From March to July 2011, Senator Ellen Corbett was amending SB 458, which aimed to support and expand current laws SB 931 and SB 580e. Then in July 2011, SB 458 was approved and signed into law by Governor Jerry Brown, effective immediately. The new law states that after a short sale closing, (both) lien holders now will consider the outstanding balances paid in full and not seek monetary damages for their losses. In other words, Mr. and Mrs. homeowner no longer have to worry about the equity line and can walk away with only a short sale on their credit report.
Seems to be good news huh? Possibly for the home owners who short sell with Wachovia, Chase and Citibank, as those lenders have all been seller friendly and have been very good to work with from an agents perspective. So, for the millions of home owners who will be forced to work with other lenders, I am sorry to report that a short sale is a voluntary act for the banks and they do NOT have to approve anything. I am pretty sure they have attorney's working on a solution or work around for SB 458 because banks are in the business of making money, so if they are hand cuffed and can no longer seek monetary damages from us, they will find an alternative route.
Bottom line, my non-legal and semi-professional advice is to always hire an agent who is well experienced in short sale negotiations. To have an attorney look at the short sale approval to make sure there is no special language in there that we common folk overlook. Most importantly, consult with your tax representative or tax attorney for a complete big picture scenario.
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Democrats crush housing, recovery and US economy
In July 2010 the US Congress and Senate passed a massive bill called the Dodd-Frank reform bill. Since it was 2300 pages long, I did not get a chance to read it all, how about you? Exactly, after the first page I fell asleep, so how about we let The Obamanator explain some of it and well score his success? From his 7/15/2010 press conference, "The United States Congress has now passed a Wall Street reform bill that will bring greater economic security to families and businesses across the country." Let's see how our elected officials are helping us.
1. Obamanator says, "Because of this reform, the American people will never again be asked to foot the bill for Wall Street’s mistakes." There will be no more taxpayer-funded bailouts -- period." Answer: Actually the bank bailouts cost US Taxpayers $1.2 Trillion.
2. Obamanator says, "The financial industry is central to our nation’s ability to grow, to prosper, to compete and to innovate. This reform will foster that innovation, not hamper it."
Answer: Foreclosures are an epidemic and the unemployment rate decreased, but only because the incarceration rate increased and more people are joining the military for employment purposes.
3. Obamanator says, "That’s why we invested in renewable energy that’s currently creating new jobs all across America...reforming education so that our workers can compete in the global economy....reforming health care that will lower costs for families and businesses."
Answer: The only new jobs being created are in health care and minimum wage retail sector. Education across the country has been decimated by layoff's, poor scores and over crowding, just like the prisons. The health care costs in this country have actually sky-rocketed for everyone except the poor, so again, nothing beneficial for the US economy here.
So after careful review of only 3 bullet points in over 2300 pages, I have given the current Administration an F- for their efforts. They have screwed the next two generations of US citizen, taxpayer, and home owner, they have debased the value of the dollar, decreased our education while simultaneously increasing the prison population and military spending. Now I know why only 3 Republicans voted "yes" on this bill! At least the Republicans create a false sense of happiness with increased employment, higher education, and economic booms during their reign of massive spending!
1. Obamanator says, "Because of this reform, the American people will never again be asked to foot the bill for Wall Street’s mistakes." There will be no more taxpayer-funded bailouts -- period." Answer: Actually the bank bailouts cost US Taxpayers $1.2 Trillion.
2. Obamanator says, "The financial industry is central to our nation’s ability to grow, to prosper, to compete and to innovate. This reform will foster that innovation, not hamper it."
Answer: Foreclosures are an epidemic and the unemployment rate decreased, but only because the incarceration rate increased and more people are joining the military for employment purposes.
3. Obamanator says, "That’s why we invested in renewable energy that’s currently creating new jobs all across America...reforming education so that our workers can compete in the global economy....reforming health care that will lower costs for families and businesses."
Answer: The only new jobs being created are in health care and minimum wage retail sector. Education across the country has been decimated by layoff's, poor scores and over crowding, just like the prisons. The health care costs in this country have actually sky-rocketed for everyone except the poor, so again, nothing beneficial for the US economy here.
So after careful review of only 3 bullet points in over 2300 pages, I have given the current Administration an F- for their efforts. They have screwed the next two generations of US citizen, taxpayer, and home owner, they have debased the value of the dollar, decreased our education while simultaneously increasing the prison population and military spending. Now I know why only 3 Republicans voted "yes" on this bill! At least the Republicans create a false sense of happiness with increased employment, higher education, and economic booms during their reign of massive spending!
