Independent Foreclosure Review Process Available for Struggling Homeowners

Great news for homeowners to have had foreclosures filed between Jan 1, 2009 and December 31, 2010 is that on [November 1, 2011 from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (banks regulator)] the 14 mortgage servicers covered by the enforcement actions began mailing letters to eligible borrowers that explain how to request a review of their case if they believe they suffered financial injury as a result of errors, misrepresentations, or other deficiencies in foreclosure proceedings related to their primary residence between January 1, 2009 and December 31, 2010. Borrowers may also visit

www.IndependentForeclosureReview.com for more information about the review and claim process. Assistance with requesting a review and answers to questions about the process are available at 1-888-952-9105, Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. (ET) and Saturday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. (ET).

Has anyone received this mailing from their lender? Has anyone requested a review yet? Please note that requests for review must be received by April 30, 2012.

Consent orders were issued on April 13, 2011 and taken out against the following list of banks:

1. Bank of America
2. Citibank
3. HSBC
4. JP Morgan Chase
5. MetLife Bank
6. PNC
7. U.S. Bank 
8. Wells Fargo
9. Aurora Bank
10. EverBank
11. One West Bank
12. Sovereign Bank.

Independent Foreclosure Review--Each bank has been assigned a firm to conduct the review.

Phone 1-888-952-9105

Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. (ET)

Saturday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. (ET).

The OCC press release can be found at http://www.occ.treas.gov/news-issuances/news-releases/2011/nr-occ-2011-133.html

Independent Foreclosure Review Process Available for Struggling Homeowners

Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives (HAFA): Lender and Homeowner Incentives:

Another big improvement from the US Treasury Dept is the new HAMP Solution Center Escalation Process. This process allows borrowers and agents to open complaints against their lender when they are not following the guidelines under one of the Making Home Affordable Programs which include the HAFA Short Sale Program. They have been a big help in getting unwilling lenders to postpone foreclosure when they are not acting according to the guidelines.

These types of roadblocks and others are being worked out right now with my assistance. It is my goal to be a generous resource and offer my assistance to those willing to accept help. The ultimate goal being to assist borrowers in qualifying for the best program they are eligible and help ease the difficulties they are experiencing.

Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives (HAFA): Lender and Homeowner Incentives

Porter Ranch (Northridge, CA) Gated Communities seeing more Short Sales.
For the most up to date and current information about whats going on in Northridge aka Porter Ranch, the Porter Ranch Neighborhood Council website is very informative and found at www.prnc.org. Having lived in Porter Ranch, I have had a chance to see it develop over the years. I remember when Rinadi ended at Tampa going West and those hills were all open trails for hiking, biking and off roading. Now that area is the Porter Ranch Town Center with anchor stores including Ralphs, Best Buy, and WalMart but also with 3 banks, In & Out Burger (my fave), Starbucks, Islands, TGI Fridays and many more stores. The last couple of decades has seen the development of gated communities throughout Porter Ranch as well as neighboring Chatsworth and Granada Hills. They are still currently developing in Porter Ranch although demand has slowed. A new upcoming addition is the new K-8 school pictured which is set to be completed in Fall of 2012 and should be a big help for the already overwhelming demand for the highly sought after Castlebay Elementary school.

Porter Ranch Estates is one of the older gated communities and is located on the south east corner of Tampa and Sesnon. Homes were built around 1989. Homes range in size from 1500 sq ft to over 4,000 sq ft. This upscale 24 hr guard gated community offers two swimming pools, playground and barbeque area. Some of the other older Porter Ranch gated communities include Highlands, the Heights and the Vistas.

One of the nicest and newer gated communities in Porter Ranch is the Renaissance Summit. The entrance is on the corner of Senson and Porter Ranch Drive. Homes in the Renaissance Summit were build around 2001- 2007 and they are still building today. Some are one story with 3 to 4 bedrooms and approximately 3600 square feet and others are two story and typically much larger. Homes range in size from 3300, 4100, 5000, 5500 and up to 7000 square foot. Ongoing construction is occurring on the west side adjacent to Mason Ave. Some of the other newer gated communities include Verona, Portofino, Sorrento, and Tuscany with ongoing development in the newest communities of Bella Vista, Cortile, Las Braisas and Milano with homes ranging in size from 1074 to 1641 square feet in Cortile and Las Braisas and the larger homes in the Bella Vista and Milano ranging from 2251 to 4117 square feet. Prices vary with the market so call me for the prices please.

Since most of the newer gated communities like Renaissance and in Porter Ranch were built and sold by the same developer mostly during the peak of the market, the majority of these properties have total loans on the property over $1,000,000. Many homeowners in this community have a negative equity and this will likely cause some additional turnover going forward. It is difficult to imaging even the higher net worth homeowners in this community being able to continue to afford these loans given the prolonged weakness in the economy and since many of the loans are set to adjust.

The Porter Ranch Neighborhood Council meetings are regularly held in locations throughout Porter Ranch. I primarily serve the struggling homeowners of Porter Ranch by assisting them in working with their lenders for solutions to avoiding foreclosure. Many homeowners have homes which have lost all of their equity and savings accounts are dwindiling. The sooner you can stop this depletion of savings, the quicker monthly expenses can be reduced. I believe there will be more short sales to come in the newer Porter Ranch communities since many have very large loans and some have second loans as well. By working with the lender, there are options such as short sale which can help to workout the loans.
Porter Ranch (Northridge, CA) Gated Communities Short Sales are likely to rise.

Having Success With Filing HAMP and HAFA Escalations and OCC Complaints

What a pleasure to have their assistance in handling some of the overly agressive foreclosure threats I have noticed recently in the last couple weeks. Attitudes from investors/servicers/lenders has changed dramatically!!! Anyone else notice a difference recently?

Top Examples of Valid Reasons for Servicer Escalations

First, work through your normal contacts and channels with the servicer. If that does not resolve the issue, elevate your concern to a senior manager within the servicer's organization.

Here are examples of cases that represent valid reasons for escalation:

• Servicer refuses to stop a scheduled foreclosure sale on a borrower's house while the borrower is being evaluated for HAMP.
• Servicer charges up-front fees for the modification.
• Servicer instructs the borrower to miss a payment.
• Servicer claims that they are waiting for information or guidance from Treasury (i.e. Treasury is causing the delay).
• Servicer advises the borrower to intentionally misrepresent their personal or financial information.
• Servicer says they are not participating in HAMP, but the loan's investor is a GSE.
• Servicer says borrower doesn't qualify, but counselor has reason to believe that the borrower is eligible.

For more information, visit my Servicer Complaints/Escalations page. Find a link on this page for the Case Submission Form used by homeowners or authorized third parties like myself.

Having Success With Filing HAMP and HAFA Escalations and OCC Complaints

I came across a few good points to look out for to share today. To start, it was stated that about one third of short sales are not able to be closed for varrious reasons like:

1. Seller has too many assets--In this case the lender will require an owner contribution which could be the deal breaker.
2. Seller won't cooperate in the process--This is important because the seller will have to be patient through the process and will for sure have to sign a lot of paperwork.
3. House is the lowest 10% of the neighborhood--This becomes a problem because the comparable will show the house is worth more than a buyer is will to pay since with the seller not wanting to do any repairs.
4. Outstanding Liens--This could be HOA leins, mechanics leins, IRS leins, family loans in which leins were filed...all of which need to be satisfied to close the short sale.

This is why I allways want to ask several questions up front before beginning the short sale process to determing if there will be any issues. Sellers should know that if they have assets, they will be asked by the lender to contribute towards satisfying the junior or second lien holder, typically an amount of 10% or more.