The Frazzano Team just got a Bank of America short sale approved in 5 days & also got the seller $2,500 in relocation assistance to be paid at close of escrow! Call us today to see if you qualify (925) 735-SOLD (7653)!
SB 458, Corbett. Mortgages: deficiency judgments.
Existing law prohibits a deficiency judgment under a note secured
by a first deed of trust or first mortgage for a dwelling of not more
than 4 units in any case in which the trustor or mortgagor sells the
dwelling for less than the remaining amount of the indebtedness due
at the time of sale with the written consent of the holder of the
first deed of trust or first mortgage. Existing law provides that
written consent of the holder of the first deed of trust or first
mortgage to that sale shall obligate that holder to accept the sale
proceeds as full payment and to fully discharge the remaining amount
of the indebtedness on the first deed of trust or first mortgage.
Existing law specifies that those provisions would not limit the
ability of the holder of the first deed of trust or first mortgage to
seek damages and use existing rights and remedies against the
trustor or mortgagor or any 3rd party for fraud or waste if the
trustor or mortgagor commits either fraud with respect to the sale
of, or waste with respect to, the real property that secures that
deed of trust or mortgage. Existing law makes these provisions
inapplicable if the trustor or mortgagor is a corporation or
political subdivision of the state.
This bill would expand those provisions to prohibit a deficiency
judgment upon a note secured solely by a deed of trust or mortgage
for a dwelling of not more than 4 units in any case in which the
trustor or mortgagor sells the dwelling for a sale price less than
the remaining amount of the indebtedness outstanding at the time of
sale, in accordance with the written consent of the holder of the
deed of trust or mortgage if the title has been voluntarily
transferred to a buyer by grant deed or by other document that has
been recorded and the proceeds of the sale are tendered as agreed.
The bill would also provide that, in other circumstances, when the
note is not secured solely by a deed of trust or mortgage for a
dwelling of not more than 4 units, no judgment shall be rendered for
any deficiency upon a note secured by a deed of trust or mortgage for
a dwelling of not more than 4 units, if the trustor or mortgagor
sells the dwelling for a sale price less than the remaining amount of
the indebtedness, in accordance with the written consent of the
holder of the deed of trust or mortgage. The bill would provide,
following the sale, in accordance with the written consent, the
voluntary transfer of title to a buyer, as specified, and the tender
of the sale proceeds, the rights, remedies, and obligations of any
holder, beneficiary, mortgagee, trustor, mortgagor, obligor, obligee,
or guarantor of the note, deed of trust, or mortgage, and with
respect to any other property that secures the note, shall be treated
and determined as if the dwelling had been sold through foreclosure
under a power of sale, as specified. The bill would prohibit the
holder of a note from requiring the trustor, mortgagor, or maker of
the note to pay any additional compensation, aside from the proceeds
of the sale, in exchange for the written consent to the sale. The
bill would provide that these provisions are inapplicable if the
trustor or mortgagor is a corporation, limited liability company,
limited partnership, or political subdivision of the state. The
provisions would also be inapplicable to any deed of trust, mortgage,
or other lien given to secure the payment of bonds or other evidence
of indebtedness authorized, or permitted to be issued, by the
Commissioner of Corporations, or that is made by a public utility
subject to the Public Utilities Act. The bill would provide that any
purported waiver of these provisions shall be void and against public
policy.
This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as
an urgency statute.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 580e of the Code of Civil Procedure is amended
to read:
580e. (a) (1) No deficiency shall be owed or collected, and no
deficiency judgment shall be requested or rendered for any deficiency
upon a note secured solely by a deed of trust or mortgage for a
dwelling of not more than four units, in any case in which the
trustor or mortgagor sells the dwelling for a sale price less than
the remaining amount of the indebtedness outstanding at the time of
sale, in accordance with the written consent of the holder of the
deed of trust or mortgage, provided that both of the following have
occurred:
(A) Title has been voluntarily transferred to a buyer by grant
deed or by other document of conveyance that has been recorded in the
county where all or part of the real property is located.
(B) The proceeds of the sale have been tendered to the mortgagee,
beneficiary, or the agent of the mortgagee or beneficiary, in
accordance with the parties’ agreement.
