OREGON REAL ESTATE ROUND TABLE

Tag: Federal Govenment

  • Multnomahforeclosures.com: Updated Notice of Default Lists


    Multnomahforeclosures.com was updated today (August 24th, 2010) with the largest list of Notice Defaults to date. With Notice of Default records dating back over 2 years. Multnomahforeclosures.com documents the fall of the great real estate bust of the 21st centry. The lists are of the raw data taken from county records.

    It is not a bad idea for investors and people that are seeking a home of their own to keep an eye on the Notice of Default lists. Many of the homes listed are on the market or will be.

    All listings are in PDF and Excel Spread Sheet format.

    Multnomah County Foreclosures

    http://multnomahforeclosures.com

  • Post-Mortgage Meltdown, Where Do We Go Now?, National Public Radio (NPR)


    For more than 20 years, the mantra in Washington has been “more, not less” when it comes to Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the expansion of homeownership.

    But in light of the financial crisis and Fannie and Freddie’s near-collapse, policy leaders are also rethinking the government’s role — and many Americans are starting to question whether homeownership is the only path to the American Dream.

    Fannie and Freddie function by buying, bundling and then stamping a government guarantee on mortgages. Then they sell them to investors. It keeps the banks happy because it keeps capital flowing, and it keeps consumers happy because it makes low, fixed-rate mortgages possible.

    At least that how things were supposed to unfold. But the two mortgage finance giants “made astonishing mistakes,” Raj Date, executive director of a financial policy think-tank called the Cambridge Winter Center, told NPR’s Audie Cornish.

    ‘It Has All Come Back To Haunt Them’

    “As normal people everywhere in the country realized that housing prices seemed to be growing straight into the stratosphere, instead of becoming more conservative about lending against those ridiculously high values, Fannie and Freddie just continued to make the same kind of loans and indeed made more aggressive loans during that period of 2005, 2006, 2007,” Date said. “And it has all come back to haunt them.”

    So instead of rationally-priced credit, he said, the country wound up with a $6 or $7 trillion bubble in housing values. And all of Wall Street and most of the country’s banks made the same sort of mistakes, Date said.

    Policy makers are at a bit of a crossroads, said Date, who was among a number of industry leaders who huddled with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner this week to figure out a new way forward on housing.

    Fannie and Freddie have dramatically scaled back their level of aggressiveness in underwriting credit, Date said. But, he added, “the fact of the matter is that on average and over time, Fannie and Freddie represent an economic subsidy from the public at large to middle and upper middle-income homeowners.”

    Despite talk on Capitol Hill of dismantling the two organizations, it might be tough to get rid of them. That’s because Fannie and Freddie, along with the Federal Housing Administration, are responsible for some 95 percent of the mortgages in the country today, Date said.

    “If you think that the fall of 2008 was calamitous, believe me, you haven’t seen anything yet if you were just somehow to turn off the lights on Fannie and Freddie today,” he warned. “That said, I think the policy makers are trying to be thoughtful about the right long-term answer is for housing finance more broadly, and that involves revisiting some issues that have been treated as sort of untouchable for quite some time.”

    Ultimately, Date said it might be time to rethink homeownership as an American ideal.

    The White Picket Fence Reconsidered

    “The world we live in today is not quite the world that existed in 1950,” he noted. “The nature of households and the rate at which they dissolve and reform, the nature of work and its transient nature across geographies are all things that suggest that maybe, just possibly, a middle-class American shouldn’t stake themselves to an illiquid, very large, concentrated, leveraged asset —- that is to say, a house.”

    Alyssa Katz, author of Our Lot: How Real Estate Came To Own Us, also thinks America needs to reconsider the American Dream.

    “Homeowenership has gone from being pretty much an unmitigated good — something that would provide stability — and instead has thrown a huge cloud of doubt over the value of homeownership for a lot of people.”

    Even so, there also are downsides to renting, she said.

    “Some of the common beliefs about renting are absolutely true,” Katz said. “Being a renter has very little security. They don’t have any promise they’ll be able to live in the apartment or home for more than a year or two. Renting is also perceived as something that really divides Americans by class. So I think for a lot of potential renters, or people who own and are thinking of making that transition to renting, they have to overcome this sense that they are giving up a sense of status.”

    That’s a tough thing to shake for many Americans, she said.

    If more people rent, the benefits of homeownership will only increase for those who own homes because the pool will shrink, Katz said.

    “Those who have access to homeownership and the benefits that it brings, as a result of policy, will be even more privileged than they are now.”

    http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129348144

  • Foreclosure rate soars in suburbs, Steve Law, Portland Tribune


    While Portlanders continue to be plagued by home foreclosures, the number of distressed homeowners is spiking even faster in the suburbs these days.

    Foreclosure actions filed against homeowners in upscale Lake Oswego mushroomed 20 percent the first six months of this year, compared with the same period last year, and rose 10 percent in jobs-rich Hillsboro, according to RealtyTrac Inc., an Irvine, Calif., real estate data services company. RealtyTrac counted nearly 300 Lake Oswego properties socked with foreclosure actions from January through June and more than 500 Hillsboro properties.

