Chris if I have not  paid my property taxes for this year will that hinder my short sale or modification? I usually pay the first installment of both houses with my savings, then pay the second installments with my income taxes, but it did not go that way this year b/c of financial hardship. I do plan to pay all installments when I get my income taxes and we usually file right away. Also, what will happen if  I don’t pay my Colton taxes?  Before we devised a plan with you, I was going to wait a year or so to pay the Colton taxes b/c I really needed my tax return for my growing credit debt.  But if that is not wise, I will find away and pay them.  What do you think?

Sabreen Miscellaneous

Announced Friday January 30, 2009
WASHINGTON (AP) — Mortgage finance company Freddie Mac said it will allow some borrowers to rent out their homes after losing them to foreclosure.
The goal of the new policy, announced Friday, is to prevent properties from becoming vacant so they won’t fall into disrepair.
Freddie Mac also said it will allow renters to remain in their homes even if their landlord enters foreclosure. The McLean, Va.-based company currently has about 8,500 properties in the foreclosure process, but many of those are vacant.
“Keeping foreclosed properties occupied and in better repair will support local property values and promote a faster recovery in the housing market,” said Freddie Mac Chief Executive David Moffett.
Fannie Mae, which announced similar plans earlier this month, said it has stopped about 20,000 foreclosure sales and halted 6,300 evictions of owners or renters this winter.
Under Freddie Mac’s new policy, tenants and former property owners need to demonstrate that they have enough income to pay the rental bill. Freddie Mac also said it would consider reinstating a mortgage for those borrowers who can qualify for a modified loan.
Washington-based Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were taken over by the government in September after mounting mortgage losses put them in distress that was a prelude to the broader financial crisis that hit Wall Street last year. Fannie and Freddie combined own or guarantee about half of the $10.6 trillion in outstanding U.S. home loan debt.
Both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac also said Friday they would extend a previously announced suspension of evictions through the end of February.
However, Freddie Mac hasn’t explained how tenants will be notified of the policy and hasn’t committed firmly enough to halting evictions, said Amy Marx, a staff attorney at Connecticut-based New Haven Legal Assistance.
“The only thing that Freddie Mac has agreed to do is to not send the sheriff to forcibly remove tenants,” Marx wrote in an e-mail.

Chris Miscellaneous

We received a Notice of Default on our home last December.  Like many others, we are experiencing difficult times.  My wife had lost her job and with all the other expenses it takes to own a home and raise a family,  we got behind in our payments.  We contacted our lender who at the time was Wachovia regarding a loan modification.  The terms they offered us were really no help.  My wife and I came to terms with giving up our home and started into the short-sale process.  As a “last ditch effort” my wife contacted Wachovia again to plead for assistance but this time it was Wells Fargo taking the calls, a glimmer of hope! She was told by Wells Fargo that they will be assisting former Wachovia “customers”.  There is a lengthily press release on the subject at: https://www.wellsfargo.com/press/2009/20090126_Wachovia_HMS

If your loan was with Wachovia, I strongly urge you to contact Wells Fargo.  My wife was told that Wells Fargo wants their customers to be able to stay in their homes and is working towards long term solutions not short term fixes.

This whole thing is heat-breaking, difficult and confusing. Thanks to all the people at H.E.L.P and especially to Chris for the information and his support! It’s a real comfort to know that there are genuine people out there that want to help.

Joe

Joe Loan Modification, Miscellaneous, Short Sale:Seller

I missed your meeting regarding the foreclosures and I cannot attend the one in February. I only know what I’ve read on the blog site and what my co-workers have told me. I work for Riverside County.  My husband and I own a home in Hesperia and I commute to Riverside and my husband would commute to where ever his job was at the time. As he was a superintendent for construction. My husband has been out of work since Sept 07 due to a car accident. During this same period I was also off work for 4 months due to the birth of our second child and given the rising gas prices, it  became very difficult for us financially. My husband contacted the bank a month before we could  not even make the house payment and they did not care because we were not behind yet. We were told we had to be three months behind before they even considered doing a modification. We have a loan through Union Bank of Calif. However, after 3 months  they decided that the only “modification” they could do was put the three months of payments to the back of the loan. We felt our hands were tied at that point and unknowingly went along with this. Because I worked in credit I was really trying to save our credit scores.  We  tried to make the house payments for Sept and Oct. which we did and struggled as he was still not working and still is not working to this day. Then my husband became very very ill in October. Because he had not been released from his previous injury, disability would not pay him. I forgot to mention while he was on disability he was also told he would be laid off once he was released to go back to work. He was partially released two weeks before his illness. So when he became ill disabilty would not pay him and neither would unemployment because of the illness. Although we love our house it has become a headache with two small children commuting up and down the hill, the cost of commuting, the amount we owe versus the value of the house, we have hit a wall and have given up trying to keep the house. So my question is what is the next best step. By what point must we decide to do a short sale vs. a foreclosure? This is all foreign to me. My husband called the hud agency and they tried to put the request in for the modification through the bank and they said “no” because we already did a “modification” by deferring the three months to the back of the loan.  Although my husband and I have argued this did not appear to be a modification they hold to it.  It is not so much I care about the house, because I don’t. It has all become too much for us. My husband and I need guidance.

nitajay Miscellaneous

I was privileged to meet with Chris Sorensen and his team of experts today at my home. I really felt valued, and taken seriously for the first time in dealing with my real estate problems. I almost passed up the opportunity to attend the Homeownership seminar last week pegging it as just another dead end like everything else I have tried. But since speaking with Chris (who is very dedicated to the cause) it looks like my husband and I may still have a chance of staying in our dream home and alleviating some other real estate pressures (rental property). We finally see HOPE!  I am so thankful to Chris for his vision and enthusiasm. He has taken the time to create a plan of action that is unique to my situation which is more than I could have asked for. I am overwhelmed with joy!  Here ’s to the future! I will keep everyone posted as to our trials and triumphs over the next few weeks.

