by James Robert Deal | Jan 2, 2012 | Mortgage Modification
HAMP Not Working As Planned Recent figures show that only a small fraction of homeowners are seeing any kind of permanent relief under the federal Making Homes Affordable Program (HAMP), and fewer consumers are applying for the program, leading one well-known...
by James Robert Deal | Dec 21, 2011 | Foreclosure
Mortgage wizard interviews Attorney Shawn Newman on foreclosure defense.
by James Robert Deal | Dec 12, 2011 | Mortgage Modification
Welcome to Freddie and Fannie’s Mortgage Shell Game By Shawn Timothy Newman, J.D. Adjunct Professor Saint Martin’s University In common parlance, a mortgage (or Deed of Trust) includes the underlying loan (promissory note) and the security on that loan (mortgage or...
by James Robert Deal | Dec 8, 2011 | Mortgage Mediation
On July 22, 2011, the state of Washington enacted the foreclosure mediation program, RCW 61.24.130. Among other things it states: … the parties have a duty to mediate in good faith and that failure to mediate in good faith may impair the beneficiary’s ability to...
by James Robert Deal | Dec 8, 2011 | Mortgage Modification
Prices dive as “distressed” home sales rise in King County The median price of houses sold in King County last month was $321,700, nearly 11 percent less than in November 2010. Brokers and analysts agree the drop largely was driven by increasing sales of...
by James Robert Deal | Dec 1, 2011 | Mortgage Modification
November 30, 2011 A Banker Speaks, With Regret By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF If you want to understand why the Occupy movement has found such traction, it helps to listen to a former banker like James Theckston. He fully acknowledges that he and other bankers are mostly...
by James Robert Deal | Nov 27, 2011 | Foreclosure
November 26, 2011 – New York Times Mr. Romney on Foreclosures Since the housing bubble began to burst six years ago, prices nationwide have fallen by a third. Nearly $7 trillion of home equity has been wiped out. Currently, some 14.7 million homeowners owe...
by James Robert Deal | Nov 26, 2011 | Mortgage Modification
DRIVE through any number of outer-ring suburbs in America, and you’ll see boarded-up and vacant strip malls, surrounded by vast seas of empty parking spaces. These forlorn monuments to the real estate crash are not going to come back to life, even when the economy...
by James Robert Deal | Nov 22, 2011 | Mortgage Mediation, Mortgage Modification
11-21-11 From NG: Dear James, My daughter was here this evening and we were discussing how our loan modification is going right now, explained to her how mediation works. She is so worried that we’ll lose the house. I told her not to worry and not to lose hope...
by James Robert Deal | Nov 20, 2011 | Mortgage Modification
Dodd-Frank did not correct the problem. Banks which enjoy deposit insurance are still free to gamble with securities. A proposed bill: 112TH CONGRESS – 1ST SESSION H. R. 1489 To repeal certain provisions of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act and revive the separation...
by James Robert Deal | Nov 9, 2011 | Mortgage Modification
The banks want California, and the Obama administration hopes they can get it. In September, the attorney general of California, Kamala Harris, withdrew from settlement talks between the banks and federal and state officials over mortgage abuses. Ms. Harris said...
by James Robert Deal | Nov 9, 2011 | Mortgage Modification
Disturbing News from Behind Closed Doors – Attorney Thomas Cox, A Mandelman Matters Podcast WARNING: THIS IS GOING TO BE DISTURBING… Thomas Cox is a retired banking lawyer from Portland Maine. I spent a week with him at Max Gardner’s Book Camp last fall, and we...
by James Robert Deal | Nov 7, 2011 | Mortgage Modification
Attorney Talcott Franklin knows mortgage-backed securities inside and out. He should… his firm, Talcott Franklin P.C.whose main offices are in Dallas, in dollar terms represents more than half of all the investors in mortgage-backed securities on the planet. Tal’s...
