Tag Archives: campbell

What to do if you can’t afford to keep your home but can’t afford to sell it.

Posted on by

This is the dilemma that over 6.3 million homeowners must face today: they can’t afford to keep their home, but they cannot afford to sell it either. Truly a situation where these homeowners are stuck between a rock and a hard-place.

These are both financially and emotionally difficult times for these homeowners and also ideal climate for swindlers to come swooping in. However, there is a solution available for these homeowners without falling victim to fraud. I invite you to do your due diligence and find an agent who can help you out of this dilemma who has the experience, the skill set and references to protect your financial future.

Change the Course Report

Foreclosure can cost you a new job

Posted on by

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is enough information floating out there for everyone to know that foreclosure can be devastating with many negative repercussions in our lives.  Most who are in this situation will have to endure numerous adversities:

 

  1. Having your foreclosure show up on public records for 10 years
  2. Having to declare your foreclosures on all future loan applications
  3. Deficiency claim exposure to the lenders for their loss
  4. Dramatic decrease in your credit score
  5. Being unable to qualify for a new home purchase for a minimum of 5 years

 

Besides these misfortunes, there is now another very troubling consequence which is especially onerous in these difficult times when people are looking for jobs.  In California where the unemployment rate is still above 11%, people seeking jobs need any advantage they can muster up to gain an edge over other job seekers.  If they had to endure foreclosures, it seems now the cards are further stacked against them.  It’s bad enough that a person would have lost their home to foreclosure, now that unfortunate circumstance may prevent them from getting a job.  Here is another reason to choose Short Sales over Foreclosure for homeowner who are having trouble paying their mortgages.

 

We’ve been told by our researchers at CDPE for a couple of years now that employers were using foreclosure records to eliminate candidates, but the attached video and article puts some hard data behind the warning.   According to the video, it seems 60% of employers are now pulling credit reports on all employment candidates and using the information in their screening and hiring decisions.

Can Bad Credit Keep You From Getting a Job_ – CBS News
In California, Governor Brown just recently signed AB 22 which prohibits employers from using credit reports in their decisions to hire employees, with some exceptions as mentioned in the video.   It states:

 

“New Labor Code section 1024.5 limits when private and public sector employers, except for financial institutions, lawfully can use consumer credit reports in connection with hiring and personnel decisions. Specifically, employers are permitted to use consumer credit reports only if the individual is applying for or works (or will work) in the following positions:

  • a managerial position (as the term elsewhere is defined by California law);
  • a position in the State Department of Justice;
  • a sworn peace officer or law enforcement position;
  • a position for which the employer is required by law to consider credit history information;
  • a position that affords regular access to bank or credit card account information, Social Security numbers, or dates of birth, provided, however, that the access to this information does not merely involve routine solicitation and processing of credit card applications in a retail establishment;
  • a position where the individual is or will be a named signatory on the bank or credit card account of the employer and/or authorized to transfer money or authorized to enter into financial contracts on the employer’s behalf;
  • a position that affords access to confidential or proprietary information; or
  • a position that affords regular access during the workday to the employer’s, a customer’s or a client’s cash totaling at least $10,000.”

 

It  seems there are a lot of  jobs that fall into these exception categories, as any type of customer service or  financial institution jobs or law enforcement jobs or any managerial positions  would seem to fall within the scope.  During these difficult economic times, interviewing prospects would probably would want to eliminate  any obstacle which would prevent them from getting on the short lists of candidates being considered for positions.  Having a foreclosure show up on your credit report and the employer questioning your integrity or reliability would certainly not be helpful in getting on that short list.

 

Short Sale Mistakes – Do your due diligence

Posted on by

A prospective client came asking for help.  She had a short sale specialist working on her case for over a year.  The thing was, this agent was not even local (from San Diego) and would only tell her that things were going well for well over a year; not much communication, just that things were OK every few months.  The distance probably had something to do with the lack of continual communication.

 

Only recently, did she receive a call from him saying the lender would not be approving the short sale and would now be foreclosing. This came as a complete shock to her.  This was obviously a case of dual track foreclosure or simple negligence on the part of the agent.  She said the agent was basically backing out and telling her that he could no longer help her.  She wanted to know if I could help by replacing him.

