Two Major Lenders Step Up Mortgage Modifications

September 10, 2009

The sluggish $75-billion federal mortgage relief program got a boost from Wells Fargo & Co. and Bank of America Corp., both of which stepped up their efforts last month to modify home loans.

The two banks, which took a total of $70 billion in taxpayer bailout funds to shore up their finances, have been roundly criticized on Capitol Hill for not moving quickly to help distressed homeowners.

Last month, Bank of America more than doubled the number of home loan modifications it started, to 59,891, over its July numbers, while Wells Fargo increased its modifications 64% to 33,172. That helped pump up the industry’s response to the slow-starting federal program 53% to more than 360,000 modifications, according to figures released Wednesday by the banks and in the Treasury Department’s now monthly report.

Still, the Obama administration’s Making Home Affordable program isn’t getting to struggling homeowners quickly enough, some argue. The administration itself set a target of modifying 500,000 mortgages by Nov. 1.

“I am disappointed at the pace of this program,” said Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), chairman of the House Financial Services Committee.

Kevin Stein, associate director of the California Reinvestment Coalition, a homeowner advocacy group, said, “These numbers still aren’t where they should be.”

Even the Treasury Department acknowledged that the pace of modifications had to pick up.

“There are signs the plan is working,” Michael Barr, assistant Treasury secretary for financial institutions, told the House committee Wednesday. “But we can do better.”

The department’s monthly report, its second since the program was launched in March, should get some credit for giving the program a boost, Stein said.

“For the first time, last month we were able to see data on which companies were helping families avoid foreclosure and which companies were not,” he said. That exposure for July’s activity, he said, shamed especially Bank of America and Wells Fargo, which had turned in embarrassingly low numbers in July.

Also, although 85% of the mortgages nationwide are held by institutions voluntarily participating in the program, Stein suggested that banks and other lenders would be moving faster if participation were mandatory.

Up to 4 million homeowners have mortgages that qualify for adjustment under the administration’s program.

Bank of America, Wells Fargo and other loan servicers said slowdowns were caused by the need to increase staffing in loan-servicing departments and by government delays in distributing information about the program. Wells Fargo said it was well on its way to modifying more than its share of eligible loans.

Overall, about 1 in 5 eligible homeowners, or nearly 19%, have had their mortgages changed through the program, the report said. In July, that number was about 9%.

In some cases, loan servicers are using the plan’s rules to keep homeowners from taking part, which results in homes heading to foreclosure anyway, said Bruce Dorpalen, director of housing counseling for the Assn. of Community Organizations for Reform Now, or ACORN.

“We need stronger enforcement,” Dorpalen said. “We’re still finding foreclosure sales going through with no review to see if homeowners are eligible for loan modifications.”

ACORN is calling for the federal government to impose a one-year freeze on foreclosures to allow homeowners more time to figure out whether they are eligible for loan changes under the program.

Source: The L.A. Times

Popularity: 2% [?]

Written by djumper · Filed Under Real Estate Blog 

Stimulus Package

April 30, 2009

97% Chance the New Stimulus Package Will Affect You in 2009!!! Wondering How?

Here’s How the New Stimulus Package May Affect You!

Show me da money!According to a new non-partisan study, Nearly 97% of American Tax payers will get some tax relief by the new American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.  There are many different ways to save in this package depending on one’s income, whether filing single or jointly, etc but most will save from a few hundred up to several thousand.  The average savings is expected to be just under $1,200.

One of the changes that will affect the largest number of people is the Making Work Pay plan where the U.S. Treasury Department is telling employers to reduce the amount of taxes withheld in the employees paychecks by April 1st.  This gives the American taxpayer an immediate impact instead of having to wait until tax filing next year.  Your take home pay would increase immediately!  The typical family is expected to bring home about $65.00 more per month up to a maximum of $400.00 per year ($800 if filing jointly).

Another change is that those drawing unemployment would get the first $2,400.00 tax free.  Of course the stimulus plan also includes the First-Time Home Buyer credit of up to $8,000 (For full details see my article posted on Feb 15th titled “8,000 Reasons Why You Should Buy Your First Home In Corinth, MS in 2009″) for home purchases made in Corinth, MS in 2009, a new sales tax reduction on car purchases, and a new credit for help paying college tuition.  For low-income families they have increased the earned income tax credit and the child tax credit.

To see the full article “Your Share of Stimulus Tax Breaks” by Jeanne Sahadi with CNN Money, including a chart showing the estimated amount of tax breaks per income levels, click the link below:

http://finance.yahoo.com/taxes/article/106626/Your-Share-of-Stimulus-Tax-Breaks

Popularity: 2% [?]

Written by djumper · Filed Under Real Estate Blog 

First-time Buyers

April 30, 2009

First-time Buyers of Corinth, MS homes get up to $8,000 back!

