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Mortgage Delinquencies Declined

March 9, 2011 by

Mortgage Delinquencies DeclinedDuring the past few months, there has been a reduction in the number of mortgages becoming delinquent. In the third quarter of 2010, the mortgage delinquency rate fell from 14.42% to 13.52%, according to the Mortgage Banker’s Association.

There are several explanations for a decline in mortgage delinquency rates. One explanation is that the economy is improving and this is having a positive effect on home owners ability to make mortgage payments.

Delinquencies and Foreclosures above Normal

The good news is that mortgage delinquency rates and the number of foreclosures is starting to go down. The bad news is that mortgage foreclosure rates and mortgage delinquencies are extremely high by historical standards.

It is thought that one of the reasons why foreclosure rates are starting to decline is that the new foreclosures in 2011 are not being caused by bad bank loans. Many of the foreclosures in 2009 and 2010 were caused by banking practices that provided mortgage loans to individuals who didn’t qualify. Most of the new foreclosures are related to prime loans. These loans are much harder for banks to modify than sub-prime loans. Prime loans are given out at low interest rates to start with.

The number of home owners obtaining mortgage modifications has also been decreasing. Twenty-four thousand homeowners throughout the United States obtained mortgage modifications in October of 2010. Hopefully, we will see a continuation of the reduction of mortgages that are delinquent and foreclosure rate will continue to decline.

Queens, Nassau and Suffolk County Mortgage Modification and Foreclosure Defense Lawyers

Our office can assist you with mortgage modifications. If you are sued in foreclosure, we will aggressively represent you and stop the foreclosure in its tracks.

We litigate bad faith bank practices, defective foreclosure lawsuits, predatory lending issues and fraudulent mortgages. We attend foreclosure conferences in court on behalf of our clients. We also deal with problems caused by mortgage modification programs that do not work. We will analyze your financial situation to see if filing Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy is the appropriate remedy for your difficulties.

Feel free to call us at 1-800-344-6431, 516-561-6645 or 718-350-2802 for a free consultation.

Filed Under: Current Events, Foreclosure Defense, Mortgage Modification Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The Real Estate Market

March 8, 2011 by

The Real Estate MarketFor the past few years, home prices in the large majority of the United States have been falling. I am happy to report that in an article recently published by the National Association of Realtors, it showed that in seventy-eight markets throughout the United States, representing most major metropolitan areas, housing prices have started to stabilize. Stabilization of the housing market is good news. However, stabilization is indicative of the slowing of the downward valuation of homes and not their increasing in value.

Buyers’ Market

We still have a buyers’ market for single family homes. Sellers are reluctant to commit to buying homes when home values are decreasing. Perspective home purchasers are always looking for bargains. Will housing prices continue to go down or will they rebound? No one can be absolutely sure as to when the housing market will hit its absolute bottom.

Is this a Good Time for Selling?

Are you interested in selling your home? Many prospective home sellers have kept their homes off the market with the hope that there would be a rebound in the housing market in the United States. The stabilization of the real estate market should not be considered a rebound. However, there is no guarantee homes will be worth more in the near future.

Location, Location, Location

There are three rules concerning the valuation of real estate. Those three rules are known as “location, location, location”. The valuation of real estate is a local issue. The market value of homes and commercial real estate changes from state to state, city to city, suburb to suburb and locale to locale. It could even be different from one block to the next in the same neighborhood. It behooves you if you are a purchaser to use due diligence and to become familiar with the area in which you seek to purchase a home.

The Improving Economy

Although the real estate market has been stabilizing, we are still in a recession. Will the rising stock market bring back the real estate market with it? I am hopeful, but I am also concerned that the problems in the real estate market in the United States are so severe that it may take several more years to sort this out.

house1Foreclosure Defense Lawyers in Long Island and New York

Our office assists our clients with mortgage modification applications. We are knowledgeable about the mortgage modification programs and why they fail. We maintain a foreclosure blog to update the public concerning various issues involving homes and real estate. We aggressively litigate foreclosure proceedings. We litigate defective mortgage lawsuits, predatory lending and we attend court conferences for our clients when necessary. We advise our clients with regard whether they should file a bankruptcy to deal with being behind on their mortgage and as to whether a Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy would be appropriate. In the event you are behind on your mortgage or experiencing foreclosure problems, we can help you. Call us at 1-800-344-6431, 516-561-6645 or 718- 350-2802.