    Foreclosures also shot up at a rate faster than Portland in suburban Oregon City, Milwaukie, Tigard, Tualatin, Sherwood and St. Helens.

    “The foreclosure activity that is occurring in suburban markets in Oregon is unprecedented,” says Tom Cusack, a retired federal housing manager in Portland who continues to track the issue via his Oregon Housing Blog. “It’s affecting not just rural areas, not just inner-city neighborhoods, but suburban neighborhoods, probably more substantially than any time in the past,” Cusack says.

    From January through June, foreclosure filings grew 6.5 percent in the city of Portland, compared with a year earlier, and 8.5 percent in Portland suburbs, not counting Clark County, according to RealtyTrac data.

    In 10 different local ZIP codes — three in Portland and seven in the suburbs — foreclosure actions were filed against more than 2 percent of all properties the first six months of 2010.

    Dominating local market

    Realtors say a record number of foreclosures dominates the area housing market, depressing home prices but also attracting bargain-hunters looking for distressed properties.

    “Either you’re helping people get into them or helping get out of them,” says Fred Stewart, a Northeast Portland Realtor who operates a website listing foreclosed homes for sale in Multnomah County.

    Distressed properties account for “40 percent of the business right now,” says Dale Kuhn, principal broker for John L. Scott Real Estate in Lake Oswego.

    Every suburb is a unique real estate market, so it’s hard to generalize why some are experiencing more foreclosures now than before. In West Linn, for example, foreclosure filings were down the first six months of the year compared to a year earlier, while things are going in a different direction in its affluent neighbor to the north, Lake Oswego.

    Explanations vary

    One factor could be that many borrowers of modest means took out subprime loans, which were the first to go through foreclosure when those loans “exploded” and reset to much-higher interest rates. Working-class neighborhoods had the highest foreclosure rates in the early months of the Great Recession.

    “They got hit the hardest first,” says Rick Skaggs, a real estate broker at John L. Scott in Forest Grove.

    In the Portland area, an unusually high number of middle-class and affluent borrowers took out interest-only loans and Option ARM or negative-amortization loans. Option ARMs (adjustable rate mortgages) allowed the borrower to pay a minimum monthly mortgage payment — akin to a credit card minimum payment — while tacking more principal onto the loan. Option ARMs and other alternative loans took longer to unravel than subprime loans, and many are now winding up in foreclosure. And those mortgages were more common for more expensive properties.

    They were ticking time bombs, like subprime loans, but they had longer fuses, says Angela Martin, of the Portland public interest group Our Oregon.

    Stewart offers another reason for the surge in suburban foreclosures. He’s noticing a larger pool of buyers now for closer-in Portland neighborhoods, as people seek to avoid long commutes. People selling distressed properties in Northeast and Southeast Portland have more options to sell than someone saddled with an unaffordable mortgage in a suburb, Stewart says.

    Tables turned

    Recent state and national statistics also reveal a counterintuitive trend — affluent homeowners are going into foreclosure lately at a higher rate than others.

    Cusack recently analyzed data for Oregonians who took out traditional 30-year Federal Housing Administration loans since mid-2008. He found that the greater the loan amount, the greater the chances those became problem loans.

    “The default rate and the seriously delinquent rate were higher for higher-income loans,” Cusack says.

    Business owners and other affluent homebuyers who settled in suburban markets also had more resources available to hold onto their homes than lower-income homeowners, at least during the earlier stages of the Great Recession. That may explain why places such as Lake Oswego are seeing such an upsurge in foreclosures now.

    “If you paid a half-million for anything in Lake Oswego in 2007, you’re ‘under water,’ ” Stewart says. That’s the term for people who owe more on their mortgage than their home is worth.

    Portland bankruptcy attorney Ann Chapman, of the firm Vanden Bos & Chapman, is seeing an uptick in affluent clients coming to her office.

    They had been turning to pensions, savings and family money to hold onto their homes and businesses, Chapman says. But as the economic downturn grinds on, some clients see the best option as dumping their home and filing for bankruptcy reorganization.

    Affluent homeowners make a more sober assessment when they realize their homes aren’t going to be worth the mortgage amount for many years, she says. “They’re going to potentially be less emotionally involved when it comes to stopping the bleeding.”

    It’s often a different story for lower-income homeowners who hope to hold onto the only homes they’ve ever had, or hope to have. “They get blinded by their optimism or their paralysis,” Chapman says.

    Little relief in sight

    Many Realtors say it’s a great buyer’s market now for those who have steady jobs, because interest rates are low and prices have fallen so much. But don’t expect the onslaught of Portland-area foreclosures to end any time soon.

    “We are nowhere near the end if you look at the number of homeowners that will ultimately be at risk,” says Martin, citing a new study by the North Carolina-based Center for Responsible Lending. Based on that study, she figures Oregon is only halfway through the foreclosure crisis, in terms of the number of people affected by foreclosures.

    Skaggs says he wishes he could be more positive, but he doesn’t see the light at the end of the tunnel. He just spoke with an investor last week who is about to walk away from five rental homes and let the bank take them back. Three of the homes are in the Beaverton area, one is in Bend and one is on the Oregon Coast.

