Tag Archives: HUD

Real Estate

Had Your House Foreclosed? You May Have a Second Chance for Homeownership Soon

Photo courtesy of Highland Home Inspections. http://highlandhomeinspections.net/contact-us.php.
Photo courtesy of Highland Home Inspections. http://highlandhomeinspections.net/contact-us.php.

 

Those who lost their home due to financial hardships may get another shot at being home owners again soon. The Federal Housing Administration recently announced that they would shorten the waiting period for qualified borrowers who’ve had a bankruptcy, foreclosure, deed in lieu of foreclosure, or short sale who want to buy a home again. Under the FHA’s Back-to-Work program, home owners must show that they have their finances back in order and they must receive counseling from a HUD-approved agency. Those who meet the requirements can apply to buy a property in as little as a year.

“The Back to Work program is a great opportunity for us to help those impacted by the recent housing crisis,” Heather Shanahan, a representative with a HUD-approved housing counseling agency called Springboard, told HousingWire. “Our goal in our counseling sessions is to enable the borrower to better understand their loan options and the obligations.”

Counselors provide borrowers with a customized action plan that reflects household budgets and shows borrowers how they can meet their financial obligations to prevent default again in the future.

The Back-to-Work program is also helping borrowers purchase their first homes, in some cases.

Source: “Springboard helps formerly distressed borrowers get back on track,” HousingWire (Nov. 19, 2013)

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Real Estate

Deutsche Bank AG Sued for Fraud by the Justice Department

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Deutsche Bank chief executive Josef Ackermann
Deutsche Bank chief executive Josef Ackermann

The United States has filed a civil mortgage fraud lawsuit against Deutsche Bank AG and its wholly owned subsidiary, MortgageIT Inc.  The government’s complaint seeks damages and civil penalties under the False Claims Act for repeated false certifications made to the U.S.

According to the government’s complaint filed May 3, 2011 in Manhattan federal court: Between 1999 and 2009, MortgageIT was an approved direct endorsement lender, and endorsed more than 39,000 mortgages for FHA insurance, totaling more than $5 billion in underlying principal obligations. These mortgages were highly marketable for resale to investors because they were insured by the full faith and credit of the United States. MortgageIT and Deutsche Bank, which acquired MortgageIT in January 2007, made substantial profits through the resale of these endorsed FHA-insured mortgages.

Stated  in the complaint, MortgageIT repeatedly made false certifications to HUD to obtain approval of mortgages that MortgageIT underwriters wrongfully endorsed for FHA insurance.  These mortgages were not eligible for FHA insurance under HUD rules.  Notwithstanding the mortgages’ ineligibility, underwriters at MortgageIT endorsed the mortgages by falsely certifying that they had conducted the due diligence required by HUD rules when, in fact, they had not.  By endorsing ineligible mortgages and falsely certifying compliance with HUD rules, MortgageIT wrongfully obtained approval of these ineligible mortgages for FHA insurance, thereby putting millions of FHA dollars at risk.

To date, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) has paid insurance claims on more than 3,100 mortgages, totaling $386 million, for mortgages endorsed by MortgageIT. Total claims against Deutsche Bank AG could cost well over $1.15 billion dollars.

The government’s complaint seeks treble damages and penalties under the False Claims Act for the insurance claims already paid by HUD for mortgages wrongfully endorsed by MortgageIT through the false statements of Deutsche Bank and MortgageIT.  In addition, the United States seeks compensatory and punitive damages under the common law theories of breach of fiduciary duty, gross negligence, negligence and indemnification for the insurance claims that HUD expects to pay in the future for mortgages wrongfully endorsed by MortgageIT as a result of Deutsche Bank’s and MortgageIT’s false statements

My take on this is, it’s about time the banks paid for the mess that they have gotten us into. Like I’ve said many times, its not the mortgage brokers or the real estate agents who set the lending standards, it was the banks. I’ve talked to many people who were in the lending side of the banks. They were told to just make the loan, we don’t care if they can pay it back. What do you think?

Source The United States Department of Justice

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Real Estate

Beware of Foreclosure Scams

  • A company/person asks for a fee in advance to work with your lender to modify, refinance or reinstate your mortgage. They may pocket your money and do nothing to help you save your home from foreclosure.
  • A company/person guarantees they can stop a foreclosure or get your loan modified. NO ONE can make this guarantee to stop foreclosure or modify your loan. Legitimate, trustworthy HUD-approved counseling agencies can assist you with options and facilitate communication with your mortgage company.
  • A company/person advises you to stop paying your mortgage company and pay them instead. Despite what a scammer will tell you, you should never send a mortgage payment to anyone other than your mortgage lender. If you have trouble making your monthly payment, contact your mortgage lender.
  • A company pressures you to sign over the deed to your home or sign any paperwork that you haven’t read or you don’t fully understand. A legitimate housing counselor should not and will not pressure you to sign a document of any kind.
  • A company claims to offer “government-approved” or “official government” loan modifications. These may be scam artists pretending to be legitimate organizations approved by, or affiliated with the government. Check to be sure by contacting your mortgage lender directly  to learn more about government programs for which you may qualify.
  • A company/person you don’t know asks you to release personal financial information. Check to be sure you are speaking with a legitimate company/person by contacting your mortgage lender directly

    • If you are facing foreclosure go online to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Click Here

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    Real Estate

    90 Day FHA Anti-Home Flipping Rules Eased For One Year

    During the recent housing boom, many peope were buying homes, putting a little money into them and then putting the homes back on the market, hoping to make a lot of money quickly.  This is known as flipping in the real estate world.  I saw some horrible examples of flipping, with people not knowing what they were doing.  It was amazing, but everything seem to sell. Of course the market crashed and that was the end of flipping.

