Archives for March 2011

Mortgage Reform by President Obama

President Obama seeks to reform the mortgage industry in the United States. He plans on accomplishing this by significant changes in government backed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. President Obama has presented several different options to the United States Congress for reducing the country’s dependence on Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. His program is one of fundamental reform of the mortgage industry. He hopes these reforms will provide greater protection for consumers and allow middle class Americans to obtain affordable mortgages.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac

Government backed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are involved in approximately 90% of the mortgages, one way or another, in America. As of now, these two government backed agencies have over $150 billion dollars in losses! It is anticipated these losses will climb to $400 billion dollars before the housing bubble is completely corrected.

New Programs

Some of the recommendations made by President Obama’s reform team will require Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to charge banks the same amount for loan guarantees as paid by private financial institutions. Currently, federally backed mortgage loans can go up to $729,750. One of President Obama’s reforms would be to reduce this amount to $625,500. It is anticipated that this action will motivate the private banking sector to make more high-value mortgage loans.

The administration also seeks to have a minimum down payment of 10% regarding all government backed loans. One of the problems that caused the mortgage bubble is that Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae have been making loans with zero down payment. Query – if a homeowner has no money to put down for the purchase of a home, isn’t this an indication that if things do not go well, they will quickly walk away from making their mortgage payments? This is what caused the housing crisis. The giving of inappropriate mortgage loans to unqualified prospective homeowners!

The removal of government guarantees from the loan market is opposed by various special interest groups. Real estate agents, home builders, home supply companies, mortgage brokers and other individuals who make a living from the housing market oppose any changes to the current system. The Obama Administration seeks to make changes to the mortgage market over a five-year period.

Mortgage Modification and Foreclosure

If you have problems making your mortgage payments, reducing the amount of your monthly payments is a good idea. All financial institutions currently have mortgage modification programs. Unfortunately, some mortgage modification programs fail to provide belingered homeowners with realistic alternatives to their current mortgages. Our law office can help you deal with the complexities of the various mortgage modification programs.

Foreclosure is the process by which a bank takes back a home for the nonpayment of a mortgage. Should you be facing foreclosure, we can keep you in your home. Our foreclosure defense lawyers have developed an expertise in fighting these lawsuits. Once a lawsuit is initiated, we attend foreclosure court conferences on behalf of our clients. We defend defective foreclosure lawsuits. We deal with issues of predatory lending, defective mortgages and the failure of financial institutions to obtain the proper assignments and paperwork necessary to initiate litigation. We also update this foreclosure blog on a regular basis to keep our clients informed about the real estate industry in the United States. Call us for a free consultation at 1-800-344-6431, 516-561-6645 or 718-350-2802.

The Real Cost of Home Ownership

Individuals and families purchasing their first home usually ponder over how large a mortgage they can afford to pay. There are a variety of other costs that should be taken into consideration when purchasing a home. Homes require maintenance. Appliances break, roofs leak and there are numerous other types of maintenance problems homeowners must anticipate. These include landscaping, pest control, plumbing problems and the maintaining of the heating and air conditioning systems. These costs must be taken into consideration when purchasing a home.

Utilities

Homes must be heated and in the summer they may need air conditioning. The price of fuel oil and gas have been going up for the past few years. You should obtain the expense records from the previous owner for the utilities including heating, gas, oil and electric before purchasing a new home. These costs should be built into your monthly budget.

Homeowners Insurance

It is necessary to maintain casualty insurance on your home. This would repay either you or the bank should your home be damaged in a fire or through other circumstances. Sometimes this expense is built right into the mortgage payment. If you’re paying this expense directly, you should take this into account when budgeting for a new home.

Home Improvements

When a car gets old, you either fix it or you purchase a new car. When you own a home, besides from maintaining it, sometimes it becomes necessary to make improvements to maintain your quality of life. Home improvements involve planning, time and money.

Emergency Fund

One never knows when an emergency will take place. In these situations, it’s important to have a nest egg to bide you over during an emergency.

