Cram-Down Legislation stalls...

Legislation to let bankruptcy judges reduce the principal and interest rate on mortgages for distressed homeowners, aka cramdown,  stalled today and is showing signs is may not pass.  The measure, backed by President  Obama, is the most controversial part of a broader housing package that had been...

Produce the Note...

The basic concept behind “Produce the Note” is if there is no signed mortgage note or recorded assignment, foreclosure is barred. The defendant must normally raise this defense, and most defaulting homeowners, unaware of legal procedure just let their homes go uncontested. But when the plaintiff...

Obama loan modification plan to help man...

The government’s plan calls for banks to reduce interest rates so that a borrower’s monthly obligation is no more than 38% of their income. The government would then add in money to bring the payments down to 31% of the homeowner’s income. It also gives servicers money for modifying...

Obama signs stimulus bill to help preven...

Today President Obama signed a controversial $800 billion stimulus bill.  The bill, which backers say will save or create 3 million to 4 million jobs through $575 billion in government appropriations and direct spending plus $212 billion in tax cuts, includes several provisions aimed at boosting home...

Citibank halts all home foreclosures...

Citigroup has halted all foreclosures while the Obama administration develops its plans to help the housing market. Citigroup’s foreclosure moratorium applies to all “Citi owned first mortgages until President Barack Obama has finalized the details of the loan modification program or March...

Mortgage Modifications in Bankruptcy Wou...

Things are moving quickly on the subject of loan modifications and loss mitigation with strong arguments on both sides about passing legislation.  Here is an article from an opponent of putting modifications in the hands of the courts. ************************************* Federal housing policy, we...

Congress looking at bailout options...

After Congress tried to rescue the economy with a $700 billion bailout for the financial industry, Republicans and Democrats are suddenly competing to bail out financially struggling homeowners. Having spent hundreds of billions of dollars rescuing financial institutions, only to see the economy spiral...

Preventing foreclosures being addressed ...

President Obama wants to set aside between $50B and $100B to address the foreclosure crisis.  But how exactly officials plan to address this bear of a problem remains to be seen. Finding a foreclosure fix is daunting, experts said. It eluded the Bush administration, which preferred to try to entice...

FDIC Proposal to Promote Affordable Loan...

The FDIC has released some documentation regarding their “Mod in a Box” program.  Here is some high level info. Background Although foreclosures are costly to lenders, borrowers and communities, the pace of loan modifications continues to be extremely slow (around 4 percent of seriously...

What is Loan Modification?...

Loan modification is a process which allows homeowners and lenders to work together to change the terms of their loan in order to stop a foreclosure. A loan modification is NOT a new loan, it is simply the restructuring of the homeowners current loan.  For...