Anita Acacio- Preventing Foreclosures

Last Thursday, the nation’s five largest mortgage servicers agreed to a landmark $25 billion settlement with a coalition of state attorneys general and federal agencies. The settlement addresses past mortgage loan servicing, foreclosure abuses and fraud, provides substantial financial relief to borrowers harmed by bank fraud, and establishes significant new homeowner protections for the future.
The joint state-federal group announced the agreement with the nation’s five largest servicers: Bank of America Corporation, JPMorgan Chase & Co., Wells Fargo & Company, Citigroup, Inc., and Ally Financial, Inc. (formerly GMAC). Collectively, the five banks service nearly 60 percent of the nation’s mortgages.
Under the agreement, the five servicers agree to:
Commit a minimum of $17 billion directly to borrowers through a series of national homeowner relief effort options, including principal reduction. Servicers will likely provide up to an estimated $32 billion in direct homeowner relief.
Commit $3 billion to an underwater mortgage refinancing program.
Pay $5 billion to the states and federal government ($4.25 billion to the states and $750 million to the federal government).
Provide homeowners with comprehensive new protections from new mortgage loan servicing and foreclosure standards.
Additionally,
An independent monitor will ensure mortgage servicer compliance.
States can pursue civil claims outside of the agreement including securitization claims as well as criminal cases.
Borrowers and investors can pursue individual, institutional or class action cases regardless of agreement.
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The Mercury News

The housing crisis has caught up with people whose wealth helped them hang onto their houses longer.
Read the full story:
http://www.mercurynews.com/business/ci_19899224

The Mercury News

Paying off a mortgage might sound like an ambitious plan, especially for those who have recently refinanced into a 30-year term.  But it’s still smart for homeowners to give some serious thought as to how they’ll pay off their loan; if not in 2012, then sometime.
Read the full story
http://www.mercurynews.com/real-estate/ci_19731356

Homeowners who had a mortgage loan on a primary residence and who believe were financially harmed during the mortgage foreclosure process by GMAC Mortgage, HSBC Finance Corporation, SunTrust Mortgage, or EMC Mortgage in 2009 or 2010 can request an independent review and potentially receive compensation.

The review is intended to determine if borrowers suffered financial harm directly resulting from errors, misrepresentations, or other deficiencies that may have occurred during the foreclosure process. The servicers are required to compensate borrowers for financial injury resulting from deficiencies in their foreclosure processes.

A number of servicers supervised by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) are also required to conduct independent reviews.

Borrowers are eligible for an independent foreclosure review if

• the property securing the loan was the borrower’s primary residence;
• the mortgage was in the foreclosure process (initiated, pending, or completed) at any time between January 1, 2009, and December 31, 2010; and
• the mortgage was serviced by one of the mortgage servicers listed here.

There are no costs associated with being included in the review; the review is a free program. Borrowers should beware of anyone who wants payment to assist with the independent foreclosure review or any other foreclosure assistance program.

Requests for review by the servicers’ independent consultants must be received by April 30, 2012.  Borrowers are encouraged to carefully consider the information about the review program to determine if they are eligible to participate.

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Americans’ attitudes on a variety of issues are marginally better than one month ago, according to results from Fannie Mae’s December National Housing Survey. Despite overall low levels of optimism among Americans, consumer sentiment trended in a positive direction in the final months of 2011.

Americans who say the economy is on the right track rose by 6 percentage points since November, while the percentage who say the economy is on the wrong track dropped by 6 percentage points. When asked about housing, more Americans expect home prices to  to increase compared to November and, on average, Americans expect home prices to increase by 0.8 percent over the next year, up from an expected 0.2 percent increase last month.

Highlights of the survey include:

• Thirty-six percent of Americans say that mortgage rates will go up over the next 12 months, up 3 percentage points from November and was even with October.
• Seventy-one percent of respondents say it is a good time to buy a home (up 3 percentage points since last month), and 11 percent say it is a good time to sell.
• On average, Americans expect home rental prices to increase by 3.5 percent over the next 12 months, up from 3.2 percent in November.
• Five percent expect a decline in home rental prices over the next 12 months (tying May 2011 as the lowest point in the past 12 months), while 43 percent of respondents believe that home rental prices will increase.
• Thirty-one percent of Americans say they would rent their next home, while 64 percent say they would buy, up 1 percentage point from last month.

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