Legal firms under the lead of United Law Group joined hands in firm handshakes with 30 other prominent legal companies to from Crisis Commission on Homeowner Representation.

United Law Group is one of the leading law firms with branches across the country – Arizona, California, Florida, Nevada, New York and Ohio. It has licensed attorneys to operate in any state. The group has won a name for itself in its dedication to use the legal tool to prevent foreclosures.

The primary objective of the group is to modify the language used in SB94. If it is not done then it will prevent troubled borrowers at risk of losing their homes from taking legal help. It would prevent lawyers from offering their services to bring about modification of loans and prevent foreclosures. As the bill now stands it will stop lawyers from taking a retainer upfront fees for services. This will be detrimental to borrowers.
Martin Andelman explained, “Essentially, it is a bill that will block a homeowner from obtaining legal representation when they are at risk of losing their home to foreclosure.” Robert Scurrah of CDA Law Center said, “SB94 is fundamentally defective. The concept of protecting a consumer will be totally eroded by the elimination of representation by licensed attorneys.”

The stand of the commission is that the fees that are being now charged by lawyers are negligible considering the time as well as effort put in. It requires expert knowledge to support the cause for modification of loan. For any other project the consumers in Orange County would have to dish out minimum $300 per hour to lawyers. Lawyers are engaged by real estate firms are paid anything from $1,500 to $3,000.

Zshonette Reed of Lorden & Reed said, “In a contingency case it’s worth the risk, because there’s a fee waiting for you at the other side. But attorneys cannot afford the overhead commitment for a $2,000-$3,000 fee.”

Summing up the impact that this bill will have on troubled house owners Robert Buscho of United Law Group said, “The consequence of this bill is that homeowners are not able to get representation because the attorneys cannot afford to become unsecured creditors to people who are already struggling financially.”
The supporters of the bill contend that it will prevent increasing number of foreclosure prevention scams that are mushrooming across the country. But Buscho claims that SB94 would harm the homeowners and not the scammers. He said, “Enforcing current laws will take care of the scammers. Enforcing current laws will take care of the scammers.”

Do you have a Real Estate blog? Join ForeclosureListings.com Affiliate Program.
ForeclosureListings.com has a comprehensive, searchable database of foreclosures in areas like Columbus, Bronx, Derry, Missoula and in the whole country. Try to search foreclosures by state today! Legal Firms Join Hands in Firm Handshakes to Hackle the Foreclosure Crisis

In the Columbus Dispatch we found a story about how a county there helped 78 homeowners avoid foreclosure and stay in the homes that they owned. The homeowners and the bankers came together face to face to work out deals to stem the foreclosures and make it possible for the families to remain in their homes. Interest rates have been cut for these people and the terms or length of the loans have been stretched out in many cases to make the payments lower so that they can be made more easily and this seems to have made a large impact on theses people.

The New York Times brings us the story of a Connecticut family that fell behind on their mortgage without even knowing it. This happened because the amount of the mortgage, $2,500 per month, was automatically adjusted from their credit union. But when the rate of the mortgage got re-adjusted from 8.3 percent to 12.5 percent, they were not aware of the increase of $1,000 more per month. The automatic withdrawal payments from the credit union did not increase so each month they fell $1,000 farther in arrears on the mortgage to the point that they were almost not able to stay out of foreclosure. These people, like many others have stated that if they didn’t have children, they would most likely just walk away from the loan.

In Ann Arbor, Michigan homeowners are struggling with upside down, or underwater mortgages. This means that they owe much more on the house they are buying than it is worth and as a result they are in a severe negative equity situation. What makes this so bad is that even if these people are able to make the current mortgage payments, they can’t refinance at lower rates because the house will not appraise with enough equity to allow a lender to give them a new mortgage. So even though they are doing everything right, they are getting the bad end of the deal because most places available now are for people that are unable to make the mortgage payments and those that are keeping up are getting, in a way, chastised for it.

Here is another touching story from the Columbus Dispatch this week. Folks that own mobile homes are feeling the pinch of the mortgage foreclosure crunch in an unusual way. Even if they own the mobile home outright and are keeping up the lot payments, if the mobile home park has problems and goes into foreclosure, the people that live there have to find a new place to move the mobile homes to. This can be a considerable expense that is not their doing. The Ohio legislature has passed a bill telling the people that own the land that they need to notify the tenants within 60 days and then the mobile home owner has an additional 30 days to vacate. Considering that most of these people are on substandard incomes and the cost of moving, it is going to be a hardship that few can sustain.

