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Governor Jerry Brown signed into law SB 458 prohibiting banks, servicers and lenders from pursuing home owners of 1-4 units who choose to short sell their homes.

From California Association of Realtors President Beth L. Peerce:

“The signing of this bill is a victory for California homeowners who have been forced to short sell their home only to find that the lender will pursue them after the short sale closes, and demand an additional payment to subsidize the difference,” said C.A.R. President Beth L. Peerce. “SB 458 brings closure and certainty to the short sale process and ensures that once a lender has agreed to accept a short sale payment on a property, all lienholders – those in first position and in junior positions – will consider the outstanding balance as paid in full and the homeowner will not be held responsible for any additional payments on the property.”

A law was passed last year, 580E, that protected homeowners from 1st lien holders, however, now 2nd and tertiary liens are also covered.

This is a huge step forward for the short sale specialist in California.

You are now legally protected from the banks that did you wrong!

LAW AGAINST SHORT SALE DEFICIENCIES EXPANDED

In a major victory for REALTORS®, Governor Brown signed into law today a C.A.R.-sponsored bill, Senate Bill 458, prohibiting a deficiency after a short sale for one-to-four residential units, regardless of whether the lender is a senior or junior lienholder. Effective immediately for transactions closing escrow from this day forward, both senior and junior lienholders cannot require a borrower to owe or pay for a deficiency in a short sale. This law also prohibits any deficiency judgment to be requested or rendered for senior or junior liens after a short sale of one-to-four residential units. Any purported waiver of this rule shall be void and against public policy.

Although a lender cannot require a borrower to pay any additional compensation in exchange for a short sale approval, the new law does not prohibit a borrower from voluntarily offering a monetary contribution to a lender in hopes of obtaining a short sale. A lender is also permitted under the new law to negotiate for a contribution from someone other than the borrower, such as other lenders, agents, relatives, and the like.

Exceptions to the new law include a lender seeking damages for a borrower’s fraud or waste; a borrower that is a corporation, LLC, limited partnership, or political subdivision of the state; a lien secured by a bond as specified; a public utility lien; and additional rules apply if a note is cross-collateralized by more than one property.

Source: Kris and Kim Darney HREU Short Sale Coaches.

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Under this new guidance, agents will no longer have to initiate a new short sale in Equator if the original buyer walks away from the transaction. Instead, the agent can continue with the original transaction in Equator and work with the same short sale specialist. The file will remain open and the paperwork that has been submitted will remain active. However, the buyer’s qualification and the offer price will need to be reviewed again if a back-up offer is used.

This new process applies only if there’s an available back-up offer when the original buyer does not follow through with the transaction. If a back-up offer is not ready to be submitted, the short sale will be declined. In that case, agents should return to marketing the property and initiate a new short sale in Equator once another offer is received.

In December, C.A.R. leadership met with representatives of Bank of America and asked the lender to accept back-up offers without starting the process over again. C.A.R. also has raised this issue with Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and Wells Fargo, and hopes they will follow Bank of America’s lead with this process.

Get your FREE Consultation on Short Sale and Loan Modification and FREE Short Sale Service by calling 310-562-0310 or click here

Making sense of the story

The new Special Forbearance program falls under the FHA’s Loss Mitigation program, which FHA-approved servicers must participate in.

The extended grace period only applies to FHA-backed loans and homeowners in the government’s foreclosure prevention program, the Making Home Affordable Program (MHA).

In addition to extending the forbearance period and removing the up-front hurdles for borrowers, the FHA also reemphasized its requirement that participating servicers conduct a review at the end of the forbearance period to evaluate the borrower for all additional, applicable foreclosure assistance programs and notify the borrower in writing whether or not he/she qualifies for any other available option.

If the borrower does not qualify for any foreclosure assistance option, the servicer must provide the borrower with the reason for denial and allow the borrower at least seven calendar days to submit additional information that may impact the servicer’s evaluation.

Housing and Urban Development, which oversees FHA, hopes private lenders and government-controlled Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will adopt a similar policy.

For additional information on the program, including eligibility and requirements, please visit www.makinghomeaffordable.gov.

According to an email from Bank of America, conventional loans that exceed the permanent loan limits will now be required to use non-conforming programs.

Barring Congressional action, the maximum FHA, Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac conforming loan limit will decline to $625,500 beginning Oct. 1, 2011, from the current $729,750 limit, though the majority of counties will fall far below the $625,500 maximum. The conforming loan limit determines the maximum size of a mortgage that FHA, Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) can buy or guarantee. Non-conforming or jumbo loans typically carry a higher mortgage interest rate than a conforming loan and require a higher down payment, increasing the monthly payment and negatively impacting housing affordability for California home buyers.

