal American Dream

A national survey released yesterday by Trulia shows that many Americans feel that President Barack Obama has not lived up to the hope he created during his campaign and his first 30 days in office. In [...]

IRS Releases Instructions on how to Claim Homebuyer Tax Credit

Dennis Norman

If you are one of the million-plus homebuyers that was fortunate enough to qualify for the Home Buyer tax credit, read on for information on how to claim your credit.

Today the Internal Revenue Service released a new form that eligible homebuyers must need to use to claim the first-time homebuyer credit this tax season, [...]

Landmark Civil Rights Agreement Will Increase Housing Accessibility Across Country

Nation’s Fifth-Largest Housing Developer to Retrofit Record Number of Apartments for People With Disabilities, Create National Accessibility Fund

Dennis Norman

Today, the National Fair Housing Alliance (NFHA) and its member fair housing organizations in Atlanta, Ga., Melbourne, Fla., and Napa and Marin, Calif., announced a landmark agreement with the A.G. Spanos Companies to increase housing accessibility [...]

Will you owe taxes on a short-sale or foreclosure?

Dennis Norman

Depending on which estimate you believe, somewhere between one-third and one-half of the homeowners with a mortgage in the U.S. owe more on their homes than their homes are currently worth. This has lead to an unprecedented amount of short-sales and in many cases, a lender “forgiving” you of the short-fall (the amount [...]

HUD may assist homeowners that have problem drywall issues

According to a press release from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, borrowers with FHA loans that are experiencing problems associated with drywall (ie; chinese drywall) may be eligible for assistance to help them rehabilitate their properties.

FHA is reminding its approved lenders that they are to offer special forbearance for borrowers confronted with [...]

Merry Christmas!

 

Evictions and foreclosure activities suspended over holidays for some borrowers

Dennis Norman

Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae and CitiMortgage give borrowers a break over the holidays…

Within the past day Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae have both announced that they are suspending evictions from December 19, 2009 through January 3, 2010 on foreclosed homes, two families and four families, that they hold. 

CitiMortgage and CitiFinancial announced yesterday a [...]

What Should Be Done To Help Underwater Borrowers?

Dennis Norman

Last week I did a post about the Obama Administrations’ Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) and showed how it really has not been effective in helping keep families in their homes and avoid foreclosure as was the intention by the administration.  When my kids tell me they don’t like the way I want them to [...]

Five Indicted in Foreclosure Rescue and Mortgage Fraud Scheme

 

Scam Involved Lawyers, Mortgage Brokers, and More Than $14.6 Million in Loans 

PHILADELPHIA—A 15-count indictment was filed today against five defendants charged in a $14.6 million mortgage fraud scheme that resulted in at least 35 fraudulent mortgage loans, announced United States Attorney Michael L. Levy, Special Agent-in-Charge of the FBI Janice K. Fedarcyk, and Pennsylvania Secretary [...]

Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives Program (HAFA) Launched

Dennis Norman

Last week the Treasury Department announced the Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives Program (HAFA), the latest program under the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP), designed to offer alternatives to homeowners facing foreclosure. 

THE HAFA PROGRAM:

The Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives Program provides financial incentives to loan servicers as well as borrowers who do a short-sale or a [...]

More on the Homebuyer Tax Credit

Ted Gayer, co-director of Economic Studies, Brookings Institute

According to this article, the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) has scored a Senate homebuyer tax credit at $16.7 billion. How does the JCT $16.7 billion cost estimate square with my previous back-of-the-envelope calculation of the cost of the tax credit of $73.9 billion?
For my calculation, I [...]

Helpful homebuyer tax credit video from NAHB

Dennis Norman

I have done several posts on the homebuyer tax credit and received and answered hundreds of questions about the tax credits on the various blogs I write for. There appears to be a lot of demand for the credits by homebuyers but also appears to be many questions. If you have questions about [...]

The Cost of Not Walking Away From An Underwater Mortgage

In the ongoing debate about whether one should walk away from an underwater mortgage or not, one University of Arizona professor speaks out strongly in favor of taking a hike. According to Brent T. White, an associate professor of law at the University of Arizona:

A failure to grasp the true economics of the situation is [...]