While this is not directly foreclosure related it is worthy of including here. Since the government has been unable to stop the job loss and the foreclosure numbers, they are giving some hope and reason for optimism to the voting public by banning arbitrary rate hikes and the excessive fees being charged by credit card companies. This may help to stem the fear that these already cash-strapped families are suffering from and allow them more breathing room in the budget thereby making it easier to handle the mortgage. One of the key parts is that a customer would have to be over 60 days behind in the payment to be able to get a rate increase.

This story is one of someone buying properties, which she was going to use as retirement income. She turned three of them into section 8 housing, which the government subsidies. The problem is that under the law when someone in one of these low rent properties complains and an inspection is made, the landlord has to fix the problem. This more often than not cost here money every month instead of making her income. It got so bad that she finally decide to let the three properties go into foreclosure. This meant that she was free of the burden but it also meant that three families were put out and had to find another place to live.

When considering a repayment plan or a mortgage modification plan. Which is the best option for a homeowner in mortgage distress? This question is addressed in detail in this article. The repayment plan almost is never the best option because in addition the regular mortgage, the already troubled homeowner has to pay an additional sum to cover back payments. The modification plan however is just as the name says; it modifies the existing terms to something both parties can benefit from.

From NBC local affiliate News 2 In North Carolina we get the story of an FTC website that is there to help homeowners sift through the many scams that have come into existence since the mortgage crunch. These scams are set up to help trick an already desperate homeowner out of money. The federal government has started to address the issues and this website that they set up helps to address these concerns and give people information that might help keep them from becoming a victim.

The Huntington News story tells that quotes Jay Rockefeller in saying that “I applaud President Obama for signing both the Helping Families Save Their Homes Act and the Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act into law.” The article states that he feels that there are many issues that have to be addressed from credit card companies to mortgage companies and that this will go a long way towards putting the and that this is a great start put people first and to helping the American people come to terms with this crisis.

Do you have a Real Estate blog? Join ForeclosureListings.com Affiliate Program.
ForeclosureListings.com has a comprehensive, searchable database of foreclosures in areas like Columbus, Bronx, Derry, Missoula and in the whole country. Try to search foreclosures by state today! Foreclosure Recap – Week #20

Banks are being more and more questioned about their right to sue foreclosure victims because of lack of proper documents. The real estate law prevalent in Ohio states clearly that any person bringing a foreclosure suit must at the very onset attach all the relevant documents showing that the plaintiff has the right to collect. At the least some explanation has to be given for not having the documents right then. If this is not done then the judge has the right to dismiss the case summarily.

Federal bankruptcy judge Samuel L. Bufford together with former judge R. Glen Ayers has recently written an article pointing out that the Uniform Commercial Code that has been introduced in each state is very vague. The article read, “Enforcement of a note always requires that the person seeking to collect show that it is the holder. A holder is an entity that has acquired the note either as the original payor or transfer by endorsement of order paper or physical possession of bearer paper.”

Dennis Harrington of Southeastern Ohio Legal Services in Marietta said that somebody trying to take foreclosure action without papers is like someone attempting to encash blank cheque. He asked, “If you have a check that’s not made out to you, what gives you the right to go to court and demand that the people pay?”

He and his lawyer colleague Peggy Lee said that SEOL is representing people with low income involved in civil cases. They have been lately seeing a rise in foreclosure suits in which this particular issue is repeatedly coming up. The last few years of insanity in the market has resulted in this mayhem that has ultimately caused the nation to slump into recession.

Another related article in the New York Times highlighted that during the time of the housing boom, millions of mortgages were make into parcels, sliced and sold to investors across the world. These securitized trusts were sold repeatedly causing chaos. Lee says that three out of every four cases she handles raises this point about original papers and documentation to establish the plaintiffs right to sue. At the time of selling and re-selling the mortgages the forms were not properly filled up. The concerned parties were in such a hurry that they neglected this important point. Sometimes even computerized records cannot be shown.

It seems that the banks were so busy making money that they did not give priority to the task of keeping track of the loans that were changing hands.

Do you have a Real Estate blog? Join ForeclosureListings.com Affiliate Program.
ForeclosureListings.com has a comprehensive, searchable database of foreclosures in areas like Columbus, Bronx, Derry, Missoula and in the whole country. Try to search foreclosures by state today! Banks Are Being Questioned the Right to Sue Foreclosure Victims

Of late the foreclosure related housing crisis has caused innumerable evictions resulting in thousands – if not millions, being rendered homeless. During the time of the housing boom the mantra had been to own a house. This has always been the great American dream and the very basis of its psyche. The sub-prime mortgage debut was accelerated with the pushing on of this dream into an absurd reality. Those without any income credentials were sanctioned loans to buy houses. The idea was to get the money flowing from the mortgage institutions to artificially balloon up the housing industry. The shrewd thinking was that either way the lenders benefited. If borrowers remained current on mortgage loans then money would be coming in at a high rate because the value of the houses had been falsely appreciated. If borrowers defaulted then the lenders would seize the property and sell at a higher rate. The logic was based on a naive belief that real estate prices could never come down. But this is exactly what happened.