    “I probably know at least 15 people that in the next month or two are going to walk away from their homes.”

    stevelaw@portlandtribune.com

    http://www.portlandtribune.com/news/story.php?story_id=128216600543594000

  • New Fed rules aim to protect home buyers


    WASHINGTON • In a move long sought by consumer advocates, the Federal Reserve issued on Monday rules intended to prevent brokers and lenders from unfairly profiting from new mortgage loans.

    The rules ban the abuse of the yield-spread premium, a practice that often put buyers into unstable and expensive loans simply to generate extra commissions.

    “This is a real milestone,” said Michael Calhoun of the Center for Responsible Lending, which had long argued against the premiums.

    “People didn’t just happen to end up in risky loans during the boom,” Mr. Calhoun added. “Mortgage brokers and other people on the frontlines were getting two to three times as much money to push buyers into those loans than they were into 30-year fixed-rate loans. So what do you think happened?”

    In some cases, borrowers never knew they were paying more in interest than they needed to. In others, they thought they were saving money by exchanging lower fees for a higher rate. But consumer groups argued that the borrowers often ended up paying both higher fees and a higher rate.

    While the new rules prohibit payments to a lender or broker based on the loan’s interest rate, they allow for compensation based on a fixed percentage of the loan amount.

    The Fed rules take effect in April. Similar and in some ways more comprehensive rules are in the financial reform bill that passed Congress this summer. Those rules will take effect later.

    Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in spotlight • The administration of President Barack Obama will bring together bankers, investors, housing experts and policymakers today for the Conference on the Future of Housing Finance. The goal is to address the problems of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

    Practically all new U.S. mortgages are guaranteed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and the Federal Housing Administration. Since the credit crisis began the Federal Reserve has purchased $1.1 trillion in agency mortgage securities as a means of propping up the market and keeping loan rates low. This creates great risk for the taxpayers.

    Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac “are quite profoundly broken,” economist Raj Date of the Cambridge Winter Center told CNN. “But no one wants to disrupt the only thing that’s working right now in the mortgage market.”

    Congress under pressure • Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., said the House Financial Services Committee would hold hearings in September on the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac situation.

    Lawmakers agree that Fannie and Freddie should stop borrowing heavily from the capital markets. Beyond that, there is little agreement.

    Democrats seem to be moving in the direction of turning Fannie and Freddie into much smaller entities that buy individual mortgages, pool them and sell them back into the market to private investors. Republicans who don’t back a fully private market are likely to push for a government guarantee that is available for any corporate mortgage investor packaging loans, not just Fannie and Freddie.

    However, some sort of government guarantee is likely, largely because of the influence of the housing lobby, including the Mortgage Bankers Association, the National Association of Realtors and the National Association of Home Builders.

    “The housing industry is dead set on having guarantees,” said Mark Calabria, of the CATO Institute in Washington.

    http://www.stltoday.com/news/national/article_36fd938b-22ec-518b-a5ec-73b2b104ec24.html

  • Oregon’s homeownership program to receive an additional $49.2 million, by Jeff Manning, The Oregonian


    Though it’s months away from awarding a single dollar to struggling homeowners, Oregon’s newly established foreclosure-prevention program keeps growing.

    Oregon’s Homeownership Stabilization Initiative is in line to receive another $49.2 million, the U.S. Treasury Department announced Wednesday. That’s on top of the $88 million already awarded by the Treasury.

    Oregon officials are still refining the details of its program and won’t be ready to begin dispensing money until the end of the year, said Michael Kaplan, director of the program.

    “We’re thrilled,” Kaplan said. Even with the addition of the new money, he said, “we have so much more demand than we have resources.”

    The foreclosure epidemic has claimed thousands in Oregon, largely due to the state’s high unemployment. Though it remains far behind foreclosure epicenters like Nevada and California in sheer numbers of foreclosures, Oregon is now seeing new mortgage defaults increase at the third-fastest rate in the country.

    The new funding comes amidst a heated debate in Washington, D.C. about government spending and the spiraling federal deficit. While many economists argue the government needs to increase spending to jumpstart the economy, others maintain the country is drowning in red ink.

    With the new anti-foreclosure money, the Obama administration is sending a clear signal it intends to continue to inject public money into the economy.

    In addition to the new foreclosure prevention money, the Department of Housing and Urban Development announced Wednesday the launch of new $1 billion short-term loan program for at-risk homeowners.

    The 24-month loans will be available to homeowners facing foreclosure in part due to “a substantial reduction in income due to involuntary unemployment, underemployment or a medical condition,” HUD announced.

    Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., who has emerged as a vocal advocate for individuals slammed by the economic crash, hailed the new programs. “This funding will help Oregonians who have lost a job through no fault of their own while they get back on their feet,” said Merkley.

    Obama first announced formation of the Hardest-Hit Fund in February, steering money to the 17 states most impacted by the foreclosure wave. The Treasury Department announced Wednesday that it is sending another $2 billion to the program, aimed at states where unemployment has remained high.