by James Robert Deal | Nov 7, 2011 | Mortgage Modification
Donna bought her home in 2006. She owed $296,000 on her first mortgage and $71,000 on her second. She bought the home zero down. Her first mortgage was an ARM loan with a fixed 7.0% rate for the first five years. The index was the 6-month LIBOR and the margin was...
by James Robert Deal | Oct 30, 2011 | Real Estate Broker
See what Martin Andelman has to say about how hard it is to hire an attorney for modification help in California. This is a tricky business. Consumers who represent themselves often get a good modification. However, there a lot of pitfalls, such as knowing when you...
by James Robert Deal | Sep 12, 2011 | Modification is the Practice of Law, Mortgage Modification
Virtually all of my modification clients tried it on their own and were turned down. Servicers will turn a borrower down and not tell them why. There are many tricks and techniques which we have learned with are not commonly known. It is to the advantage of servicers...
by James Robert Deal | Jul 16, 2011 | Foreclosure
If I have to introduce Alabama foreclosure defense attorney Nick Wooten to you, then you’re not much of a foreclosure crisis news junkie, because Nick has made headlines for his lawsuits against the banksters on behalf of homeowners as much as anyone, and a lot more...
by James Robert Deal | Jul 3, 2011 | Principal Reduction
As millions of Americans struggle in foreclosure with little hope of relief, big banks are going to borrowers who are not even in default and cutting their debt or easing the mortgage terms, sometimes with no questions asked. Click here to read more.
by James Robert Deal | Mar 31, 2011 | Mortgage Modification
TWO and a half years ago, Congress passed the legislation that bailed out the country’s banks. The government has declared its mission accomplished, calling the program remarkably effective “by any objective measure.” On my last day as the special inspector general of...
by James Robert Deal | Mar 29, 2011 | Mortgage Modification
NEW YORK — The nation’s five largest mortgage firms have saved more than $20 billion since the housing crisis began in 2007 by taking shortcuts in processing troubled borrowers’ home loans, according to a confidential presentation prepared for state...
by James Robert Deal | Mar 27, 2011 | Seller Financing
March 27, 2011 Today I got this email from Teresa, a real estate broker: James, I have a buyer with a good down payment. They make good money, but they are self-employed, have less than perfect credit, and are having problems getting financing. They have been looking...
by James Robert Deal | Mar 21, 2011 | Mortgage Modification
Subscribe to get information weekly regarding the latest information in real estate. Subscribe To Our NewsletterJoin our mailing list to receive our latest updates. SUBSCRIBE! You have Successfully Subscribed! Your information is private. Share...
by James Robert Deal | Mar 21, 2011 | Seller Financing
SELLER FINANCING IS A FORM OF CREATIVE FINANCING I would like to say a few words about creative financing, also referred to as seller-financing, or a wrap-around deed of trust deal, or a lease-option deal. Creative financing includes seller financing, but it is a...
by James Robert Deal | Feb 6, 2011 | Lenders
Keller Rohrback LLP has announced that a class action has been filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Washington on behalf of all mortgagors in the State of Washington whose home mortgage loans are serviced by EMC Mortgage Corporation...
by James Robert Deal | Sep 19, 2010 | Mortgage Modification
Anthony and April Soper’s financial troubles were only starting last October when they applied for a mortgage adjustment through the Obama administration’s Home Affordable Modification Program. Anthony and April live in Lake Stevens, Washington. Bank of...
by James Robert Deal | Sep 18, 2010 | Mortgage Modification
In the past it was argued that borrowers lacked standing to complain if servicers and lenders failed to modify loans because they were not parties to the Making Home Affordable modication contract between HUD and loan servicers and lenders. However, Judge Lorenz of...
by James Robert Deal | Jul 12, 2010 | Mortgage Modification
Wrap-around deed of trust and lease-option transactions are back. Buyers are having trouble getting financing. This reduces the number of sales. With fewer buyers prices drop. The solution in many cases is for buyers and sellers to do assumptions of existing...
