In a major ruling Friday, a coalition of nonprofit defense lawyers and consumer protection advocates in Maryland successfully got over 10,000 foreclosure cases managed by GMAC Mortgage tossed out, because affidavits in the cases were signed by Jeffrey Stephan, the infamous GMAC “robo-signer” who attested to the authenticity of foreclosure documents without any knowledge about them, as well as signing other false statements.
The University of Maryland Consumer Protection Clinic and Civil Justice, Inc., a nonprofit, filed the class action lawsuit, arguing that any case using Jeffrey Stephan as a signer was illegitimate and must be dismissed. In court Friday, GMAC agreed to dismiss every case in Maryland relying on a Stephan affidavit. They can refile foreclosure actions on the close to 10,000 homes, but only at their own expense, and subject to new Maryland regulations which require mandatory mediation between borrower and lender before moving to foreclosure. Civil Justice and the Consumer Protection Clinic also want any cases with affidavits from Xee Moua of Wells Fargo, who has also admitted to robo-signing, thrown out, but that case has not yet been settled.
This was not the plan of GMAC and other banks caught using robo-signers last year. They hoped to undergo a pause in proceedings, run a quick “double-check” and then issue substitute documents in the same cases. That would have been a much more rapid solution for the banks and would have resulted in many more foreclosures. Now GMAC has to go back and basically file the entire case all over again, meaning they have to give notice of foreclosure to the borrower, engage the borrower in modification options, and basically run through the whole process from the beginning. They cannot use the shortcut solution, thanks to the class action suit filed. GMAC’s dismissal of every foreclosure in Maryland shows their doubts they would have won the class action.
The Consumer Protection Clinic at the U. of Maryland is a class taught by Peter Holland. Rather than just read and lecture about foreclosure fraud and consumer protection law, Holland has the class join motions, prepare cross-examinations and legitimately get involved in the cases. It reminds me of the class of Alan Dershowitz depicted in the film Reversal of Fortune, or the Medill Innocence Project investigating wrongful convictions at Northwestern. Given the national scope of foreclosure fraud, you can imagine classes like this springing up all over the country.
As I said, this doesn’t mean that GMAC cannot refile foreclosures in these cases. But they have to spend a lot of time and money to go back to the beginning and redo every case, and must adhere to Maryland law of allowing mediation. Maryland is a judicial foreclosure state which has produced some of the better rulings during this crisis. But we’re starting to see challenges even in non-judicial foreclosure states, like Massachusetts, where the Ibanez case has thrown every foreclosure in the state into turmoil. The rates of moving properties through foreclosure have dropped dramatically, in all 50 states, by an average of 50%. It just seems inevitable that lawyers in other states will follow the Maryland action and attempt to get everything which used a robo-signer thrown out.
And if the Ibanez case, which questions the right for banks to foreclose at all, can be broadly applied, those rates will drop even further. And Georgetown Law Professor Adam Levitin thinks may be the case.
Veterans who lose their homes to a short sale or a deed-in-lieu of foreclosure can now receive up to $1,500 in relocation assistance.
The VA has for years incentivized mortgage servicers to work with veterans on the edge of default. Now, the agency has directed its approved servicers to provide that cash advance to borrowers who use a deed-in-lieu of foreclosure or who complete a VA compromise claim to unload their short sale.
The directive went into effect on Jan. 6. Borrowers can use the money to cover moving expenses or to simply pay for lodging while they deal with the pending loss of their home.
"VA has a longstanding policy of encouraging servicers to work with veteran borrowers to explore all reasonable options to help them retain their homes or, when that is not feasible, to mitigate losses by pursuing alternatives to foreclosure," according to the two-page VA circular released on the subject. "These options generally provide a substantially better outcome than a foreclosure sale for borrowers, investors, and communities."
Borrowers won't receive that assistance as part of sale proceeds. The VA plans to reimburse servicers, who can secure a reimbursement up to the maximum VA guaranty along with any costs associated with resale.
