Foreclosures Archives - Page 12 of 56

Debt Relief, Foreclosures, Timothy Kingcade Posts

Completed Foreclosures Drop 40%

Posted on February 16, 2017by Admin

Homes in serious delinquency have fallen to the lowest level since 2007, according to a National Foreclosure Report released by CoreLogic. Completed foreclosures dropped from 36,000 in December 2015 to 21,000 in December 2016. The report revealed that foreclosure inventory dropped by 30% annually.

The foreclosure inventory represents the number of homes that are in some stage of foreclosure, while completed foreclosures reflect the total number of homes lost to foreclosure.

Foreclosure inventory dropped to just 0.8% of all homes with a mortgage in December, down from 1.2% in December 2015.

Homes in serious delinquency, defined as those 90 days or more past due including loans in foreclosure and REO, decreased 19.4% annually in December. The states with the highest number of completed foreclosures in December 2016 included Florida with 45,000, followed by Michigan with 30,000, Texas with 24,000, Ohio with 21,000 and California with 19,000.

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Choosing the right attorney can make the difference between whether or not you can keep your home. A well-qualified Miami foreclosure defense attorney will not only help you keep your home, but they will be able to negotiate a loan that has payments you can afford. Miami foreclosure defense attorney Timothy Kingcade has helped many facing foreclosure alleviate their stress by letting them stay in their homes for at least another year, allowing them to re-organize their lives. If you have any questions on the topic of foreclosure please feel free to contact me at (305) 285-9100. You can also find useful consumer information on the Kingcade & Garcia website at www.miamibankruptcy.com.

Bankruptcy Law, Debt Relief, Foreclosures, Timothy Kingcade Posts

Foreclosure Prevention Unknown After HAMP Expires

Posted on February 1, 2017by Admin

At the end of last month HAMP (The Home Affordable Modification Program) expired and Republican-led Washington has no intention of replacing it. So now it will be up to the private sector to address the lingering issues brought on by the financial crisis.

Banks and mortgage lenders say they are ready to step in with their own foreclosure-prevention programs, modeled on what they learned from the Obama administration’s effort. However, housing advocates are skeptical, as HAMP had its shortcomings. The program fell far short of the administration’s goals.

Specifically, banks and servicers routinely ignored the rules, consistently rejected eligible homeowners, processed applications at a snail’s pace and foreclosed on homeowners even when they made their modified payments on time, according to a series of audit reports for the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

Approximately 70 percent of those who applied for the loan modifications were turned down. Nearly 14 million homes went into foreclosure, according to ATTOM Data Solutions, which tracks foreclosure filings.

Even though the housing market has stabilized, the rate of delinquencies is at its lowest point since 2007, and home prices have risen in many places, there will always be homeowners and families in trouble because of job loss, illness and other unforeseen setbacks.

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Foreclosures, Timothy Kingcade Posts

Trump’s Treasury Pick Accused of Foreclosure Heartbreak Stories

Posted on January 27, 2017by Admin

After President Trump announced his Treasury Secretary nominee, Steven Mnuchin, a wave of California homeowners came forward with allegations that OneWest Bank actively steered them away from making timely mortgage payments to qualify for federal loan assistance that never came. Borrowers claim the fraudulent activity occurred under the leadership of Mnuchin.

The accusations center around the government program called the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP), which was launched at during the 2009 financial crisis. Under the program, eligible borrowers could receive new, lower payments and the banks that took part would also receive government incentive payments.

“They (OneWest) hired people who didn’t know what they were doing and some bad information was being given out,” a source who was familiar with OneWest’s foreclosure procedures at the time told CNN.

CNN spoke to seven OneWest borrowers who all had similar stories about being advised to purposely miss payments in order to qualify for the HAMP program.

Mnuchin testified at his confirmation hearing where he defended his time as a bank executive and his work in the private sector. However, the Democrats were not buying it, dubbing him the “Foreclosure King.”

Related Resources:

http://thehill.com/policy/finance/315143-mnuchin-emerges-from-confirmation-hearing-intact

http://money.cnn.com/2017/01/19/news/mnuchin-onewest-foreclosure/

Foreclosures, Timothy Kingcade Posts

Florida House Bill Would Expand Lienholders’ Rights in Foreclosure Cases

Posted on January 25, 2017by Admin

A bill filed this week in the Florida House, would expand the rights of lienholders in foreclosure actions. Florida H.B. 471, proposed by State Senator Jay Fant, “Authorizes certain lienholders to use certain documents as admission in action to foreclose mortgage; provides that submission of certain documents in foreclosure action creates certain presumptions; authorizes lienholder to make request for judicial notice,” according to the language of the bill.

The bill authorizes a lienholder to use any documents from the mortgagee’s bankruptcy case that indicates an intention by the defendant to surrender the property. If the defendant does not withdraw the document in question, that document submitted along with a bankruptcy discharge, “creates a rebuttable presumption that the defendant has: 1. Surrendered to the lienholder the defendant’s interest in the mortgaged property; and 2. Waived any defenses to the foreclosure.”

