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Foreclosure Defense, Foreclosures, Housing Market Trends

Mortgage Debt Remains a Problem for Homeowners 55 and Older

Posted on October 22, 2021by Admin

Homeowners throughout the country have struggled with staying afloat and remaining in their homes during the COVID-19 pandemic. With no immediate end in sight to the pandemic, it appears as if that problem will continue, especially those in the 55 and older age group.

The U.S. Census Bureau reviewed household statistics through its biweekly Household Pulse Survey to see how homeowners are faring with remaining current on their mortgage obligations. Their most recent study covered the period of September 1 through September 13, 2021. According to the Census Bureau, 1.7 million homeowners ages 55 or older were reportedly behind on their mortgage payments. Of these 1.7 million homeowners, 277,000 of them said that the possibility of facing foreclosure was likely or very likely for them.

COVID-19, Debt Relief, Foreclosures

Biden Extends Ban on Evictions and Foreclosures through March

Posted on January 21, 2021by Admin

Shortly after being sworn in as the nation’s 46th president, Joe Biden signed several executive orders. One of these signed orders included extending the ban on evictions and foreclosures for individuals affected by the COVID-19 crisis.

This new order extends the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) moratorium that was set to expire on January 31, 2021. The CDC’s order first went into effect in September 2020. This new executive order extends the ban for at least an additional two months past the expiration date.

Debt Relief, Foreclosures, Timothy Kingcade Posts

Changes to Reverse Mortgage Rules for Retirees

Posted on October 13, 2017by Admin

Starting this month, some major changes are coming to the HECM reverse mortgage industry as the government aims to strengthen the long run projections of the program. The Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) is Federal Housing Administration’s (FHA) reverse mortgage program which enables you to withdraw some of the equity in your home.

According to HUD Secretary Ben Carson, “We have a responsibility to make changes that balance our mission with our responsibility to protect taxpayers. Furthermore, Carson noted that the changes are “needed and prudent steps to put the HECM program on a more sustainable footing so that it can remain a resource for senior borrowers.”

Here are the three major changes that have taken effect October 2017:

Upfront HECM mortgage insurance premiums will be increased for certain borrowers, but lowered for others, as compared to the current system.
The ongoing mortgage insurance premiums will be lowered, bringing down the total compounding rate cost for most borrowers. This could put rates more in line with the rates of traditional mortgages and the rates of home equity lines of credit.
Principal limit factors will be changed, which impacts the amount of home equity that will be available for homeowners to access at various ages under the HECM program.

Click here to learn more about the specifics of each of these three major changes and how each one will affect borrowers.

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 McMaken website at www.miamibankruptcy.com.

Foreclosures, Timothy Kingcade Posts

Banks sell off foreclosure remnants, helping eliminate housing ‘zombies’

Posted on September 12, 2016by Admin

Zombie foreclosures remain a big problem in certain parts of the country. Banks are taking action on those vacant, foreclosed homes and selling them at a fast turnover. In fact, vacant homes in the foreclosure process are expected to drop 9 percent in the third quarter from a year ago, but vacant bank-owned properties are expected to jump 67 percent during the period, according to ATTOM Data Solutions.

Currently, there are just over 46,600 vacant bank-owned properties (known as REOs) littering neighborhoods nationally. More low-priced homes would seem to be a bonus for a housing market plagued with a short supply, but that is not the case in this situation. The vast majority of these zombie foreclosures are in the least desirable markets for investors. New York, Philadelphia and Chicago have the highest number of vacant foreclosures, but they are in some of the most impoverished areas. The homes are also in terrible disrepair.

That means the homes that are left, the zombie foreclosures, require thousands of dollars of work to make them either desirable to renters or buyers. Government-backed mortgage entities like Fannie Mae and the FHA have strict lending requirements when it comes to distressed properties.

Click here to read more on this story.

Debt Relief, Foreclosures, Timothy Kingcade Posts

FHA’s New Guidelines Help Struggling Homeowners Remain in their Homes

Posted on August 31, 2016by Admin

New procedures put in place by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) will help strengthen the process mortgage services currently use and help struggling families stay in their homes and avoid foreclosure.

The updated procedures will streamline the process servicers use to engage borrowers, specifically when evaluating them for the FHA-Home Affordable Modification Program (FHA-HAMP). These changes will reduce the number of steps that a servicer and borrower must take to resolve a delinquency and enter into a loss mitigation home retention product. In addition, FHA is removing certain obstacles that will allow servicers greater flexibility for evaluating an unemployed borrower for a special forbearance agreement.

Here is what homeowners need to know about the new provisions. Specifically, the FHA will:

Require servicers to convert successful 3-month trial modifications into permanent modifications within 60 days instead of the average four-to-six months;
Allow borrowers with three missed mortgage payments to qualify for a partial claim to bring their payments current versus the previous requirement for a minimum of four missed payments;
End the traditional stand-alone Loan Modification option so struggling borrowers can access the FHA-HAMP option, to receive payment relief quicker;
Eliminate the required 12-month term for FHA’s special forbearance option. This will allow servicers to offer this option to more unemployed households.

Related Resources:

www.fhfa.gov

https://rismedia.com/2016/08/28/fha-streamlines-process-to-help-delinquent-homeowners-stay-in-homes/

Credit, Foreclosures, Timothy Kingcade Posts

FHA Announced Hike on New Mortgage Premiums

Posted on February 4, 2013by Admin

The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) announced last week that it will be raising premiums in order to reduce borrowers’ exposure to risky loans. It will raise premiums by 10 basis points or .1% on most of the new mortgages it insures. This means that if a borrower with a 30-year fixed rate mortgage puts 5% or more down, they will now pay an annual insurance premium of 1.3% of their outstanding balance. If a borrower puts less than 5% down, they will pay a premium of 1.35%. The FHA is the largest insurer of low-down payment mortgages. It will also raise premiums on ‘jumbo loans,’ or loans of $625,000 or more. Jumbo loan premiums will be raised by 5 basis points, or .05% and increase the minimum down payment requirement on these loans from 3.5% to 5%.

Another change the FHA is making to its insurance requirements is that buyers will now have to pay insurance premiums for the life of their loan. In 2001 a policy was set in place that allowed borrowers to cancel their premium payments once their debt fell below 78% of the principal balance. Borrowers who put more than 10% down at the time of the purchase will be an exception to this new policy.

Other new policies the FHA has set in place include one requiring that mortgages where the borrower has less than a 620 credit score and a debt-to-income ratio above 43% must be underwritten manually. Lenders will be required to adequately document why they decided to approve these loans. Another policy the FHA will enforce will place new restrictions on reverse mortgages.

Choosing the right attorney can make the difference between whether or not you can keep your home. A well-qualified attorney will not only help you keep your home, but they will be able to negotiate a loan that has payments you can afford. 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, P.A. website at www.miamibankruptcy.com.