Florida Foreclosure Defense Lawyers Blog

Townhome and condo prices in Jacksonville, Florida have fallen far quicker than prices for single family homes. According to the Northeast Florida Association of Realtors, townhomes and condos are currently selling for a median price of $67,000. That is 63% below the peak in July 2006 of $182,500. Compared to a current median price of $135,000 for single family homes which has only dropped 35% from the August 2006 peak of $210,000.

The dramatic difference in the drops of townhomes and condos compared to the drop of single family homes can be explained by the large amount of townhomes and condos built during the past decade and how quickly those prices increased, followed by a huge amount of foreclosures filed on them that put too many on the market at the same time. The problem gets worst with how difficult townhomes and condos are to sell. Many cannot be bought with a FHA mortgage or even a conventional loan. Since banks will not approve a loan in complexes with 50% percent renters, or associations fees not being paid on 15% of the units, most must be bought with cash. Buying with cash means even more renters because cash buyers are usually investors whom have excessive cash who buy the units with the intention of renting them out.

Prime examples are:
• A condo on Old Kings Road recently sold for $30,000. Four years ago it sold for $141,000.
• Off Southside on Belle Rive Blvd., a condo that sold for $165,000 five years ago went for less than $30,000.
• Two condos sold for 1/3 of what they were bought for a few years ago in the downtown Berkman Plaza.

This is just more bad news for some Jacksonville Homeowners, but there are alternatives to being "upside down." If you are currently "upside down" in your home, contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer or a Florida Foreclosure Defense Lawyer today to see what options may be available to you.

A new Federal Reserve study has evidenced that more than 2.3 million borrowers were prevented from refinancing their homes in 2010 due to strict lending standards and a steep decline in the value of many homes. The study validates the struggles lawmakers have faced when trying to encourage homeowners to refinance their homes in order take advantage of the historically low interest rates, something many mortgage industry experts have pointed to as a potential cure for the current state of the U.S. housing market.

The study found that many homeowners would have qualified for home refinances just before the mortgage bubble burst, but stringent lending standards prevented many from doing so. As a result, many homeowners were left holding the bag and owe more than their home is currently worth. 7.9 million home mortgages, which include refinances, purchases and other forms of loans, were made in 2010, a from from the peak of 21.5 million in 2003. The report evidences the failure of the 2009 Home Affordable Refinance Program which, to date, has only enrolled 830,000 homeowners, a number far below the millions of homeowners it was expected to aid.

If you are facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit and were denied a mortgage modification or a mortgage refinance, contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer or a Florida Foreclosure Defense Lawyer today to determine what foreclosure alternative options may be available to you.

The House Financial Services Committee voted last week to end two federal mortgage programs, both managed by the Department of Housing and Urban Development, citing disappointing results as the primary reason for their ouster. The programs, one intended to deliver emergency funds to homeowners who have lost their jobs and another to lower monthly mortgage payments to "underwater" homeowners, have been labeled as massive disappointments by many. House Financial Services Committee Chairman Spencer Bachus, whose committee voted to eliminate the programs, stated "Congress needs to stop funding programs that don't work."

The Federal Housing Short Refi Option program, designed to force lenders to write down at least 10 percent of the mortgage principle on homes whose values have fallen dramatically, has been available since September 2010 but has only received 245 applications and modified 44 loans. House Republicans remain adamant that they will end the often-criticized Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) which has fallen far short of initial expectations. HAMP was originally intended to benefit 3-4 million homeowners but to date, only 600,000 borrowers have received permanent mortgage modifications under the program.

While most of the federal foreclosure prevention programs fell short of what many would call even modest success, they have provided at least some benefits for struggling U.S. homeowners. If you are one of the thousands of Floridians facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit, contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer or a Florida Foreclosure Defense Lawyer today to see what foreclosure alternative options may be available to you.

The California law firm of Harwood Feffer, LLP has announced that it has filed a class action lawsuit against Wells Fargo and its mortgage servicer America's Servicing Company (ASC) for inducing homeowners into defaulting on the mortgages by telling them they would not be eligible for a mortgage modification while they were current on their payments. The lawsuit, filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, claims that when borrowers who were current on their mortgages inquired about the possibility of the mortgage modification, they were told that they must be several months behind on their payments before their mortgage could be reviewed for a modification!

A statement issued by the firm explained the underlying reasons they believe servicers have committed these frauds, "as a loan servicer, ASC generates a significant portion of its revenue from fees, penalties, and interest collected on non-performing loans it servicers...it is in ASC's financial interest to avoid, delay, and deny loan modifications and to pursue foreclosures because doing to will lead to increased revenue." The HAMP guidelines clearly set out that borrowers who are not in default but are in distressed are eligible if they can demonstrate a financial hardship.

If you are facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit or have experienced circumstances similar to those described above, contact a Florida Foreclosure Lawyer or a Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer today to have your case reviewed.