The defendant’s legal remedy in such a case includes: “raising a defense based upon the lienholder’s conduct subsequent to the filing of the document filed in the bankruptcy case that evidenced the defendant’s intention to surrender the mortgaged property to the lienholder.”

The bill was filed with the Florida House on January 24, and would go into effect on July 1, 2017, if it passes.

Related Resources:

http://floridapolitics.com/archives/230882-florida-house-bill-expand-bank-rights-foreclosure-cases
http://www.dsnews.com/daily-dose/01-24-2017/florida-bill-expand-lienholders-rights https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2017/0471/BillText/Filed/PDF

Bankruptcy Law, Debt Relief, Foreclosures, Timothy Kingcade Posts

Quicken Loans Fast Becoming the New Mortgage Lending Machine

Posted on January 23, 2017by Admin

In the years since the housing market crash, many of the nation’s largest banks have strengthened their underwriting processes and become more conservative with their mortgage-lending activities. However, Quicken Loans has pushed forward, becoming the second-largest retail mortgage lender originating $96 billion in mortgages last year — an eight-fold increase from 2008.

In a federal false-claims lawsuit filed in 2015, the Department of Justice accused Quicken Loans of misrepresenting borrowers’ incomes and credit scores, in order to qualify for Federal Housing Administration insurance. As a result, when those loans defaulted, the government says the taxpayers — not Quicken loans — suffered millions of dollars in losses.

In the years since the financial crisis, Quicken has emerged as a leader in the nation’s “shadow-banking system,” a network of non-bank financial institutions that has gained significant ground against its more regulated bank counterparts in providing mortgage loans.

The increase in regulation and decreased profits forced the nation’s banks out. Non-banks, like Quicken, quickly filled the gap.

Former executives have described Quicken Loans as a technology company that sells mortgages. The 3,500 mortgage bankers who work the phones are the life-blood of the company. Many new employees come in with little to no background in financial services. According to an inside source, one employee joined after delivering pizzas to the Quicken Loans office and becoming interested in working there.

Critics say these shadow banks, by focusing on the riskier end of the mortgage market, may be reviving the same circumstances that resulted in so many defaults and foreclosures.

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Bankruptcy Law, Credit, Debt Relief, Foreclosures, Timothy Kingcade Posts

How Trump Policies Could Affect the Elderly and Disabled

Posted on January 19, 2017by Admin

President-elect Donald Trump is set to take office tomorrow, January 20^th at 12:00 PM. During his presidency, economists anticipate several policy changes that will significantly affect the elderly population, those who are disabled and those with special needs. Here are a few ways those changes might affect you.

Social Security and Medicare

Although President-elect Trump has consistently stated that the Social Security and Medicare programs will remain intact, both face an impending insolvency. As one of their proposals to keep those programs solvent, Trump and Congressman Paul Ryan are promoting an approach that will include some form of Social Security and Medicare privatization.

The Cost of Health Care

There is a mounting fear among Americans about the cost of health care and long-term care. Restrictions on benefits and legislative changes that restrict or limit access to government programs, such as Medicaid, can only heighten such fears.

Block Grant Proposal

Medicaid is currently administered at the federal level by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Each state has its own state Medicaid Plan, however, there are mandates and constraints. The proposed grants would issue each state a certain number of Medicaid dollars and the state would in turn, decide how to use and spend those dollars. In some states, little would change, however in other states the changes could be profound for those who rely heavily on Medicaid.

Trump has also stated that there are a few policies from Obama’s Affordable Care Act that he intends to keep, including:

Allowing young adults to remain on parental coverage;
Protecting people with pre-existing medical conditions;
Closing the Medicare prescription drug coverage gap.

If you are in financial crisis and considering filing for bankruptcy, contact an experienced Miami bankruptcy attorney who can advise you of all your options. As an experienced CPA as well as a proven bankruptcy lawyer, Timothy Kingcade knows how to help clients take full advantage of the bankruptcy laws to protect their assets and get successful results. Since 1996 Kingcade & Garcia, P.A. has been helping people from all walks of life build a better tomorrow. Our attorneys’ help thousands of people every year take advantage of their rights under bankruptcy protection to restart, rebuild and recover. The day you hire our firm, we will contact your creditors to stop the harassment. You can also find useful consumer information on the Kingcade & Garcia website at www.miamibankruptcy.com.

Related Resources:

http://www.wealthmanagement.com/estate-planning/how-trump-policies-could-affect-elderly-and-those-special-needs

https://www.yahoo.com/news/pointed-questions-await-trumps-pick-health-secretary-085931872–politics.html

Foreclosures, Timothy Kingcade Posts

HAMP Being Replaced with New Foreclosure Prevention Program, Flex Modification

Posted on January 11, 2017by Admin

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have announced their replacement for the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP). The Flex Modification foreclosure prevention program is designed to help families stay in their homes by offering reductions on their monthly mortgage payments.