(2) In circumstances not described in paragraph (1), when a note
is not secured solely by a deed of trust or mortgage for a dwelling
of not more than four units, no judgment shall be rendered for any
deficiency upon a note secured by a deed of trust or mortgage for a
dwelling of not more than four units, if the trustor or mortgagor
sells the dwelling for a sale price less than the remaining amount of
the indebtedness outstanding at the time of sale, in accordance with
the written consent of the holder of the deed of trust or mortgage.
Following the sale, in accordance with the holder’s written consent,
the voluntary transfer of title to a buyer by grant deed or by other
document of conveyance recorded in the county where all or part of
the real property is located, and the tender to the mortgagee,
beneficiary, or the agent of the mortgagee or beneficiary of the sale
proceeds, as agreed, the rights, remedies, and obligations of any
holder, beneficiary, mortgagee, trustor, mortgagor, obligor, obligee,
or guarantor of the note, deed of trust, or mortgage, and with
respect to any other property that secures the note, shall be treated
and determined as if the dwelling had been sold through foreclosure
under a power of sale contained in the deed of trust or mortgage for
a price equal to the sale proceeds received by the holder, in the
manner contemplated by Section 580d.
(b) A holder of a note shall not require the trustor, mortgagor,
or maker of the note to pay any additional compensation, aside from
the proceeds of the sale, in exchange for the written consent to the
sale.
(c) If the trustor or mortgagor commits either fraud with respect
to the sale of, or waste with respect to, the real property that
secures the deed of trust or mortgage, this section shall not limit
the ability of the holder of the deed of trust or mortgage to seek
damages and use existing rights and remedies against the trustor or
mortgagor or any third party for fraud or waste.
(d) (1) This section shall not apply if the trustor or mortgagor
is a corporation, limited liability company, limited partnership, or
political subdivision of the state.
(2) This section shall not apply to any deed of trust, mortgage,
or other lien given to secure the payment of bonds or other evidence
of indebtedness authorized, or permitted to be issued, by the
Commissioner of Corporations, or that is made by a public utility
subject to the Public Utilities Act (Part 1 (commencing with Section
201) of Division 1 of the Public Utilities Code).
(e) Any purported waiver of subdivision (a) or (b) shall be void
and against public policy.
SEC. 2. This act is an urgency statute necessary for the immediate
preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within the
meaning of Article IV of the Constitution and shall go into immediate
effect. The facts constituting the necessity are:
In order to mitigate the impact of the ongoing foreclosure crisis
and to encourage the approval of short sales as an alternative to
foreclosure, it is necessary that this act take effect immediately.
(a) No judgment shall be rendered for any deficiency under a
note secured by a first deed of trust or first mortgage for a
dwelling of not more than four units, in any case in which the
trustor or mortgagor sells the dwelling for less than the remaining
amount of the indebtedness due at the time of sale with the written
consent of the holder of the first deed of trust or first mortgage.
Written consent of the holder of the first deed of trust or first
mortgage to that sale shall obligate that holder to accept the sale
proceeds as full payment and to fully discharge the remaining amount
of the indebtedness on the first deed of trust or first mortgage.
(b) If the trustor or mortgagor commits either fraud with respect
to the sale of, or waste with respect to, the real property that
secures the first deed of trust or first mortgage, this section shall
not limit the ability of the holder of the first deed of trust or
first mortgage to seek damages and use existing rights and remedies
against the trustor or mortgagor or any third party for fraud or
waste.
(c) This section shall not apply if the trustor or mortgagor is a
corporation or political subdivision of the state.
The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) announced Friday that it is extending the suspension of its ‘anti-flipping rule’ through the remainder of 2011.
FHA Commissioner David Stevens says the temporary waiver will accelerate the resale of foreclosed homes in neighborhoods that are overrun with abandoned properties and blight. The move is intended to help stabilize home values and improve conditions in communities experiencing high foreclosure activity.
FHA regulations typically prohibit insuring a mortgage on a home owned by the seller for less than 90 days, but in February of last year, FHA temporarily waived this regulation through January 31, 2011, noting that in today’s foreclosure-ravaged marketplace, the agency’s research has shown that acquiring, rehabilitating, and reselling distressed properties often takes less than 90 days.
With the sunset date for that first extension just days away, FHA posted a notice on Friday extending the waiver through December 31, 2011. This action will permit buyers to continue to use FHA-insured financing to purchase HUD-owned properties, bank-owned properties, or properties resold through private sales.
“As I noted when we first announced this policy change early last year, because of the tightened credit market, FHA-insured mortgage financing is often the only means of financing available to potential homebuyers,” Stevens said. “Today I can report that this policy change has been effective.”