 

It’s easy to wonder why someone would simply trust an agent for over a year and not ask questions or demand that she be kept apprised of the status of the short sale more frequently than a few times a year.  I pulled up the county record to see how much time was remaining on a Notice of Trustee Sale (NOT) and to see if we could save the short sale.  My search found that the NOT was filed over 3 months ago.  I needed to get more information.

 

I asked her to get a copy of her file since the agent was essentially firing himself and I needed to know what type of communication had been initiated and what the lenders had agreed to in writing.  I also asked her to get me a copy of the NOT to find out the attorney service handling the sale.

 

After a week or so, I followed up and not surprisingly, she got nothing from this agent.  Nothing in writing.  Not a copy of the NOT; not a rejection of the short sale letter from the lender; not a copy of the short sale package that was submitted on her behalf; not even a cancellation of the listing agreement; nothing.  Only words.

 

I wanted to help her, but with no documentation and only verbal statements, I could not commit myself to help her out of her predicament.  Given her particular situation, I seriously doubt anyone could help her with no documentation of what had happened before and being asked to step in only with the verbal understanding that foreclosure is imminent.

 

How could this individual have avoided this type of crisis?  I’m not going to go into allegations here without seeing any documentation, but it seems like the agent who professed to be a specialist perhaps was not so experienced.

 

I believe she did not have to be in this situation.  The best way to have avoided this crisis, in my opinion, was for her to have done her due diligence when hiring someone to help her out initially.   You really do not get a second chance when you are dealing with foreclosures.

First, she should have hired someone locally rather than someone who is 500 miles away to market and sell her home.  From what was described to me, he really didn’t know the local market and did not price it correctly nor put in a lot of effort to get it marketed correctly.  If she were not getting answers, she could have dropped in on a local agent to demand answers in a more timely manner.

 

Secondly, she is a young computer literate woman; she should have done some research into who she was hiring.  After all, she found me online.  She should have Googled the person’s name and see what was said about the individual.  She may not have gotten everything she needed, but she would have discovered if someone were alleging bad service or worse.  People may not write nice things about you, but if they felt mistreated, they will let the world know, from my experience.

 

Please distressed homeowners, do your due diligence before hiring someone to help you.

Homeowners have an obligation to take advantage of assistance programs to fight foreclosure

Posted on by

You are at the end of your ropes and came to the conclusion that you can no longer afford to keep your home.  If there were a way to help sell your home and protect your financial future, would you seek help?

 

If the government had a program which would help pay for a portion of your loan obligation and also help pay for your moving expenses, would you seek help?

 

If the government had a program which would insure that the lenders would not come after you for deficiency that results from what you borrowed versus what you ultimately re-pay them, would you seek help?

 

If the government said until 2012, the IRS will not collect taxes on the gains that result from the lenders forgiving you for portions of your loan, would you seek help?

 

Many homeowners are continuing to suffer because unemployment rate is still 10% in Silicon Valley and loan modifications are still very difficult to obtain  or may be secretly a victim of dual track  foreclosure.  If you saw no other way out except to sell your unaffordable home through a short sale using the HAFA program to obtain all of the above-mentioned benefits, would you seek help?

 

If the answer to the above questions were yes, then you may be a candidate for the HAFA short sale program.  Most major lenders are participants of this program which was designed to help distressed homeowners avoid foreclosure.  It is one of the few government programs designed to help struggling homeowners that actually works.

 

However, time is running out and you may not be able to take advantage of all of these wonderful benefits after the end of calendar year 2012.  So please contact us to find out more and see if you can qualify for all of these free benefits, including money to help settle your other liens and help you move.  Help is available to you, not taking advantage of this program is wasteful and can be disastrous to your financial future.  You have an obligation to help yourself by finding out more.

 

You may be fortunate and not be in a situation to take advantage of these benefits offered by this program.  However, if you know someone who may be able to benefit, then please forward this link and help them take advantage of these benefits and free money.   You will be helping someone out a very difficult situation.  It may be the right thing to do.

 

What is a short sale?

Posted on by

I try in this blog to reach out to and deliver to the public , who may be looking for information, material that may prove useful to them. However, sometimes it is a challenge to try to verbalize the information in a manner that is easy to read and to comprehend. Writing proves to be a difficult challenge for your truly.

