foreclosure crisis

How Good Does Your Credit Score Have To Be To Obtain a Low Interest Rate Mortgage?

November 29, 2013 by Elliot S. Schlissel

If you are in the market to buy a new home or an existing home, one of the most important issues is whether you can afford the mortgage payments. But before you can consider whether you can make your mortgage payments, you need to obtain the mortgage. Credit scores are the most important factor financial institutions look into with regard to underwriting mortgage loans. Today it is recommended individuals applying for a mortgage have a credit score of 740 or above. Credit scores are based on a total potential perfect credit score of 850 points. The 740 credit score that is requested by financial institutions today is among the highest asked by banks at any point in time. Pursuant to www.zillow.com, a mortgage information company, approximately 40% of Americans have credit scores high enough to obtain the best possible mortgages.

Mortgage Rejection Rate

There is currently a 30% rejection rate by financial institutions for those individuals applying for a mortgage. When you take into consideration the housing market has been improving in the United States, and foreclosure rates have been going down in most metropolitan areas, a 30% rejection rate is very high.

So what do you do if you do not have a 740 or above credit score? You can still obtain a mortgage. However, you will most likely have to pay a higher interest rate for the mortgage.

Credit Reports

Before going into the housing market to look for a home to purchase you should check your credit score. You can obtain a copy of your credit report on the internet. Carefully look at your credit report to determine if all the material on your report is accurate. If there are inaccuracies in your credit report contact the credit reporting agency in writing to correct these inaccuracies. Your credit report will also show you the balances on credit lines, personal loans, and credit cards. It will be helpful to bring the balances on your indebtedness down prior to submitting a mortgage application. Banks take into consideration all of your overall debt when they underwrite a mortgage.

Elliot S. Schlissel is a foreclosure attorney with extensive experience in representing clients regarding foreclosure lawsuits, mortgage modifications and fraudulent mortgage practices of banks. His goal is to help clients stay in their homes.

Filed Under: Foreclosure, Foreclosure Defense, Mortgage Modification Tagged With: defective foreclosure lawsuits, defective mortgages, financial crisis, foreclosure, foreclosure attorney, foreclosure crisis, foreclosure defense, mortgage modifications, predatory lending

Federal Government Seeks $863 Million from Bank of America For Defective Mortgages

November 20, 2013 by Elliot S. Schlissel

The United States government has gone into the Federal District Court in New York City requesting Bank of America pay $863.6 million dollars in monetary damages related to fraudulent activities concerning defective mortgages which were sold by Countrywide Financial Services in 2008. It is claimed Bank of America defrauded Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, government controlled mortgage companies, with regard to the sale of loans purchased from Countrywide in 2007 and 2008. These mortgage loans generated $1 billion dollars in losses.

The Hustle

The case filed in United States District Court in Manhattan claims Countrywide operated a program called high speed swim lane or HSSL, nicknamed the “Hustle”. The Hustle program was set up to provide financial incentive for employees to make as many loans as possible. The program eliminated many underwriting requirements to ensure loans met minimum standards. The government’s position is penalties are necessary “to send a clear and unambiguous message that mortgage fraud for profit will not be tolerated” stated Judge Jed S. Rakoff, who presided over the trial in this matter. The amount of the penalties requested is based on the losses Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac incurred.

Elliot Schlissel, Esq. is a foreclosure attorney representing homeowners concerning mortgage modifications and foreclosure litigation.

Surging Foreclosures on Long Island

November 5, 2013 by Elliot S. Schlissel

As the mortgage crisis is fading in many parts of the United States, it is still heating up on Long Island. More than 1,300 foreclosure cases have been filed in the first eight months of 2013. This is more than a 50% increase during the same eight month period of 2012. Foreclosures have been increasing on Long Island even while there have been significant drops in foreclosure proceedings brought in other areas of the country.

Darren Blomquist, the Vice President of RealtyTrac, recently stated “we’re definitely seeing the Long Island area buck the national trend when it comes to foreclosure activity.” Long Island has more than double the national average of mortgages that are significantly behind on their payments. In July of this year, more than eight percent of all homes in Suffolk County and six percent of all homes in Nassau County were either in foreclosure or moving towards being sued in a foreclosure proceeding.

