The FHFA Foreclosure Prevention Program Expanded


Seal of the United States Federal Housing Fina...

The Obama administration announced Monday it is making a number of changes to its Home Affordable Refinance Program to help more struggling homeowners avoid foreclosure.

So far, eligibility requirements for HARP have been limited to homeowners who have been making on-time mortgage payments but have been unable to refinance at a lower rate due to declining home values. Under the new plan, the Federal Housing Finance Agency would expand eligibility requirements so homeowners with little to no equity in their homes would be eligible to switch to a lower rate.

More specifically, the plan would eliminate the current 125 percent loan-to-value ceiling for fixed-rate mortgages backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac; waive certain representations and warranties that lenders commit to in making loans owned or guaranteed by Fannie and Freddie; eliminate the need for new property appraisals in some refinancing transactions; and extend the end-date for the program from June 2012 to Dec. 31, 2013.

The exact pricing details of the change will not be published until mid-November, and refinancing under the new terms will not start until December at the earliest. Homeowners with loans that exceed the current limit of 125 percent of the property’s value will not be eligible to refinance until early 2012.

The administration says the changes will help several million more families while helping to strengthen the economy.

I have also heard that Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is expected to submit a list of legislative recommendations to Congress as early as this week on possible fixes to the housing market.

Mortgage Rates Rise Slightly Heading Into The Weekend


After two days of significant improvements, Mortgage Rates took a measured step back today.  Best-Execution rates rose about an eighth of a point, but in some cases, your rate may not have changed at all today-merely your closing cost quote (temporary caveat that we’ll probably repeat a few more times):

Please keep in mind that lenders simply cannot move mortgage rates lower at the same pace as a rapid rally in Benchmark Treasuries.  Although you might hear talking heads on TV or read articles saying that mortgage rates are tied to Treasuries, THEY ARE NOT, and you’ll be perennially frustrated if you expect them to be.  We explained that in greater detail earlier in the month:(Why aren’t rates getting lower as fast as Treasuries). 

Today’s Rates:  The current market is in a state of flux at the moment and mortgage rates moving up and down around ALL TIME LOWS.  BestExecution 30yr Fixed rates were mostly near 3.875% today, with a higher than normal degree of variation around there.  FHA/VA deals are in a bit of a predicament that’s keeping them blocked off below 3.75% (there’s no secondary market for rates any lower than that right now!).  For similar reasons, 15 year fixed conventional loans may be stuck at 3.25%.  5 year ARMS remain near 3.125%, but with variations from lender to lender.

GUIDANCE:  Yesterday’s guidance was really excellent.  As feared, we saw plenty of “pipeline control” price changes among lenders, and that was exacerbated today by weakness in the bond market.  Strategically (longer term, bigger picture), locking when the Best-Execution rate is 3.875% makes a ton of sense.  Even on a shorter term outlook, the broader shift that’s taken place behind the scenes in the secondary mortgage market suggests a range of rates between 3.75 and 4.125.  So right now it’s leaning slightly to the more aggressive side.  If there was any better time in history to lock a loan than today, it was yesterday.  We don’t know what sort of opportunities will be available next week, and although we think rates will be relatively low for a while, we’re not sure it’s worth the risk to float for marginal gains when we’re only an eighth or two away from some of the most aggressive offers yesterday (and consequently, of all-time).

Freddie Mac Finalizes New Modification Option


Freddie Mac

Freddie Mac finalized requirements for a new modification option that will be made available to qualified borrowers on Oct. 1.

Mortgage servicers must evaluate borrowers deemed ineligible for the larger Home Affordable Modification Program for the new “Standard Modification” beginning in January. Trial period plans can begin in October. Through the new program the borrower‘s principal and interest payments drop at least 10%, according to Freddie.

Since March 2009, servicers granted roughly 791,000 permanent HAMP modifications and extended more than 1.6 million trials through the national program. But servicers canceled more than 763,000 trials because of redefault, not enough documentation or the borrower did not meet the requirements.

In order for a borrower to qualify for a standard modification, he or she must be at least 60 days delinquent. If they’ve missed fewer payments or are current, he or she must be an owner-occupant, in imminent default and provide a hardship document.

The borrower must have already been evaluated for HAMP within 12 months of the Standard Modification. Mortgages on homes without an owner-occupant can be eligible, even vacant homes that cannot be condemned.

The loan-to-value ratio of the mortgage must also be greater than 80%.

Servicers will receive $1,600 for each modification completed before the loan slips into 120-day delinquency. They get $1,200 for a modified mortgage between 120- and 210-days behind. For standard modifications completed after 210 days of missed payments, the servicer gets $400 from Freddie.

The standard modification program will fall under the joint servicing alignment initiative launched in April.

How And Why Commercial Loan Modifications Are Completely Attainable By Real Experts


Mortgage Guaranty Building, aka City Lofts, 62...