The measure comes in part as a cost efficiency tool. Short sales and deeds-in-lieu of foreclosure take considerably less time and money to complete than the traditional foreclosure process. The odds are also better that the property will remain in good shape.
Servicers are expected to notify borrowers of their options regarding foreclosure.
Furthermore, the VA continues to push servicers to follow Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives (HAFA) procedures regarding potential short sales, mostly by halting any foreclosure proceedings while borrowers evaluate their options.
Despite the economic environment, VA loans as a whole continue to thrive in the face of foreclosure. These government-backed loans have the lowest rate of foreclosure among major lending programs, a staggering fact considering that 90 percent of VA loans come with no down payment.
VA officials continue to work hard to keep veterans in their homes. In fact, nearly 75 percent of the VA borrowers who defaulted in 2009 were able to avoid foreclosure.
A slightly different version of this article was published originally on OurBroker.com, a leading source of real estate, mortgage and foreclosure news and information.
bench craft companyArrowheadlines: Chiefs <b>News</b> 2/9 - Arrowhead Pride
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bench craft companyIn a major ruling Friday, a coalition of nonprofit defense lawyers and consumer protection advocates in Maryland successfully got over 10,000 foreclosure cases managed by GMAC Mortgage tossed out, because affidavits in the cases were signed by Jeffrey Stephan, the infamous GMAC “robo-signer” who attested to the authenticity of foreclosure documents without any knowledge about them, as well as signing other false statements.
The University of Maryland Consumer Protection Clinic and Civil Justice, Inc., a nonprofit, filed the class action lawsuit, arguing that any case using Jeffrey Stephan as a signer was illegitimate and must be dismissed. In court Friday, GMAC agreed to dismiss every case in Maryland relying on a Stephan affidavit. They can refile foreclosure actions on the close to 10,000 homes, but only at their own expense, and subject to new Maryland regulations which require mandatory mediation between borrower and lender before moving to foreclosure. Civil Justice and the Consumer Protection Clinic also want any cases with affidavits from Xee Moua of Wells Fargo, who has also admitted to robo-signing, thrown out, but that case has not yet been settled.
This was not the plan of GMAC and other banks caught using robo-signers last year. They hoped to undergo a pause in proceedings, run a quick “double-check” and then issue substitute documents in the same cases. That would have been a much more rapid solution for the banks and would have resulted in many more foreclosures. Now GMAC has to go back and basically file the entire case all over again, meaning they have to give notice of foreclosure to the borrower, engage the borrower in modification options, and basically run through the whole process from the beginning. They cannot use the shortcut solution, thanks to the class action suit filed. GMAC’s dismissal of every foreclosure in Maryland shows their doubts they would have won the class action.
The Consumer Protection Clinic at the U. of Maryland is a class taught by Peter Holland. Rather than just read and lecture about foreclosure fraud and consumer protection law, Holland has the class join motions, prepare cross-examinations and legitimately get involved in the cases. It reminds me of the class of Alan Dershowitz depicted in the film Reversal of Fortune, or the Medill Innocence Project investigating wrongful convictions at Northwestern. Given the national scope of foreclosure fraud, you can imagine classes like this springing up all over the country.
As I said, this doesn’t mean that GMAC cannot refile foreclosures in these cases. But they have to spend a lot of time and money to go back to the beginning and redo every case, and must adhere to Maryland law of allowing mediation. Maryland is a judicial foreclosure state which has produced some of the better rulings during this crisis. But we’re starting to see challenges even in non-judicial foreclosure states, like Massachusetts, where the Ibanez case has thrown every foreclosure in the state into turmoil. The rates of moving properties through foreclosure have dropped dramatically, in all 50 states, by an average of 50%. It just seems inevitable that lawyers in other states will follow the Maryland action and attempt to get everything which used a robo-signer thrown out.