by James Robert Deal | Jul 9, 2010 | Real Estate Broker
Are you Judgment Proof? Surprisingly, the best approach for some people who are deeply in debt is to take no action at all. If you’re living simply (that is, with little income and property) and look forward to a similar life in the future, you may be judgment...
by James Robert Deal | Jun 24, 2010 | Foreclosure, Mortgage Modification, Principal Reduction
Read the Hamp Handbook here. It will answer a lot of questions. Lenders may but are not required to reduce principal balances in a modification down to 115% of the principal balance owing. Lenders may not foreclose on a borrower who is in the process of modification...
by James Robert Deal | May 20, 2010 | Mortgage Modification
Lenders are starting to require income verification before putting borrowers into trial payments. Lenders are tightening modification requirements and turning down more applicants. Lenders are refusing to grant principal write-downs. Generally speaking, it is getting...
by James Robert Deal | Apr 8, 2010 | Federal Trade Commission, Modification is the Practice of Law, Mortgage Modification
On the mortgage modification front: Martin Andelman writes regularly regarding mortgage modification. This is latest article: The secret NPV formula used to qualify for HAMP loan modifications that no one is allowed to know. Transparency at it’s finest. Watch...
by James Robert Deal | Mar 10, 2010 | Federal Trade Commission, Modification is the Practice of Law, Mortgage Modification
The Federal Trade Commission is up to no good. The FTC proposes to enact a regulation which will prohibit third-party modification providers, including attorneys, from charging advance fees. See: http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2010/02/mars.shtm for a summary of the proposed...
by James Robert Deal | Mar 10, 2010 | Lenders
I have found GMAC to be reasonable to work with in some cases, very inflexible in others. In one case I was able to negotiate a $10,000 payoff on a $120,000 second mortgage. This was an underwater property, with little equity available to secure the second mortgage....
by James Robert Deal | Dec 10, 2009 | Mortgage Modification
Quoting from Martin Andelman: In the next 2-3 years, it is estimated that there will be an additional 14 million foreclosures in this country. That will make the total roughly 20 million homes lost in this catastrophic recession. But it won’t stop there. Foreclosures...
by James Robert Deal | Dec 1, 2009 | Mortgage Modification
Philip got behind on his mortgage because his employer cut his hours. He and his wife work for the same nursery and earn only minimum wage. Philip’s loan was fixed for two years at 7.5%. After that it was adjustable with a rate based on the 6-month LIBOR plus a...
by James Robert Deal | Oct 21, 2009 | Mortgage Modification
Mortgage companies are more likely to foreclose on homeowners than modify their loans because they make more money off foreclosures, argues a new report by a consumer advocacy group. While homeowners, lenders and investors typically lose money on a foreclosure,...
by James Robert Deal | Jul 24, 2009 | Mortgage Modification
Tim Geitnner has written the attached letter to the 25 servicers who are participating in HAMP – Home Afffordable Mortgage Program – such as CitiMortgage and Wells Fargo Bank. These servicers receive incentives for doing modifications designed under the...
by James Robert Deal | Jun 15, 2009 | Mortgage Modification
These are general instruction as to what you can do to make your modification a success. Please report to me by e-mail and/or fax any communications you have received from your lenders. When you talk with your lenders, ask for names, phone numbers, fax numbers, e-mail...
by James Robert Deal | Jun 14, 2009 | Mortgage Modification
The Obama administration and the banks are badmouthing “third-party modification companies.”The banks will do everything they can to convince you that you do not need representation. They will send forms directly to you without sending courtesy copies to...
by James Robert Deal | Mar 28, 2009 | Mortgage Modification
Mortgage Modification Attorney I practice law in Lynnwood Washington. My law practice is devoted almost exclusively to mortgage workouts. I am also a commercial mortgage broker. People have a lot of questions about how mortgage modification works, so I have posted...