New York Foreclosure Defense

If your home is in foreclosure, you need a foreclosure defense lawyer. Call us. This is what we do! We litigate numerous foreclosure defense issues including, but not limited to, defective foreclosure lawsuits, predatory lending, bad faith, defective mortgages, and other real estate related issues. We attend court conferences on behalf of our clients and we keep them up to date concerning the status of the foreclosure. We handle mortgage modifications for our clients and we deal with mortgage modification programs that fail to meet our clients needs. When appropriate, we also file Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcies on behalf of our clients. If you have a mortgage related problem call us at 516-561-6645, 1-800-344-6431 or 718-350-2802.

Credit Consequences of Foreclosure and Deficiency Judgments

Foreclosure And Deficiency JudgmentsFamilies facing foreclosure are concerned about being thrown out of their homes. Credit issues and concerns about deficiency judgments are secondary. When a bank initiates a foreclosure proceeding, they file a lis pendens on the property. A lis pendens filing notifies all prospective purchasers that the property is in foreclosure. This has the effect of making the title to the home unmarketable. This means the foreclosure proceeding must be dealt with before the house can be sold.

Late Mortgage Payments

Each time a mortgage payment is paid late, the financial institution notifies credit reporting agencies concerning this late payment. When mortgage payments are not made, credit reporting agents are also provided this information. Each late payment and each non-payment has a negative effect on credit ratings.

Sale of Property

At the end of the foreclosure proceeding the home is sold. Courts usually appoint referees in New York to sell these homes. If the financial institution does not receive enough funds from the foreclosure sale to pay off the mortgage in total, they may enter a deficiency judgment against the homeowner. The deficiency judgment is the portion of the mortgage that was not paid from the proceeds of the foreclosure sale. For example, if your home sells for $200,000 in the foreclosure sale and you owe $250,000 on your mortgage, the bank can enter a judgment against you for the $50,000 deficiency. This is called the deficiency judgment.

Avoiding Deficiency Judgment

There are a variety of ways to avoid deficiency judgments. You can enter into an agreement with the bank to have a short sale. This is when the bank agrees to forgive the balance of the mortgage not covered by the sale. You can also turn your house over to the bank by a deed in lieu of foreclosure, with the bank agreeing to forgive any deficiency from the sale of your home. Should your house be in foreclosure, it is important to consult with a knowledgeable attorney to avoid being subject to a deficiency judgment.

New York Foreclosure Defense

Losing your home in foreclosure is a scary prospect. Having an experienced foreclosure defense lawyer will not only help you in court it will give you piece of mind. Our office litigates foreclosure defense matters on behalf of our clients. We attend foreclosure court conferences. We litigate all types of real estate related issues including, but not limited to, predatory lending, defective foreclosure lawsuits, defective mortgages and bad faith on behalf of financial institutions. We maintain a foreclosure blog to update the general public concerning issues involving foreclosures, mortgage modifications and real estate matters. We also file Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 bankruptcies to deal with foreclosure problems. Call us we can help you!

Cities With High Foreclosure Rates

Cities With High Foreclosure RatesLas Vegas, Nevada and Phoenix, Arizona are running neck and neck for the title of having the highest foreclosure rates in the United States of America. Although it has been widely written about these two cities enormous foreclosure rates, there are numerous other small cities in America that have similar problems.

Albuquerque, New Mexico

Albuquerque is a city of approximately 500,000 people. They have a foreclosure rate of one in every forty-six homes. During 2010, their foreclosure rate increased by over 60%. Albuquerque was one of the fastest growing metropolitan areas in the continental United States. It has a warm climate and, for many years, it had a very favorable job market. Albuquerque has been devastated in recent years due to the falling economy.

Albuquerque is suffering from a high unemployment rate. More than 13% of all of construction jobs were lost in Albuquerque during 2010, pursuant to the Associated General Contractors of America. High lay-offs in the construction industry contributed to Albuquerque having a high foreclosure rate.

Savanna, Georgia

Savanna is a beautiful city. It is known for its beautiful old south architecture. The city has a population of approximately 350,000 people. Unfortunately, one in every forty homes is in foreclosure. This amounts to a home being in foreclosure on every three blocks in the city of Savanna. In 2010, Savanna’s foreclosure rate increased by 37%. Some homes in Savanna are now selling for less then $50,000. The cost of the raw materials to build these homes would be more then double this amount!