And if the Ibanez case, which questions the right for banks to foreclose at all, can be broadly applied, those rates will drop even further. And Georgetown Law Professor Adam Levitin thinks may be the case.
Veterans who lose their homes to a short sale or a deed-in-lieu of foreclosure can now receive up to $1,500 in relocation assistance.
The VA has for years incentivized mortgage servicers to work with veterans on the edge of default. Now, the agency has directed its approved servicers to provide that cash advance to borrowers who use a deed-in-lieu of foreclosure or who complete a VA compromise claim to unload their short sale.
The directive went into effect on Jan. 6. Borrowers can use the money to cover moving expenses or to simply pay for lodging while they deal with the pending loss of their home.
"VA has a longstanding policy of encouraging servicers to work with veteran borrowers to explore all reasonable options to help them retain their homes or, when that is not feasible, to mitigate losses by pursuing alternatives to foreclosure," according to the two-page VA circular released on the subject. "These options generally provide a substantially better outcome than a foreclosure sale for borrowers, investors, and communities."
Borrowers won't receive that assistance as part of sale proceeds. The VA plans to reimburse servicers, who can secure a reimbursement up to the maximum VA guaranty along with any costs associated with resale.
The measure comes in part as a cost efficiency tool. Short sales and deeds-in-lieu of foreclosure take considerably less time and money to complete than the traditional foreclosure process. The odds are also better that the property will remain in good shape.
Servicers are expected to notify borrowers of their options regarding foreclosure.
Furthermore, the VA continues to push servicers to follow Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives (HAFA) procedures regarding potential short sales, mostly by halting any foreclosure proceedings while borrowers evaluate their options.
Despite the economic environment, VA loans as a whole continue to thrive in the face of foreclosure. These government-backed loans have the lowest rate of foreclosure among major lending programs, a staggering fact considering that 90 percent of VA loans come with no down payment.
VA officials continue to work hard to keep veterans in their homes. In fact, nearly 75 percent of the VA borrowers who defaulted in 2009 were able to avoid foreclosure.
A slightly different version of this article was published originally on OurBroker.com, a leading source of real estate, mortgage and foreclosure news and information.
bench craft company>Arrowheadlines: Chiefs <b>News</b> 2/9 - Arrowhead Pride
Good morning Chiefs fans! A thank you to Joel and Chris for covering for me. Technology seems to hate me lately. Today's Kansas City Chiefs news covers a lot of topics: the national anthem, racial bias, Super Bowl odds, and pork. Enjoy.
Small Business <b>News</b>: Digital Privacy and Customer Care
Small business is all about customer care. So how to you feel about new proposed legislation that is designed to prevent online clients from tracking customer.
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bench craft companyArrowheadlines: Chiefs <b>News</b> 2/9 - Arrowhead Pride
Good morning Chiefs fans! A thank you to Joel and Chris for covering for me. Technology seems to hate me lately. Today's Kansas City Chiefs news covers a lot of topics: the national anthem, racial bias, Super Bowl odds, and pork. Enjoy.
Small Business <b>News</b>: Digital Privacy and Customer Care
Small business is all about customer care. So how to you feel about new proposed legislation that is designed to prevent online clients from tracking customer.
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bench craft companyIn a major ruling Friday, a coalition of nonprofit defense lawyers and consumer protection advocates in Maryland successfully got over 10,000 foreclosure cases managed by GMAC Mortgage tossed out, because affidavits in the cases were signed by Jeffrey Stephan, the infamous GMAC “robo-signer” who attested to the authenticity of foreclosure documents without any knowledge about them, as well as signing other false statements.
The University of Maryland Consumer Protection Clinic and Civil Justice, Inc., a nonprofit, filed the class action lawsuit, arguing that any case using Jeffrey Stephan as a signer was illegitimate and must be dismissed. In court Friday, GMAC agreed to dismiss every case in Maryland relying on a Stephan affidavit. They can refile foreclosure actions on the close to 10,000 homes, but only at their own expense, and subject to new Maryland regulations which require mandatory mediation between borrower and lender before moving to foreclosure. Civil Justice and the Consumer Protection Clinic also want any cases with affidavits from Xee Moua of Wells Fargo, who has also admitted to robo-signing, thrown out, but that case has not yet been settled.