“The new Flex Modification announced by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the Enterprises) today was designed based on lessons learned from crisis-era loan modification programs to help borrowers stay in their homes and avoid foreclosures whenever possible,” the FHFA said in a statement.

The Flex Modification also reflects input received over the course of extensive engagement with lenders, mortgage insurers, consumer advocates, and other stakeholders, the statement adds. The FHFA believes that by avoiding the high costs associated with foreclosures, Flex Modification will result in significant savings for the Enterprises and taxpayers, while borrowers facing financial hardships can obtain a sustainable modification.

The new modification will replace the current Fannie Mae Standard and Streamlined Modification offerings on and after Oct. 1, 2017.

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Foreclosures, Timothy Kingcade Posts

South Florida’s Foreclosure Rate Continues to Drop

Posted on January 10, 2017by Admin

A recent report shows foreclosure activity on the decline, bringing South Florida’s rank to 10^th in the nation among other metropolitan areas. One in every 786 housing units in South Florida was in some stage of foreclosure last month, according to the real estate research company ATTOM Data Solutions. This number has fallen nearly 18 percent compared to the previous year.

Miami-Dade had the largest number of distressed properties with 1,479 homes in the foreclosure pipeline last month. Broward came in second with 1,012 housing units, followed by Palm Beach with 657.

Miami was one of the hardest hit cities during the housing market crash. This was in part due to lenient mortgage requirements and a surplus of new condo projects.

As home prices recovered and more buyers began purchasing properties in all-cash, South Florida’s foreclosure rate has steadily declined over the past few years.

Related Resources:

http://therealdeal.com/miami/2016/12/15/south-floridas-foreclosure-rate-dives-again-in-november-report/

Bankruptcy Law, Credit, Debt Relief, Foreclosures, Student Loans, Timothy Kingcade Posts

When Shared Bills Outlast Your Relationship

Posted on January 6, 2017by Admin

Between 1993 and 2005, married couples were legally allowed to consolidate their student loan debts. In 2005 the federal government stopped allowing joint consolidation loans, however, thousands of couples who have since gone through divorce have been stuck with their former spouses’ student loan debts.

The Boston Globe reported an instance where a woman consolidated her student loans with her husband’s in order to get a lower interest rate. At the time, she owed approximately $4,000 and he owed $19,000. When the couple divorced four years later, the woman was stuck with the entire joint debt that had reached over $30,000. After fighting it in court, she was told it could not be split and since her former husband did not have a job at the time, she was ultimately responsible. As a result, she lost her home to foreclosure, declared bankruptcy and had her paycheck and tax returns garnished.

Unfortunately, this is not uncommon for couples who consolidated debt during their marriage and later divorced. The U.S. Department of Education says federal law does not allow the old loans to be split, even in cases involving domestic violence. Joint borrowers also cannot apply for income-based repayment plans unless both parties submit financial information.

Borrowers facing “unique circumstances, such as domestic violence,” are encouraged to contact the Federal Student Aid Ombudsman to explore options.

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For borrowers who are struggling with student loan debt, relief options are available. Many student loan borrowers are unaware that they have rights and repayment options available to them, such as postponement of loan payments, reduction of payments or even a complete discharge of the debt. It is important you contact an experienced Miami bankruptcy attorney who can advise you of all your options. As an experienced CPA as well as a proven bankruptcy lawyer, Timothy Kingcade knows how to help clients take full advantage of the bankruptcy laws to protect their assets and get successful results. Since 1996 Kingcade & Garcia, P.A. has been helping people from all walks of life build a better tomorrow. Our attorneys help thousands of people every year take advantage of their rights under bankruptcy protection to restart, rebuild and recover. The day you hire our firm, we will contact your creditors to stop the harassment. You can also find useful consumer information on the Kingcade & Garcia website at www.miamibankruptcy.com.

Credit, Debt Relief, Foreclosures, Timothy Kingcade Posts

Why You Shouldn’t Panic about Rising Mortgage Rates

Posted on December 20, 2016by Admin

Although mortgage rates have been on a steady rise in recent months, buyers should not panic because rates are still historically low. According to Freddie Mac, the average rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rose to 4.16 percent, up from 4.13 percent last week. This is up from 3.97 percent last year. This means buyers will pay approximately $21 more per month compared to a year ago on a $241,000 mortgage with a 20 percent down payment.

According to economists, the rise in interest rates should not deter potential buyers. In 1996, the average rate was 5.67 percent and in 1990 it was 10.13 percent. However, for the past ten years rates have been under five percent.

Mortgage rates are forecasted to gradually increase throughout 2017. As a result, home prices are also expected to rise.

“The era of ultra-low interest rates is over,” said Lawrence Yun, chief economist of the National Association of Realtors. “The short-term rate hike will be followed by several additional rounds of increases in 2017 and 2018. Despite these moves, mortgage rates will not rise alarmingly.”

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