While home values are still on their way down, falling 0.5% from April to May, there’s a bit of good news hidden in the May 2011 Zillow Real Estate Market Reports. May marked the fifth consecutive month with slowing rates of depreciation (last December, for example, home values were falling almost twice as fast — 0.9% in one month). Since this improvement is happening without government intervention like last year’s homebuyer tax credits, that means it’s more likely to stick. Slowing depreciation rates are a necessary ingredient for market stabilization.

But, like any piece of data to do with the housing market, it’s important to take close look and make sure we’re being realistic about our expectations. Zillow Chief Economist Dr. Stan Humphries cites a slower foreclosure pipeline (it’s taking longer for homes to go from start to finish in the foreclosure process), combined with still-high numbers of homes starting the foreclosure process, as a couple of reasons why this slowing depreciation doesn’t mean we’ll reach bottom in the next several months. Dr. Humphries’ full brief on this month’s data can be read on the Zillow Research page.

So our forecast stands: Nationally, home values should reach a bottom in 2012, at the earliest. After that, we’ll be looking at several years of stagnant prices, followed by more historically normal appreciation rates of 2-4% per year.

Locally, some individual markets are faring even better. Many Florida metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) are showing positive or near-flat changes in home values (the Miami MSA saw home values rise 0.2% in May, and Sarasota was up 0.9% during the month). To see find your region, city, ZIP code or neighborhood, visit our data pages.

Marley & Me House Listed for Sale

Posted: 01 Jul 2011 07:38 AM PDT

Source: Cinemasource.com

Although the center of the movie “Marley & Me” focuses on rambunctious yellow lab, Marley, and the Grogan family, the home the Grogans moved to on the East Coast played a significant role to the backdrop to the story. The stately Marley and Me home is now on the Birmingham Township real estate market in Pennsylvania for $1,250,000.

Host to actors Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston, who played John and Jennifer Grogran, the brick home is easily recognizable from the feature film. Listing agent Holly Gross is capitalizing on that, marketing the home as the “Marley and Me” home.

“We felt its such a special property, and it was such a great movie,” said Gross. “The house was showcased in it and we thought people would be interested in that.”

Unlike other sets for other movies, Gross says the producers did little to change the home for the film.

“The producers used the owner’s furniture,” said listing agent Holly Gross. “The house looks exactly how it was in the movie.”

Source: HookedonHouses.net

Built in 1830, the home was completely remodeled by its current owners John Ennis and Lisa Taylor Ennis, retaining much of the home’s original details.

“The home has a beautiful updated gourmet kitchen but they did it in a way to make it feel like the 1800s,” says Gross. “It’s very in keeping in the period.”

The home sits on nearly 16 acres on a country road. Although the home is set back from the road, Gross says its location is convenient.

“Its not remote but across the street are 80 acres of land and the Brandywine River,” Gross said.

Occasionally people will drive out of their way to take a look at the “Marley & Me House” but the Ennises told the Daily Local News of Chester County that no one encroaches on their privacy.

“People still come by to take pictures,” John Ennis said. “People are polite and discreet; they don’t want to meet us. They just want to see Marley’s house.”

The Ennises placed the home on the market in an effort to downsize. Their children are grown, and as Gross pointed out, the 5-bedroom, 3.5-bath house feels large for two people.

Many buyers, especially first-timers, hope to purchase a foreclosed property at a bargain price. While purchasing a foreclosed home can be a wise choice for some buyers, it is important that buyers understand the differences in buying at different stages of foreclosure and be prepared to take on the challenges typically associated with each.

• There are three basic stages of foreclosure in California: Pre-foreclosure, trustee’s sale, and repossession, often called an REO or real estate owned by the bank.
• Pre-foreclosure homes are in the foreclosure process, but have not yet been auctioned. Owners of pre-foreclosed homes often try to sell the properties because they are “underwater,” meaning they owe more on the mortgage than the home currently is worth. Many homeowners attempt to sell via short sale, where the lender must agree to accept less than the amount owed on the mortgage. Buying at this stage of foreclosure often is a complicated and slow process. However, buyers of pre-foreclosed properties often are given the opportunity to inspect the home prior to purchasing, whereas this is not always the case when buying at other stages of foreclosures.
• The second basic stage of foreclosure is the public auction at a trustee’s or foreclosure sale. Homes in this stage often are well priced, but also come with challenges to buy. These homes may not be available for inspection and buyers may later discover the property needs numerous repairs. As a result, many of the homes at auction are purchased by investors and contractors who have experience working with homes needing numerous repairs, or taken back as REO by the foreclosing lenders.
• If a home does not sell to a third party at the trustee’s auction, the bank takes the property–the final stage of the foreclosure process. Although homes in this stage typically do not offer buyers the best prices, buyers generally can perform a thorough inspection of the property prior to closing.

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