This was not the plan of GMAC and other banks caught using robo-signers last year. They hoped to undergo a pause in proceedings, run a quick “double-check” and then issue substitute documents in the same cases. That would have been a much more rapid solution for the banks and would have resulted in many more foreclosures. Now GMAC has to go back and basically file the entire case all over again, meaning they have to give notice of foreclosure to the borrower, engage the borrower in modification options, and basically run through the whole process from the beginning. They cannot use the shortcut solution, thanks to the class action suit filed. GMAC’s dismissal of every foreclosure in Maryland shows their doubts they would have won the class action.
The Consumer Protection Clinic at the U. of Maryland is a class taught by Peter Holland. Rather than just read and lecture about foreclosure fraud and consumer protection law, Holland has the class join motions, prepare cross-examinations and legitimately get involved in the cases. It reminds me of the class of Alan Dershowitz depicted in the film Reversal of Fortune, or the Medill Innocence Project investigating wrongful convictions at Northwestern. Given the national scope of foreclosure fraud, you can imagine classes like this springing up all over the country.
As I said, this doesn’t mean that GMAC cannot refile foreclosures in these cases. But they have to spend a lot of time and money to go back to the beginning and redo every case, and must adhere to Maryland law of allowing mediation. Maryland is a judicial foreclosure state which has produced some of the better rulings during this crisis. But we’re starting to see challenges even in non-judicial foreclosure states, like Massachusetts, where the Ibanez case has thrown every foreclosure in the state into turmoil. The rates of moving properties through foreclosure have dropped dramatically, in all 50 states, by an average of 50%. It just seems inevitable that lawyers in other states will follow the Maryland action and attempt to get everything which used a robo-signer thrown out.
And if the Ibanez case, which questions the right for banks to foreclose at all, can be broadly applied, those rates will drop even further. And Georgetown Law Professor Adam Levitin thinks may be the case.
Veterans who lose their homes to a short sale or a deed-in-lieu of foreclosure can now receive up to $1,500 in relocation assistance.
The VA has for years incentivized mortgage servicers to work with veterans on the edge of default. Now, the agency has directed its approved servicers to provide that cash advance to borrowers who use a deed-in-lieu of foreclosure or who complete a VA compromise claim to unload their short sale.
The directive went into effect on Jan. 6. Borrowers can use the money to cover moving expenses or to simply pay for lodging while they deal with the pending loss of their home.
"VA has a longstanding policy of encouraging servicers to work with veteran borrowers to explore all reasonable options to help them retain their homes or, when that is not feasible, to mitigate losses by pursuing alternatives to foreclosure," according to the two-page VA circular released on the subject. "These options generally provide a substantially better outcome than a foreclosure sale for borrowers, investors, and communities."
Borrowers won't receive that assistance as part of sale proceeds. The VA plans to reimburse servicers, who can secure a reimbursement up to the maximum VA guaranty along with any costs associated with resale.
The measure comes in part as a cost efficiency tool. Short sales and deeds-in-lieu of foreclosure take considerably less time and money to complete than the traditional foreclosure process. The odds are also better that the property will remain in good shape.
Servicers are expected to notify borrowers of their options regarding foreclosure.
Furthermore, the VA continues to push servicers to follow Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives (HAFA) procedures regarding potential short sales, mostly by halting any foreclosure proceedings while borrowers evaluate their options.
Despite the economic environment, VA loans as a whole continue to thrive in the face of foreclosure. These government-backed loans have the lowest rate of foreclosure among major lending programs, a staggering fact considering that 90 percent of VA loans come with no down payment.
