Foreclosure and Loan Modification Blog

Can You Remodify Your Mortgage When You've Already Had a Loan Modification?

There is a wild beast lurking outside the door of many homes in America. Its name is foreclosure. For some homeowners it's not the first time they have encountered it. It came snarling and threatening to take their home from them once before, but they were able to drive it off with a loan modification.

Now the beast is back at the door, as dangerous and close as ever, and homeowners are wondering if a loan modification could be used to defeat it again.

Fortunately for distressed homeowners, loan modifications are not strictly one-time use. Having saved your home from foreclosure with a modification once does not automatically disqualify you from getting another.

[fa icon="clock-o"] Saturday, February 10, 2018 [fa icon="user"] Maxwell Swinney [fa icon="folder-open'] loan modification, housing market

ATTOM Data Solutions has released its April 2017 U.S. Foreclosure Market Data report, which shows that April's foreclosure activity is the lowest since November 2005.

In April 2017 there were 77,049 foreclosure filings, which is a drop of 7% from the month before and a decline of 23% from a year ago. A foreclosure filing includes default notices, scheduled auctions, and bank repossessions.

The good performance of mortgages originated over the last seven years is a big part of the reason for foreclosure filings continuing to drop, ATTOM says. They do, however point to an issue with repeat foreclosures “on homeowners who often fell into default several years ago but have not been able to avoid foreclosure despite the housing recovery.”

[fa icon="clock-o"] Wednesday, May 17, 2017 [fa icon="user"] Maxwell Swinney [fa icon="folder-open'] loan modification, florida foreclosure attorney, foreclosure, housing market

Ten years ago a a real estate bubble burst that caused roughly 8 million homes to be lost to foreclosure.

Since then, there's been a sustained recovery that, while sometimes slower than what's been desired, has gradually brought us to where we are now.

Where are we now? Home prices are up (at all time highs in some markets), foreclosures are down to pre-recession levels, most people who want a job have one, and the stock market is at historic highs.

[fa icon="clock-o"] Tuesday, March 28, 2017 [fa icon="user"] Maxwell Swinney [fa icon="folder-open'] housing market, housing bubble

Distressed home sales made up 16.2% of all homes sold in 2016, which is a drop of more than two and a half points from 2015, and a smaller percentage of home sales than in any year since 2007, according to ATTOM Data Solutions Year-End 2016 U.S. Home Sales Report.

A distressed sale is a bank-owned sale, short sale, or foreclosure auction sold to a third party buyer. Basically anything other than a regular sale of a home in which the seller has equity is considered a distressed sale. It's a good thing the number of distressed sales are down.

The distressed sales numbers breakdown as follows. REO (Real Estate Owned) sales, also called bank-owned sales, were 8% of all sales in 2016, which is down two points from 2015 and the lowest level in 10 years.

[fa icon="clock-o"] Tuesday, February 21, 2017 [fa icon="user"] Maxwell Swinney [fa icon="folder-open'] short sale, housing market, deed in lieu of foreclosure

The government's Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP), is expiring at the end of 2016, and the mortgage industry has ideas about how to replace it.

HAMP, sometimes referred to as the Obama plan, became available to distressed homeowners in 2009 in response to the financial and foreclosure crises. Its goal has been to help delinquent borrowers keep their home with a more affordable monthly mortgage payment.

Now the Mortgage Bankers Association, a trade group representing the real estate finance industry, has released its own suggestions for how loan modifications should be implemented in a post-HAMP world in 2017 and beyond. It's called One Mod, short for One Modification.

[fa icon="clock-o"] Monday, October 10, 2016 [fa icon="user"] Maxwell Swinney [fa icon="folder-open'] loan modification, hamp loan modification, housing market

The recent financial crisis, housing crisis, and recession really did a number on homeowners. You didn't have to be an economist or real estate expert to know that there was a sharp increase in the number of foreclosures. All you had to do was turn on the news and you'd hear about it, or drive through any residential neighborhood and see the signs in front yards.

About seven million homeowners have experienced foreclosure since the start of the crisis. The wealth homeowners held in their homes evaporated as jobs were lost. That left many homeowners in the terrible position of being unable to afford their mortgage payment or sell their home because they owed more on it than it was worth.