    That is until the market crashed so badly and prices dropped so low, that smart investors with cash started buying homes, fixing them up and flipping them. However, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) had banned flipping, fearing that people would not be able to sell the homes once they fixed them up. That is they would not insure a home that was resold within 90 days of purchasing a foreclosed home. This of course, limited the ability to sell the home to a new purchaser.

    Now, in order to move foreclosed properties quickly, HUD has decided to eliminate the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) 90-day anti-flipping rule. Most experienced investors, buy a home, fix them up and resell them within 90 days in this market. (Surprise?  Yes the market is changing)

    For full details you can read HUD’s press release.

    Written by John J. O’Dell
    Real Estate Broker

    Real Estate

    Your Mortgage Closing Costs Forced to be More Transparent

    Big changes have finally arrived in making good faith estimates when getting a home loan. The following  are required on good faith estimates as of January 1st of this year:

    Consistency.

    Lenders are now required to use a uniform three-page document when they give prospective borrowers a good faith estimate, says Vicki Bott, deputy assistant secretary for single-family housing at HUD.

    Lenders also are required to provide the document within 72 hours after prospective borrowers apply for a loan.

    This will allow consumers to figure out a loan’s total cost, including fees, and compare loan offers on an apples-to-apples basis, Bott says. “We encourage consumers to shop for the best rates and fees, and not just the best rate,” she says.

    Transparency.

    Many borrowers who bought homes during the housing boom later discovered that their loans contained hidden bombs that made their mortgages unaffordable. The new good faith estimate requires lenders to disclose features that could drive up costs. For example, the document requires lenders to disclose whether your interest rate will rise — as would be the case with an adjustable-rate mortgage — and if so, by how much. Lenders will also be asked whether the loan includes balloon payments or imposes penalties for paying the loan off early.

    “All of these are really important questions,” says Helene Raynaud, vice president of housing for the National Foundation for Credit Counseling. “It will be able to raise red flags for consumers.”

    Trade-offs.

    Some lenders offer borrowers a lower interest rate in exchange for higher upfront costs — or vice versa. A new table in the good faith estimate (see box) helps borrowers compare how different interest rates and settlement charges will affect monthly payments.

    Reliability.

    Lenders are required by law to give mortgage applicants a copy of their settlement costs, known as a HUD-1, at least one day before closing. In the past, though, many borrowers discovered that the costs shown on the HUD-1 bore little connection to those provided in the good faith estimate.

    The new rules will make it much more difficult for lenders to depart from their good faith estimates, Bott says. The new HUD-1 includes a line-by-line comparison to the good faith estimate, making it easy to identify any change in costs.

    Lenders are prohibited from increasing costs they control, such as origination and processing fees. Fees for third-party services, such as appraisals and title insurance, can increase no more than 10% from those provided in the good faith estimate, as long as the borrowers use providers selected by the lender. The limit doesn’t apply if borrowers select their own third-party providers.

    Other costs that aren’t subject to the 10% limit include the initial deposit for the borrower’s escrow account, daily interest charges and homeowner’s insurance (see box).

    Source: USA Today

    HUD has published a guide for home buyers, Shopping for Your Home Loan: HUD’s Settlement Cost Booklet. You can find it at HUD

    Reprinted for educational purposes

    Real Estate

    Tax Credit Can Be Used on Closing Costs

    tax-credit

    FHA-approved lenders received the go-ahead to develop bridge-loan products that enable first-time buyers to use the benefits of the federal tax credit upfront, according to eagerly awaited guidance from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development on so-called home buyer tax credit loans that was released today.
    Under the guidance, FHA-approved lenders can develop bridge loans that home buyers can use to help cover their closing costs, buy down their interest rate, or put down more than the minimum 3.5 percent.

    The loans can’t be used to cover the minimum 3.5 percent, senior HUD officials told reporters on a conference call Friday morning.

    Thus, buyers applying for FHA-backed financing with an FHA-approved lender that offers a bridge-loan program can get a bridge loan to bring down the upfront costs of buying a home significantly but would still have to come up with the minimum 3.5 percent downpayment.

    There remain many sources of assistance for buyers needing help with the 3.5 percent downpayment, including many state and local government instrumentalities and nonprofit lenders.

    In addition, some state housing finance agencies

    have developed their own tax credit bridge loan programs, so buyers in states whose HFAs offer such programs can monetize the tax credit upfront to cover all or part of their downpayment. These programs are separate from what HUD announced today.
    The first-time homebuyer tax credit was enacted last year–and improved upon earlier this year–to help encourage households to enter the housing market while interest rates are low and affordability is high. The credit is worth up to $8,000 and is available to households that haven’t owned a home in at least three years. The credit does not have to be repaid, and is fully reimbursable, so households can get their credit returned to them in the form of a payment.

    Source: Robert Freedman, REALTOR® Magazine Online