Mike West

GOVERNMENT FORECLOSURE REVIEW STARTED YESTERDAY

We recently published a post about the government foreclosure review. That review started yesterday. The important thing to remember is that there is a deadline of April 30, 2012, for review requests.

Distressed homeowners who went through foreclosure in 2009 or 2010 may be affected. There are 14 loan servicers, listed on the Office of the Controller of the Currency web site, who may not have followed proper legal procedures during the foreclosure process.

The loan servicers involved for this program include:

· America’s Servicing Co.

· Aurora Loan Services

· BAC Home Loans Servicing

· Bank of America

· Beneficial

· Chase

· Citibank

· CitiFinancial

· CitiMortgage

· Countrywide

· EMC

· EverBank/EverHome Mortgage Company

· Financial Freedom

· GMAC Mortgage

· HFC

· HSBC

· IndyMac Mortgage Services

· MetLife Bank

· National City Mortgage

· PNC Mortgage

· Sovereign Bank

· SunTrust Mortgage

· U.S. Bank

· Wachovia Mortgage

· Washington Mutual (WaMu)

· Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.

· Wilshire Credit Corporation

If you, or someone you know, lost your home to foreclosure during the specified period and one of the 14 loan servicers completed that foreclosure, you may have some money coming.

You may request an independent audit of your foreclosure at no cost to you.

If the independent audit determines that the foreclosure caused you financial harm due to loan servicer error, the government will order remediation (you get money back).

The important thing to remember is that a request for an independent audit DEADLINE IS APRIL 30, 2012. The will not consider requests post marked after that date valid for this program.

We ask that you pass this information on to anyone you know who may have been harmed. It is about time the little guy wins a round!

Select this link to review the full article and links for additional information:

http://www.occ.gov/news-issuances/news-releases/2011/nr-occ-2011-133.html

REMEDY FOR SOME FORECLOSURE VICTIMS!

If you lost your home through foreclosure in 2009 or 2010 there may be a remedy waiting for you. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has ordered an independent review of foreclosures processed by GMAC Mortgage, HSBC Finance Corp., Sun Trust Mortgage and EMC Mortgage.

If one of these loan servicers processed your foreclosure, and you believe that you were financially harmed during their foreclosure process, you may have some cash coming!

The government has determined that there may have been flaws in the foreclosure processing in some cases. Homeowners/borrowers who feel that they were financially harmed may request an independent review. If errors are found, the servicer will be required to compensate the borrowers for that financial injury.

Borrowers are eligible if:

• The home lost in foreclosure was the borrower’s primary residence
• The loan was at any step of the foreclosure process between January 1, 2009 and December 31, 2010
• The loan was serviced by one of the organizations listed above
• The request for a review must be received by the independent reviewing authority by April 20, 1012.

The review process is a free program, so there will be no charge to borrowers.

For more information, select this link:

http://www.federalreserve.gov/consumerinfo/independent-foreclosure-review.htm

BANK OWNED (FORECLOSURE) HOME SALES DATA FOR EL DORADO HILLS, CA – DECEMBER 2011

This is the latest monthly report of a four-year study of bank owned home sales in El Dorado Hills, CA. This report covers December 2011.

There were six bank owned homes sold in El Dorado Hills in December, down one from the previous month. A low inventory is the primary reason.

The average days-on-market increased from 29 in November to 79 in December. One of the homes had been on the market for over 100 days. Some old inventory was cleared out. None of the homes that sold had been on the market for two weeks or less, which is very unusual.

The six bank owned homes that sold represent only 8% of ALL homes sold in El Dorado Hills this month. This is a much smaller segment than normal, despite the increase in inventory.

The available inventory of bank owned homes in El Dorado Hills spiked at a 2.4-month supply in December, the second highest inventory level in 2011... The available inventory for ALL homes available dropped from a 2.9-month supply the previous month to a 2.2-month supply in December, the lowest inventory level in 2011. Pundits advise that a 6-month supply is a neutral market, so we are still looking at a strong seller’s market for ALL homes in El Dorado Hills.

The average cost-per-square-foot for Bank Owned homes was $ 150 in December, up considerably from $ 126 in the previous month, and the highest in the past fifteen months. The average cost-per-square-foot for ALL homes sold in El Dorado Hills in December remained $ 153 for the second month in a row.

The overall sales price for bank owned homes was 94.9% of the final asking price and 87% of the original asking price. Only one of the buyers paid the full asking price in December. The banks did not do a very good job of estimating the market value of their “toxic Assets” that sold in December.