New updated info from IRS on Homebuyer Tax Credit

First-Time Homebuyer Credit Extended to April 30, 2010; Some Current Homeowners Now Also Qualify

WASHINGTON — A new law that went into effect Nov. 6 extends the first-time homebuyer credit five months and expands the eligibility requirements for purchasers.

The Worker, Homeownership, and Business Assistance Act of 2009 extends the deadline for [...]

President of Metropolitan Money Store Sentenced to Over 12 Years in Prison for $37 Million Mortgage Fraud Scheme

Joy Jackson Personally Responsible for Over $16 Million in Losses to Mortgage Lenders; Used Over $800,000 of Fraudulently Obtained Proceeds to Pay for Her Wedding

U.S. District Judge Roger W. Titus sentenced the president of the Metropolitan Money Store, Joy Jackson, age 41, of Fort Washington, Maryland, today to 151 months in [...]

Mortgage Loan Delinquencies on track to set record in 2009

Dennis Norman

TransUnion released the results of its analysis of trends in the mortgage industry for the third quarter of 2009 and the associated impact on the U.S. consumer.

Part of this report focused on delinquencies on mortgages and the rate of mortgage delinquency. The report showed that mortgage loan delinquency (the ratio of borrowers 60 or [...]

Want to buy a home and be guaranteed you won’t lose money, even if the value drops?

Dennis Norman

I can remember a time, not that long ago, where about the last thing people were concerned about was the value of their home going down. After all, for decades, our homes proved to be safe investments….no, we weren’t going to see their values shoot up 50 percent in one month like some [...]

Homeowner files class-action lawsuit against Texas’ KB Home

Lawsuit charges national price-inflation scheme to defraud consumers

A Texas homeowner filed a class-action lawsuit today against KB Home (NYSE:KBH) , Countrywide Financial and LandSafe Appraisal Services, claiming the three conspired to rig housing prices in Texas and Colorado, costing home purchasers millions of dollars and pushing homeowners into dangerous loans.

The suit, filed yesterday in [...]

And now for the other side of the coin on the home-buyer tax credit

Publishers note: If you have been reading our blog for a while you are probably aware we have been supporters and advocates of the home-buyer tax credit as well as the extension and expansion of the credit, which happened last week.  We realize however, there are people that do not support the credits for a [...]

Mortgage Fraud Surge Investigation Nets More Than 100 Individuals Throughout Middle District of Florida

Department of Justice Press Release

TAMPA—United States Attorney A. Brian Albritton today announced the results of a nine-month-long Mortgage Fraud Surge investigation that has resulted in charges against more than 100 defendants and involves allegations concerning more than $400 million in loans procured by fraud and more than 700 properties. U.S. Attorney Albritton is [...]

Home buyer tax credit extension update; House Passes Bill…On to President for approval

Dennis Norman

UPDATE 11/06/09 5:14 p.m. – Thanks to Denis T who was commenting on this post, click here to go to the IRS site with information on the new tax credits.

 UPDATE 11/06/09 1:00 p.m. – I just heard that a short while ago President Obama signed the bill into law.  IT’S OFFICIAL!  So if you are in [...]

Home buyer tax credit extension update; Senate Passes Bill

Dennis Norman

UPDATE 11/05 2:00 pm – The House has passed the bill by a vote of 403 – 12 – It now goes to the President who is expected to sign today or tomorrow.

UPDATE 11/05, 12:35 pm- To read the section of H.R. 3548 that contains the details concerning the first-time home-buyer tax credit [...]

Why We’re Walking Away

I posted yesterday on the Wall Street Journal article Report Sheds Light on Why Homeowners Walk Away.  A couple of commenters on the WSJ article said why they were walking away from their mortgage, and I thought their comments were interesting enough to repeat.  The first walker says that as a good borrower he is [...]

Home buyer tax credit update-November 2, 2009

Dennis Norman

UPDATED: 6:15 pm Central Time-

The Senate voted 85-2 this afternoon to end debate on the amendment..This is clears a procedural hurdle and will allow the bill and amendment to be voted on by the Senate, most likely on Tuesday or Wednesday….If passed by the Senate it would then need to go back [...]

Want to buy a home and be guaranteed you won’t lose money, even if the value drops?

Dennis Norman

I can remember a time, not that long ago, where about the last thing people were concerned about was the value of their home going down. After all, for decades, our homes proved to be safe investments….no, we weren’t going to see their values shoot up 50 percent in one month like some [...]