Tulsa, Oklahoma

Tulsa has a population of about a million people. One out of every fifty homes in Tulsa is in foreclosure. This amounted to a 37% increase during the 2010 calendar year. Although the unemployment rate in Tulsa has been below the national average for the past few years, the foreclosure rate has been increasingly high. Job losses in Tulsa increased by 38% in 2010.

Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, is dependent on vacation home buyers. It is a vacation destination for the majority of the families who spend time there. In 2009, the unemployment rate was over 12% for this city. The unemployment rate dipped to 11.8% in 2010.

During 2010, there was an increase of approximately 45% in the amount of homes going into foreclosure. This is a small increase compared with the increase of 446% for foreclosures in 2009. The huge foreclosure increases in 2009 and 2010 is indicative of the fact that Myrtle Beach is a tourism dependent community. When Americans have financial difficulties, they have less discretionary funds to spend on vacation homes and tourism.

Foreclosure rates throughout the United States are causing pain in many communities. This will delay the economic recovery in the United States.

Stop Foreclosure In Its Tracks

There are legal defenses to foreclosure lawsuits. We litigate foreclosure lawsuits. We assist our clients with mortgage modifications. We attend foreclosure court conferences on behalf of our clients. We litigate defective mortgages, predatory lending issues and defective foreclosure lawsuits. We advise our clients as to whether Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcies are the appropriate means to deal with their financial situations.

Read our foreclosure blog. It will help you understand the nature of the foreclosure crisis in the United States and the fact that there are things that can be done to keep you and your family in your home. Feel free to call our foreclosure defense and real estate attorneys at 516-561-6645, 1-800-344-6431 and 718-350-2802 for a free consultation. Call us now, our phones are answered 24/7.

Foreclosure Defense Attorneys

In January 2011, Fewer Mortgage Modifications Were Granted

Mortgage Modifications Were GrantedFinancial institutions granted fewer mortgage modifications in January of 2011 than in previous months. Throughout the country, approximately 101,000 mortgage modifications were granted in January, while more than 111,000 mortgage modifications were granted in December. Of the modifications granted in January, seventy-three thousand were modifications done with lenders and twenty-eight thousand were new modifications under the HAMP program.

Republicans seek to cancel HAMP. The Republican majority in the United States House of Representatives has approved a statute that would end the HAMP program. The democrats in Congress oppose this measure. In the unlikely event that the elimination of the HAMP anti-foreclosure program is approved by Congress, President Obama has stated he will veto this statute.

Mortgage Delinquencies Increase

While the amount of mortgage modifications went down in January of 2011, the number of mortgage delinquencies rose. There were three million home loans that were more then sixty days overdue in January of 2011.

There were 200,000 new foreclosure proceedings in January of 2011. This is down from the 230,000 foreclosure proceedings in December of 2010. In January 2011, 73,000 homes were sold in foreclosure. This was a major increase from the 56,000 homes that were sold in December of 2010.

Long Island and New York City Foreclosure Defense Lawyers

Should you be facing a foreclosure, it is important that you have high quality legal defense as early in the proceedings as possible. We provide foreclosure defense for our clients. We attend foreclosure court conferences. We litigate issues involving defective foreclosure lawsuits, defective mortgages, predatory lending, bad faith on behalf of financial institutions and other real estate matters. We assist our clients in mortgage modifications and, when necessary, we will file either Chapter 13 or Chapter 7 bankruptcies on behalf of our clients. Call us at 1-800-344-6431, 516-561-6645 or 718-350-2802 for a free consultation.

Mortgage Modification Scams

There are companies advertising on the internet that they assist homeowners with mortgage modifications. Sometimes these companies are run by charlatans who are engaged in mortgage modification scams. These companies target the elderly, minority members, and individuals with bad credit.

Sometimes the mortgage scam companies request the mortgage holder to make their payments to them and not to their financial institution. They claim they will take care of the problem at their end. This is always a mistake. If you are going to pay your mortgage, pay it directly to your financial institution.

Another mortgage scam involves the submitting of an application to your mortgage company showing you have a higher income then you actually have. If you can’t afford the mortgage to begin with, you’ll not be able to make your mortgage payments. This will result in your home ending up in foreclosure. This is a route you should not start down.

