Mortgage Debt Archives - Page 2 of 2

Lawsuit aims to stop collection attempts on mortgage debt from old foreclosures

Posted on August 22, 2014by Admin

A lawsuit filed last week in federal court is hoping to block collection attempts on unpaid mortgage debt from foreclosures that took place years ago. A deadline change in the state’s law started a mass filing this year of deficiency judgment claims against defaulted borrowers, including at least 110 lawsuits in Palm Beach County since June 1.

The problem is that the claims violate the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act in cases where the suit is filed in Florida, but the borrower has since moved out of state. There is a class action lawsuit being sought in the Middle District of Florida on behalf of Massachusetts resident Richard Simpson, who lost a Jacksonville home to foreclosure in 2009.

Simpson was sued for a $26,651 deficiency in February, but many of the claims are for amounts greater than that. It is typically the difference between what the home is sold for at auction and the remaining mortgage debt.

The goal is to sue the out-of-state defendants who have just 20 days to respond, and then get a default judgment when they do not respond on time. Approximately 10,000 deficiency judgment claims have been filed in Florida.

Many homeowners are taken completely by surprise, unaware that the banks have a right to do this. Deficiency judgments used to be so rare that underwater homeowners simply took the chance and walked away, thinking the worst thing that could happen is that they lose their home.

A change in Florida law that went into effect July 1, 2013, reduced the timeline that banks and mortgage companies have to file for a deficiency judgment from five years to one year after a foreclosure is final, which is when the home is sold at auction.

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, Credit, Timothy Kingcade Posts

Mortgage Giant Fails to Settle Homeowner Complaints

Posted on March 25, 2013by Admin

A recent report showed that mortgage giant, Freddie Mac, failed to resolve a large portion of borrower’s complaints between October 2011 and November 2012. The report showed that Freddie Mac’s eight largest mortgage servicers resolved more than 25,500 complaints during that time but failed to handle 21 percent of the complaints filed within the allotted 30-day period. Furthermore, the report found that the majority of the complaints that came in and were considered “escalated complaints” were never reported to Freddie Mac. “Escalated complaints” are those that the field agent manning the phone cannot resolve and must be reported to Freddie Mac. Four out of eight of Freddie Mac’s mortgage servicers did not report a single complaint from October 2011 to November 2012. These four lenders included: Bank of America, CitiMortgage, Wells Fargo and Provident.

In addition to complaints not being passed on to Freddie Mac, the watchdog agency also reported that the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) did not have a proper plan in place for resolving the complaints from borrowers that were reported. The FHFA is responsible for monitoring Freddie Mac and its servicers. As a result, allegations of servicing fraud and improper foreclosures were inadequately handled. Freddie Mac and its servicers are required to observe strict protocol when a borrower files a complaint, according to 2011 guidelines that were issued to protect borrowers from fraudulent lender practices.

Click here to read more about mortgage giant Freddie Mac failing to resolve borrower complaints.

Credit, Foreclosures, Timothy Kingcade Posts

Homeowners Turning Down Refinancing Options

Posted on March 6, 2013by Admin

Since the housing market crashed in 2008, millions of Americans were left underwater on their mortgages. Last year, the federal government began installing programs to help underwater homeowners. One of the programs that was set in place in 2010 but revised several times since, the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP) was specifically designed to help homeowners who were underwater on their mortgages but still current on their mortgage payments. The changes made to HARP last year made it much easier for homeowners to qualify. Since these changes were made, mortgage lenders have aggressively tried to let underwater borrowers know about this opportunity to save money by refinancing, however few homeowners are taking the bait.

Mortgage originator, Quicken Loans, says that only about 25% of their qualifying homeowners have actually refinanced. The federal government and mortgage originators believe that homeowners are not taking advantage of the program because they are wary of being “bitten” again. The wounds from all of those who fell victim to no-money-down loans and balloon payments have left many borrowers cautious of any offers made by lenders. Analysts say that it is a shame that so few borrowers are refinancing through HARP since it was specifically designed to reward good borrower behavior.

To read more on this story visit: http://finance.fortune.cnn.com/2013/02/15/mortgage-refi-borrowers/

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.

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.