    Qualifying standards for Oregon’s program are still being worked out, as are many of its details. Tentatively, the state envisions four different types of aid:

    Loan modification assistance will help homeowners who are on the verge of successfully modifying their existing mortgages but require a small amount of additional financial resources to do so.

    Mortgage payment assistance will help economically distressed homeowners pay their mortgages for up to one year.

    Loan preservation assistance will provide financial resources that a homeowner may need to modify a loan, pay arrearages, or clear other significant financial penalties after a period of unemployment or loss of income.

    Transitional Assistance will help homeowners who do not regain employment during the period of mortgage payment help with the resources needed to move to affordable, most likely rental, homes.

    http://www.oregonlive.com/business/index.ssf/2010/08/oregons_homeownership_program.html

  • Oregon gets federal money to help unemployed avert foreclosures, Charles Pope, The Oregonian


    WASHINGTON — The Obama administration released $600 million Wednesday to help unemployed homeowners in Oregon and four other states avoid foreclosure.

    Oregon, where one in every 76 homes is facing foreclosure, qualifies for $88 million.The money will be used to help distressed homeowners.

    The money will be available to state housing authorities in Oregon, Ohio, South Carolina, Rhode Island and North Carolina “to support local initiatives to assist struggling homeowners in these five states that have high percentages of their population living in areas of economic distress due to unemployment,” the Treasury Department said.

    According to Treasury, the money will augment “targeted programs to expand options for homeowners struggling to make their mortgage payments because of unemployment, as well as programs to address first and second liens, facilitate short sales and/or deeds-in-lieu of foreclosure, and assist in the payment of arrearages.”
    State officials in Oregon estimate that up to 7,400 homeowners will be helped.

    Among other things, Oregon will:

    — provide funds to assist with loan modifications, including through principal reduction and arrearage payments.

    — provide up to six months of mortgage payment assistance for an unemployed borrower or a borrower experiencing other financial distress. Lenders or servicers would be required to match for up to an additional six months.

    — offer funds to ensure a successful modification or pay arrearages or other fees incurred during unemployment or financial distress once a homeowner has regained employment or recovered from that financial distress.

    — provide assistance to borrowers who participated in the state’s Hardest Hit Fund unemployed borrower program but did not subsequently regain employment in order to facilitate a short sale or deed-in-lieu of foreclosure. This assistance would be matched by lenders or servicers.

    In all, states estimate that approximately 50,000 struggling homeowners will receive aid.

    Wednesday’s announcement is only the latest in the Obama administration’s efforts to dent the foreclosure crisis.

    The money is part of the $2.1 billion is directing from its existing $75 billion mortgage assistance program to a total of 10 states. Each state designed its own plan. Treasury approved money in June for Arizona, California, Florida, Michigan and Nevada.

    In the latest package of aid, Ohio will receive $172 million — the largest amount of money. That could aid around 15,000 homeowners by helping borrowers pay their mortgage for up to a year while they search for jobs. It could also provide incentives for mortgage companies to reduce borrowers’ mortgage balances.

    North Carolina is receiving $159 million, and South Carolina is in line for $138 million while Rhode Island is receiving $43 million.

    http://www.oregonlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2010/08/oregon_gets_federal_money_to_h.html

  • Multnomahforeclosures.com: Bank Owned Property List Update for July 2010


    July REO list for bank owned property has been added to Multnomahforeclosures.com . REO lists for Clackamas, Multnomah and Washington County has been addd to the site. The homes listed in these files were deeded back or returned to the investor or lender due to the finalizing of the foreclosure process. Many of these homes may already be on the market or will soon will be. It would not be a bad idea to contact the new owner of these properties and find out what their plans are when it comes to their future ownership of the property.

    Multnomah County Foreclosures
    http://multnomahforeclosures.com/

  • The Future of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to be decided August 17th, by Jim Kim, FierceFinance


    The most glaring omission from the Dodd-Frank financial reform act is without a doubt the lack of a plan for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The government-sponsored enterprises remain encumbered with billions in toxic loans, and unfortunately, the movement to fix these institutions has been stuck on the back burner–until now. The Treasury Department has announced it will hold a conference on the future of Fannie and Freddie on Aug. 17. A Congressional hearing will be held in September.

    The administration seems bent on offering a concrete proposal in January, which is welcome news, as the travails of these entities are costing taxpayers a lot of money. So far the tab stands at $145.9 billion; it will likely end up topping $380 billion–which would make it by far the most expensive bailout effort to date.

    What sort of solutions will be discussed? I doubt anyone will argue that having some sort of body that guarantees mortgages and sells them for securitization is a bad thing. The key will be to somehow retain the salutary effects of this process, which can lower costs, expand the ability of lenders to make home loans, and protect lenders from rate shocks.

    Taking the long view, the rise of securitization has been a welcome development. The real estate crash has revealed that there’s a down side if you let securitization run amok. One theory, as noted by the New York Times, is that this process has led to lax lending. “If mortgage issuers passed along the default risk to Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae or to the buyers of mortgage-backed securities, those issuers would have little incentive to screen borrowers properly. While issuers often do have some skin in the game, the enormous amount of both securitization and sloppy lending during the boom made it natural to link the two phenomena.” Indeed, defenders of Fannie and Freddie have long argued that they were pressured to start guaranteeing non-prime loans, to expand the homeownership pie. On top of all of this, securitization has made it harder for loans to be worked out. These are certainly reasonable theories.