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Your loan modification will not get approved
Hello again, thanks for reading! Here we are almost two years and 19 known loan modification denials later. Back in April 09 we started a discussion about loan mods, short-sales and the TARP bailout, thinking we were at the bottom and help was coming, but things have not gotten any better.....for the middle class anyway. Banks have made some money, the wealthy have done pretty well with the tax cuts, Gov't incentives, and of course, their personal investments, all while the middle class have lost most of their life savings. So who is to blame, Goldman Sachs, the US Gov't, the man on the grassy knoll, or Bernie Madoff? Well it was Bernie Madoff of course. He took $ billions, lost it and went to jail for 1000 years, while Wall Street took $ billions, lost it, and was rewarded with $ billions in incentives and bonuses. Want to read more about this? Matt Taibbi's Feb. 2011 Rolling Stone article entitled, "why isn't Wall Street in jail" will be available online tomorrow? Get your barf bag or punching bag ready, it is disturbing and anger management material for sure.
Sorry, back on track here. As of Feb. 2011 we see that many large banks have made money and paid back their borrowed TARP funds, which means the government and banks have some liquidity and should be helping homeowners soon, right? Not so fast, we need to dig a little deeper and well see that the largest holders of US Treasuries are China, Japan and the UK. So that means the real benficieries of the TARP bailout were Wall Street executives, China, Japan and the UK, not US home owners or the US economy.
So what does all of that have to do with short-sales, loan modifications, foreclosures and the millions of us home owners who are still struggling to make our mortgage payments? A lot actually. First, please understand that we need the rich to make their money and spend that money in order to support and stimulate the economy. However, we also need regulations on them which benefit the middle class. For example, lending us money at 1% rate or modifying our home loans. But we simply did not get that during or after the TARP bailout, worse yet, we still cling to the dream that we will get help in the near future. Unfortunately, I just do not see it happening as Banks are not being forced to help us. They have been "asked" to help us, but are simply refusing without penalty. They are taking back homes through foreclosure in record numbers, while the Gov't scambles and spends $ billions more on useless programs that never seem to work. Worse yet, Real Estate Brokers and Attorney's across the country spent $ millions advertising help for home owners through loan modifications, but in the end took a mountain of cash for up front work that was never completed. Again, why were the loan modifications never approved you ask? Well, because the banks make more in a foreclosure or short-sale and because the Gov't simply cannot force the banks to help us, as we are a free and capitalist economy.
There are many options available to us, from moving our cash to smaller local credit unions and choosing to short-sell our homes, so that we can live to fight another day. Whatever you choose, make sure you do your homework first and Never pay cash up front for services "to be rendered" as it has historically ended poorly for the middle class.
Sorry, back on track here. As of Feb. 2011 we see that many large banks have made money and paid back their borrowed TARP funds, which means the government and banks have some liquidity and should be helping homeowners soon, right? Not so fast, we need to dig a little deeper and well see that the largest holders of US Treasuries are China, Japan and the UK. So that means the real benficieries of the TARP bailout were Wall Street executives, China, Japan and the UK, not US home owners or the US economy.
So what does all of that have to do with short-sales, loan modifications, foreclosures and the millions of us home owners who are still struggling to make our mortgage payments? A lot actually. First, please understand that we need the rich to make their money and spend that money in order to support and stimulate the economy. However, we also need regulations on them which benefit the middle class. For example, lending us money at 1% rate or modifying our home loans. But we simply did not get that during or after the TARP bailout, worse yet, we still cling to the dream that we will get help in the near future. Unfortunately, I just do not see it happening as Banks are not being forced to help us. They have been "asked" to help us, but are simply refusing without penalty. They are taking back homes through foreclosure in record numbers, while the Gov't scambles and spends $ billions more on useless programs that never seem to work. Worse yet, Real Estate Brokers and Attorney's across the country spent $ millions advertising help for home owners through loan modifications, but in the end took a mountain of cash for up front work that was never completed. Again, why were the loan modifications never approved you ask? Well, because the banks make more in a foreclosure or short-sale and because the Gov't simply cannot force the banks to help us, as we are a free and capitalist economy.
There are many options available to us, from moving our cash to smaller local credit unions and choosing to short-sell our homes, so that we can live to fight another day. Whatever you choose, make sure you do your homework first and Never pay cash up front for services "to be rendered" as it has historically ended poorly for the middle class.
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