Why Foreclosure Persists on Long Island

There are numerous reasons why Long Island has had a higher level of foreclosures than the rest of the country. The foreclosure process is long and drawn out in the State of New York. Long Island was an area that had more than the national average of high risk home mortgage loans. Long Islanders also lost many high paying jobs. The new jobs that have been created in the past few years on Long Island tend to be minimum wage or low wage positions.

Mortgage Modification Problems

Long Islanders are facing similar problems to homeowners in other states facing foreclosure. The mortgage modification process does not work well. There are approximately 45,000 homes facing foreclosure on Long Island. For those families, the recent rise in the sales price of homes is not helping them out of their financial difficulties.

Filed Under: Foreclosure, Foreclosure Defense, Mortgage Modification Tagged With: foreclosure, foreclosure attorney, foreclosure crisis, mortgage modification, mortgage modification attorneys, New York foreclosure attorney, New York foreclosure defense lawyers

Increased mortgage modifications have scaled foreclosure down

August 23, 2013 by Elliot S. Schlissel

The rate of mortgage modifications has taken an upward turn again to relieve homeowners from foreclosure. As per the recent statistics, during April to June this year, around 204,000 homeowners have already qualified for permanent loan modification. Among all, nearly 160,000 homeowners have obtained proprietary loan modification and 44,860 homeowners have been able to modify mortgage loans by using the Home Affordable Modification Program or HAMP. Numerous mortgage servicers have assisted homeowners thoroughly in mortgage modifications and made it possible to achieve this mark in just 3 months.

As the data suggests, since 2007, the situation has taken a positive turn. More than 6.52 million permanent loan modifications have been completed successfully. Among the 6.52 million, 5.31 million loans are under the proprietary programs and approximately 1,223,449 modifications are under the HAMP. The development is great indeed and it’s expected that by next few years it’ll be possible to control the foreclosure effectively enough.

The steady increase in mortgage modification has already reduced the number of short sales and foreclosure in the course of time. In the second quarter of this year, around 329,000 foreclosures have been recorded. This is lower than the previous quarter which encountered 472,000 foreclosures. There is a considerable 30% drop in the foreclosure count. In 2012, during the second quarter, 527,000 foreclosures took place. So, in one year the total number of foreclosure has dropped by 38%. Not only foreclosure, but there is a reduction in short sales also. In the second quarter, total 81,000 short sales have been recorded which is lower enough in comparison to the last quarters’ 84,000 count. So, short sales have also reduced by 3%. In 2012, 107,000 short sales were completed.

During the first quarter of 2013, 162,000 foreclosures were completed. After increased number of mortgage modifications, the number of foreclosure was 158,000 in the second quarter. There is a 2% reduction in the overall count since last quarter. Exactly one year ago, in the second quarter of 2012, around 185,000 foreclosures were completed. So, in one year, there is a huge reduction of 15% in foreclosure count.
Short sales have reduced by 25% and foreclosure around 15% in the last one year. If you’ll evaluate the numbers according to months, then you’ll be able to detect the gradual change. In May 2013, almost 115,000 foreclosures were recorded. In June the number came down to 97,000, a 16% reduction. There is a 7% reduction in number of short sales also.

All the surveys and their results are indicating to a positive change in the mortgage market. The number of mortgage delinquencies are reducing as per the records but there is perhaps more to check than just figures. Market experts are however hopeful about the whole progress. The vice president of RealtyTrac, Daren Blomquist has stated that marketers are trying their level best to find a way through the numerous bad loans and assist troubled homeowners accordingly. Apart from that, the property prices are also going low now. The curtailed property prices have made it possible for the troubled homeowners to save their homes through mortgage modification.

Blomquist also added, “Lastly, the persistent foreclosure prevention efforts over the past few years have waged a war of attrition on the foreclosure problem, helping to keep a lid on foreclosure activity”. The positive decline in the foreclosure count has definitely made the things more favorable for the homeowners. However, it’s difficult to assume that for how long the situation will be favorable for the homeowners. It’s essential for homeowners to be alert and make the most of the favorable market condition.