Many homeowners who use foreclosure alternatives such as short sales or mortgage modifications in order to have a portion of their mortgage debt forgiven face the question "am I going to have to pay taxes on the amount of mortgage debt forgiven." In most instances that answer is no! The Mortgage Debt Relief Act of 2007 was enacted to help homeowners who were trying to escape toxic mortgages and the accompanying debt by not taxing the amounts forgiven as taxable income.

Homeowners who intend to claim the exemption must fill out Form 982 and attach it to their individual tax return in order to be eligible for the relief. Types of eligible debt are debts forgiven in connection with a foreclosure, debt forgiven due to a short sale as well as debt forgiven through a mortgage restructuring such as a HAMP modification. The Act was originally intended to only affect mortgage debt forgiven in 2007, 2008 and 2009 but was recently extended to include all forgiven mortgage debt through 2012!

If you are facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit and want to explore foreclosure alternatives that may reduce your mortgage debt and take advantage of the extension of the Mortgage Debt Relief Act of 2007, contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer or a Florida Foreclosure Lawyer today.

A new cooperative study from state attorneys general and lending insiders from across the country has found that greater than 60% of homeowners who are seriously delinquent on their mortgage payments are not involved in any foreclosure alternative with their lender. On its face this news is disturbing, but coupled with the other findings of the study, that loan modifications are leading to few re-defaults, shows just how misplaced many lenders focus is.

The study, conducted by the State Foreclosure Prevention Working Group, found that loans modified in 2009 were 40 to 50 percent less likely to be seriously delinquent after six months than loans modified during the same period in 2008. The group also found that mortgage modifications that lower the amount of principle have significantly lower default rates than overall mortgage modifications. The federal HAMP program recently announced a principle reduction alternative for lenders but the group says it has been very slow to find favor with lenders with only 1 in 5 modifications including a principle reduction.

If you are one of the thousands of Florida homeowners who is delinquent on your mortgage and you are considering a foreclosure alternative, contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer today to review your circumstances to determine the best course of action for you.

For more information see the complete State Foreclosure Prevention Working Group report.

Many homeowners that apply for the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) and the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP) have their applications denied. Many of the applications that are not approved are denied because they do not properly document all of the things that are pre-requisites to acceptance in the programs. If your application has been denied you are allowed to re-apply to these programs.

If you have been denied entry into either program and your goal is to keep your home, contact a Florida Foreclosure Lawyer or Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer Foreclosure Defense Lawyers are familiar with the guidelines that the government uses when reviewing HAMP and HARP applications. A Foreclosure Defense Lawyer can help to to determine whether or not you will qualify and if you do qualify they will be able to assist you in preparing the necessary documents. Contact a Florida Foreclosure Attorney for a consultation.

According to real estate data and analytics firm CoreLogic, the number of short sale has more than tripled since 2008. Their research study states that short sales will continue to rise from their estimated numbers, 400,000 short sales annually, and be an important part of the mortgage recovery. Four states, Texas; California; Florida and Arizona, account for 55.8% of the national short sale volume.

Though the numbers of short sales are likely to rise, CoreLogic states that this increase in short sales could potentially open the floodgates to short sale fraud. CoreLogic estimated that losses due to preventable short sale fraud amount to $310 million by the end of 2010. The average loss from each instance of short sale fraud is $41,500 with fraud occurring in 1 in every 53 short sales.

This study is evidence that there are alternatives to foreclosure to many homeowners. Programs such as HAMP and HARP, short sales and deeds-in-lieu of foreclosure are just a few of the alternatives that may be available to you. If you are facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit, contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer to explore your foreclosure alternative options.

With home values threatening to fall again and nearly 25% of U.S. homeowners currently underwater in their mortgages, the Federal Housing Authority (FHA) is pledging to help homeowners by financing their loans. The program, which was announced in March and will begin September 7, will offer FHA-insured mortgages to underwater, non-FHA borrowers who are current on their mortgage payments. One caveat to qualifying for the program is that the original lenders must agree to write-off 10% of the unpaid principle balance of the loan, something lenders have been notoriously hesitant to do.

To qualified for this new program, the homeowner must be underwater in their current mortgage, be current on the loan, have a credit score of 500, and use the property as their primary residence. In announcing the program, FHA Commissioner David Stevens said, "this is another tool to help overcome the negative equity problem facing many responsible homeowners who are looking to refinance into a safer, more secure mortgage product." Homeowners interested in participating in this new program need to contact their mortgage lender to determine their eligibility.

While this program is evidence of the federal governments effort to slow the effects of the housing crisis, it may not be enough to ensure the protection of your home. If you are one of the thousands of homeowners facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit, it is in your best interests to contact a Florida Foreclosure Lawyer to review the circumstances of your case. There are numerous foreclosure alternative programs, as well as legal defenses to foreclosure that may be able to save your home.