    The bottom line is that securitization of mortgage loans based on a sound lending standard is a good idea. But how best to do that? Perhaps the biggest issue is whether the government has a role in subsidizing this effort. And if so, what exactly is that role? What are your ideas?

    FierceFinance
    http://www.fiercefinance.com/story/future-fannie-mae-freddie-mac-be-decided-aug-17/2010-07-29?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

  • FHA Loan Gravy Train Derailing?


    After a week of travel to Motown on business, and seeing the housing bust at ground zero, I have to ask you all some questions regarding housing and our government’s role in the quagmire.

    Fannie and Freddie dominated the easy loan space to back all borrowers with a pulse from 2000-2007, and now they occupy a toxic waste dumping ground for many a bank’s bad mortgages while trading as penny stocks with all but explicit taxpayer backing.

    The new game in town when it comes to financing mortgages circa 2008-2010 is the truly explicit government backed FHA. That federal agency is THE mortgage market, without which no private bank/investor in their right mind would loan money to anyone to buy real estate at today’s prices. Private loan origination to purchase real estate has all but disappeared.

    Is the FHA spigot beginning to twist toward the “off” position?

    “The Federal Housing Administration’s Mortgagee Review Board (MRB) published a notice today to announce dozens of administrative actions against FHA-approved lenders who failed to meet its requirements. The total amount of originators that used to write FHA-backed mortgages, the report shows, but are restricted from doing so today, has surpassed the 900 mark.”

    “The rate of seriously delinquent mortgages backed by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) declined slightly from May to June, but the gross number of mortgages that are either 90 or more days past due or in foreclosure increased 35% year-over-year.”

    “The total value of unpaid FHA mortgages was $865.5bn in June, up 30.3% from $663.8bn one year ago and up 3.3% from $837.8bn in May.”

    So we’re on the hook as taxpayers for Fannie and Freddie, and now the FHA is approaching the $1Tillion mark. Delinquencies are skyrocketing, yet the federal government keeps propping up housing prices despite the reality of stagnant wages. Why? How long can this last? When does cold hard cash flow via wages show up in the equation? Perhaps sooner than we all think…

    “A total of 168,915 FHA loan applications were received last month, down 6.9 percent from May and 29.4 percent lower than levels seen a year ago, according to the FHA Outlook report.”

    How much of an income and/or VAT-sales tax increase is Portland and Oregon willing to pay in order to prop up housing prices via government intervention and real estate bailouts? What business does the government have in financing our privately owned assets?

    The sooner the government gets out of housing finance, the sooner most Americans will be able to truly afford a home based upon local wages. Why do we vote for and pay our elected officials to artificially prop up housing and real estate prices?

    This post is just a few thoughts from the road, after seeing real estate up close in the Detriot and Southern Michigan area at truly rock bottom prices. Based upon what I saw during my travels, wage based reality bites…

    Portland Housing Blog
    http://portlandhousing.blogspot.com/2010/07/fha-loan-gravy-train-derailing.html

  • MultnomahForeclosures.com Update: New Notice of Default Lists Posted


    Multnomahforeclosures.com was updated today with the largest list of Notice Defaults to date. With Notice of Default records dating back over 2 years. Multnomahforeclosures.com documents the fall of the great real estate bust of the 21st centry. The lists are of the raw data taken from county records.

    It is not a bad idea for investors and people that are seeking a home of their own to keep an eye on the Notice of Default lists. Many of the homes listed are on the market or will be.

    All listings are in PDF and Excel Spread Sheet format.

    Multnomah County Foreclosures

    http://multnomahforeclosures.com

  • Multnomah County Foreclosures Web Site Updated with New Lists


    Multnomahforeclosures.com was updated today with the largest list of Notice Defaults to date. With Notice of Default records dating back nearly 2 years. Multnomahforeclosures.com idocuments the fall of the great real estate bust of the 21st centry.

    All listings are in PDF and Excel Spread Sheet format.

    Multnomah County Foreclosures
    http://multnomahforeclosures.com

  • Important New Regulations Affecting Closing Dates!


    From the Desk of Phil Querin, Partner, Davis Wright Tremaine, LLC, PMAR/OREF Legal Counsel

    Although the initial annual percentage rate (APR) on a residential loan is disclosed in the Good Faith Estimate early in the purchase transaction, it can change before closing. Under the new rules enacted in the Truth in Lending Act, effective on July 30, 2009 (last Thursday), if the actual (i.e. the final) APR varies from that initially disclosed on the Good Faith Estimate by at least .125%, then there is a mandatory additional three (3) business day waiting period before the transaction can close. So if the final APR isn’t disclosed until late in the transaction, it could potentially force the three (3) business day period to extend beyond the closing date set forth in the Sale Agreement.

