Friday, October 19, 2012
Friday, October 12, 2012
Saturday, October 6, 2012
Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternative (HAFA) Program
In either case, HAFA offers benefits that make
the transition as favorable as possible:
- You can get free advice from
HUD-approved housing counselors and licensed real estate professionals.
- Unlike conventional short
sales, a HAFA short sale completely releases you from your mortgage debt
after selling the property. This means you will no longer be responsible
for the amount that falls "short" of the amount you still owe.
The deficiency is guaranteed to be waived by the servicer.
- In a HAFA short sale, your
mortgage company works with you to determine an acceptable sale price.
- HAFA has a less negative effect
on your credit score than foreclosure or conventional short sales.
- When you close, HAFA may
provide $3,000 in relocation assistance.
You
may be eligible for HAFA if you meet all of the following criteria:
- You have a documented financial
hardship.
- You have not purchased a new
house within the last 12 months.
- Your first mortgage is less
than $729,750.
- You obtained your mortgage on
or before January 1, 2009.
- You must not have been
convicted within the last 10 years of felony larceny, theft, fraud, forgery,
money laundering or tax evasion in connection with a mortgage or real
estate transaction.
*Eligibility criteria are for guidance only.
Contact your mortgage servicer to see if you qualify for HAFA or contact The Petsche Group to assist you with this process.
Monday, October 1, 2012
Tenant Entitled to a 90-Day Notice to Terminate After Foreclosure
Effective January 1, 2013, a month-to-month tenant in
possession of a rental housing unit at the time the property is foreclosed must
be given a 90-day written notice to terminate under California law. For a
fixed-term residential lease, the tenant can generally remain until the end of
the lease term, and all rights and obligations under the lease shall survive
foreclosure, including the tenant’s obligation to pay rent. However, the
landlord can give a 90-day written notice to terminate a fixed-term lease after
foreclosure under any of the following four circumstances: (1) the purchaser or
successor-in-interest will occupy the property as a primary residence; (2) the
tenant is the borrower or the borrower’s child, spouse, or parent; (3) the lease
was not the result of an arms’ length transaction; or (4) the lease requires
rent that is substantially below fair market rent (except if under rent control
or government subsidy). The purchaser or successor-in-interest bears the burden
of proving that one of the four exceptions has been met. This law does not apply
if a borrower stays in the property as a tenant, subtenant, or occupant, or if
the property is subject to just cause rent control. This law will expire on
December 31, 2019. This new California law is similar, but not identical, to the
90-day termination notice requirement under the federal Protecting Tenants at
Foreclosure Act (12 U.S.C. § 5201, et seq.) (as extended by the Dodd-Frank Wall
Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act), which is set to expire on December
31, 2014. Assembly Bill 2610.
Landlord Must Disclose Notice of Default to Prospective Tenants
Starting January 1, 2013, every landlord who offers for rent a
residential property containing one-to-four units must disclose in writing to
any prospective tenant the receipt of a notice of default that has not been
rescinded. This disclosure must be made before executing a lease agreement. If a
landlord violates this law, the tenant can elect to void the lease and recover
one month’s rent or twice the amount of actual damages, whichever is greater,
plus all prepaid rent. If the lease is not voided and the foreclosure sale has
not occurred, the tenant may deduct one month’s rent from future amounts owed.
The written disclosure notice as provided by statute must be in English,
Spanish, Chinese, Tagalog, Vietnamese, and Korean. A property manager will not
be held liable for failing to provide the written disclosure notice unless the
landlord has given the property manager written instructions to deliver the
written disclosure to the tenant. This law will expire on January 1, 2018. Senate Bill 1191.
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
Governor Brown Signs Homeowner Bill of Rights
Homeowner’s Bill of Rights (Assembly Bill 278 and Senate Bill 900) has been signed into law by Governor Brown and will go into effect January 1, 2013.
This is very important victory for those homeowners that are struggling with their mortgage payments or have potential mortgage issues coming up in the near future.
For too long, homeowners have been at a disadvantage when fighting to save their homes from foreclosure. Real estate professionals have teamed up with homeowners in an effort to save their home or at least attempt to avoid a foreclosure, just to be disappointed in the end because of poor communication between the banks, asset managers, processors, etc. The goal is to be “soft on the people”, but “hard on the problem”, and it looks like that is now going to be happening.
The Homeowner’s Bill of Rights will end the “dual tracking” process, and require lenders to be more accountable for their actions. If lenders do not abide by the new procedures established in these measures, homeowners now have the right to seek legal action.
Summary of the applicability of the law:
Applicability of the Law:
This law will generally come into effect on January 1, 2013. It only pertains to first trust deeds secured by owner-occupied properties with one-to-four residential units, unless otherwise outlined in the law. "Owner-occupied" means the property is the principal residence of the borrower and secured by a loan made for personal, family, or household purposes (CC 2924.15). A "borrower" under this law must generally be a natural person and potentially eligible for a foreclosure prevention alternative program offered by the mortgage servicer, but not someone who has filed bankruptcy, surrendered the secured property, or contracted with an organization primarily engaged in the business of advising people how to extend the foreclosure process and avoid their contractual obligations (CC 2920.5(c)). A "foreclosure prevention alternative" is defined as a first lien loan modification or another available loss mitigation option, including short sales (CC 2920.5(b)). Some of the requirements of this law do not apply to "smaller banks" that, during the preceding annual reporting period, foreclosed on 175 or fewer properties with one-to-four residential units (CC 2924.18(b)).
The full text of this law, also known as the Homeowners Bill of Rights (Bill ID: AB0278), is available at www.leginfo.ca.gov.See More
The full text of this law, also known as the Homeowners Bill of Rights (Bill ID: AB0278), is available at www.leginfo.ca.gov.See More
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