On August 2nd the Obama administration announced an additional $2.1 billion in funding to help homeowners located in the hardest-hit housing markets. Currently the housing markets eligible for the new funding are Arizona, California, Florida, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Rhode Island and South Carolina. The funds will be used to create state Housing Finance Agencies (HFAs) designed to provide stability in these troubled housing markets.

Some of the foreclosure alternative program the HFAs will implement include assistances to unemployed borrowers, funding to extinguish second liens, incentives for lenders to reduce principle on underwater mortgages and program to facilitate short sales and deeds-in-lieu of foreclosure. While the HFA program are a separate and distinct entity from other Making Home Affordable programs such as HAMP, HARP and HAFA, many of the same borrowers will be targeted by the HFAs and some of the same measures used in the Making Home Affordable programs will be utilized.

If you have any questions regarding your rights or eligibility under HAMP or HARP, contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer. A Florida Foreclosure Lawyer will know your rights and whether or not you qualify for either of these programs

To view the Hardest Hit Fund website please click here.

JP Morgan has been canceling loan modifications for various reasons causing missing documentation, excessive debt-to-income ratios, or inability to pay for a modified payments under the Making Home Affordable Plans as well as their own loan modifications causing many homeowners to file bankruptcy or defend their foreclosure reports ClickNews.

If you are considering a loan modification, you should have it reviewed by a Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer to help determine if the loan modification will benefit you. As previously reported, many "loan modifications" end up costing the home owner more than if they preformed under the existing loan because of hidden fees and the ability to change the interest rates 3-5 years down the road.

Foreclosure Lawyers in Jacksonville can help you evaluate whether you have defenses to a Foreclosure Lawsuit. They can also help determine if a strategic default on your home mortgage is a viable option for you. It is important to evaluate your complete financial circumstances as well as your mortgage documents to know what defenses and rights you have in defending a potential foreclosure.

Before entering into a loan modification, a Florida Foreclosure Lawyer can help you understand if you will qualify for any of the government based programs to help homeowners lower their monthly payments. It is important to understand that just because your initial payment will be lower, often the "loan modifications' being offered by many banks actually have you pay more for your home than if you performed under the existing loan. Whether this makes sense for you can be decided with the help of a Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer.

If you would like a free consultation to help you understand your options contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer.

This Act which has been approved by the House of Representatives responds to the sub prime crisis and the predatory lending techniques used by lenders. The Act will impose stricter requirements on lenders including:

-More stringent investigation by the lenders to ensure that the borrowers can repay the loan;
-Prohibition of predatory lending techniques;
-Liability on participants in the secondary mortgages markets;
-Holds creditors responsible for the loans they originate;
-Additional disclosures must be given to the borrowers;

This could bring long needed help to homeowners, but then again it could be just as ineffective as HAMP and HARP have been. We will just have to wait and see. For a summary of the Act go to www.house.gov/apps/list/press/financialsvcs_dem/summary_of_1728.pdf.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) declared that the use of Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) and Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP) by homeowners struggling to meet their mortgage obligations rose in January 2010. These two government programs are designed to assist individuals that are having a hard time paying their current monthly mortgage payments. The benefits that these programs provide can mean the difference between a homeowner staying in their home and foreclosure.

If you have any questions regarding your rights or eligibility under HAMP or HARP, contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer A Florida Foreclosure Lawyer will know your rights and whether or not you qualify for either of these programs

For full text of story: www.fhfa.gov under news releases

The Home Affordable Refinance Program or "HARP" was established through and functions much like the HAMP program detailed previously. The HARP program was created to allow homeowners who are current on their mortgages but who have not been able to takes advantage of today's lower interest rates because their homes have decreased in value and they are subsequently "upside down" or "under water" with regard to their home.

In order to be eligible to refinance under HARP a homeowner must be:

-The owner-occupant of a one-to-four unit home;
-The loan on the property is owned or guaranteed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac;
-You must be current on your mortgage payments at the time of your application for HARP. To be current a homeowner must not have been more than 30 days late on your mortgage payment in the last 12 months; or if a homeowner has had the loan for less than 12 months, they have never missed a payment;
-The amount of the first lien mortgage does not exceed 125% of the current market value of the property;
-The homeowner must have a reasonable ability to pay the new mortgage payments;
-The refinance improves the long-term affordability or stability of the loan;

The objective of a refinance under HARP is to get homeowners into more stable and more affordable loans through getting them into a new mortgage with better terms. A HARP refinance will not lower your monthly mortgage payments by reducing the amount of principle you owe on your mortgage; it lowers your monthly mortgage payments by replacing your mortgage interest rate with one of today's current market rates.

Given the significant drop in home values over the last several years most people may not qualify due to the excessive loan to value. In order to find out if you qualify for the HARP program or if the HARP program will be beneficial to you contact a Florida Foreclosure Lawyer or a Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer today to review your circumstances.