Anjelica Cullin, Financial Writer

Filed Under: Bankruptcy, Foreclosure, Foreclosure Defense, Mortgage Modification Tagged With: foreclosure crisis, foreclosure defense lawyers, mortgage modification, mortgage modification attorneys, Mortgage Modifications new york

Courts Impact On The Foreclosure Crisis

October 11, 2012 by Elliot S. Schlissel

Many foreclosure actions spend years tied up in court. This is caused by lenders losing the note. Lenders also have been guilty of sloppy record keeping, loss of documentation of their standing to sue and other violations of court rules and statutes.

Foreclosure lawsuits today, in many situations, are not initiated by the original lenders. The parties bringing the foreclosure action received the mortgages after a series of transfers. It is estimated, millions of mortgage notes have been lost or misplaced. For a lender to bring a foreclosure proceeding it must be the holder or the assignee of both the mortgage and the note.

Show Me The Mortgage Note Defense

Defense lawyers in foreclosure actions now utilize a “show me the note” defense. This has allowed defaulting borrowers to hold off the foreclosure proceeding from going forward while the foreclosing lender or servicing organization looks for the note. Sometimes while looking for the note, they ascertain they do not physically hold the note and they cannot find out where it is.

How Courts In New York Handle Cases Involving Lost Mortgage Notes

Courts in New York can proceed with foreclosure proceedings even without a mortgage note. To accomplish this, the lender must show to the Court it owns the note. They must present to the Court the facts preventing the production of the note and present to the Court the terms of the note. The lender has to provide the Court with a detailed explanation of the note’s chain of transfers. This is to prove that the prior note holders had the intention to transfer the mortgage and that the current note owner is the rightful recipient of the mortgage.

Financial Institutions Proving Ownership Of The Notes

For financial institutions to prove the ownership of the note they must produce a valid assignment of the note or, in the alternative, they must show the note was physically hand delivered to them. Determining what actually constitutes the physical delivery of the note may vary on a case to case basis.

Lost Mortgage Notes

If the lender can demonstrate to the Court it owns the note it then must provide the Court with a logical explanation of why the note was lost. The lender has the burden of proving the terms of the lost note. To prove this, the lender must provide the Court with information concerning the name of the last holder of the note, the name of the borrower, the name of the person who signed on behalf of the borrower, the type of note, the effective date of the note, the value of the note, the payment terms of the note, the loan number and currently how much is unpaid under the note. The person providing evidence of this information must have personal knowledge of all of this information.

Conclusion

Lenders have heavy burdens to meet before they can successfully bring foreclosure proceedings in New York State Courts when they can’t produce the note or provide documentation of the assignment of the note.

Filed Under: Current Events, Foreclosure, Foreclosure Defense, Mortgage Modification Tagged With: Bankruptcy mortgage modification, defective foreclosure lawsuits, defective mortgages, financial crisis, foreclosure, foreclosure attorney, foreclosure crisis, foreclosure defense, foreclosure defense attorneys, foreclosure defense lawyers, foreclosure proceedings, mortgage modifications

Late Mortgage Payments Increase

July 24, 2012 by Elliot S. Schlissel

During the last quarter of 2011, Trans Union credit reporting agency reports more than 6% of all mortgage holders in the United States were behind on their mortgage payments by 60 days or more. It should be noted prior to the housing crisis that exists in America, the delinquency rate on mortgages was usually in the area of 2%.

Tim Morton, a group Vice President of US Housing in the Trans Union financial services unit, stated “the more encouraging news is when looking year over year the delinquency rate dropped over 6%! At this pace it will take a very long time for mortgage delinquency rates to get back to normal.”

Delinquency rates have been decreasing in Arizona and California. Florida, which is the state with the highest delinquency rate, has a mortgage delinquency rate of approximately 14.5%!

The recent settlement by the five largest banks concerning mortgage improprieties may result in as many as one million mortgage holders having a reduction in the size of their mortgages.