With so many turning homeless overnight because of foreclosures suddenly the demand for rentals shot up. The greater the demands for rental the more did it indicate that foreclosures were on the rise.

Meanwhile the government at state, local and federal levels as well as the communities pitched in to contain foreclosures. There were massive relief measures. It is an ongoing process with the latest being the mother of all bailouts – the $700 billion package. It is difficult to gauge how far effective the previous efforts that have been in circulation since the last one-year is being successful. Rental vacancies can be taken as a tentative yardstick. If the rental vacancies are increasing then it indicates that the foreclosure weather clouds are perhaps clearing. It shows two things – less number of people is suffering foreclosure evictions and or sale of houses are picking up causing affordable housing to be available for the ordinary American.

Writing rental cheques does not have any benefits like tax deductions or increase in equity of the house. That is why Americans have always wanted to own houses. Rents have been the highest in New York City and San Francisco. It has risen by 6.6% since last year. In the Bay area the increase has been by 7.8%. This shows that the landlords dictate the market. In Columbus, Ohio the rents are slightly lower.

According to a survey conducted by Marcus & Millchap of Encino, California rental data was collected from 40 largest cities of America for 2007. Estimated figures for 2008 were taken including vacancy rates, new building project and job potentials. Of these three, it is the vacancy numbers that affect price rise. In the sales zone an inventory of 5% unsold units means a glut. In the rental world 5% vacancy rate point to a healthy market.

Do you have a Real Estate blog? Join ForeclosureListings.com Affiliate Program.
ForeclosureListings.com has a comprehensive, searchable database of foreclosures in areas like Columbus, Bronx, Derry, Missoula and in the whole country. Try to search foreclosures by state today! Increase in Rental Vacancies Indicates a Positive Change in The Weather

Foreclosures have once more brought together Obama and ACORN. Immediately after the signing of the trillion dollars bill in Denver Obama kicked off New Raw Deal – a jumbo-sized mortgage plan that will force lenders to modify loans and refinance. The initial cost stretches from $50 billion to $100 billion. This is on top of $50 billion in the stimulus bill to help those homeowners who are underwater. Another $2 billion is for “Neighborhood Stabilization” for dealing with vacant foreclosed houses.

This bailing out of bad borrowers has brought together old buddies – the Democrats and ACORN. The latter are kick starting a new campaign known as Home Savers. It has a radical leftist colour to it. Shock troopers will be out on the streets doing the bullying while the organizers in chief of the community will keep their hands clean.

The new strategy by ACORN will take the form of civil disobedience. The homeowners facing foreclosures will refuse to move out. In some instances they will forcibly return. ACORN volunteers will squat in the houses until a satisfactory, comprehensive solution materializes.

The infantry of ACORN funded by taxpayers money will shout, pound fists and fix themselves to buildings with chains. They will lock the doors and indulge in illegal behaviour until their demands are met. The move has all the ingredients for onset of anarchy.

Louis Beverly of the ACORN branch in Baltimore argues, “After you’ve used all your legal options, your last resort is civil disobedience. We’re talking about families who have been in their homes 20 or 30 years. People who are assets in the community, who look out for the elderly, who have community associations, and these are the people being kicked out of the community.”

While there is sympathy for those who cannot pay their bills this tactics will not solve the problem just like artificial propping up of the real estate market has not worked. The corporations that have failed deserve to fail. So too foolish and greedy borrowers who had an important role to play in the mess deserve the desserts.

The teams of ACORN ready to take on the law are mostly unemployed or full time workers of the organization. The taxpayer funds them. They are encouraged by Democrat Mercy Kaptur of Ohio who had thundered, “Stay in your homes. If the American people, anybody out there is being foreclosed, don’t leave.”

Do you have a Real Estate blog? Join ForeclosureListings.com Affiliate Program.
ForeclosureListings.com has a comprehensive, searchable database of foreclosures in areas like Columbus, Bronx, Derry, Missoula and in the whole country. Try to search foreclosures by state today! Foreclosures have Brought Together ACORN and Democrats Once More

In 2006 cars and trucks made log entries of over 3 billion miles of driving through the Turnpike in Ohio. About 190 million vehicles used the Penna Turnpike till before the foreclosure crisis overtook the country.