Sometimes, rather than reading about something, it is much easier to absorb the information by watching a video. Fortunately, the CDPE organization has published some videos which are short and to the point. Since they have made the effort to produce these little gems, I feel it is only right that I share them with my readers. Enjoy.

This first one answers the question: what is a short sale?

Another successful Wells Fargo short sale approval

Posted on by

 

Another short sale approval came in today.    Another young family can now move forward and use the $3,000 check to help them relocate.  This was a HAFA short sale and another $6,000 from the proceeds were given to the second lien holder to help settle their claim.  After submitting the offer, it took less than 45 days to get the final approval.   This approval again, contradicts the rumors floating around out there that HAFA automatically causes delays in short sales.   HAFA deals with deadlines and was designed to speed up the process.

It was good for the bank, the seller and the buyer.   The house may not have sold for the amount borrowed, but we received a fair market value offer that was sufficient to pay monies to all parties involved to get them all to settle.   A happy day for all.  A good day for all.
Wells Fargo Approval

Silicon Valley Homeowners, Chase is offering incentive of up to $25,000 to short sale your home.

Posted on by

The word is getting around.  JP Morgan Chase and other large lenders are actively encouraging homeowners who are in distress and not able to make their mortgage payments by offering them incentives of up to $25,000 if they are successful in short selling their homes.  So far this has only been information from third parties and other sources whose clients were solicited by mail.   Today, I learned that one of my colleagues had a client reach out to him because Chase had wanted the borrower to do a Short Sale with a CDPE designated agent if they wanted to receive $25,000.   Silicon Valley Homeowners, if you receive this type of letter, you need to contact a CDPE designated short sale specialist like myself.

I need to point out that not everyone is automatically extended this offer.  You must be the recipient of a letter specifically offering you the money.     But one thing is certain: this is no joke, this is happening because the lenders like Chase have figured out that they can still make more money by permitting short sales to be completed than go into foreclosure.   Banks never do anything unless they can make money as the end result.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Governor Brown sign AB 771. No more gouging of sellers when they order HOA document package.

Posted on by

If you sell a lot of Common Interest Developments (CID) or condos and townhomes like me, then you and the seller feel violated every time you are required to order the HOA document package from the HOA.  They have absolute control over you because the HOA is the only entity which can certify and reproduce these documents.  You are not able to sell a condo or a townhome unless these documents are provided to the prospective buyers.

I have not heard about $1,000 bundled fees, but I have never seen a $75 HOA documentation fee either, it is always $300 or $350 from my experience.  This is my opinion, but running documents through a high speed double sided copying machine, does not warrant a $350 up-front fee and 10 days to produce these documents.  I have heard repeated complaints from sellers who have to fork over these charges and receive a bundle often consisting mostly of HOA newsletters and meeting minutes of association meetings along with the requisite insurance and financial documents about the health of the HOA.  Most people do not seem to object to having to pay the HOA to reproduce needed documents, but they do seem to object to paying so much money once they see what they received; thereby challenging the assertions that the feels were “reasonable” charges to actually reproduce said documents.  The law also will create a form which will detail what is required and how much it will cost to obtain said documents.

 

 

Governor Brown Signs Bill Preventing Gouging of Condominium/Townhome Buyers

The CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (C.A.R.) applauds Gov. Jerry Brown for signing AB 771, a bill that prevents home buyers in a common interest development (CID), such as a condominium or townhome, from being charged excess document fees.

Homeowner associations (HOAs) are required to provide specific documents to prospective purchasers of homes in a CID — a form of real estate ownership in which each homeowner has an exclusive interest in a unit and a shared interest in the common area property. In addition to the standard residential property disclosures, purchasers of a unit within a CID must receive basic information about the structure, operation and management of the HOA that operates the CID.

Current law requires that this information come from the HOA and prohibits it from charging fees in excess of what is “reasonable,” not to exceed the actual cost of processing and producing these documents. HOAs generally have provided the documents for approximately $75 to $250. Increasingly, HOAs have been delegating document preparations to third party vendors or contractors who, under a 2007 court decision, are exempt from this fee limitation. This delegation of responsibility by HOAs sometimes resulted in home purchasers being forced to pay additional fees, as much as $1,000, for other documents which were “bundled” with the required documents.