Sabreen Miscellaneous

HELLO CHRIS,

 JUST TO LET YOU KNOW HE CALLED ME OVER WEEKEND. WE ARE HOPING TO GET SOMETHING ACCOMPLISHED.  HE REALLY KNOWS HIS STUFF.

rmartinez Miscellaneous

HELLO TO THE EXPERTS,NEEDING YOUR ADVICE. I BOUGHT MY BIG DREAM HOUSE AUG 2005 AT 459,000.OO. PRIN BAL IS 367,000.00. I’M AT 5.87% FIXED FOR 30 YRS BUT AT A 10 YEAR INTEREST ONLY. I MY OTHER HOME THAT WANTED TO SELL BEFORE 5YEARS TO PUT MORE MONEY TOWARDS MY PRIN BAL. AS YOU CAN SEE THATS NOT GOING TO HAPPEN ANY TIME SOON.MY MON PAYMENT IS 1795.64 PLUS INPOUNDS. THIS MY PROBLEM TODAY MY SPOUSE IS UNEMPLOYED DUE TO NO CONTRUCTION WORK..MY QUESTION IS THEIR SUCH PROGRAMS THRU FHA TO REFI WITH A RECAPTURE IF I SELL OR REFI MY HOME ?SO MY PAYMENT CAN BE LITTLE LOWER TO AFFORD I DO NOT WANT TO LOSE MY HOME. I’ M NOT LATE ON ANY PAYMENTS .CHRIS SAID A SHORT PAY.WHAT IS THAT? WE RAN OF TIME AT SEMINAR..ONCE AGAIN THANKS FOR YOUR TEAM..LOTS OF INFO ..PEASE HELP MY SAVE MY HOUSE..

rmartinez Miscellaneous

I am trying to find out if i do a short sale on my home will i have any state tax liability once the short sale goes through? Any help is greatly appriciated. TAS.

tsinclair Miscellaneous

Hello,

We have a couple of rental properties in Arizona that we are no longer able to afford due to the economy, lowering of rents, etc.  We have been negative (out of pocket) by at least $350 a month on each and so it has now become impossible to continue.

To date, we are current with payments and our FICO scores are in the low to mid 700’s.  Our overall credit is excellent.  However, we are at the line in the sand where we need to determine whether to walk away or try to do somthing with our current loans.

Without getting into exact numbers, we are upside-down by about $50,000 on each property.  Our current interest rate is approx. 6.875% on the 27th year of a 30 yr fixed interest loan.

Side Note:  We contacted our mortgage company (same mortgage company for both) to inquire of them any suggestions or help they would offer us, such as a loan modification and they said they could not at the moment, but to call back in February as they are to have some programs in place then.  We do not really believe them, but I guess we will not know until next month.

Any ideas/suggestions you may have would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

A.A.

Mesquite Miscellaneous

I have read comments from a recent class we held, as well as a current draft posting, about individuals who have good credit, are current, but are at the end of their proverbial rope. I have one thing to say; TAKE ACTION NOW! First, we need to help you contact your lender and discover their attitude and appetite with respect to a modification. If succesful, this could cure your ill’s, if not, a short sale, handled appropriately, is the next best thing. I cannot stress enough how important it is to work with a professional to assist you through this process. While anyone with a license can legally list your home, very few, in my opinion, will have the knowledge necessary to ensure a successful short sale. If a short sale ends up being in your best interest, it is criticle to document EVERYTHING. Names, numbers, times, etc. of who you talked to and about what. You are building a case for the future. Keep all contracts and HUD-1, (If applicable) in order to prove when you listed your home vs when it went into default status. Even if the current lender screws things up and doesn’t agree to a short sale, you can at least prove to a lender in the future that you did everything you could, in order to do what was right. Circumstances happen. Underwriting guidlines make allowances for this. Not cooperating is going to prolong your ability to become a homeowner in the future. In the 90’s and I have heard nothing has changed, lenders took a much different approach to those who could prove that they did everything they could to cooperate with the lenders when things were going bad. If one trys to buy a home in the future and it appears they simply walked away and didn’t try to help the lender get the most they could out of the asset, the lenders are reluctant to do any favors for these folks in the future, beyond that which is required by law. In other words, if the decision to give you a loan in the future is boderline, those that cooperate will get a loan vs. those that didn’t will be declined. I rarely speak in absolutes and of course this is my strong, educated opinion, but rest assured, my opinion has been formed through conversations with Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and HUD. I would much rather take their opinion over a Realtor or Loan Officer that claims otherwise, since they are the ones that have to agree to buy your loan.

Chris Miscellaneous