Analyzing Mortgage Applications

How large a mortgage can you afford? The size of a mortgage you can qualify to obtain will determine how much you can spend on purchasing a home. There are a variety of different factors looked at by banks when analyzing mortgage applications.

Debt – to – income Ratios

What is a debt to income ratio? There are two types of debt to income ratios. A front – end debt to income ratio and a back – end debt to income ratio. The front – end and back – end debt to income ratios are utilized by mortgage lenders during the mortgage application process. A front – end debt to income ratio is in reality a housing expense calculation. The theory is how much of an individual’s or family’s gross (pre tax) income can be utilized to make mortgage payments on a monthly basis. This front – end debt to income ratio usually runs between 28% and 33% of an individual’s or family’s income. This means that the financial institution will not approve your mortgage application if your debt to income ratio goes beyond the financial institution’s guide lines. This specifically applies to conventional loans and Federal Housing Authority (FHA) loans.

Back-end Debt to Earnings Ratio

The back – end debt to earning ratio is the percentage of you or your family’s gross (pretax) monthly income that will be utilized for debt service for your financial obligations. Financial obligations include your proposed mortgage, credit card bills, car loans, child support, and all other types of financial indebtedness in this ratio. The back – end debt to income ratio utilized by financial institutions in their mortgage underwriting process is usually between 36% and 40% of your gross monthly income. This means if your proposed new mortgage and other debts are more than 40% of your gross income, you will most likely get turned down for your mortgage application. In situations where there are assets in the bank and very high credit scores, financial institutions have been going as high as 48% on the back – end debt to income ratio.

Before you submit a mortgage application, you should calculate your front – end and back – end debt to earnings income ratios. This will give you a better idea as to whether you will qualify for the mortgage you are applying for.

Foreclosure Defense Lawyers

First you get the loan, then you start making payments to the loan. But what happens if your financial situation changes? If you lose your job, become disabled, are downsized or have other financial problems, you may find yourself in a foreclosure situation. Do not dispair. The Law Offices of Schlissel DeCorpo has been helping families deal with foreclosure problems for the last 45 years.

We provide all aspects of foreclosure defense. We attend foreclosure court conferences on behalf of our clients. We litigate issues such as defective foreclosure lawsuits, predatory lending, defective mortgages and other significant real estate related defenses. We’ve developed an expertise concerning federal laws and foreclosure.

We can also help you deal with foreclosure-related bankruptcy issues. Filing either a Chapter 7 or a Chapter 13 bankruptcy may be necessary to deal with the foreclosure on your home. If you file bankruptcy, you can eliminate second mortgages in some situations, stop foreclosure, stop other debt collections practices and at the end of the bankruptcy, action can be taken to re-establish your credit. Feel free to call us for a consulation. Our phone numbers are 1-800-344-6431, 516-561-6645 or 718-350- 2802. Thank you for visiting our foreclosure defense blog.

Federal Housing Finance Agency to Sue Large Banks

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are overseen by the Federal Housing Finance Agency. This agency is moving forward to sue more than a dozen of the largest banks in the country. The banks allegedly misrepresented information concerning mortgage securities they had sold during the course of the housing bubble. The lawsuit seeks several billion dollars in compensation. It is estimated that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac lost in excess of 30 billion dollars during the real estate bubble.

Attorney General Negotiating Settlement

In addition to this lawsuit, all 50 State Attorney Generals are in the process of negotiating a settlement that deals with the abuses of the large banks, including Bank of America, JP Morgan and Citibank, with regard to the mortgage process. It is anticipated the banks will pay in excess of 20 billion dollars in fines and penalties as a result of the negotiations with the Attorney General.

American International Group (AIG) Lawsuit

American International Group has brought litigation against Country Wide Financial, Bank of America and Merrill Lynch. They claim they misrepresented information concerning mortgage backed securities.

Foreclosure Defense

If you are a victim of the mortgage crisis in America, we can help you. We attend foreclosure court conferences on your behalf. We can submit an answer to your foreclosure proceeding that can include defenses involving defective mortgages, defective foreclosure lawsuits, predatory lending and other real estate related defenses. We are knowledgeable about federal laws and foreclosure. We will provide you at the time of the initial consultation with all of your foreclosure options. These options will include foreclosure related bankruptcies. The filing of either a Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy will stop foreclosures from moving forward. Filing a bankruptcy will alsostop debt collectors and collection lawyers that may be harassing you. There are many bankruptcy myths that are untrue. Bankruptcy will not permanently destroy your credit. We will be able to help you re-establish credit after filing a bankruptcy.