VA officials continue to work hard to keep veterans in their homes. In fact, nearly 75 percent of the VA borrowers who defaulted in 2009 were able to avoid foreclosure.
A slightly different version of this article was published originally on OurBroker.com, a leading source of real estate, mortgage and foreclosure news and information.
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bench craft companyArrowheadlines: Chiefs <b>News</b> 2/9 - Arrowhead Pride
Good morning Chiefs fans! A thank you to Joel and Chris for covering for me. Technology seems to hate me lately. Today's Kansas City Chiefs news covers a lot of topics: the national anthem, racial bias, Super Bowl odds, and pork. Enjoy.
Small Business <b>News</b>: Digital Privacy and Customer Care
Small business is all about customer care. So how to you feel about new proposed legislation that is designed to prevent online clients from tracking customer.
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bench craft companyArrowheadlines: Chiefs <b>News</b> 2/9 - Arrowhead Pride
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bench craft companyArrowheadlines: Chiefs <b>News</b> 2/9 - Arrowhead Pride
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bench craft companyArrowheadlines: Chiefs <b>News</b> 2/9 - Arrowhead Pride
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Offering homes for rent is becoming a popular choice amongst real estate investors. Rental properties allow investors to generate positive cash flow and may lead to the eventual sale of the rental home. In fact, many investors specialize in offering rentals with the option to buy.
Some investors offer homes for rent in trendy vacation locales such as beach homes and mountain retreats. Others specialize in offering luxury rentals or affordable housing. One popular niche is Section 8 rental homes which provide investors with guaranteed rent payments through the government.
The rental home market has exploded in recent years; primarily due to the number of foreclosed homeowners. Since property owners can no longer qualify for bank financing they are in need of homes for rent. Offering creative finance terms such as owner will carry or lease purchase option agreements allows investors to retain long-term tenants while generating positive cash flow for investment properties.
To achieve success in the rental market, investors need to be aware of tenant needs and wants. Most renters are looking for affordable homes in safe neighborhoods. They prefer easy access to shopping and interstate systems. Tenants with school-aged children desire rental homes in areas with good school districts.
To obtain maximum profits while offering affordable rental rates requires careful consideration when buying real estate. Many investors are seeking out foreclosure and bank owned properties, as this type of real estate is often listed 20- to 30-percent below market value.
Fannie Mae's Home Path Mortgage program is becoming a favorite source for buying bank foreclosures. Investors can purchase up to five Fannie Mae homepath properties. Many of the homes for sale qualify for HUDs Neighborhood Stabilization Program grants. NSP grants are public funds used to rehab properties in areas where foreclosure rates are high.
Most of the major banks list foreclosure homes for sale via company websites. Bank owned real estate consists of properties that did not sell through public auction. When banks take possession they remove attached liens and judgments in order to sell the property with a clean title. While bank owned homes are priced higher than properties sold through auction, all the time-consuming tasks normally associated with auction foreclosures have been taken care of.
Offering lease-to-own contracts can further maximize rental property profits. Lease options can create a win-win situation when properly constructed. Tenants provide a down payment to secure the property. Investors contribute a portion of rent money toward the purchase price.
Paying rent on time helps tenants improve credit scores so they can qualify for a mortgage loan and purchase the property within a few years. Lease purchase option agreements can be a good choice for buyers with bad credit and individuals who lost their home to foreclosure. However, tenants must commit to clearing their credit. Otherwise, they could lose all vested funds if they cannot qualify for a loan when the lease option expires.
Investors must carefully evaluate market conditions before entering into lease-to-own agreements. Perhaps the most difficult decision is determining if locking in the purchase price when lease contracts are drafted, or selling the property at fair market value when the contract expires will yield the highest profits.
These are just a few ways to profit from homes for rent. Investors unfamiliar with the rental market should consider joining real estate clubs or online networking groups. The Internet is also a good source for staying abreast of market conditions and scouting out investment properties.
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