Stabilization of Home Prices

The key to the real estate crisis in the United States is the stabilization of home prices and the reduction in the unemployment rate in the United States. As the unemployment rate goes down, more Americans will become employed and the delinquency rates on mortgage payments will go down. Less homes will be foreclosed upon and there will be stabilization over the long run in the real estate market.

Filed Under: Bankruptcy, Current Events, Foreclosure, Foreclosure Defense, Mortgage Modification Tagged With: defective mortgages, foreclosure, foreclosure attorney, foreclosure crisis, foreclosure defense, foreclosure defense attorneys, New York foreclosure defense lawyers, predatory lending

Foreclosure Crisis Continues

June 1, 2011 by Elliot S. Schlissel

Foreclosure rates are going down. April of 2011 was the seventh month in a row that the number of homes that banks and other financial institutions initiated foreclosures against declined. There were 34% less foreclosure proceedings brought in April of 2011 than in April of 2010. Although this seems like good news, it is not! Rick Sharga of Reality Trek recently stated that, even with the decline in the foreclosure rates, there were still 225,000 foreclosures initiated during the month of April. There are more than 3.7 million families that are more than 90 days behind on their mortgage payments. In the past, almost all of these homes would have been put into foreclosure. However, the large majority of these homes are still not in foreclosure. Banks are under a microscope by regulatory agencies concerning their foreclosure procedures. They are now making sure that they “dot their i’s” and “cross their t’s” on all new foreclosure proceedings they initiate.

Saturated Real Estate Markets

The current level of foreclosures have saturated most of the real estate markets in the United States. The banks are slowing down their foreclosure procedures to avoid having a further negative impact on the homes that are already on the market waiting to be sold.

Mortgage Modification

Due to the concern by many large financial institutions about further flooding of the real estate market, they have liberalized some of their programs on mortgage modifications. In March of this year, more than 75,000 mortgage modifications were granted by financial institutions. This represented a 26% increase in the number of new mortgage modifications approved by banks since February of 2011.

Declining Home Prices

As home prices continue to decline, more and more homes become under water (worth less then the amount of their mortgages). This unfortunately creates an incentive for mortgage holders to default on their loans and walk away from their homes. It is estimated that approximately 30% of all single family homes in the United States are currently under water. If banks put more homes into foreclosure, the number of homes that are worth less than the amount of the mortgages on them will increase and continue to accelerate the downward spiral in home values. Some experts are predicting that home values will decrease in 2011 by 7% to 9%.

Conclusion: The Housing Crisis is Far From Over

It is estimated that the market for single family homes will not return to a normal housing market until 2014!

Foreclosure Defense

The Law Offices of Schlissel DeCorpo is considered by many to be the premier foreclosure defense law firm in the Metropolitan New York area. We represent our clients concerning mortgage modifications and we deal with mortgage modification programs that fail. We litigate all aspects of foreclosure defense including, but not limited to, defective mortgages, defective foreclosure lawsuits, predatory lending and other real estate related defenses. We attend foreclosure court conferences for our clients. At the time of the initial consultation, we provide our clients with all foreclosure options, which also includes discussion of filing Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 bankruptcies, which stop foreclosures upon the filing. Feel free to call for a free consultation. Thank you for visiting our foreclosure blog.

Filed Under: Current Events, Foreclosure Defense, Mortgage Modification Tagged With: Declining Home Prices, foreclosure, foreclosure attorney, foreclosure crisis, foreclosure defense, foreclosure new york, foreclosure proceedings, Housing Crisis, mortgage modification, New York foreclosure attorney, New York foreclosure defense lawyers, Saturated Real Estate Markets

Bad Neighbors Hurt the Value of Your Home

May 31, 2011 by Elliot S. Schlissel

If your neighbor is a slob, a sex offender or he maintains his property poorly, it can have a negative impact on the value of your home. Bad neighbors are individuals who lack the common courtesy, consideration and social values that are considered normal by the rest of the community. Business or governmental entities can also fall under the category of bad neighbors.