The Senate and House passed a new bill on February 13th!!!  The President is expected to sign it this week.  It was part of the new stimulus bill the “American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009″ which improves the Federal Tax Credit to first-time homebuyers that I posted about a few weeks back.  I definitely am not a supporter of everything in the stimulus package, but this tax credit back to first-time homebuyers is very beneficial and is much needed for helping people buy their first home in Corinth, MS.  What exactly are the terms with this tax credit you ask?  Here are the basics:

  1. The best change is that it is NON-REFUNDABLE!!!  The previous credit back in 2008 had to be repaid over 15 years.  The new one is basically a gift!!!!  It does not have to be repaid AS LONG AS you do not sell the house within the first 3 years of purchasing it.  If you do sell in those first 3 years, you have to repay the full amount of the credit upon sell of the house.
  2. The first-time home buyer will receive up to a maximum of $8,000.00 back on your income tax return withholdings or as a credit against additional tax you owe to the IRS.  The amount of credit received is based on 10% of the purchase price of the home up to a maximum of $8,000.00.  If you do not owe $8,000, then the balance of the credit will be refunded to the home buyer.
  3. The first-time home buyer requirement means that neither the buyer or spouse can have owned a principle residence within the last 3 years of the purchase date to qualify.  So you actually can have owned a home before, just not within the last 3 years.
  4. There are income limitations of the buyer.  A single person must make less than $75,000 to get the full credit and phases out between $75,000 -$95,000.  A married couple filing jointly must make less than $150,000 to get the full credit and it phases out between $150,000 – $170,000.
  5. The purchase must be for a princple residence only.  Does not apply to rental or investment property or second homes.
  6. The real estate purchase must have been made between Jan 1, 2009 and December 1, 2009 to apply.

(Check with your tax preparer for more details.)

For Example, a new home owner in Corinth, MS buys an $85,000 home and gets 10% of that purchase price as a federal tax credit (not to exceed $8,000).  So in this case, the buyer would get a $8,000 credit as 10% of the purchase price would have been $8,500 which exceeds the limit.  Let’s say this home buyer owes the IRS $10,000 for 2009 taxes, so the credit would reduce the amount owed to the IRS to $2,000  ($10,000 owed-$8,000 credit= $2,000 owed).  If the home buyer had only owed the IRS $5,500 then the buyer would have received a refund from the IRS for the additional $2,500 ($5,500 owed -$8,000 credit= $2,500 refunded).

If you bought a $60,000 home in Corinth, MS or Alcorn County then you would be eligible for $6,000.00 ($60,000 x 10%) as a reduction of your taxes or refund from the IRS.

Basically, this will save you up to a maximum of $8,000 in 2009 through either a reduction of the amount you pay in or a refund back to you from Uncle Sam!!!  In net terms, your $80,000 home purchase was really for only $72,000!!!!!  Man, I wish I was a first-time home buyer!!!!!

See the link below for a detail chart from the National Association of Realtors:

http://www.realtor.org/wps/wcm/connect/b32db1004d05f6338052c5fd73e5610f/government_affairs_tax_credit_chart_021308.pdf?MOD=AJPERES&CACHEID=b32db1004d05f6338052c5fd73e5610f

Popularity: 2% [?]

Written by djumper · Filed Under Real Estate Blog 

$8000 Credit

April 30, 2009

Don’t Miss out on $8,000 First-Time Home Buyer Credit in 2009!!!

See Why So Many Corinth, MS First-Time Buyers Are Taking Advantage Of This Opportunity!!!

Many of you have questions on this First-Time Home Buyer Credit and how it does or will relate to your home purchase in the Corinth, MS area in 2009.  The links below will answer most any of your questions and provide the IRS form you file with your tax return to receive this money.  We are seeing so many people taking advantage of this awesome opportunity!!!

First-time buyers are seeing the value…basically if you qualify and buy an $80,000 home for instance, you will get $8,000 back on your tax return.  So basically you were able to purchase that home for $72,000 after the refund.  The great thing is that even if you did not owe $8,000 in federal income taxes, you will get the difference back.  For example, say you owed $6,000 in federal income taxes, well you could get that $6,000 refunded plus the additional $2,000.

Yes, you can even file this credit/refund on your 2008 return if you close on the house prior to filing your tax return.  If you are closing on your home after the April 15 tax filing date, you can file an extension of your return until October 15th to wait on your house to close, or wait to get credit on the 2009 return.  Check with your accountant to verify this information.

If you are secure in your job,  DON’T let this opportunity and ideal buying situation slip you by!!!

  1. Historically low interest reates…30 year rates under 5%!!!
  2. Reduced house prices.
  3. Up to $8,000 back from Uncle Sam for getting that Dream Home!!!

Popularity: 2% [?]

Written by djumper · Filed Under Real Estate Blog 

« Previous Page