Those living in Washington may not be aware of what is happening to the rest of the county. The capital region is akin to a glass bubble that is immune from the outside climate. Here one bed-roomed apartments that offer only the basics continued to sell at the ironically ‘low’ price of over half a million dollars. Meanwhile 2.3 million house owners were deluged with foreclosures elsewhere in the country in 2008. Robert Gibss the press secretary of President Barack Obama has aptly and realistically said that each day 10,000 Americans are being foreclosed upon or their houses are taken over by the lenders.

Washington has reason to rejoice because the election of a new President is by itself a stimulating factor to the socio-economic scene. He can provide a minimum of 9,051 jobs by making political appointments according to the last edition of United States Government Policy and Supporting Positions (Plum Book) – it being a pointer to plum government posts. The majority of these jobs are in Washington and this means there will be many new housing lease deeds, purchase of new cars together with furniture and furnishings and all that goes with upward lifestyle.

The scene on the Penna Turnpike is bad. It is worse in the western part of the county. In California (it still ranks as the 8th largest economy in the world) there is a shortage of cash. On Friday 13th February, John Chiang the de facto treasurer and ‘state controller” said, “I am trying to keep California from being the first state in US history to default.” Addressing the South Bay Association of Chambers of Commerce of California he said that if he cleared every bill, then by the close of February the state “would be in the red”.

Do you have a Real Estate blog? Join ForeclosureListings.com Affiliate Program.
ForeclosureListings.com has a comprehensive, searchable database of foreclosures in areas like Columbus, Bronx, Derry, Missoula and in the whole country. Try to search foreclosures by state today! Driving Through Foreclosed American is No Longer a Pleasure

Current Democrat member Jason Wilson opened the debate. Channel 27 FirstNews and Morning Journal sponsored the forum. The idea was to create a strong business environment that gave top priority to job creation. Also on the agenda were discussions on clean coal mining taking note of the fact that the area was sitting on 200 years supply of coal. He added, “We’ve been through wars; we’ve been through depressions, and we’ll get through this too.” He was referring to the foreclosure related economic slump.

Tim Ginter, the Republican challenger also started by speaking about employment saying that Ohio’s position was 37th in the nation as regards having the right environment for business. His answer to the economic woes was doing away with the estate taxes and even distribution of school funds. He strongly opined, “Unfair regulation is choking business.”

Wilson was of the opinion that it was the unemployment that was largely responsible for the increasing number of foreclosures in the region. He added that he had tried many times to help those facing foreclosure by taking an individual approach. He had sat at the kitchen tables with them and tried to open communication lines through churches and other agencies. He has also been active with other state leaders through Save Our Homes Task Force. He was focusing on increasing financial literacy and wanted the leaders in the government to set examples for others to emulate.

Ginter was also of the opinion that it was the job issue that has created the foreclosure imbroglio. As an immediate solution he wanted financial bodies and government sectors to come together so as to identify those facing imminent foreclosure and help them to pay off their debts. He emphasized, “Somehow we’ve got to release the pressure off the homeowners.” Ginter humbly admitted that he did not have the answer to all the problematical questions. He was of the opinion that the government should lower taxes so as to create the right atmosphere for job creation. Tax increases on a certain section of the population should be avoided. The way must be cleared for business was his view. He also wanted that business should diversify itself. Concentrating only on coal could lead to a collapse similar to what happened to iron and steel.

Do you have a Real Estate blog? Join ForeclosureListings.com Affiliate Program.
ForeclosureListings.com has a comprehensive, searchable database of foreclosures in areas like Columbus, Bronx, Derry, Missoula and in the whole country. Try to search foreclosures by state today! Candidates for State Senate Focus on Foreclosures, Employment and Education

Ninety-year-old Addie Polk has come to represent the agony of the foreclosure crisis hitting the common citizen. She was hospitalized after she shot herself twice hitting the upper part of her body on Wednesday 3rd October. Akron residents have come forward in support of Polk who is in a critical condition at Akron General Medical Center as on Friday 5th October.

Reacting to the incident Brian Faith of Fannie Mae said that foreclosure proceedings have been dropped and the property has been signed off ‘outright’ to her. He said, “We’re going to forgive whatever outstanding balance she had on the loan and give her the house. Given the circumstances, we think it’s appropriate.”

Rep Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) raised the issue of Polk on the floor of the House on Friday during talks on economic remedies. Kucinich quipped that the bill bypasses the fate of the Addie Polks of the world. It fails to tackle the problem of millions facing foreclosure. The focus of the bill is on Walls Street. As a result “the market may go up for a few days, but democracy is going downhill.”