    As you know, the Oregon Real Estate Forms (OREF) closing date is written in stone – there are no automatic extensions – so if it appears that the APR could be held up or there is any indication that the APR will change at closing, brokers would be well-advised to get seller and buyer to agree in advance to a written extension as a contingency if the final APR causes the three (3) business day period to extend beyond the scheduled closing date. OREF will be meeting shortly to consider some additional language for the new sale agreement form, although it won’t actually get printed and distributed until early next year. In the meantime, I have recommended to my clients that they may wish to consider adding an addendum to their sale agreements with language such as the following: ” In the event that Buyer’s final Annual Percentage Rate (“APR”) differs from the APR initially disclosed to the Buyer in the Good Faith Estimate by .125% or more, the Closing Deadline defined in the Real Estate Sale Agreement shall automatically be extended for three (3) additional business days in accordance with Regulation Z of the Truth in Lending Act ,as amended on July 30, 2008.”

    This, of course, is subject to the review of the companies’ principal broker and legal counsel.

  • Multnomahforeclosures.com Updated with New Notice of Default Listings


    The new update of the Multnomah Foreclosures web site (http://multnomahforeclosures.com/) includes NOD listings dating back to February of 2008. This data was added because we had it and there has been a lot of interest in this data by the visitors of the site.

    Multnomah Foreclosures
    http://multnomahforeclosures.com/

  • Minimum Credit Score


    It seems my industry (mortgage) continues to see changes weekly, if not daily. I received this message from one the lenders we do business with (Suntrust Mortgage).

    IMPORTANT UPDATE REGARDING REVISED MINIMUM CREDIT SCORE REQUIREMENT FOR ALL LOAN PRODUCTS – Effective for Locks and/or Credit Packages Received on or After Monday, March 23, 2009

    Effective for locks and/or credit packages received on or after Monday, March 23, 2009, a minimum credit score of 660 will be required for ALL borrowers on ALL loan products (traditionally underwritten and AUS processed), regardless of the AUS approval.

    This is concerning conventional loans (less than $417K) fannie & freddie. FHA still allows a min. credit score of 620.

    Now, while this is only one lender, it is likely other lenders will follow suit. Just another sign of the times, that the credit markets continue to “tighten” and credit scores are becoming more important when buying a home.

    Have a good weekend.
    Thank you for the opportunity to serve you,

    Paul Dean
    Principal
    Evergreen Ohana Group
    5331 SW Macadam Ave, Suite 287
    Portland, OR 97239

    Toll Free: (800) 387-7355
    Office: (503) 892-2800 Ext.11
    Fax: (503) 892-2803

    Website: http://www.evergreenohana.com
    Email: pauld@evergreenohana.com

    OR ML-21, WA510-LO-33391, WA WA:520-CL-50385

    PS. Your business and loyalty are truly valued. I strive to provide all my clients with the very best professional service possible. If a friend or family member would appreciate this level of service, please don’t keep me a secret!

  • Five Ways to Avoid Mortgage Foreclosure, Tips from Expertforeclosurehelper.com


    If you fail to make your mortgage payments on time or if you default on your payments, you are in danger of foreclosure. This happens more and more frequently in today’s economic climate. But it is possible to avoid mortgage foreclosure if you know what to do.

    Here are a few of the options that are available to you. These are only going to be open to you if you can get the cooperation of your lender.

    – See if your lender would be willing to re-arrange your payments based on your current financial situation. This may be referred to as a special forbearance and you may qualify for it if your financial situation has changed. To qualify for this you will probably have to provide information to your mortgage holder to prove that you will be able to meet the payments of the new plan.

    – Another option may be a modification of your actual mortgage. This would involve refinancing the amount owed and/or extending the term of the mortgage. The goal is to reduce monthly mortgage payments so they are more affordable for you.

    – You may qualify for an interest free loan from HUD to bring your mortgage up to date if you meet certain conditions. This is referred to as a partial claim and your lender can help you with the application process and explain the conditions of this type of loan. You can also contact your local HUD office for more details.

    – Another way to avoid mortgage foreclosure is to consider a pre foreclosure sale. The purpose is to sell your home and clear up your debts to avoid foreclosure and damage to your credit. If you know that you will be unable to make mortgage payments even if they are lowered, this may be something to consider. You will have to see if your lender will agree to give you some extra time to sell before foreclosing.

    – A final option which should be considered only as a last resort is a deed-in-lieu of foreclosure. In this case you are basically turning your house over to your mortgage institution instead of paying off the mortgage.

    Even though you will lose your home this may be a better option than losing it to foreclosure. That’s because your chances of obtaining another mortgage loan at some point in the future are better than if your home is lost due to foreclosure.

    These are the main alternatives that you have as you try to avoid mortgage foreclosure. Be sure to contact your lender at the first sign of financial difficulty so they can help you find the option that will be best for you.

    Learn about 6 practical steps you can take to avoid foreclosure.

