Fremont Real Estate and Beyond

HUD is changing some of the rules behind reverse mortgages today.  Specifically, seniors won't be able to borrow as much and they will have to pay more up front.  A great explanation and interview from Marketplace Weekend.

A lot of homeowners who were foreclosed on don't realize that once all the loan(s), taxes, and fees are paid by the proceeds from the foreclosure auction, any remaining amount goes back to them. More info here-- http://www.realtor.com/news/trends/foreclosure-windfalls/

Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced the development and implementation of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s new Flex Modification program which will replace the Enterprises’ current Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP®) which expires at the end of the year.  The program incorporates elements of a joint white paper developed by the U.S. Department of the Treasury in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and FHFA titled Guiding Principles for the Future of Loss Mitigation. Terms of the program included a 20 percent payment reduction for eligible borrowers. A high percentage of those who are at least 60 days delinquent would be eligible; the modification could also be an option for those who are current or less than 60 days delinquent in certain situations. More info here-- https://www.nar.realtor/articles/gse-announce-new-modification-program

I get asked all the time, where are all the bank owned properties (aka: REOs)? Unfortunately, banks knew they could recoup the bulk of their losses in California, but in other states it's not the same. http://www.realtytrac.com/news/foreclosure-trends/infographic-where-to-expect-an-influx-of-legacy-bank-owned-inventory/

Fannie and Freddie are usually a nebulous topic for most people.  An interesting interview came up today on Marketplace about Fannie and Freddie and how they are integral to the mortgages made today. U.S. mortgage giants under the microscope | Marketplace.org  

A really interesting article came out in Fortune about research from Wharton economists Fernando Ferreira and Joseph Gyourko.  Their paper looks at foreclosure data from 1997 through 2012 and finds that while foreclosure activity started first in the subprime market, the foreclosure activity in the prime market quickly outnumbered the number of subprime foreclosures. The article can be found here-- http://fortune.com/2015/06/17/subprime-mortgage-recession/

An interesting article from the LA Times came up about HOAs trying to get top repayment priority post foreclosure of a property.  This can't happen in California (phew!) but if it ever did, it would make financing condos/townhomes/PUDs, and other properties with HOAs extremely difficult. http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-harney-20150513-story.html#navtype=outfit

HUD has announced it will be revising its auctions of non-performing mortgages to address concerns it's not doing enough to help neighborhoods affected by foreclosures. The most important aspect is that after winning a bid, buyers will be barred from seizing properties for at least a year. More details can be found here-- http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-04-24/hud-to-delay-foreclosures-in-loan-sale-changes-to-aid-homeowners

HomePath just announced an education program for first time home buyers.  Those who complete the program will be eligible for up to a 3% closing cost assistance when they purchase a Homepath property.  More details can be found here-- https://www.homepath.com/ ready_buyer.html

News came out today via the National Association of Realtors that any foreclosed property sold by Fannie and Freddie Mac will need to give top priority to owner occupant home buyers. Couple of requirements that need to be made-- -The lender needs to do everything possible for the owner to stay in the property. -In the event the property becomes and REO (or foreclosed property), the owner occupant home buyers will only be considered in the first 20 days of the sale.  After 20 days, investors will have the opportunity to purchase the property. http://www.fhfa.gov/Media/PublicAffairs/Pages/Non-Performing-Loan-%28NPL%29-Sale-Requirements.aspx

There was a really interesting story from the New York Times about a foreclosure situation in Florida, which is a recourse state.  Apparently it has taken so long for the banks to process the foreclosures that they missed the statute of limitations.  This means that the homeowners are no longer in foreclosure BUT the banks can put a lien on a property so when the homeowners sell, they need to pay off the debt. More info here-- http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/30/business/foreclosure-to-home-free-as-5-year-clock-expires.html?_r=0 http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/whats-the-difference-between-recourse-nonrecourse-loan.html

I've been seeing an uptick in short sales hitting the market and getting a lot of calls from perspective buyers who have gone through a short sale or foreclosure in the past.  The most frequent question I've been hearing is, how long will it take to clear from my credit report?  Here's a great chart to answer this question.  

 Per the CAR Broker newsletter-- A controversial plan to use a municipality's eminent domain powers to seize properties in default has suffered a severe setback.  FHA, Ginnie Mae, and HUD now have no funds to insure, securitize or establish a federal guarantee of any mortgage or mortgage backed security that refinances or replaces a mortgage that was subject to eminent domain condemnation or seizure by a state, municipality or other political subdivision of the state.  The funding to allow such federal guarantees was removed in the Fiscal Year 2015 Omnibus Appropriations bill.  This should make it much more difficult to finance or resell any such securities under these programs. Such mortgage seizure programs were proposed by some companies that promised municipalities a portion of the proceeds when the mortgages were resold. Under the program, the defaulting or underwater homeowners would also be allowed to stay in their homes with the mortg...

Federal law states that lenders must disclose all costs and details relating to the mortgage a home buyer is obtaining.  If the lender does not disclose it's costs, a homeowner has up to 3 years to rescind the mortgage for failure to disclose and can do so by writing a letter instead of suing the mortgage company. More info--