Neighbors Whose Homes are Foreclosed Upon

The largest single negative factor that drives down the value of single family homes is the foreclosure of other homes on the street. A study by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has concluded that if neighbors homes are foreclosed on, it can bring the value of any home in the area down by as much as 27%. Federal Reserve Governor Joseph Tracy recently stated, “the growing inventory of the defaulted mortgages continues to weigh down any recovery in the housing market… problems in the housing market can impact on economic growth.”

Although homeowners don’t intentionally allow their homes to go into foreclosure, the fact that their homes are being taken back by the bank impacts on everyone in their locality. It is unfortunate that a family’s single largest investment can be negatively effected by other families in their area.

Conclusion

The foreclosure crisis hurts everyone in a community. It has a general impact on the home values of all homeowners in the surrounding area. It slows down economic growth, destroys equity and for the unfortunate families whose homes are foreclosed upon, it causes them to end up without a place to live.

Foreclosure Help

The Law Offices of Schlissel DeCorpo can help you with foreclosure issues. We can prepare mortgage modification applications and assist you with mortgage modification programs that fail to meet your needs. We litigate defective mortgages, defective foreclosure lawsuits, predatory lending and all other foreclosure and real estate related issues. We attend foreclosure court conferences for our clients. We draft and file foreclosure related bankruptcies. These bankruptcies can either be a Chapter 13 bankruptcy or Chapter 7 bankruptcy. At the end of the bankruptcies we assist our clients in re-establishing credit.

Our job is to stop foreclosures in their tracks. We have dozen of cases throughout the Metropolitan New York area pending and numerous satisfied clients. If you call us for a free consultation, we will meet with you at no charge and discuss your foreclosure options. Feel free to call us. We can help you! We look forward to seeing you again on our foreclosure blog.

Filed Under: Current Events, Foreclosure Defense, Mortgage Modification Tagged With: bad neighbors, bad neighbors home value, Federal Reserve, foreclosure, foreclosure crisis, Foreclosure Help, foreclosure issues, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, mit, neighbor home foreclosure, New York foreclosure attorney, New York foreclosure defense, New York foreclosure defense lawyers, sex offender neighbor home value

Blame the Banks, Not the Homeowners, for the Mortgage Crisis (PART 1)

January 31, 2011 by Elliot S. Schlissel

There is a foreclosure crisis in America. There has been a lot of discussion as to where the blame lies for this crisis. From my point of view, the blame sits squarely with the financial institutions.

There are those who say that homeowners are responsible for the foreclosure crisis because they haven’t been paying their mortgages. Every foreclosure starts with a bank making a mortgage loan. Banks make money by giving mortgage loans to consumers. They make more money when they sell the loans to other banks. The banks that buy the loans make money when they contract with servicing companies to service these loans. When the underlying loans should not have been given to the consumer because the banks knew the consumer had no potential of making the loan payments, the banks bear the responsibility when the loans go bad.

Banks Knowingly Made Millions of Bad Loans

Banks made millions of loans in the United States to potential homeowners who had no potential of making the payments on these loans. They carelessly handled the paperwork and processing of these loans. Then when confronted with the mortgage crisis by President Obama, they said they would set up mortgage modification programs to help the beleaguered homeowners. Instead of setting up reasonable mortgage modification programs, the banks intentionally and incompetently set up under-financed, poorly managed programs that were doomed to fail. These programs, if they were properly and intelligently designed, operated and maintained, could have saved hundreds of thousands of salvageable mortgage loans.

Foreclosure Help

Should you need help with a foreclosure, we are the law firm for you. We provide foreclosure defense for our clients. We handle mortgage modifications. Should you be served with a Summons and Complaint (legal documents in a foreclosure), we can represent you in these proceedings and keep you in your home. We also countersue banks for defective foreclosure lawsuits, predatory lending and bad faith. We attend foreclosure conferences and we litigate foreclosure proceedings on behalf of our clients. Feel free to contact us at 1-800-344-6431, 516-561-6645 or 718-350-2802.