Mortgage Modification ScamsInterest Only Mortgage Payments

Obtaining a mortgage that requires that you, for a period of time, only make interest payments is also not a wise choice. These type of loans sometimes have balloon payments. In a balloon payment situation, after a period of time you must make a lump sum payment or refinance. Under this type of scam the scammer will tell you that down the road things will be better and you’ll be able to refinance at a lower rate and obtain a better quality conventional mortgage. Don’t bet on it!

Mortgage Modification Attorneys

Under the appropriate circumstances, we assist clients in submitting mortgage modification applications. We also defend our clients in the event their homes go into foreclosure. We attend foreclosure court conferences on behalf of our clients. We litigate issues involving defective foreclosure lawsuits, bad faith on behalf of financial institutions, defective mortgages, predatory lending and other real estate related issues. We maintain a foreclosure blog which is updated regularly concerning various issues related to foreclosure, mortgage modification and real estate matters.

We review our client’s situations carefully and, when appropriate, we file either Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcies on their behalf. Call us for a free consultation at 1-800-344-6431, 516-561-6645 or 718-350-2802.

Decimated Home Values

Decimated Home ValuesDuring the last three months of 2010, home values nationwide went down 2.6%. As home values have gone down, foreclosures have increased. The more homes foreclosed and brought onto the market, the greater the over-supply of inventory. In a supply and demand based market place, the greater the supply without a corresponding increase of demand will lead to a continual reduction in the value of homes in the United States.

Phoenix, Arizona: a Hot Spot of Foreclosures

It is estimated that as much as 70% of all of the homes in the Metropolitan Phoenix area are under water (worth less than the amount of mortgages attached to these homes). Las Vegas, Nevada, is also in a similar situation. Recent studies have shown it is less expensive in Las Vegas to buy than to rent a home.

Thirty Percent of the Homes in America are Underwater

Recent studies have shown that approximately one out of every four Americans has no equity in their home. This is an extremely sad state of affairs considering the ownership of a single family home in the past represented the greatest single asset for most American families.

Selling Homes For a Loss

The real estate website Zillow.com recently wrote that in December of 2010, more than 33.3% of all homes sold in the United States were sold at a loss!

There was a period of home stagnation due to the disclosure of “Robo Signing”, which was the name given to faulty bank procedures that rushed into foreclosing homes without the proper paperwork by the banks, and the execution of legal documents by bank officials without reading and examining them as to the truthfulness of their contents. In the fall of 2010, thousands of foreclosures were put on hold for the banks to investigate these problems and correct these deficiencies. Many of the banks have now dealt with these issues and thousands of homes that had their foreclosure stopped are now being aggressively pursued by the financial institutions.

Foreclosed homes are expected to flood the real estate market during the first half of 2011. This will lead to further reductions in home values in localities that are subject to high foreclosure rates. It is expected to be a buyer’s real estate market for the next several years!

Defense of Foreclosure Lawsuits

Law Offices of Schlissel DeCorpo defends foreclosure lawsuits. We aggressively litigate these matters and we appear in court for foreclosure court conferences on behalf of our clients. We submit numerous counterclaims and affirmative defenses to delay and possibly defeat foreclosure lawsuits. We deal with failed mortgage modification programs , defective foreclosure lawsuits, predatory lending issues and financial institutions inability to produce the necessary documents regarding their claims. Our law office has been handling real estate matters for more than three decades. Feel free to review our foreclosure blog, which is updated several times a week. Contact us for a consultation at 1-800-344-6431, 516-561-6645 or 718-350-2802.

President Obama will not be Successful in Slashing Mortgage Deductions for the Wealthy

Mortgage Deductions For The WealthyPresident Obama wants to limit two popular mortgage deductions utilized by wealthy taxpayers. Unfortunately, the President is meeting a tremendous amount of difficulty from entrenched special interest groups. President Obama has proposed that there be a curtailment of tax deductions for mortgage interest payments and charitable contributions from high-income earners.

President Obama’s proposal is that taxpayers in the 33% and 35% tax brackets will only be allowed to deduct their contributions and mortgage interest payments at a rate of 28%. This would affect taxpayers with incomes of $250,000 and up. It is estimated that this would bring in $321 billion dollars into the federal treasury over a period of ten years. This is not the first time reducing tax deductions for mortgage interest has been proposed. In the past, these proposals have been unsuccessful because of resistance from special interest groups.