Call us for a free consultation, we can help you. Thank you for visiting our foreclosure blog.

California Takes a Tough Stand on Improper Mortgage Practices

Stand On Improper Mortgage PracticesThe Attorney Generals from all 50 states, as well as the Federal Government, have been in negotiations with large financial institutions over their improper and fraudulent mortgage practices. The Justice Department has been trying to work out a settlement with these institutions for almost a year. California is one of the states that has large numbers of homeowners who have had financial problems related to the collapse of the housing market in the United States.

Kamala D. Harris, the Attorney General for the state of California, has pulled out of negotiations with the 49 other states and the Justice Department. She claims that the proposals being circulated to settle with the large banks are inadequate for California homeowners. Although billions of dollars in penalties are being discussed, she feels this would still be inadequate to deal with the problems the large financial institutions have caused California residents.

New York Attorney General With Settlement Proposals

Eric T. Schneiderman, the Attorney General for the State of New York, has been removed from the committee negotiating with the large banks. He was removed from this committee because he was critical of the deals being circulated to settle with the banks. He has recently stated he hopes a resolution can be worked out. It is extremely unlikely that there will be an overall settlement unless California comes back to the negotiating table. “The banks aren’t going to be interested in settling unless it removes future liabilities”, were remarks made by Jeffrey Harte, a bank analyist who works with Sanderler O’Neil.

High Foreclosure Rates in California

Even if there is a settlement, the monies received as part of the settlement would be distributed among the 50 states. California, being one of the hardest hit states, would want a significant portion of the settlement funds. Mrs. Harris has pointed out that during the one year of discussions with the banks, more than five hundred thousand homes in the State of California have gone into foreclosure. California now has eight cities listed among the top ten highest foreclosure rates in the United States.

Foreclosure Legal Help

Are you facing foreclosure? Have you applied for a mortgage modification and been rejected? Have you been served with a summons and complaint in a foreclosure proceeding? If you answer is yes to any of the above questions, you need an experienced, dedicated foreclosure defense lawyer. The foreclosure defense lawyers at the Law Offices of Schlissel DeCorpo have more than 45 years of experience in dealing with foreclosure related problems. We attend foreclosure court conferences on behalf of our clients. We litigate issues such as defective foreclosure lawsuits, predatory lending, defective mortgages and other significant real estate related defenses. We’ve developed an expertise concerning federal laws and foreclosure.

Bankruptcy Lawyers

We can also help you deal with foreclosure-related bankruptcy issues. Filing either a Chapter 7 or a Chapter 13 bankruptcy may be necessary to deal with the foreclosure on your home. If you file bankruptcy, you can eliminate second mortgages in some situations, stop foreclosure, stop other debt collections practices and at the end of the bankruptcy, action can be taken to re-establish your credit. Feel free to call us for a consulation. Our phone numbers are 1-800-344-6431, 516-561-6645 or 718-350- 2802. Thank you for visiting our foreclosure defense blog.

Credit Reports: What You Need to Know

creditForeclosures, bankruptcies, and losses by credit card companies for non-payment of your bills will have an obvious negative impact on your credit score. There are numerous other matters that are taken into consideration by credit agencies concerning credit scores.

Making Minimum Payments on Your Bills

Creditors make a lot of money from consumers who make minimum payments on their credit card bills. However, making minimum payments can have a negative impact on your credit score. Nessa Fedis, the Vice President of The American Bankers Association, states “it suggests you’re under financial stress.” Try to pay more than the minimum amount on your credit card bills. Minimum payments can be interpreted that you’re in financial difficulty.

Co-signing

A friend, family member or child may require you to guarantee their debt. When you co-sign for their debt, their entire debt appears on your credit report. The debt will be considered yours. If the primary obligore under the agreement misses payments or makes late payments, it will have a negative affect on the credit score of the co-signer.

Short Sale of Real Estate

A short sale takes place when the bank agrees to allow the sale of a residence they have a mortgage on for less than the amount due and owing on the mortgage. This causes the financial institution to lose money. This will have a negative impact on your credit score. You should negotiate with the lender prior to the short sale. It is important you request that the lender not report that you paid less than the balance due and owing to the credit agency. If they report to the credit agency that you paid less than the balance due on the note and mortgage, it will have a significant negative impact on your credit score.

Numerous Inquires

When you apply for credit with a lender or other institution, an inquiry is made against your credit report. When the credit agency sees numerous inquiries, your credit score is impacted in a negative manner.