Filed Under: Current Events, Foreclosure Defense, Mortgage Modification Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Mortgage Modifications and Bad Faith

March 2, 2011 by

Mortgage Modifications And Bad FaithBad faith in mortgage modifications is exhibited by financial institutions in several ways. Under pressure from President Obama, banks agreed to set up mortgage modification programs. The federal government gave the banks billions of dollars in “TARP” money. Thereafter the banks agreed to help homeowners obtain mortgage modifications. Instead of helping the homeowners, the banks set up under-funded, poorly conceived and poorly managed modification programs. The failure of the banks to fulfill their obligations under the mortgage modifications programs can be considered bad faith.

Another example of bad faith by financial institutions is when they grant a homeowner a trial mortgage modification for three months. Thereafter, the homeowner pays, on time, the modified amount for three months. When the banks don’t notify the homeowner to stop paying, the homeowner continues to pay the modified mortgage amount for as long as a year. Thereafter, the bank either tells the homeowner that they have been rejected for a permanent loan modification or that they are approved for a permanent mortgage modification, but on much more onerous terms.

Yet another bad practice by the banks is, after the homeowner has made numerous on time payments under a temporary mortgage modification program, they tell the homeowner they don’t qualify for the permanent program. In these situations, the banks are operating under bad faith!

Foreclosure Defense and Mortgage Modifications

Should you be sued in a foreclosure proceeding, we will appear in court for you. We will attend foreclosure conferences. We will make the courts aware that the mortgage modifications stall because they are poorly administrated. We litigate issues involving defective foreclosure lawsuits, defective mortgages and predatory lending issues as part as our overall foreclosure defense of our clients. Our office has been handling real estate related litigation for more than 45 years.

By meeting with our attorneys, we will analyze your financial situation and provide you with a road map as to how to deal with these difficulties. Should filing a Chapter 7 or a Chapter 13 bankruptcy be appropriate, we will also represent you regarding these proceedings. Feel free to call us at your earliest convenience should you have any questions at 1-800-344-6431, 516-561-6645 or 718-350-2802.

Filed Under: Current Events, Foreclosure Defense, Mortgage Modification Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Higher Mortgage Rates and Stricter Mortgage Procedures likely for 2011

March 1, 2011 by

Low Mortgage Rates

In the year 2010, mortgage rates were extremely low. They were the lowest they have ever been in the past forty years. It is likely that there will be an upward trend of mortgage rates in the year 2011. As the economy starts to improve, consumer spending will increase and the public’s confidence in our economy will be a factor in the Federal Reserve raising interest rates.

Prospective Home Buyers

If you are a prospective home buyer, you will still be able to obtain an inexpensive mortgage in 2011. Although rates may go up, they are so incredibly low right now that even if they increase in 2011, by historical standards, the rates will still be very reasonable.

Prospective home owners should be aware that the procedures to obtain a new mortgage have been tightened in the past few years. Financial institutions are investigating the information provided by prospective home buyers. The financial institutions are conducting due diligence to a higher degree than existed before.

Mortgage ModificationMortgage Modification

Should you, a friend or a loved one require a mortgage modification, we can help. When homes go into foreclosure, we provide foreclosure defense for our clients. We attend foreclosure conferences. We litigate defective foreclosure lawsuits, bad faith on behalf of financial institutions and predatory lending practices. We also analyze our clients financial situations and advise them as to whether filing a Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy would be appropriate. Feel free to call us at 1-800-344-6431, 516-561-6645 or 718-350-2802 for a free consultation.

Filed Under: Current Events, Foreclosure Defense, Mortgage Modification Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

Bank Complaints Soar

February 28, 2011 by

Bank Complaints SoarComplaints by consumers and homeowners against banks are rising to a stratospheric level. It has been suggested that new laws and regulations need to be put in place to reign in inappropriate bank practices.

The controller of the currency recently stated that he is receiving a record number of complaints against the more than 1500 banks subject to regulation. It is estimated that there were more than 80,000 complaints against banks in the year 2010.

