Meet Michael Cacciotti
April 26th, 2012Half of all homes “underwater” by 2011
August 7th, 2009
Hold on. We’re not through it yet. One out of two homeowners will owe more than their house is worth by 2011. Read about it here.
We predict that Loan Modifications and short sales will increase exponentially in the next year or two. We are already seeing lenders overwhelmed with requests for help; they are hiring new (hopefully knowledgeable and trained) staff almost daily.
It is more important than ever to work efficiently and effectively with the big lenders. Their workload is so great that they don’t have the time or the manpower to process incomplete or shoddily put together loan modification proposals.
We know of one homeowner who was recently contacted by her lender who left her a voicemail giving her 24 hours to get some urgent documentation to them or they would cancel her request for help and proceed immediately to foreclosure.
Unfortunately,that voicemail message was in English and the homeowner spoke only Spanish. Within days she had received a Notice of Trustee’s Sale and an auction date.
We were able to undo the damage but it was a stressful and nail-biting couple of days for the homeowner before we did so.
California’s Abandoned Cities
August 4th, 2009
We are now seeing whole stretches of urban America being laid waste to the folly and greed of a relatively small number of people who profited at the average Homeowners’ expense.
This is sobering article about long-term and devastating changes to entire communities, homeowners, small and large businesses, and schools across America.
Our only comment would be one of surprise at the fact that Las Vegas is not up there in the top three.
Go here to read the entire article.
Nobel Prize-winning economist raises concerns about Obama Mortgage Plan
April 21st, 2009Nobel Prize-winning economist, Joseph Stiglitz is convinced that the $75 billion mortgage relief program doesn’t do enough to help Americans who can’t afford to make their monthly payments.
“It doesn’t reduce principal, doesn’t make changes in bankruptcy law that would help people work out debts, and doesn’t change the incentive to simply stop making payments once a mortgage is greater than the value of a house”, he said yesterday.
Stiglitz said the Fed, while it’s done almost all it can to bring the country back from the worst recession since 1982, can’t revive the economy on its own.
Relying on low interest rates to help put a floor under housing prices is a variation on the policies that created the housing bubble in the first place, Stiglitz said.
“While the strategy might put a floor under housing prices, it won’t do anything to speed the recovery,” he said.
Even with rates low, banks may not lend because they remain wary of market or borrower risk, and in the current environment “there’s still a lot of risk.” That’s why Stiglitz believes that even with all of the programs the Fed and the administration have opened, lending is still very limited.
Stiglitz expressed a similar lack of confidence in the Obama Bank Rescue program this week. Stiglitz, 66, won the Nobel in 2001 for showing that markets are inefficient when all parties in a transaction don’t have equal access to critical information, which is most of the time. His work is cited in more economic papers than that of any of his peers, according to a February ranking by Research Papers in Economics, an international database.
Stiglitz cites three main reasons he feels the Rescue is doomed:
- The Troubled Asset Relief Program isn’t extensive enough to recapitalize the banking system.
- The administration is ignoring this shortfall or is aware of it but doesn’t know how to address it.
- Even more troubling, many of Obama’s closest advisors have extremely close ties to Wall Street.
“America has had a revolving door. People go from Wall Street to Treasury and back to Wall Street,” he said. “Even if there is no quid pro quo, that is not the issue. The issue is the mindset.” Read the rest of this entry »
Dismal Outlook for Commercial Property Owners
March 11th, 2009There’s no good news in 2009 for owners of commercial properties. A recent article in the Washington Post – you can read it here – gives a bleak forecast for owners saddled with empty office space, vacant apartment houses and empty storefronts. Rents are projects to drop to around 18%, vacancies could rise another 10%.
Loan modification negotiation for commercial properties is a good solution to a top-heavy commercial portfolio. Lower interest rates and/or a reduction of principal and reduced payments can pave the way to a landlord having the flexibility to drop rents, offer move-in incentives and compete aggressively in a very competitive market.
Commercial loan modification is a complex art and there are far fewer loan modification companies which will attempt to do it. It can be successfully accomplished, however, and a good result can be achieved.
Saving your second home or rental property
March 11th, 2009The Obama Program, whether it works or not, is solely for the modification or refinance of primary residences. Many families took the opportunity to acquire a second home during the housing market boom. We’re running across a lot of families who have sunk their life savings into an investment property which was intended to be their cushion for retirement or their kid’s future. Worse, some homeowners borrowed heavily against the equity in their primary residences to finance second properties.
Computer-generated loan audits – not a good idea.
March 5th, 2009Many people are confused about the purpose and process of loan auditing. Unfortunately, many people who actually offer and conduct loan audits for a living are also in this category!
Let’s recap. When you buy a house you deal with several service- providers. You probably have an escrow agent, an appraiser, maybe a mortgage broker and you certainly have a lender.
Top Ten Reasons you should never do your own loan modification
February 22nd, 2009You’ve heard the old disclaimer “Don’t try this at home”.
And yet, the most consistent question homeowners ask about loan modification is:
“Why can’t I do this myself? Why do I have to hire someone to do it for me.”
It’s a reasonable question. Times are hard and every penny counts – especially when you are in default on your house or in danger of going into default.
So, here, not necessarily in any order, are the most common reasons why it’s a foolish idea to try a D.I.Y. loan modification. Read the rest of this entry »
Eviction isn’t what it used to be
February 22nd, 2009
Many homeowners are terrified by the prospect of eviction. They’ll get kicked out on the street; their neighbors will know. It’s a hopeless situation.
Maybe yes, maybe no.
An eviction is simply a lawsuit. And, like any lawsuit, it can be contested, fought and won.
An eviction lawsuit comes after your foreclosure when your lender knows you are still in your house and he wants you out. (Of course, your house will sit empty because your lender can’t rent or sell it in this economy – but that’s not the point. It’s now his and he wants you out).
A pathway to keeping you in your home is to “unwind” the foreclosure. This basically means that your attorney will take steps to challenge the foreclosure on the grounds that your home was sold illegally. This is not just an allegation.
If you purchased your home anytime since 2005 there is a good likelihood that your loan transaction contained elements of fraud or misrepresentation. If you were not aware of these facts when you signed your loan docs then there may be grounds to go back and have your lender answer for every aspect of your home purchase – including it’s eventual sale.
Your attorney can then file a lawsuit and request that your eviction lawsuit be put on hold until the fraud lawsuit is adjudicated – which could be a long time.
This isn’t pie-in-the-sky. RealEstateLawCenter.org has ongoing lawsuits right now on behalf of borrowers facing eviction.
Don’t walk away and don’t ever willingly surrender the keys to your home without a fight.
There are never any guarantees but there are always options.