    If it’s too late for that, find out how to stop a foreclosure by going to getforeclosurefacts.com

    Expert Foreclosure Helper
    expertforeclosurehelper.com

  • MACPLAN – Foreclosure Crisis Analysis, By Dave McDonald


    There are several updates and issues to bring to your attention. As things transpire I may not have time to e-mail pertinent updates to you so I have set up a blog at macplan.blogspot.com where you can go for the information. I will try to e-mail you when there is a new update on the blog. Here is what is happening now and what I am working on:

    1) Late last week the largest mortgage insurance company, The PMI Group, instituted a policy that they would no longer insure mortgages that were originated by brokers. By implementing this policy the Mortgage Insurance companies will speed up the consolidation and nationalization of the banks, hasten the downfall of most if not all non-bank lenders that utilize brokers as their main source of business, and force the small mortgage broker to consolidate under a larger bank environment. This policy will also put most appraisers out of business.
    The public, once again, is getting the shaft. By not allowing brokers to originate loans with less than 20% down on a purchase or less than 20% equity in the property for a refinance borrowers will have to go to the few remaining banks the exist who will be able to charge what the want because they won’t have competition from the brokers. A client that is over 80% Loan –To- Value that goes to a broker will be limited to an FHA product….which is insured by the government ad has not one but 2 types of mortgage insurance which in many cases makes it more expensive for the borrower than it would under a conventional loans with mortgage insurance. Again, customers wanting high LTV loans will need to go to banks, put up with higher rates, longer lines and bad service.
    Yesterday I spoke to the upper management at the PMI Group to get their side of the story as to why they are implementing this policy. They told me, unlike published reports, that it was not due to quality of the loan originations submitted by brokers. Their take was that they do not have the capital necessary to reserve for future losses. They say that their low stock prices make it harder to attract new capital. They say that this a strictly a company survival mode tactic to make sure they don’t take on any more risk until the delinquency issues on the current loans in the market place have run their course. They say if they were able to raise more capital then the policy could change back.
    I made clear to them what the ramifications of their policy implementation will do to the average borrower. I made clear that it will cause a domino effect with closing of the remaining non-bank lenders, brokers, appraisers and everybody else in the industry leading to a lot more unemployment while giving borrowers less loan options and higher rates.
    The bottom line, there are ways to fight this which I will go into later.

    2) Obama’s Foreclosure Rescue Plan – I am currently reviewing this. It seems like a lot of the same old stuff and need a lot of questions to be answered:
    a) How are they going to implement the refinancing through FNMA and Freddie Mac for upside down borrowers? Where does mortgage insurance come in….are they going to do it without mortgage insurance. If mortgage insurance is required then San Diego is screwed again…because all mortgage insurance companies have designated us as a Declining Market. How is FNMA and Freddie going to get around that. Also, I understand that they will only allow up to 105% LTV….how is that going to help people that are upside down by 20-50%?
    B) The incentives given to servicers…are they going to be enough. The modification plan is still voluntary for the servicers.
    C) Throwing $400 billion more into FNMA and Freddie Mac to continue to buy mortgage backed securities that nobody else is buying and nobody can put a value on…is the govt over paying….and what are they paying for those securities. It is almost as if the government thinks that the securitization crisis has been solved. The buying up of the securities may have the effect of temporarily lowering rates but will those rates still be offset by the price and cost adjustments currently being added on by FNMA and Freddie.
    And when will the money that is printed to fund the buying of the securities get circulated….the printing of the money will no doubt cause inflation which will increase rates significantly.
    D) Currently in this plan there is absolutely no relief for people that have Jumbo Loan for more than the GSE Loan limit of $546250. Are we just going to let that deck of cards fall. One Jumbo default equals 3 or 4 condos…nobody has the guts to take this problem on.
    E) There is still no relief for people that own rentals. The Popular thing to say is that we don’t want to bailout speculators an investors. But what about they guy who has owned a rental for 20 years and did some refinancing to better his cash flow…but now his value is down, his payment is up, and it doesn’t cash-flow. He is not a speculator. He is one guy that owns a property that is rented out. He did not buy it recently and try to flip it. Most likely, he isn’t rich either. People like that need relief, as much as it is politically incorrect to say such things.

    3) The effect of the Stimulus Plan on mortgages – I am still digesting the 1100 or so pages. However, we do know that the loan limit for San Diego will go back up to $697,500. Once again, the key for this is how the loan limit is implemented and we are getting conflicting messages from the bond traders and the GSE’s. We do no that now there will a $8000 tax credit that does not need to be paid back for homebuyers that buy by the end of November. We do know that 2 Billion Dollars is going to be spent on local foreclosure prevention methods

    4) The Mortgage Crisis is an Urgent event that could eventually and pretty quickly cost Americans our Sovereignty. The fact that very little is being done correctly to break up the bank oligarchy, correct our financial problems, and produce solutions that will stabilize our economy is absurd.

    THE MACPLAN – An Action Plan For the Financial Crisis

    1) Currently, I am assembling plans and ideas from many various sourcesfrom bond traders to securitizers to asset managers to Realtors to come up with an overall, well thought out comprehensive mortgage crisis and foreclosure prevention plan. Most plans are there come from one view or the other….they are not comprehensive and don’t attack all areas. If you have any ideas please e-mail them to me. Once these ideas are collected, I will setup meetings where everybody can show up, voice their opinions, and add ideas to for speak against the plan. Unlike Congress, you will have ample time to read the initial plan before you go to the meeting.
    DEADLINE TO SUBMIT IDEAS AND PLANS: Sunday February 22nd
    SELF IMPOSED DEADLINE FOR PUBLISHING INITIAL PLAN: March 1st
    1st MEETING :tentatively March 1st at a place TBD

    2) The final plan will be put together based on the response of the meetings

    3) Once this plan is completed, then we will get it to our elected officials via e-mail, fax and regular. We will also post not only on my blog but several others.