The Federal Reserve and the Federal Deposit Insurance Company have recently issued specific regulations and guidelines to deal with the numerous complaints filed against banks.

Complaints About Mortgage Foreclosures

The majority of the complaints against banks have dealt with various problems encountered by homeowners in mortgage foreclosure proceedings. There were more than 36,000 complaints filed against banks in 2010 dealing with mortgage foreclosure issues. Banks are fighting numerous lawsuits throughout the country and are being investigated by all fifty state Attorney Generals concerning their practices involving foreclosure proceedings.

Prior to the financial melt down, most bank complaints dealt with credit card issues. The reason why banks are receiving so many complaints is that they have been involved in faulty practices. They have engaged in predatory lending. They have set up mortgage modification programs that simply do not work.

The American consumer deserves better. Consumers do not deserve to be left hanging for months and months at a time without getting any feedback on their mortgage modification applications. Consumers deserve to be updated regarding the status of their applications for mortgage modifications. They should not be forced to call week after week and continually get incorrect information or deal with nincompoops at the other end of the phone who have no knowledge of what is going on. If banks and financial institutions are serious about mortgage modifications they should help consumers instead of frustrating and angering them.

mortgage1Helping Homeowners with Foreclosure Defense

Our law firm has been helping homeowners with foreclosure defense issues for more than 45 years. We understand the frustrations and anger homeowners feel regarding their mortgage modification applications not being attended to. We are foreclosure defense lawyers. We deal with predatory lending, bad faith issues, defective mortgages and all aspects of mortgage foreclosure proceedings. We represent our clients in court and we attend foreclosure court conferences. We effectively tie up our client’s foreclosure cases in court and put pressure on the financial institutions to provide them with reasonable, acceptable, affordable mortgage modifications. When the situation calls for it, we file either Chapter 13 or Chapter 7 Bankruptcies for our clients. We keep our clients in their homes. We stop foreclosures cold! Call us for a free consultation at 1-800-344-6431; 516-561-6645 or 718-350-2802.

Filed Under: Foreclosure Defense, Mortgage Modification Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Home Modification Problems in California (Part 2): Lawyers Who Assist Homeowners in Mortgage Modifications Are Now out of Reach

February 25, 2011 by

Homeowners In MortgageProblems with Bank Mortgage Practices

There have been recent revelations regarding numerous financial institutions that have been involved in deceptive mortgage practices, predatory lending practices, defective mortgages and bad faith litigation, as well as litigating cases where they did not have the appropriate paperwork. This makes the need for attorneys to represent homeowners very important. Homeowners in California are now defenseless in dealing with the law firms that represent financial institutions in foreclosures, as well as the “robo-signers” at the banks, who could care less about State and Federal laws that protect homeowners from improper bank practices. The actions taken by the legislature in California hurt homeowners and will destroy families.

When a homeowner in California gets notice that they are going to lose their home, they no longer have the ability to obtain a seasoned, experienced foreclosure defense lawyer to protect them and their families from being thrown out of their homes because of foreclosure lawsuits.

More then 300,000 foreclosure lawsuits were started in California alone during the 2010 calendar year. It is estimated that in 2011 the amount of foreclosures in California will surpass the 2010 number.

New York Foreclosure Defense

Fortunately, homeowners in New York do not have to deal with the restrictive statute that exists in California. Our law firm has been representing homeowners and consumers dealing with financial problems and mortgage foreclosures brought by banks for more than 45 years. We litigate foreclosure defense lawsuits. We file Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 bankruptcies on behalf of our clients to stop foreclosure proceedings. When necessary, we attend, on our client’s behalf, foreclosure court conferences. We litigate defective mortgages, defective foreclosure lawsuits and predatory lending issues. We also bring to the court’s attention fraudulent activities that mortgage brokers, financial institutions and appraisers engaged in during the mortgage underwriting process.

We can keep you in your home! Call us for a free consultation at 1-800-344- 6431; 516-561-6645 or 718-350-2802.