Stevens says since the original waiver went into effect, FHA has insured more than 21,000 mortgages worth over $3.6 billion on properties resold within 90 days.
FHA said it the notice that prohibiting the use of FHA mortgage insurance for a subsequent resale within 90 days would adversely impact the willingness of sellers to consider offers from potential FHA buyers, because the seller must also factor in holding costs and the risk of vandalism associated with allowing a property to sit vacant over a 90-day period of time.
“Because of past restrictions, FHA borrowers have often been shut out from buying affordable properties,” Stevens added. “This action enables our borrowers, especially first-time buyers, to take advantage of this opportunity and buy a home that has recently been rehabilitated. It will also help to move more foreclosed properties off the market and reduce the number of vacant homes in neighborhoods throughout this country.”
The waiver contains strict conditions and guidelines to protect FHA borrowers against predatory practices of “flipping” where properties are quickly resold at inflated prices. The agency’s anti-flipping waiver is limited to those sales meeting the following criteria:
By: Carrie Bay
RealtyTrac has released its 2010 foreclosure tallies for the nation’s largest metropolitan areas. The tracking firm found that foreclosure activity increased from 2009 in 149 of the 206 metros with a population of 200,000 or more, or 72 percent.
Interestingly enough, the metro areas with the 10 highest foreclosure rates all posted decreasing activity from 2009, but RealtyTrac says foreclosures became more widespread last year as high unemployment drove activity up in parts of the country that had been relatively insulated from the initial foreclosure tsunami.
“Foreclosure floodwaters receded somewhat in 2010 in the nation’s hardest-hit housing markets,” said James J. Saccacio, RealtyTrac’s CEO. “Even so, foreclosure levels remained five to 10 times higher than historic norms in most of those hard-hit markets, where deep fault lines of risk remain and could potentially trigger more waves of foreclosure activity in 2011 and beyond.”
Among the 20 largest metros, RealtyTrac says Houston (+26%), Seattle (+23%), and Atlanta (+21%) saw the biggest increases in foreclosure filings last year. However, cities in California, Florida, Nevada, and Arizona once again accounted for the nation’s 10 highest foreclosure rates, despite the fact that their activity retreated.
The Las Vegas metro claimed the No. 1 spot, with one in every nine homes there receiving a foreclosure filing last
year – nearly five times the national average. That’s despite the fact that filings were down 7 percent from 2009. A total of 88,198 Las Vegas-area properties received a foreclosure filing in 2010.
Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Florida documented the nation’s second highest metro foreclosure rate, with one in every 12 housing units (8.40%) receiving a foreclosure filing in 2010. A total of 30,660 properties in the metro area received a filing in 2010, down 28 percent from 2009.
Modesto, California also reported a decrease in foreclosure activity from 2009 of more than 28 percent, but the metro area still posted the nation’s third highest foreclosure rate with one in every 14 homes (7.34%) in some stage of foreclosure in 2010.
Other metro areas with foreclosure rates in the top 10 were Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, Arizona (7.27%); Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, Florida (7.08%); Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, California (6.95%); Stockton, California (6.94%); Merced, California (6.93%); Orlando-Kissimmee, Florida (6.86%); and Vallejo-Fairfield, California (6.25%).
The Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale metro area reported 55,372 bank repossessions, or REOs, in 2010, the most of any metro area and up 17 percent from 2009.
The Chicago-Naperville-Joliet metro area had 45,555 REOs in 2010, the second most of any metro area and an increase of nearly 20 percent from 2009.
And the Detroit-Warren-Livonia metro reported 43,541 REOs in 2010, the third most of any metro area and up 19 percent from 2009.
The Washington, D.C., metro area posted the biggest decrease in overall foreclosure activity from 2009 among the nation’s 20 largest metro areas, down 22 percent, followed by three Southern California metro areas: Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, with a 20 percent decrease; San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, with a 17 percent decrease; and Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, with a 16 percent decrease.
By: Carrie Bay
There are many programs helping struggling CA homeowners - take a look at this great website with all the new programs - http://www.keepyourhomecalifornia.org/
As always if you have any questions please feel free to contact us anytime!
Glum market fundamentals, limited bright spots
Ilyce Glink is the publisher at Thinkglink.com.