When Polk shot herself the noise made her neighbour, Robert Dilon to use a ladder to enter the bathroom on the second storey. Some deputies nearby also heard the noise. Entering he kept calling her name but she was not responding. He found her prone on her bed just about breathing. A handgun lay by her side. Initially he thought that she kept it for self-defense. But when she turned her head and he saw the blood on her face he realized that the old lady had shot herself. Dilon rushed down to let in the deputies. Polk had left her car keys, pocketbook together with life insurance police neatly for anyone to find. It suggested her intentions were well planned.

The unfolding tragedy is that there are many like Polk – either older or younger. The foreclosure trouble was the same.

Polk had contracted a 30-year-old mortgage on her house in 2004 for $45,620 with Countrywide. On the same day she took out a line of credit for $11,380. The house was over a hundred years old. The following few years Polk began to miss out on mortgage payments on the house that her husband had purchased in 1970. In 2007 Fannie Mae took over the mortgage and initiated foreclosure proceedings.

Do you have a Real Estate blog? Join ForeclosureListings.com Affiliate Program.
ForeclosureListings.com has a comprehensive, searchable database of foreclosures in areas like Columbus, Bronx, Derry, Missoula and in the whole country. Try to search foreclosures by state today! Woman Shoots Herself to Avoid Foreclosure Eviction

The Congress was mounting pressure on James Lockhart, Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, to use his resources in order to assist house owners caught in the foreclosure mesh. The senators, Menendez of New Jersey, Schumer and Brown of Ohio and Casey of Pennsylvania felt that the giant mortgage companies should implement whatever steps necessary to stop additions to the foreclosure list and subject them to “suffer the economic and personal disaster of foreclosure.” Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac had approximately $5 trillion in outstanding mortgages, which constituted more than half the country’s total. The ‘freeze in foreclosure’ that the lawmakers had urged the companies for, were to last for at least 90 days, and would not be applied to all the loans mentioned.

The Federal Government had seized control over the housing mortgage companies is a fervent bid to restore the housing market and the financial crisis that had engulfed the country and failed to show any signs of recovery for the past two years. Chief Executives of both the companies had been ousted and replaced and Mr. Lockhart had been advised to follow the example of Sheila Bair, Head of Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation although the conservative policy might add the burden on the taxpayers.
Bair‘s line of work was to urge banks to modify their lending policies and develop a comprehensive plan, which would offer a dignified solution to defaulting borrowers. The FDIC had first temporarily frozen house foreclosure, and went on to allow seriously distressed borrowers to swap loans at affordable rates. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were expected to work on the same lines. Mr. Frank, the Chairman of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee was to examine how the foreclosure prevention law was working.

Do you have a Real Estate blog? Join ForeclosureListings.com Affiliate Program.
ForeclosureListings.com has a comprehensive, searchable database of foreclosures in areas like Columbus, Bronx, Derry, Missoula and in the whole country. Try to search foreclosures by state today! Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to Suspend Foreclosures

Court foreclosures are rare and most foreclosure take place out of court. This also depends on whether the there are problems with the title or if the mortgage does not have a provision allowing the lender the rights to sell a property on default. The foreclosure process starts when a lender gives attorney’s the necessary documents to foreclose on the mortgage. The attorney will then schedule the date for the sale of the property.

The first thing to do is locate loans in default. This is achieved by means of the “Lis Pendens”, the first public notice that a loan is in default. Access to the Lis Pendens notices is found through the county courthouse and newspapers who routinely announce them. A reputable Ohio foreclosures for sale provider will also be in a position to provide a list of loans in default.

The default amount will be available on the legal notice and the market value of the properties the investor identifies will need to be estimated. Subtract one from the other to determine the gross equity of the property to evaluate the potential for profit. If there is very little difference in the debt and the market value of the property, this is not a viable property and another should be sought. If there is a large variance, there could be enough equity available in the property for the investor to make a tidy profit.

Contacting the homeowner is easier said than done, they are up to their eyebrows in letters and calls from creditors, attorneys and bill collectors and are feeling cornered. The only way to contact them is by phone or through the mail, chances are that neither of these routes are going to be easily accomplished.

It is best to start by writing a letter, tell the homeowner in the letter that you are a private investor who is interested in purchasing his property, and make him aware that you are able to help with his dilemma.

Do you have a Real Estate blog? Join ForeclosureListings.com Affiliate Program.
ForeclosureListings.com has a comprehensive, searchable database of foreclosures in areas like Columbus, Bronx, Derry, Missoula and in the whole country. Try to search foreclosures by state today! Ohio Foreclosures for Sale