Having good credit is important if you seek to buy a house, obtain credit cards, lease a car or engage in other financial transactions.

foreForeclosure and Bankruptcy

Foreclosure and bankruptcy have a significant negative impact on credit scoring. Bankruptcy can act as an escape valve to prevent the loss of a home, stop foreclosure, eliminate a second mortgage and stop debt collection harassment. Your credit can be re-established after filing either a Chapter 7 or a Chapter 13 bankruptcy One bankruptcy myth is that you will never receive credit again after filing bankruptcy. This is simply untrue.

Should you have questions or issues concerning your financial situation or are considering filing for bankruptcy, feel free to call the Law Offices of Schlissel DeCorpo. We’ve been helping our clients for more than 45 years deal with foreclosure defense and bankruptcy matters. We can be reached at 1-80–344-6431, 516-561-6645 or 718-350- 2802.

Foreclosure Rates Climbing on Long Island

Foreclosure Rates Climbing on Long IslandForeclosure rates have been climbing on Long Island for the past few months. The increase in foreclosure rates is related to lenders moving more vigorously to foreclose on homes after stopping for several months to review their practices to make sure they are in compliance with state and local laws. After employees from financial institutions admitted that they had signed foreclosure documents without reading them, New York state courts began requiring lenders and lawyers to scrutinize and check the paperwork they receive from their clients. State court judges have been aggressive in seeing to it that the lenders have all of the appropriate paperwork before they move forward with foreclosure proceedings.

As banks have corrected what many thought to be abuses of the foreclosure process, they have now become more confident that they are acting appropriately with regard to their foreclosure proceedings. This has allowed them to speed up the foreclosure processing of documents internally within their organizations.

During the first half of the year, investigations by local and state officials of bank abuse caused banks to take a second look at their foreclosure process. However, banks seem to have dealt with their problems and are now moving forward aggressively to foreclose on homes on Long Island.

The increased foreclosure activity has a negative effect on the housing market. The more homes that come on to the already over crowded housing market through foreclosure sales have an impact of reducing home values in the area of the foreclosed home.

Long Island and New York City Foreclosure Defense

The Law Offices of Schlissel DeCorpo handles foreclosure defense for homeowners. We litigate all aspects of foreclosure proceedings including, but not limited to, defective foreclosure lawsuits,defective mortgages, predatory lending issues, bad faith, and other real estate legal issues. We attend foreclosure court conferencesfor the clients we represent. We also assist our clients in the preparation of mortgage modification applications, as well as deal with mortgage modification programs that are unresponsive to our clients’ needs.

In certain situations, foreclosure related bankruptcies can be utilized to stop foreclosures from moving forward. Upon filing either a Chapter 7 or a Chapter 13 bankruptcy, the bankruptcy court issues an automatic stay that stops the foreclosure lawsuit from moving forward. It should be noted that bankruptcy proceedings are brought in the United States Bankruptcy Court, while foreclosure proceedings are brought in New York State Courts.

For our clients who file bankruptcy, we can sometimes eliminate second mortgages. We also can assist our clients in re-establishing their credit after filing bankruptcy. Should you have questions as to what type of bankruptcy would be appropriate for you or whether there is other alternatives related to foreclosure defense, feel free to contact us. At your initial free consultation, we will discuss all of your foreclosure options. We look forward to seeing you again on our foreclosure blog.

Foreclosure by Bulldozer

Banks have a new weapon in dealing with foreclosed homes. The weapon is the bulldozer. Banks have been bulldozing more and more foreclosure homes. First, banks start legal proceedings, which enables them to obtain the titles to homes in local areas. Then they review the homes in their portfolio and they bring demolishing teams and bulldoze the least valuable repossessed homes. In the month of June, Bank of America bulldozed more than 100 foreclosed homes in Cleveland.

JP Morgan Chase has donated homes that it can’t sell or didn’t think were worthy of being repaired. Since 2008, JP Morgan Chase has knocked down approximately 2,000 homes and donated the land to city and county officials.

There is a benefit to banks donating property back to municipalities. They no longer have to pay the real property and school taxes on these homes. They also may be able to write off, as a loss, the homes donated to the municipalities.

Does Bulldozing Help the Housing Market?

There are experts in the real estate industry who claim that by removing low quality homes that are difficult to sell, these homes no longer cause real estate prices in a local area to go down. Since there is an over supply of homes on the market already, putting more low quality homes on the market just brings real estate prices down. The theory is the housing market is in best shape when supply and demand are an equilibrium. By bulldozing homes, the banks are reducing the supply of empty homes to the market place.

New York and Long Island Foreclosure Defense Lawyers

We can keep you and your family in your home. We provide foreclosure defense and bankruptcy legal representation for our clients. We attend foreclosure court conferences for our clients. We litigate foreclosure proceedings in the courts throughout the Metropolitan New York area. We are knowledgeable concerning real estate related defenses, in foreclosure proceedings and the federal laws that deal with foreclosure.

We can also assist our clients in foreclosure related bankruptcies. We file Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 bankruptcies for our clients. At our initial consultation, we will discuss various types of foreclosure defenses and the types of bankruptcies that may be available to you. We can stop foreclosure and debt collection activities by filing bankruptcy on your behalf. There are also numerous bankruptcy myths, such as you will never receive credit again, that are untrue. We will be happy to meet with you and discuss issues involving foreclosure, bankruptcy, re-establishing credit and staying in your home. Call us for a free consultation. Thank you for visiting our foreclosure blog.

Homeowners Associations

Homeowners Associations (condo and coop organizations) oversee 25 million homes. Approximately three quarters of all newly constructed homes are in Homeowners Association communities.

Homeowners Associations set up rules for their communities. They have monthly dues to cover the costs of servicing and maintaining the homes in the communities. These dues can cover road repairs, street lights, maintaining the lawns and roofs of the dwellings in the association, as well as all other aspects of maintaining the community. Homeowners Associations can levy special assessments over and above regular dues payments. These special assessments deal with major repairs or one time large expenses.

Foreclosures and Homeowners Associations

As more and more banks take over foreclosed homes and throw the residents out, the homes become vacant. Vacant homes don’t pay dues towards Homeowner Associations. This causes financial problems for these organizations.

Homeowner Associations can foreclose on homes when the homeowner refuses or is unable to pay the association’s dues. Imagine this situation: you lose your job and you modify your mortgage with the bank. Homes in your community become vacant and the Homeowner Association raises your dues. You notify the association that you’re not in a financial position to pay your dues, but you’ll catch up when you obtain a new job. Their response: if your dues aren’t current within sixty days we will foreclose on your home! This is happening more and more frequently to homeowners in the United States.

During times of economic prosperity, homeowner associations keep communities safe, they maintain the grounds of the communities, they set up and maintain tennis courts, swimming pools and sometimes golf clubs. When times are tough, homeowners associations raise their rates and foreclose on nonpaying home owners!

New York Foreclosure Defense Attorneys

Is your home in foreclosure? If so, we can help you save it! We are a foreclosure defense law firm. For more than 45 years, we have helped our clients in obtaining mortgage modifications and dealing with mortgage modification programs that fail to meet their needs. We represent our clients in foreclosure defense litigation. We litigate issues involving defective mortgage, predatory lending, defective foreclosure lawsuits and other types of real estate issues. We attend foreclosure court conferences on behalf of our clients.

At the time of our initial consultation, we provide all foreclosure options to our clients. In situations when foreclosure related bankruptcies make sense, we discuss either filing a Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy. Filing bankruptcy immediately stops the foreclosure from moving forward. Sometimes the bankruptcy can also eliminate second mortgages. We discuss with our clients how to re-establish credit at the end of the bankruptcy. Feel free to call to discuss your foreclosure options. We look forward to seeing you again on our foreclosure blog.

Unemployed Americans Obtain One Year Waiver on Payment of Mortgages

Individuals with FHA (Federal Housing Authority) loans must now allow qualified borrowers who have lost their jobs to miss up to one years worth of mortgage payments prior to bringing a foreclosure proceeding against them. There’s currently a three to four month forbearance period for unemployed individuals. Unfortunately, most men and women who lose their jobs stay out of work for much longer than three or four months.

Secretary of Housing, Shaun Donovan, stated that “providing the option for a year of forbearance will give struggling homeowners a substantially greater chance of finding employment before they lose their home.” The Obama Administration seeks to remove hurdles for individuals to qualify for this program. Financial institutions who deny the one year forbearance to unemployed individuals must allow the mortgagors seven calendar days to provide further information that may change the servicer’s mind concerning this issue. All FHA service providers must cooperate with this new mortgage forbearance program. This new initiative by the Obama Administration is welcomed by both men and women who are out of work and the real estate industry in general. The huge number of homes being foreclosed upon is depressing the real estate market.

Foreclosure Defense

Foreclosure is a nasty term. Foreclosure notices are depressing. There’s a tendency when your financial troubles are out of control to try to avoid these problems. This is a wrong way of dealing with this problem. Come to us, we can help you! We litigate all aspects of foreclosure proceedings including, but not limited to, defective foreclosure lawsuits, defective mortgages, predatory lending issues, bad faith, and other real estate legal issues. We attend foreclosure court conferences for the clients we represent. We also assist our clients in the preparation of mortgage modification applications, as well as deal with mortgage modification programs that are unresponsive to our clients’ needs.