Real estate isn’t much better than in the past two years. Unemployment is still high, and real estate sales are tied to jobs. Unemployment might have to go below 8 percent before the market is spurred.
Even with record low interest rates, lots of people don’t qualify to buy a house. And the number of households is shrinking. People don’t have enough money to live separately. Also, foreclosure is impacting housing enormously. Buyers don’t want to pay what sellers want. That drives down prices.
Some markets are very tough, like Florida, Michigan, Arizona and parts of Illinois. Prices may not have hit bottom. But it’s localized; even in Florida, some pockets are doing OK. Across the country, homes prices are up 1 percent. But after falling 35 percent, prices aren’t going to jump that much. This massive drop is unprecedented in the past 100 years.
I expect existing and new home sales to be weak this year.
Headwinds will temper recovery
Paul Bishop is an economist at the National Association of Realtors (NAR).
The real estate market will recover slightly this year. It won’t bounce back like you’d expect.
What’s pushing the housing market is low mortgage rates, high housing affordability and some economic growth. We’re adding jobs at a modest pace.
Headwinds include high unemployment, and our forecast doesn’t suggest that it will drop. And foreclosures are keeping the market from moving ahead more quickly. High levels of foreclosures exist in areas such as Florida, Nevada, parts of Michigan, and Ohio. Consumers will be more cautious. They don’t want to buy a home today because they fear falling prices. And there’s new concern about the process itself. It’s such a mess. We don’t know what the impact will be.
There are signs that the market is stabilizing.
Hardest hit areas are mostly at or near [price] bottoms. Best performing areas are in the middle of the country, from Texas up to North Dakota. They avoided subprime mortgages and never saw rapid increases in price. They haven’t suffered as much. And they’re not dependent on [cyclical] business like finance, retailing and construction.
Short-term, supply is high. About 4 million homes are on the market. That’s 10.7 months of inventory, which hasn’t changed much in the past few months. We hope to get to the 8- or 9-month range by the middle of this year, partly driven by population growth. It won’t be a straight line up, though.
Mortgage rates will rise. NAR expects them to average 4.8 percent this year.
More of the same in 2011
Barbara Corcoran is a nationally known real estate and business expert.
I see more of the same this year, for a few reasons. There will be more foreclosures. And getting a new mortgage is great if you have a stellar credit rating. It’s as if amazingly low interest rates were rendered meaningless.
There are rays of hope, though. As many markets are up as down in the third quarter, according to NAR. Florida, southern California and Nevada haven’t hit bottom yet. Until we get rid of foreclosures, we can’t have a rebound.
There are pockets of growth. Boston is in good shape, and Columbus, Ohio, is doing well. Parts of Florida are happier prospects, like the Treasure Coast. Markets with momentum should have an easier time this year. Metropolitan areas always lead the parade.
The government should lower mortgage rates for everyone. It’s like a Cash for Clunkers program, but for houses.
Mortgage rates: a sprung coil
Dan Green is a loan officer at Waterstone Mortgage and writes TheMortgageReports.com.
There’s more room for mortgage rates to rise than fall. I tell clients to lock in something now. When rates start to rise, they’ll rise quickly. There is lots of concern about ARM (adjustable-rate mortgage) resets. But I never believed that. The ARMs adjusting in 2011 are tied to LIBOR, and it’s cheap. Most mortgages are going to adjust down.
But mortgage guidelines will get tighter. It will be harder to be approved. There’s extra scrutiny by banks. They’ve raised their minimum requirements so the loans are better. That decreases the buyer pool.
This article was originally published on HSH.com.
Most people know the importance of making at least minimum credit card payments on time, and avoiding financial no-nos like bankruptcy and foreclosure if possible. However, some less obvious factors can still make a negative impact on your credit rating. They may seem counterintuitive, and some may go against what you’ve been told in the past, but Tim Chen, CEO of the credit-card search website NerdWallet, will explain why these five practices can wreck your credit score.
1. Settling past-due debts with a creditor to pay less than you owe. Anyone who has amassed enough credit card debt has gotten the pitches in the mail, and sleepless fretting debtors see the ads on late-night TV: Pay Down Your Debt! It sounds too good to be true, and Chen confirms this. “Even though you’re getting rid of bad debt, it stays on your report as ’settled’ rather than ‘paid off,’ and is now updated on the payment date, making it look like it happened more recently than the original loan. Your credit score is weighted more heavily toward recent events than past events, so taking a bad debt from the past and moving it to the present will count against you.”
2. Transferring balances from a high-interest account to a low-interest account. Ahh, the old trick of debt-juggling from card to card. You get an offer for a new card with an enticing 0 percent annual percentage rate for a whole year. Who knows what might happen in that interest-free year—you could even pay off this debt for good, right? Balance transfers can seem like a good idea at the time, but Chen says, “While it’s better for your bottom line, opening new accounts works against your credit score. Plus moving all your debts to one card could negatively impact your credit utilization (your ratio of debt to available credit).”
3. Closing old credit cards. One school of thought holds that the more credit you have open, the more risk that it could be misused, or it could leave you more vulnerable to fraud, so you should close your unused cards. But closing cards hurts you two ways, says Chen, by increasing your debt utilization and shortening your credit history length. “Creditors like to see that you have a lot of unused, available credit, and that you have accounts that have been open for a long time without problems.”
4. Paying off your car or your mortgage. What? Paying off your mortgage can work against you? Chen steps in to explain the enigmatic concept of “credit mix.” “FICO reports that 10 percent of your credit score is determined by your ‘credit mix,’ and they like to see a variety of installment and revolving loans. If all you have is an auto loan and three credit cards, paying off the car will leave you with nothing but revolving credit.” However, Chen points out that in that case you might want to focus on paying off that debt.
5. Avoiding debt altogether won’t help you. So basically, no matter what, you’re doomed! (Kidding. See the conclusion below for a glimmer of hope.) “While eschewing debt is in vogue these days, your credit score is based on how well you can handle credit, and all of your score’s components are based on you having open debt accounts,” Chen says. That means that even if you are anti-credit cards, well-managed credit accounts will eventually help your case if you plan on getting a mortgage.
It may now seem like credit scores are a hopeless “damned if you do and damned if you don’t” situation. But there are ideals you can strive for to achieve a good credit rating. Chen points to Lending Club’s rate table, which has remarkably transparent disclosures, for some parameters to aim for.
Based on their data, you can draw the following conclusions:
And don’t forget the basics: pay off at least the monthly minimum balance for many years running.
Alex Tse at the Frazzano Team has done it again - another homeowner saved from foreclosure. We were able to get this short sale approved with a $0 contribution from the seller - please visit our approval letters page & view the latest approval from Wells Fargo from December 7th 2010.
We have a proven track record for approving short sales - give us a call for a confidential interview if you are facing trouble keeping up with your mortgage payments - there is a way out! 925.735.7653 - ask for Alex or Joe!
Published: Tuesday, 7 Dec 2010 | 3:30 PM ET Text Size By: Diana Olick
CNBC Real Estate Reporter
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The good news is that more Americans say they are willing to consider buying a foreclosed property; the bad news is that they’re expecting a bigger discount on that property than ever before.
A new survey from online real estate sites RealtyTrac and Trulia finds 49 percent of those surveyed said they would be “at least somewhat likely to consider purchasing” a foreclosure, up from 45 percent last May; however, 2/3 of those respondents are expecting at least a 30 percent discount to real market value, and 1/3 expect a 50 percent discount.
So much for house prices finding a bottom any time soon.
The reason behind the discount is clear: Risk.
A growing number of Americans think that the process of buying a foreclosure is more risky than ever. There’s your impact of the big bank robo-signing scandals. And those scandals, which helped to diminish faith in the mortgage market overall, also pushed back the housing recovery, at least according to the survey:
When Americans Think The Housing Market Will Recover:
YEAR % OF AMERICAN ADULTS WHO BELIEVE HOUSING WILL RECOVER
Already recovered 4%
2010 1%
2011 10%
2012 27%
2013 24%
2014 12%
2015 or later 22%
Source: Trulia.com/RealtyTrac
Suffice it to say that faith is not abundant among today’s potential home buyers, but that doesn’t exactly mean they’re immovable. Credit Suisse reported the first “uptick” in buyer traffic in November since last April:
“We heard varying reasons for the slight bounce in traffic, with some agents surprised and unsure of the real cause. One clear theme was the attractiveness of low mortgage rates and the fear of rising rates, which we think led some buyers to decide to act. In addition, many buyers emerged from their summer/fall sabbatical to see some of the bargains firsthand.”
J. Rockcliff Realtors
4105 Blackhawk Plaza Circle
Danville, California 94506
(VIEW MAP)
(925) 735-SOLD (7653)