Assembly Bill 771 (Betsy Butler, D-Torrance) addresses this situation by specifying that only fees for the required documents may be charged when such documents are provided, effectively prohibiting any “bundling” of fees for other documents with these fees. The bill also creates a new form detailing which documents are required, and requires the provider to disclose the fees that will be charged for the documents before they are provided. The seller of a CID must complete this form and transmit it to the prospective purchaser along with the required documents. This will eliminate any uncertainty for the prospective purchaser as to exactly which documents are being provided and the precise fees being charged for those documents.

Leading the way…® in California real estate for more than 100 years, the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (www.car.org) is one of the largest state trade organizations in the United States, with more than 160,000 members dedicated to the advancement of professionalism in real estate. C.A.R. is headquartered inLos Angeles.

CALIFORNIAASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®
Lotus Lou, 213-739-8304

Learn not to be a victim of Fraud

Posted on by

If you follow this blog, you know one thing I really hate are frauds against people facing distress.  Nothing worse, in my opinon, than taking advantage of people who are desperate because they are about to lose their homes.  It’s targeting one of the most vulnerable segment of society in order to make a few bucks.  Those fraudsters are the worst scum in my opinion.

 

I found a blog by a Realtor named Monique Bryher in Southern California who writes about various California Real Estate Frauds, it is called Califorinia Real Estate Fraud Report.  I found it to be an excellent place to learn about the fraud of the day, if you will.  I wanted to take a moment to talk about it because it is well orgranized by topic and because you can also receive a weekly report about the fraud du jour.

 

The best way to avoid being victimized is to be educated about scams.

 

http://www.californiarealestatefraudreport.com/

 

Check it out.

How do you save money and heartache? Pay your HOA dues.

Posted on by

 

 

As a San Jose Short Sale Agent, I can tell you that one of the most difficult situations to deal with in a distress scenario involves an HOA which has filed a lien on the property for non-payment of dues.   What is even worse is an HOA that hired an attorney to sue the homeowner for non-payment of dues, slapped on a bunch of indiscriminate fees and penalties and demonstrated absolutely no willingness to compromise to reach a mutually agreeable settlement because they have a default judgment in their hands.

 

Asking for the unpaid dues is obviously expected, however, the attorneys piled on additional fees and surcharges in the complaint, among them items like: interest of 12% per annum, late charge of 10% per month, lien fee of $1300, collection cost of $500, litigation guarantee fee of $600, plus additional collection and attorney fees.  The total of lien amount was roughly $16,000 but the non-dues fees came out to be approximately 50% of the total amount.

 

When dealing with lenders, whether it is the first or second, everyone is operating on the principal that compromise is necessary to achieve the ultimate goal of completing a short sale to avoid a foreclosure.  In this case, that goal was punctuated by a Trustee Sale scheduled only weeks away.  Whether the second lien holder tries to negotiate for 10% or 50%, there is the underlying understanding that everyone has to give a little to make the deal happen in the end.   This fundamental concept, by which everyone operates in the distressed market, gets tossed out the window when an attorney with a default judgment is on the other end of the phone.  WE DO NOT NEGOTIATE becomes the mantra.  And because of the default judgment, there is no incentive to take less, even though the other parties are taking substantially less.  They knew she had a steady job, so even if the property foreclosed, they would pursue her after the foreclosure.

 

Negotiating with these attorneys has been the worst experience to date for me.   It would be a bit different but for the default judgment in their hands; at least there would be some sort of room to maneuver.  After literally having begged for some relief, we managed to reach a settlement for 90% of the value of the lien.  The relentless threat of pursuing her after the foreclosure, in conjunction with the seller not wanting to have to file for bankruptcy to protect herself from the attorneys and the impending foreclosure, led to the signing of a promissory note plus some cash.   At least it was finally over and they agreed to release the claim and let the short sale proceed.

 

What did the seller and I both learn from this experience?  Pay the HOA dues at all cost.  Had she paid it, we would not have dealt with the 50% ancillary fees and costs that were padded on the complaint.   She certainly would have saved a lot more money and we both certainly would have endured less emotional distress.