In certain situations, foreclosure related bankruptcies can be utilized to stop foreclosures from moving forward. Upon filing either a Chapter 7 or a Chapter 13 bankruptcy, the bankruptcy court issues an automatic stay that stops the foreclosure lawsuit from moving forward. It should be noted that bankruptcy proceedings are brought in the United States Bankruptcy Court, while foreclosure proceedings are brought in New York State Courts.

For our clients who file bankruptcy, we can sometimes eliminate second mortgages. We also can assist our clients in re-establishing their credit after filing bankruptcy. Should you have questions as to what type of bankruptcy would be appropriate for you or whether there is other alternatives related to foreclosure defense, feel free to contact us. At your initial free consultation, we will discuss all of your foreclosure options. We look forward to seeing you again on our foreclosure blog.

The Best Housing Markets in America

2011 is not a good year for the housing markets in the United States. It is anticipated that real estate prices will fall an additional 2.5% in the second half of this year. The high foreclosure rates, high unemployment rates and low consumer confidence has a continuing negative effect on the real estate market. However, there are some markets that are expected to perform well this year. The five metropolitan areas that anticipate having the price of residential real estate go up are Washington D.C., Orlando, Dallas, San Francisco and New York City.

There tends to a be a positive up tick in the real estate market in the summer. The warm weather allows people to go outside and shop around for homes, co-ops and condos.

Distressed Home Sales

Before the housing market started to fail, distressed home sales related to foreclosures were a very small part of the real estate market. Today, bank owned homes represent approximately a third of all total sales of residential real estate. When you compare this to the year 2005, where distressed home sales were less than 5%, you see an enormous jump. In the year 2010, 1.7 million homes were considered distressed home sales.

Will Home Sales Bottom Out In 2011?

Some real estate experts believe that home sales will reach their lowest point in the first quarter of 2012. The Federal Reserve feels that the jobless rate will dip below 8% in 2012 and that the growth domestic product will increase from 3.3% to 3.7%.

Foreclosure Defense

If your house is being foreclosed or threatened to being foreclosed upon, call us, we can help you. We can attend foreclosure court conferences on your behalf. We can submit an answer to your foreclosure proceeding that can include defenses involving defective mortgages, defective foreclosure lawsuits, predatory lending and other real estate related defenses. We are knowledgeable about federal laws and foreclosure. We will provide you at the time of the initial consultation with all of your foreclosure options. These options will include foreclosure related bankruptcies. The filing of either a Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy will stop foreclosures from moving forward. Filing a bankruptcy will also stop debt collectors and collection lawyers that may be harassing you. There are many bankruptcy myths that are untrue. Bankruptcy will not permanently destroy your credit. We will be able to help you re-establish credit after filing a bankruptcy.

Call us for a free consultation, we can help you. Thank you for visiting our foreclosure blog.

Foreclosure Proceedings are Devastating Communities Throughout the Country

The value of homes throughout the country has gone down. Many Americans live in homes that worth less then the amount of their mortgages. The high unemployment rate and the downsizing of jobs by many employers have robbed homeowners of the ability to make their mortgage payments.

Foreclosure on Long Island

Nassau and Suffolk Counties on Long Island have some of the highest foreclosure rates in the State of New York. President Obama’s programs have not stopped foreclosure rates from rising.

It is estimated that it takes approximately 2 ½ years for lender to complete a foreclosure proceeding and take title to a home in New York State. Homeowners who are losing their homes lose motivation to maintain their property. This causes a blight on their neighborhood which has a negative effect on the surrounding homes in their community.

Loan Modifications

Lenders in the United States are doing a terrible job in processing loan modifications. The process is slow, painstaking and yes poorly managed by the financial institutions.

The housing problems in the United States are slowing down the economic recovery. More has to been done by financial institutions to modify mortgages and allow homeowners to stay in their homes.

Foreclosure Defense Lawyers In New York City and Long Island

Law Offices of Schlissel DeCorpo represents homeowners whose homes are in foreclosure. We assist the homeowners with mortgage modifications. We litigate issues involving defective foreclosure lawsuits, predatory lending, defective mortgages and real estate problems in general. Our attorneys are familiar with the federal laws involving foreclosure.

Sometimes the best way to deal with a foreclosure proceeding is to file foreclosure related bankruptcy. In these situations we file either Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcies on behalf of our clients. These bankruptcies stop foreclosures, stop debt collections and allow our clients to obtain a fresh start. Feel free to call us for a consultation.

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.

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