Intense Lobbying by the Real Estate Industry

Real estate industry groups, as well as not-for-profit lobbying groups, are lobbying heavily in both the Senate and the House of Representatives against limiting tax deductions for mortgage payments and charitable contributions.

The National Association of Home Builders, through its chief executive Jeffrey Howard, has issued a statement that “this is an attack on the middle class.” Where the housing industry is concerned, capping deductions will have a further negative effect on the housing market. These tax deductions are an incentive for home ownership.

Tom Delaney, the head of the National Council of Non-profits, a network of charity organizations, stated, “we look for every opportunity to help policy makers understand the consequences of different proposals.” The National Council of Non-profits are against limiting these tax deductions. Their position is that limiting the charitable deductions will curtail donations to charities by large donors.

The fifty-four most generous donors in America in the year 2010 gave $3.3 billion dollars to charities. Charities are reliant on donations from wealthy individuals. Charities throughout the country strongly oppose any changes regarding mortgage deductions for individuals who make over $250,000 a year. Individual families in New York State that earn more than $250,000 a year are not wealthy. They are middle class!

Foreclosure Defense In New York

The Law Offices of Schlissel DeCorpo assists it’s clients in applying for mortgage modifications. In situations where the mortgage modifications program fail to approve clients applications, the law office represents them in foreclosure proceedings. Our attorneys attend foreclosure court conferences on behalf of our clients. They defend clients from defective foreclosure lawsuits, predatory lending issues, bad faith on behalf of financial institutions and all aspects of real estate litigation. Call for a free consultation at 516- 561-6645, 1-800-344-6431 or 718-350-2802.

Countrywide Financial’s Chief Executive Avoiding Criminal Prosecution

Executive Avoiding Criminal ProsecutionCriminal charges against Angelo R. Monzilo, the former chief executive of Countrywide Financial, have been dropped. Federal prosecutors in Los Angeles, California, had been investigating Angelo R. Monzilo with regard to various irregularities by Countrywide Financial. Countrywide Financial, at one time, was the largest mortgage lender in the United States.

After Two Years of Investigations, the Case is Closed Against Mr. Monzilo

Initially, regulators were looking into the 140 million dollar sale of Countrywide stock by Mr. Monzilo while the company was teetering on bankruptcy. The decision by prosecutors not to pursue Mr. Monzilo took place after he agreed to be banned from serving as an officer or director of a publicly-held company.

Countrywide Mortgage Practices

As a result of the practices used by Countrywide Mortgage, billions of dollars were lost by investors. Millions of homeowners have had their homes taken from them in foreclosure. The individuals who have caused this mortgage crisis go largely unpunished. Many of them have profited to the tune of millions of dollars as a result of their misdeeds.

Mr. Monzilo, while at Countrywide Financial, was one of the highest paid chief executives in the United States. From the years 2000 to 2008, he earned $521 million. Who says crime doesn’t pay!

Queens, Nassau and Long Island Foreclosure Defense Lawyers

We handle foreclosure defense cases. We represent individuals when banks seek to take their homes from them and put their families on the street. We file mortgage applications on behalf of our clients. When foreclosure proceedings start, we represent our clients and attend foreclosure court conferences. We litigate defective mortgages, bad faith issues, predatory lending and defective foreclosure procedures. We litigate real estate-related issues concerning foreclosure and mortgage modifications. We also will file Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 bankruptcies on behalf of our clients. If you need an attorney to stop foreclosure call us at 1-800-344-6431, 516-561- 6645 and 718-350-2802.

Foreclosure Defense in Valley Stream, Lynbrook, Baldwin, Malverne, Freeport, Oceanside, Long Beach, Elmont, Lakeview, West Hempstead, Hempstead, Merrick and Bellmore, New York

We represent individuals throughout the New York Metropolitan area with divorce and child custody, personal injury, car accident, wrongful death, estate administration, nursing home and medicaid issues

The information you obtain at this website is not, nor is it intended to be, legal advice. You should consult an attorney for individual advice regarding your particular legal issue. This is attorney advertising.

This is attorney advertising. This website is designed for general information purposes only. The information presented on this website shall not be construed to be legal advice. If you have a legal problem you should consult with an attorney.

Copyright © 2018 By The Law Offices of Schlissel DeCorpo. All Rights Reserved.