[fa icon="clock-o"] Thursday, August 25, 2016 [fa icon="user"] Maxwell Swinney [fa icon="folder-open'] loan modification, foreclosure defense, housing market, foreclosure crisis

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo recently signed legislation intended to prevent foreclosures and reduce the harm done by zombie properties in the Empire State.

Homeowners in New York already have some advantages that people in some other states don't. New York is a judicial foreclosure state, which means the bank has to go through the courts to foreclose on your home. That takes longer and affords homeowners more time to find a resolution.

Also, settlement conferences, which are a mediation between you and your lender, are mandatory for most foreclosure cases in New York. The purpose of the conference is for you and your bank to meet in person and come to some agreement that doesn't involve foreclosure.

[fa icon="clock-o"] Monday, July 18, 2016 [fa icon="user"] Maxwell Swinney [fa icon="folder-open'] loan modification, new york foreclosure attorney, housing market, zombie foreclosure

U.S. foreclosure filings were slightly lower in May of 2016 compared to April, according to real estate data company RealtyTrac. There were 100,841 properties with foreclosure filings in May, which is a 21 percent drop from May of 2015. The decrease in foreclosure activity in May is the eighth month in a row with a decrease compared to the same month a year ago.

New Jersey Number One In Country For Foreclosures

New Jersey leads the nation with the highest foreclosure rate of any state. In the Garden State one in every 559 housing units had a foreclosure filing. Maryland was next with one in every 693, followed by Delaware with one in every 716, Florida with one in every 738, and Nevada with one in every 851.

Among the metropolitan areas with at least 200,000 residents, areas in New Jersey take the top two spots for the worst foreclosure rates in the country. In Atlantic City one in every 448 housing units had a foreclosure filing. In Trenton, New Jersey, it's one in 446.

[fa icon="clock-o"] Tuesday, July 12, 2016 [fa icon="user"] Maxwell Swinney [fa icon="folder-open'] foreclosure defense, housing market, news

Home values are expected to grow about 3 to 4 percent a year in the coming years according to the panelists in the most recent Zillow Home Price Expectations Survey. Their expectations, however, are less optimistic when considering a Donald Trump or Bernie Sanders presidency.

The survey asked 107 economists, real estate experts, and academics across the nation what they expected from home prices over the next four years and how the election of different candidates would affect their forecast.

45 percent of those surveyed who had an opinion said that the election of presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump “would impact their expectations for future home value growth either very negatively or somewhat negatively, compared to just 16 percent who said their expectations would be impacted somewhat or very positively.”

[fa icon="clock-o"] Wednesday, June 22, 2016 [fa icon="user"] Maxwell Swinney [fa icon="folder-open'] loan modification, loan modification help, housing market

Turn your television to a random basic cable channel and it probably won't be long before a reality show about house flipping comes on. There's Flip This House on A&E, Flip That House on Discovery, Flip or Flop on HGTV, Flip Men on Spike, Flipping Out on Bravo, and many, many others.

Even celebrities are in on the house flipping reality show craze. Snooki from Jersey Shore has a show on FYI called Nicole & Jionni's Shore Flip. And Vanilla Ice has The Vanilla Ice Project on DIY Network.

[fa icon="clock-o"] Monday, June 20, 2016 [fa icon="user"] Maxwell Swinney [fa icon="folder-open'] loan modification, life after foreclosure, housing market

Foreclosure and Loan Modification Blog

Can You Remodify Your Mortgage When You've Already Had a Loan Modification?

Foreclosures Lowest Since 2005, Repeats High In New York City And Miami

Will 2017 Bring Another Bursting Housing Bubble?

Distressed Home Sales In 2016 At A Nine-Year Low

Post-HAMP Suggestions from the Mortgage Bankers Association

Foreclosures Down, Home Values Up, Loan Modifications Still An Option

New Foreclosure Laws In New York To Prevent Foreclosure, Kill Zombies

Foreclosure Down in May 2016, New Jersey Worst in Country

New Jersey Number One In Country For Foreclosures

Donald Trump or Bernie Sanders Presidency Could Be Bad for Home Values, Experts Say

House Flipping Up 20 Percent, Should Snooki and Vanilla Ice Get Credit?

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