Mortgage Modifications- Where Are We?

Posted by kevin on July 16, 2017 under Foreclosure Blog | Comments are off for this article

The Making Homes Affordable HAMP mortgage modification program expired on December 31, 2016. If you filed for modification before that date, you application will be considered until December 31, 2017. However, no new applications under HAMP after December 31, 2016. So, where are we at?

Well, the GSE’s (Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac) still have programs and most, if not all, servicers and lenders have their in-house programs.

For example, in December, 2016, Fannie Mae announced its new Flex program which combines features of the Fannie Mae HAMP, Standard and Streamlined modification programs. As with the prior programs, your loan has to be held by Fannie Mae in its own portfolio or sold to investors by Fannie Mae. Servicers can begin implementing the new program as early as March 1, 2017 but must implement the program no later than October 1, 2017. Borrowers who are delinquent or in imminent danger of default qualify. If the borrower is less than 90 days delinquent, PITIA (principal, interest, taxes, insurance, and HOA assessment) is based on 40% of gross income and the reduction in payment must be at least 20% of what the borrower had been previously paying. If more than 90 days delinquent, then the servicer considers only a 20% reduction. The program utilizes waterfalls similar to previous programs and does allow principal forbearance in certain situations. Although geared to primary residences, investment properties and vacation homes can be eligible if the loan is at least 60 days delinquent.

In-house programs exist just as before. They are sometimes called proprietary programs. I have dealt with so-called proprietary programs since 2012. The biggest problem is that the servicer does not publish the program guidelines so you are getting basically a pig in a poke. However, for the most part, the proprietary programs are similar to the HAMP programs in that the servicer will target PITIA payments at a percentage of income. Normally, the target is in the 30-40% of gross income range, but I did have a case with Bank of the West where they targeted PITIA at 50% of gross income. There are waterfalls to get to the target as with the HAMP loans. The biggest difference is that few proprietary modifications will take the loan out to 480 months from filing of the modification application. The worst case scenario is that the modification term is limited to the remaining term of the loan.

There is still a brisk market for mortgage modifications on their own, in conjunction with a foreclosure or in conjunction with Chapter 13 bankruptcy. Since the Dodd Frank modification rules kicked in in 2014, a foreclosing lender cannot start a foreclosure unless it has made a decision of a pending mortgage modification application. If the foreclosure has been filed, and the borrower files a complete mortgage modification application within 37 business days before the sales date, a lender is precluded from going to sheriff sale until it makes a decision on the modification application. That is Dodd Frank. Many servicers will put off the sale if the application is filed less than 37 business days of the sale. I have had situations where the servicer has put off the sale when the application was filed 10 business days before the sale, and I have also had situations where decisions, for whatever reason, have not been made for well over a year after the application is submitted.

So, if you are behind on your mortgage but have a job, you can still qualify for a mortgage modification. It would pay to look into that option.

He Who Hesitates Is Lost

Posted by kevin on March 5, 2013 under Foreclosure Blog | Comments are off for this article

If you receive a notice of intent to foreclose, and do not run to a lawyer, you are a fool. If you get served with a foreclosure complaint but do nothing because you are working with the servicer to get a modification, you are a fool. If you get papers from your adversary saying that they are submitting their final judgment package to the Foreclosure Unit and do nothing, you are a fool. And if you wait until you get notice of a sheriff’s sale before you run to a lawyer (and expect him to pull a rabbit out of his hat for limited fees), you are a fool who will soon be without a house.

The message has been that the majority of chancery judges do not like contested foreclosure cases. The average case does not get to trial for two years. The Administrative Office of the Courts wants foreclosure cases to go to trial within 12 months of the date of the filing of the complaint. If the defendant is not served right away, that could mean that you are going to trial in 6-8 months. Now, some judges are routinely limiting discovery and setting trial dates that are 8 months from trial.

So, do yourself a favor. If you are behind on your mortgage, contact your servicer to see if you can work something out. If not, and you receive a notice of intent to foreclose, at least interview a few attorneys with background in foreclosure defense. Better yet, hire one of those attorneys. If you get served with a complaint, hire counsel immediately and file your answer in a timely manner.

Nowadays, foreclosure cases can be filed electronically through JEFIS. So, that means that the papers can get into the system that much faster. Servicers are regulating the number of foreclosure cases that are filed at any given time so as to not overstress their staffs and, more importantly, not to overstress the Clerk’s office in Trenton. In other words, the process is being speeded up.

If you do not file your answer on time, and the plaintiff enters a default, then you must file a motion to set aside the default in order to file an answer. That means that you have to go before a judge who may not like contested cases. In the old days the policy was that people should have their day in court. Today, I am not so sure if that policy wins the day.

So, remember the old adage, “He who hesitates is lost.”

In future blogs, I will give you examples of recent cases where borrowers took it on the chin for sitting on their hands.

Word to the Wise

Posted by kevin on October 3, 2011 under Foreclosure Blog | Comments are off for this article

In the last 8 months or so, there has been little activity on the foreclosure front.  The  NJ Supreme Court directive slowed down foreclosures and basically stopped sales.  However, most of the big lenders have now complied with the minimum standards required by the courts, and are now sanctioned to continue with the foreclosures.

The spigots are opening.  Notices are going out.  We can expect to see a large increase in filings.

However, when I speak with prospective clients, they are reluctant to retain counsel.  Cost of representation is now an issue.

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