Category Archives: Mortgage Information

Foreclosure Avoidance Programs – Too Little Too Late?

Posted on January 22, 2012 | Leave a comment

A $2 billion state program that could save 100,000 homeowners from falling into foreclosure has provided relief to borrowers, but some critics wonder if the relief is too little, too late.

California, one of the hardest-hit states in the U.S., launched Keep Your Home California last year to help folks who’ve lost their jobs, seen their companies move away, or watched their home equities plummet from price-boom highs. The idea is to catch them up on mortgage payments, help them relocate after a short sale and cut their principal, by far the most controversial part of the program.

“Our goal is really simple: to help as many people as possible as quickly as possible,” said Evan Gerberding, spokeswoman for the California Housing Finance Agency, which runs the statewide program.

Those who pan the program say the assistance, funded by taxpayer dollars, isn’t enough to stem a crisis that shoved California into third place in foreclosure filings last year, with foreclosure-ridden Nevada and Arizona leading, based on recent numbers from Irvine-based data company RealtyTrac. The latest numbers from DataQuick show close to 9,500 homeowners in San Diego County alone were foreclosed upon from January to November 2011.

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Congress is Making Owning a Home More Expensive

Posted on January 15, 2012 | Leave a comment

Though its demise drew little attention because of the partisan year-end brawl over the payroll-tax cut extension in Congress, a key mortgage financing benefit disappeared at the end of December: The ability of large numbers of homebuyers and owners to write off the premiums they pay for mortgage insurance.

The loss of that tax deduction – plus mandatory new fees imposed by Congress on all new conventional and FHA loans – could effectively ratchet up the costs of homeownership this year.
The expiration of mortgage insurance deductibility will hit many low-down-payment conventional loans originated since 2007, plus virtually all new mortgages closed this year where the down payment is less than 20 percent. Though industry experts do not have precise numbers, their estimates range into the millions of existing owners and new purchasers potentially touched by the deductibility termination. Borrowers using guaranteed veterans (VA) and rural housing loans, where down payments can drop to zero, also are affected.

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More lenders added to Calif. mortgage-aid program

Posted on January 12, 2012 | Leave a comment

The number of loan servicers taking part in a state mortgage-aid program continues to grow roughly one year after its launch, said officials from the California Housing Finance Agency.

The Keep Your Home California program, which began in February, now has 55 participating mortgage servicers, up from 21 in June.

The growing list is important because the $2 billion in aid, which aims to help low- to moderate-income homeowners, is contingent on lender participation. Homeowners send their monthly mortgage payments to loan servicers.

In all, 10,000-plus borrowers in California have either received funding or are about to get assistance from all four subprograms, officials said. The latest figures from the housing finance agency show 635 households in San Diego County have benefited from the program. That translates to almost $13 million in assistance.

Info: Call 888-954-KEEP(5337) between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturdays. Visit: www.KeepYourHomeCalifornia.org or www.ConservaTuCasaCalifornia.org.