Filed Under: Mortgage Modification Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Home Modification Problems in California (Part 1): Lawyers who Assist Homeowners in Mortgage Modifications Are Now Out of Reach

February 24, 2011 by

Mortgage Modifications Are Now Out Of ReachThe Ridiculous Law in California

The State of California has more active foreclosure cases than any other state in the country. Homeowners in California who seek mortgage modifications have had difficulties for the past few years. Today, they have a new difficulty – they can no longer hire lawyers!

Lawyers throughout the State of California are now being forced to reject clients who come to them for the purpose of obtaining mortgage modification loans. This is because California has passed a unique, unusual and restrictive statute. The new law states that attorneys who work on mortgage modification loans can receive no payment until the loan is approved. Under the new statute, clients cannot even put retainer payments in attorney trust accounts.

This California statute is unlike any other statute in the country. The intent of the California statute is for “fly-by-night” loan modification businesses run by non lawyers to be eliminated from the marketplace. Unfortunately, there has been a fallout from this new statute. The unintended consequence of the new law is that honest, hard-working, well-known, well-established attorneys with excellent credentials can no longer represent individuals in dealing with financial institutions’ complicated and burdensome paperwork related to loan modifications.

avoidNew York Foreclosure Defense Lawyers

In the state of New York, there are no restrictions regarding the hiring of foreclosure defense attorneys. For more than 45 years, the Law Offices of Schlissel DeCorpo has been at the forefront of defending consumers and homeowners regarding litigation with financial institutions. We have developed an expertise in defending foreclosure lawsuits. Upon meeting with our attorneys, we will analyze the paperwork related to your case. We will discuss foreclosure defenses, mortgage modifications and the potential of using bankruptcy filings to assist you. We will provide you with a detailed explanation as to the foreclosure process, the mortgage modification process and how bankruptcies affect homeowners. If you are in trouble with your lender, or behind on your mortgage, call us. We can help you! Our phone numbers are 1-800-344-6431, 516-561-6645 and 718-350-2082.

Filed Under: Current Events, Foreclosure Defense, Uncategorized Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

Solution to the Mortgage Crisis: Make Home Loan Modifications Mandatory

February 20, 2011 by

Make Home Loan Modifications MandatoryCongress should pass a law forcing financial institutions to make mandatory home modifications to deserving homeowners. Unfortunately, the banking industry has a lot of friends in Congress and it is very unlikely a bill of this nature would be passed by Congress.

Sub Prime Loans

Many of the loans given by financial institutions were called “sub-prime loans”. The sub-prime loans basically duped prospective homeowners into believing that they could afford to buy homes that were, without question, out of their financial reach. Many of the subprime loans had initially interest only payments that increased to include principal over time.

Since the homeowner could barely afford the mortgage-only payment when the mortgage amount increased to include interest or a balloon payment became due, they had no possibility of making these payments.

New Bankruptcy Law in New York

On January 22, 2010, a new bankruptcy statute went into effect in New York State. This allowed individuals filing bankruptcies to keep up to $150,000 of the equity in their home. For a home owned by a couple, up to $300,000 in equity in their home can be kept while the parties file bankruptcy and discharge their debts.

Home ownership and the fair value of real estate provides economic stability to millions of Americans. In the event the economy in the United States were to stabilize, the real estate market also must be stabilized. Homeowners should not be forced to watch the value of their greatest single asset, their home, falling in value each and every month.

Mortgage Modification Assistance

We can help you with mortgage modification issues. Should your home go into foreclosure, the Law Offices of Schlissel DeCorpo can see to it that the foreclosure is stopped in its tracks and you are not thrown of your home. We litigate foreclosure proceedings. We attend court conferences on behalf of our clients. We litigate bad faith loan practices by financial institutions, predatory lending practices, as well as defective foreclosure lawsuits issues. We also maintain this foreclosure blog to help educate the general public. Should you have mortgage modification or foreclosure issues, call us at 1-800-344-6431; 516-561-6645 or 718-350-2802. The Law Offices of Schlissel DeCorpo responds to emails and our phones are monitored 24/7.