It’s entirely possible for struggling commercial-property owners to obtain a loan modification, Capital Mitigation Group is a commercial-foreclosure-prevention firm that specializes in modifying rates, terms and amortization schedules. They employ a vareity of Seasoned Commercial Mortgage Pro’s including bankers/brokers, asset managers, negotiators, mitigators, certified auditors, underwriters and attorneys displaying an ecleptic group on a mission. 

The problem is that most commercial-mortgage borrowers don’t know the proper way to ask, I don’t think that it’s not the borrowers’ fault, think about it. Did the clients faciliatate their own loan? No, of course not, they use a professional, so it only makes sense to do the same in attempting to modify. I say this because Commercial is very different than Residential, with Residential you have these huge conglomerates called Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac that basically own all the paper on conforming loans. Commercial loans on the other hand are usually the banks own money.

The point I’m tyring to make is the borrower discloses their Personal Financial information, if it is disclosed innacurately I’m going to have a hard time trying to convince the underwriters at the bank how and why your financials are unusually different from when you applied 4 months ago. If someone sued you would you represent yourself in court?  If you have very complex financials would you file your own taxes? No, lawyers speak a different landguage and certain CPA’s understand Tax Strategy and know how to disclsoe income and expense information in a manner that allows their clients to pay the least amount of money,  We do the same thing.

Obtaining a loan modification can be difficult, especially if the loan is what’s known as a commercial mortgage-backed securities loan, or CMBS loan. CMBS loans are often tricky to modify, because the original issuer of the loan is no longer involved and the beneficiaries are individual and institutional investors, often scattered across the globe.

A CMBS loan, usually in default, is regularly managed by a loss-mitigation specialist known as a special servicer. It’s easy for commercial-property owners to get discouraged when trying to obtain a loan modification from a special servicer, because the negotiation process can resemble talking to a wall.

With my experience in the commercial finance industry, special servicers were essentially limited to accepting or rejecting the borrower’s offer. They usually are prohibited from making a counteroffer or disclose why a borrower’s offer was rejected. As a result, I’ve experienced first hand that borrowers have often given up after a couple of rejected offers.

CMBS loans, which total about $36.5 billion, was issued in Arizona with little improvement in the value of commercial real estate, Arizona could be headed for more serious problems economically if a high percentage of CMBS loan defaults end with foreclosure. Currently, about $3.5 billion of CMBS loans in AZ have already filed Notice of Defaults.

The value of outstanding CMBS loans is $800 billion Nationwide. More than 60 percent of those loans were issued between 2005 and 2007, when commercial real estate was heavily overvalued. Most commercial-mortgage loans don’t face a serious risk of foreclosure until they reach maturity, usually after 10 years… usually. The meaning behind this is that foreclosures seen so far among commercial properties barely scratch the surface of the problem.

There is no question in my mind that the worst has yet to come in Commercial Real Estate. The situation isn’t hopeless, Capital Mitigation Group specializes, for a fee, the structuring of a loan-modification proposal based on deals special servicers have accepted in the past.

While Capital Mitigation Group has a business model that is relatively unique, it isn’t the only company in this business that has successfully prevented a CMBS loan from being wiped out by foreclosure.

A landmark case decided in 2010, a Maricopa County Superior Court judge held that a receiving commercial investment company could sell seven Arizona apartment complexes formerly owned by the by a “investor group” based in California, without requiring the assigned special servicer to foreclose on the properties.

An “investor group” financed the purchase of the seven apartment properties with a $164.5 million CMBS loan in 2007 and subsequently defaulted on the loan. By allowing a new buyer to assume the CMBS loan, rather than wiping out the debt and forcing the buyer to pay cash, the court protected bond holders connected with the loan and prevented the seven apartment properties from losing at least $50 million in combined value, so I’ve read.

Since Capital Mitigation Group has opened millions in CMBS loan restructures / modifications and are using a variety of methods which include term extensions, discounted payoffs, interest-rate reductions, forbearance agreements and extension of adjustable rates to fixed rates for underwater properties.

Unless more commercial-building owners can work out deals with their lenders to avoid foreclosure, the real-estate and lending crises are likely to continue for years to come and Capital Mitigaiton Group is a provider that ensures success.

Investment funds and pension plans, too, will suffer if more CMBS loans cannot be modified. Because of its early successes with obtaining commercial loan modifications, Capital Mitigaiton Group has expanded.  Capital Mitigation Group intends on expanding and being very selected in candidates. CMG also offers, for a fee, the opportunity to be a Net Branch and leverage and use ALL of our Marketing Platforms, Customer Database Management / CRM, Forms and Tools, and a variety of very useful training.

For more information send me a message.

CoreLogic Technology Forecasts Mortgage Performance


CoreLogic Technology Forecasts Mortgage Performance.