Filed Under: Current Events, Foreclosure Defense Tagged With: bad faith, foreclosure crisis, foreclosure defense attorneys NY, mortgage loans, mortgage modifications, mortgage payments, predatory lending, summons and complaint

Foreclosure Rates Dip In November 2010

January 18, 2011 by Elliot S. Schlissel

November 2010 marked the lowest level of foreclosure activity in the United States in the past eighteen months! This is not an indication that the economy is coming back, or that people are earning more money and homeowners are making their mortgage payments. The significance of lower foreclosure rates is most likely caused by a number of the largest banks in the country freezing their foreclosure process due to the fact that they are being investigated by attorney generals in all fifty states. The investigations concern the improper handling of foreclosure proceedings.

In the month of November 2010, 67,428 homes were taken back by lenders. This is the lowest rate since May 2009; however, as of the end of November, 980,000 homes in the United States have been lost in foreclosure sales. This is the largest amount of homes being taken in foreclosure since 2005.

Rick Shark, a senior vice president at Realty Tarc stated “It’s almost impossible to imagine we won’t break a million” (referring to foreclosed homes this year). He further stated, “Unfortunately, it’s a record that we’ll probably break next year.” Had there not been a problem with improper foreclosure procedures, it was likely that banks would have taken back 1.2 million homes in 2010.

Due to the problems seen in the courts and the investigations by attorney generals in all fifty states, banks temporarily ceased taking legal action against their borrowers who were behind on their mortgage payments. Some banks thereafter indicated they would proceed with the foreclosure process, but there are still a number of large banks who are not moving forward with foreclosures at this time.

Foreclosure Problems to Continue in 2011

Many of the factors that have been involved in this foreclosure crisis will still exist in 2011. High unemployment, falling home values and difficulty in obtaining new mortgages are several of the factors that are contributing to the current mortgage crisis.

It is estimated that almost 11 million homes, or 22.5%, of all homes that have a mortgage, were under water for the July through September quarter of 2010. This is according to housing data by the firm CoreLogic.

During November 2010, 262,339 homes received at least one foreclosure notice. Utah is now the number two state in foreclosures on a per-capita basis in the United States. It is estimated that 1 out of every 220 households in Utah received a foreclosure notice in November 2010. This is more than twice the average in the United States. Other states with very high foreclosure rates are California, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, Idaho, Illinois and Colorado. The foreclosure rate in New York is high, but not as high as some of the aforementioned harder hit states.

Foreclosure Defense Lawyers

If you’re behind in your mortgage or have been turned down for a mortgage modification, you need to think about foreclosure defense. The foreclosure defense lawyers at The Law Offices of Schlissel DeCorpo have been assisting their clients in dealing with foreclosure problems for more than 45 years. We also help our clients with mortgage modifications. We represent our clients in court appearances and foreclosure conferences in court. We stop the foreclosure from going forward!

We deal with defective foreclosure lawsuits, bad faith bank practices and predatory lending issues. If you have a foreclosure problem, call us at 1-800-344-6431, 516-561-6645 or 718-350-2802. We can help you!

Filed Under: Foreclosure Defense Tagged With: foreclosure crisis, foreclosure defense attorneys, foreclosure proceedings, foreclosure rates, mortgage modifications, mortgage payments, New York, Realty Tarc

How Good Does Your Credit Score Have To Be To Obtain a Low Interest Rate Mortgage?

Federal Government Seeks $863 Million from Bank of America For Defective Mortgages

Surging Foreclosures on Long Island

Increased mortgage modifications have scaled foreclosure down

Courts Impact On The Foreclosure Crisis

Late Mortgage Payments Increase

Foreclosure Crisis Continues

Bad Neighbors Hurt the Value of Your Home

Blame the Banks, Not the Homeowners, for the Mortgage Crisis (PART 1)

Foreclosure Rates Dip In November 2010

Contact Us

Categories

LINKS

OUR WEBSITES

Latest Blogs

Foreclosure Strategies

Foreclosure And Your Credit Score

CONTACT INFO

View Our General Web Site

View Our Child Protective Website

View Our Fathers Rights Web Site

View Our Wills & Trusts Website

View Our Bankruptcy Web Site