Filed Under: Current Events, Foreclosure Defense Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Long Island Foreclosure Crisis

February 18, 2011 by
Long Island Foreclosure CrisisIn 2010, Long Island was a hot bed of foreclosure activity. As a result of the foreclosed homes on the market, there is now an inventory of approximately three years of homes that need to be sold. Simply stated, if no new homes came on to the market to be sold on Long Island for a period of three years, considering the current amount of real estate sales, it would take this period to eliminate the backlog of homes in foreclosure already on the market to be sold.The only place in the United States that has more foreclosed homes on the real estate market is Miami, Florida. In November of 2010 there were 893 new foreclosure cases started in Nassau and Suffolk Counties on Long Island.
The Home Affordable Modification Program (“HAMP”) that was created by the Federal Government to prevent home foreclosures will only assist 800,000 homeowners. When it’s taken into consideration that there are approximately four million foreclosure situations in the United States, less than one in four distressed homeowners will be receiving assistance.

Flawed Mortgage Foreclosure Programs

The current mortgage foreclosure programs rely on the financial institutions to agree to voluntarily reduce the homeowner’s monthly payments to an affordable level. The banks have not been cooperative in this endeavor. Instead of reducing the mortgage payment amount for homeowners, in more than 75% of the cases, the banks put the homes into foreclosure. When the banks take this action, they accelerate the mortgage, refuse to accept future mortgage payments, take the home back and put the house back into an overburdened real estate market.

New York Foreclosure Defense AttorneyNew York Foreclosure Defense Attorney

Our office defends foreclosure cases in New York. We currently have dozens of successful foreclosure cases pending in Nassau and Suffolk Counties on Long Island, as well as in Westchester, Brooklyn and Queens Counties.

Our office represents our clients regarding mortgage modifications. We are experienced with regard to the problems mortgage modification programs have. We maintain a foreclosure blog to help educate our clients regarding the numerous issues concerning the current foreclosure crisis. If our clients are sued, we represent them in the foreclosure litigation. We attend foreclosure conferences on their behalf. We litigate defective foreclosure lawsuits, predatory lending practices, and failed mortgages. If you have a mortgage modification or foreclosure problem, we are the attorneys for you!
Filed Under: Current Events, Foreclosure Defense Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

2010, a Terrible Year for Home Sales

February 14, 2011 by

Posted on February 14th by Elliot S. Schlissel, Esq.

2010 was the worst year for home sales in the United States since 1997. The National Association of Realtors stated that home sales dropped by 4.8% to 4.91 million homes sold in the year 2010. This is the smallest amount of home sales in the United States since 1997.

Foreclosures and High Unemployment Depress the Real Estate Market

The high volume of foreclosures in the United States, coupled with record-high unemployment rates, have depressed the real estate market in the United States. Many potential home purchasers are waiting to buy homes because the prices will continue to decrease. Many economists feel it will take an additional five to six years for the real estate market in the United States to reach a level of equilibrium. It is estimated that 2011 will even be a worse year for home sales in the United States due to increasing foreclosure rates. This should cause the value of homes to continue to decrease in value in 2011. Due to the foreclosure crisis in the United States, there are simply too many homes on the market and not enough prospective purchasers. In addition, it has become much more difficult to obtain mortgages for prospective homeowners.

Banks are carefully underwriting new mortgages. They are looking into the loan-to-debt ratio. They are performing more due diligence, such as to see that the mortgage applications contain correct information. The fact that mortgage rates are extremely low has not been successful in raising the level of home sales in the United States.

The current rates on fixed home-mortgages in the United States are approximately 4.74% for thirty year mortgages and approximately 4.25% for fifteen year mortgages. In November of 2010, rates reached an all time low of 4.17% for a thirty year mortgage and 3.57% for a fifteen year mortgage. The medium home price in the United States in December of 2010 fell to $168,800.00. This was down 1% from December of 2009.

Foreclosure Defense

The Law Offices of Schlissel DeCorpo handles foreclosure defense for homeowners throughout the Metropolitan New York area. We prepare mortgage modification applications. We litigate foreclosure lawsuits and keep our clients in their homes. We attend court foreclosure conferences. We deal with defective foreclosure lawsuits, predatory lending and bad faith on behalf of financial institutions. Should you have a problem call us at 1-800-344-6431, 516-561-6645 or 718-350-2802.

Filed Under: Current Events, Foreclosure Defense Tagged With: , , , , ,

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Attorney Elliot S. Schlissel

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Disclaimer: 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.