Bank owned homebuyers paid 98% of the cost-per-square-foot for their REO home when compared with the cost-per-square-foot for ALL homes sold in December. That is only $ 3 pre-square-foot savings. When applied to a 2500 square foot home that represents a savings of $ 7,500, much less than usual.

If you have any questions about purchasing any home in El Dorado Hills, an El Dorado Hills Bank Owned Home, or a Bank Owned Home anywhere in the area, feel free to give us a call (916) 337-0658.

The data follows:

BANK OWNED (Foreclosure) HOME SALES DATA FOR FOLSOM, CA – DECEMBER 2011

This is the latest monthly report of a four-year study of bank owned (REO) home sales in Folsom, CA. This report covers December 2011.

There were 16 REO homes sold in Folsom this month, up from 12 the previous month.

The average days-on-market increased from 49 the previous month to 67 in December. Two of the homes had been on the market for over 200 days and two others had been on the market for over 100 days. Obviously, some of the old inventory was cleared out. However, 38% of the homes that sold were on the market for two weeks or less, proving once again that well priced homes in good condition sell quickly.

The 16 REO homes that sold represent 23% of all homes sold in Folsom this month. The very low bank owned home inventory is one reason for this statistic.

The available inventory of bank owned homes in Folsom dropped to a 7-month supply, the lowest inventory level of bank owned homes in the past 15 months. The inventory for bank owned homes in Folsom peaked at a 2.8-month supply in January and has steadily declined since. The available inventory for ALL homes available decreased to a 1.6-month supply, down from a 2-month supply the previous month. Pundits tell us that a 6-month supply is neutral market, so Folsom remains a strong seller’s market for both bank owned homes and all other homes on the market.

The average cost-per-square-foot for bank owned homes was $ 141 in December, unchanged from November. The average cost-per-square-foot for ALL homes sold in Folsom in December was $ 157, up one dollar from the previous month. It has been moving within a narrow range for the past year.

The overall sales price for REO homes was 96.50% of the final asking price and 89.38% of the original asking price. Both of these numbers are lower than usual. The 89.38% number is a reflection of the banks ability to judge the true market value of their “toxic assets.” They did not do well on those homes sold in December. In addition, only 32% of the buyers paid the asking price, or more, for their bank owned homes in December. That too is lower than usual.

Based on the cost-per-square-foot statistic, bank owned homebuyers paid 10% less for their home than did buyers of non-bank owned homes in December. When we apply that to a 2500 square foot home, it represents a savings of $ 40,000: a considerable savings.

If you have any questions about purchasing a home in Folsom, a Folsom REO, or an REO anywhere in the area, feel free to give us a call

(916) 337-0658.

The data follows:

BANK OWNED (REO) HOME SALES DATA FOR EL DORADO HILLS, CA – NOVEMBER 2011

This is the latest monthly report of a four-year study of bank owned home sales in El Dorado Hills, CA. This report covers November 2011.

There were seven bank owned homes sold in El Dorado Hills in November, down from 10 the previous month. A low inventory is the primary reason.

The average days-on-market decreased from 56 in October to 29 in November. None of the homes had been on the market for over 100 days. Twenty-nine percent of the homes that sold were on the market for two weeks or less.

The seven bank owned homes that sold represent only 16% of ALL homes sold in El Dorado Hills this month. This is a much smaller segment than normal, largely due to the low available inventory.

The available inventory of bank owned homes in El Dorado Hills decreased from a 1.7-month supply the previous month to a 1.5-month supply in November. That inventory level has not been over a 2-month supply since March of this year. The available inventory for ALL homes available dropped from a 4.2-month supply the previous month to a 2.9-month supply in November. Pundits advise that a 6-month supply is a neutral market, so we are still looking at a seller’s market for ALL homes in El Dorado Hills.

The average cost-per-square-foot for Bank Owned homes was $ 126 in November, down one dollar from the previous month. The average cost-per-square-foot for ALL homes sold in El Dorado Hills in November increased to $ 153, up from $ 146 the previous month.

The overall sales price for bank owned homes was 101% of the final asking price and 97.1% of the original asking price. Yet 86% of the buyers paid the full asking price or more for their bank owned homes in November. Apparently, these homes were well priced and buyers decided to take advantage of those prices along with excellent mortgage interest rates.

Bank owned homebuyers paid 83% of the cost-per-square-foot for their REO home when compared with the cost-per-square-foot for ALL homes sold in November. That is a $ 23 pre-square-foot savings. When applied to a 2500 square foot home that represents a savings of $ 57,500, a considerable sum.

If you have any questions about purchasing any home in El Dorado Hills, an El Dorado Hills Bank Owned Home, or a Bank Owned Home anywhere in the area, feel free to give us a call (916) 337-0658.

The data follows: