Fannie Mae and Other Banks Postpone Foreclosures Through the Holidays

Fannie Mae is one of a few banks who have decided to put a moratorium on evicting those facing foreclosure from December 19, 2011-January 2, 2012.

Executive Vice President, Terry Edwards, was quoted in a CNNMoney article stating that “No family should have to give up their home during this holiday season.”

Others also putting evictions on hold are Freddie Mac, Chase Mortgage, and Wells Fargo. Dates for each bank may be different, and only applies to those they actually own, not just service. If they service loans for other banks or companies, they have to follow the wishes and rules of those companies.

If you are facing foreclosure in Baltimore, please contact me. You may have other options available to you!

Four Years to Remove Shadow Inventory

The S&P (Standard & Poor)’s rating service states that it will take four years to clear “shadow inventory” from the real estate market, according to their recently released report from the end of 2010.

“Shadow Inventory” is the number of houses where the homeowners are more than 90 days delinquent on their mortgage payments.

The Baltimore real estate market has be faring a bit better than the national average, so our shadow inventory is hopefully much much less!

There are bits of good news with this, as the S&P report shows that it is up 11% over the previous quarter, but the overall level of distressed properties has fallen since it’s height in March of 2010, and loan modifications and short sales have been helping the situation.

If you are facing foreclosure in Baltimore, please contact me. You may have other options available to you!

Two Week Foreclosure Freeze

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are freezing foreclosure proceedings on homes from December 20, 2010-January 3, 2011 in an attempt to join in the holiday spirit for those who will lose their homes.

What they will prevent is people being evicted from their homes during this time period, hopefully allowing families to spend one last one together in them.

CNNMoney.com also interviewed Bank of America executives, who state that this is a practice they tend to follow each holiday season. Wells Fargo and JP Morgan Chase do as well. According to the article,

With the number of bank repossessions amounting to around 100,000 a month recently, the temporary reprieve could affect tens of thousands of borrowers in default.

That is a large number of people who could possibly have more time together.

The eviction process is the last step in the foreclosure process where the house has already been either sold at auction or been repossessed by the bank. The occupants of the house must either leave on their own at that point or face eviction.

So, a number of residents in foreclosure will get a few more weeks to breathe.

If you are facing foreclosure in Baltimore, please contact me. There may be other alternatives!

Ally Financial Foreclosure Issues

After a number of lawsuits have been filed, Ally Financial (formerly GMAC), one of the US’s largest banks, is halting foreclosures in 23 states.

Maryland is NOT one of the states.

JP Morgan Chase has also been wracked with issues,with an employee coming forward, stating that she signed off on thousands of foreclosures without verifying the accuracy of the information in the file.

Another employee of a document services company admitted to signing foreclosure affidavits, claiming to be executives and other people when signing. Her signature also has supposedly been forged. These are on thousands of foreclosure documents. There has been a lawsuit filed against the company owned by Lender Processing Services, which is supposed to help speed up the foreclosure process for banks.

The Washington Post reported on this mess in an article last week. This week, title companies are battening down the hatches, attempting to prepare for future transactions, ensuring that substitute trustees and appointees match completely.

Right now, none of the current cases are in Maryland. Hopefully it will remain that way.

This Month in Real Estate September 2010

This Month in Real Estate September 2010 is here early!

September’s video discusses foreclosures, and how California, Florida, and Arizona topped the list in most foreclosures per state.

Maryland foreclosures too are at an all time high, as I discussed in both July & August, up 56.2% in the first half of 2010, and 10th worst in the US.

What the high foreclosure rate is doing is allowing buyers to take advantage of the market. In 2009, 1 of every 4 second home purchases was a foreclosure. This is partially due to the areas hardest hit being in vacation areas, but also due to the possibility of foreclosures being up to a 20% discount over neighborhood market values.

Byron Ellington discussed tips for buying foreclosures. These are great tips for buying a Maryland foreclosure:

1) Expect a little more time to hear back from your offer than you would from a general seller. Banks have a process that can take 12 days or more to respond back to an offer.

2) Understand that most banks sell their foreclosed homes AS-IS, meaning they won’t make repairs on the house for inspections or other purposes. This is especially important to understand if you are using an FHA insured loan, because often there are repairs required by the FHA appraiser — that the seller (the bank) would not agree to fix. If you are planning to use FHA for your mortgage, make sure to speak with your mortgage professional prior to even looking at foreclosed properties to understand your options and obligations.

3) Each bank has their own policies and procedures, so even if your friend or acquaintance has gone through the process, yours may be extremely different, because each bank if very different.

4) Having a real estate professional on your side is very important to help you navigate the waters.

Contact me for more information about buying a Baltimore foreclosure.

Foreclosures in Maryland Rose in February

Foreclosures in Maryland rose above the national average in February, with a total of 5,732 according to the Baltimore Business Journal.

This was a 9% increase over January, and an 80% increase (yes eighty percent) over February 2009.

In Maryland, one in every 407 houses was in foreclosure in February. The national average was one in every 418.

This rate made Maryland the tenth worst default rate in the country.

You will most likely see many of these homes come on the market soon. Some may have already been listed as short sales and did not sell or were not accepted by the bank.

Though technically not “comparables” for regular home sales, these many foreclosures that will most likely sell at lower-than-market prices will not help Baltimore house values any, and will probably bring values down further than where they are now.