    4) We will start not only an online petition but a handwritten petition to implement this that will be delivered to our officials

    5) SAN DIEGO ECONOMIC AND MORTGAGE REVOLT DAY – APRIL 1st

    This is where all of the mortgage and real estate professionals, our families, and our customers take to the streets to promote the plan that we come up with….yes picket the banks, picket intersections, rally at the park, etc.

    We will need a committee to put this on and I will be looking from leaders and non-leaders in all parts of the county to step up.

    Be looking for the MACPLAN to take form….we will eventually change the name but it’s good for now.

    Dave McDonalds Blog
    http://www.macplan.blogspot.com/

  • Home Purchase Tax Credit, By Paul Dean of Evergreen Ohana Group


    As you may know, I have been advertising and promoting the $7500 First Time Home buyer Tax Credit (which is really an interest free loan for 15yrs) expires on July 1, 2009. And there has been very little interest by the general public & buyers.

    THIS IS A NEWS FLASH: The new stimulus package may increase that credit to $15K for ANY purchase of a primary home, and IT DOESN’T NEED TO BE RE-PAID!!! This hasn’t been passed yet. But as soon as it is signed into law, I’ll let you know. This is the news from RIS Media today:

    “The enhanced $15,000 tax credit offers a powerful incentive for home buyers to get off the sidelines and represents the best opportunity for economic recovery,” said NAHB Chairman Joe Robson, a home builder from Tulsa, Okla. “Congress must make sure that the full $15,000 tax credit remains in the final stimulus plan.”

    The bipartisan amendment to the stimulus package, offered by Sens. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) and Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.) and approved by unanimous voice vote, would create a $15,000 home buyer tax credit available to all purchasers of a principle residence for one year after its date of enactment. The tax credit would not have to be repaid and buyers could claim it against their 2008 and/or 2009 tax returns.

    This could be HUGE for our industry. Stay Tuned.
    Thank you for the opportunity to serve you,

    Paul Dean
    Principal
    Evergreen Ohana Group
    5331 SW Macadam Ave, Suite 287
    Portland, OR 97239

    Toll Free: (800) 387-7355
    Office: (503) 892-2800 Ext.11
    Fax: (503) 892-2803

    Website: http://www.evergreenohana.com
    Email: pauld@evergreenohana.com

    OR ML-21, WA510-LO-33391, WA WA:520-CL-50385

    PS. Your business and loyalty are truly valued. I strive to provide all my clients with the very best professional service possible. If a friend or family member would appreciate this level of service, please don’t keep me a secret!

  • How Long Will it Be Before the Foreclosed Homeowner Feels Relief From the 700 Billion Dollar Bailout


    Not soon enough if ever. Let me explain.

    Bush announced that the first 250 billion dollar infusion is targeted for the banks. Which will take time to do and time to see if it works. Which will mean that the balance of the money will not be used (350 billion dollar) until the next president is inaugurated in January 2009.

    However, the Bush Administration has unveiled additional mortgage assistance for homeowners at risk of foreclosure. The HOPE for Homeowners program will refinance mortgages for borrowers who are having difficulty making their payments, but can afford a new loan insured by HUD’s Federal Housing Administration (FHA). There are a lot of issues to be dealt with, plus pre-qualifications needed by the homeowner, which means it will take time to be effective.

    So what is offered by both candidates and when will it start?

    Barack Obama proposed more immediate steps to heal the nation’s ailing economy, including a 90-day moratorium on home foreclosures at some banks. Obama proposed that banks participating in the federal bailout should temporarily postpone foreclosures for families making good-faith efforts to pay their mortgage.

    Sen. John McCain proposed a plan to help millions of people around the country facing foreclosure by ordering the Treasury secretary to purchase and renegotiate faulty home loans.

    The plan is aimed at homeowners who owe more than their houses are worth or who are otherwise in danger of foreclosure. The government would use Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and private mortgage brokers to pay off the troubled loans and refinance the homeowners, making their payments more affordable.

    Again, this will take time and concerted effort by the powers to be to implement any program before relief is felt by the homeowner who is facing foreclosure or who is in foreclosure.

    The common thread above is TIME, no matter what you like or dislike about the government, the presidential candidates, or what is going on in Washington (D.C.).

    Bankers/ Lenders, realtors, real estate investors, and all scam artists want you to believe that you do not have enough time and, especially, they do not want you to know how the foreclosure process works.

    You are nothing more than a new profit center for them, and they only have their best interest at heart (not yours).

    I have a short video that will show you how scam artists work, and it may help you understand what not to do. Check it out: http://www.AvoidForeclosurePain.com/Now.htm