Tag Archives: Negative Equity

President Obama has made a public call for mortgage lenders and servicers to provide struggling homeowners with longer-term modifications and principal reductions when it fits the situation. Referring to the bailout of the banking system, which the president described as probably the most unpopular thing the government has ever done, Obama said American taxpayers were there for the banks when they got into trouble, and now it's time for the banks to be there for the American people.

Nearly twice as many underwater borrowers think it is okay to walk away from their mortgage than harbored this sentiment a year ago, according to the results of a survey conducted by Fannie Mae. A separate academia study, however, found that the number of cases in which the homeowner defaulted even though they cold afford their payments - at least as perceived by their neighbors - appears to be trending down. The researchers also asked about respondents' feelings on robo-signing penalties.

Home values in the U.S. fell faster in the first quarter of 2011 than they have in any quarter since 2008, when the market experienced its worst performance, according to Zillow. The company's index of residential property values fell 3 percent during the first three months of this year when compared to the fourth quarter of 2010. As a result, negative equity hit a new high-water mark with 28.4 percent of homeowners with mortgages owing more on the loan than their home is worth.

The research firm and ratings agency DBRS says it has learned from various servicers that although Congress never authorized bankruptcy judges to modify mortgages on primary residences, these ""cram-downs,"" as they have been termed, are currently being performed in some courts. The agency's analysts say the amount of the cram-down varies by state, property value, and borrower situation but usually includes a reduction in the principal amount of the loan to fair market value.

As home prices began heading further and further south, the term ""strategic default"" made its way into industry jargon...and into the minds of lending and servicing professionals already struggling to keep up with large volumes of borrowers who actually can't afford their mortgage payments. It's a fairly new phenomenon that the industry agrees needs addressing, but the problem is, how do you pinpoint a strategic defaulter? The credit assessment firm FICO says it's developed a method, using consumer behavior analytics, that will allow lenders to identify borrowers who might walk away.

Greg Rand, a 20-year real estate veteran and CEO of OwnAmerica, says now is the time to invest in real estate. Rand compares the current market to the years following the Great Depression when market conditions sparked a boom that sustained 65 years of appreciation in real estate. ""It is true that this is a once-in-a-generation crisis. It is also true that this is a once-in-a-generation opportunity. It's time to focus on the other side of the coin,"" according to Rand.

Mortgage servicing practices have taken center stage on Capitol Hill, with a flurry of bills being penned to make servicing reforms the law of the land. Rep. Maxine Waters of California has revised a bill she's brought to the table several times before that would compel lenders to engage in what she says are ""reasonable loss mitigation activities"" for all delinquent homeowners. The legislation would place responsibility for modifying first and second liens with the servicer of the primary mortgage and would institute several reforms outlined in recent settlements with regulators.

Two lawmakers, one Republican and one Democrat, have joined forces to push federal legislation through that would facilitate wider use and shorter transaction timelines for a foreclosure alternative that some say could be a lifeline for millions of underwater homeowners while drastically reducing the number of empty, repossessed homes lining U.S. neighborhoods - the short sale. The bill would impose a deadline of 45 days on lenders to give an approval, disapproval, or status of a decision on an offer for a short sale.

More than 2,000 Texas Realtors descended on the Texas Capitol in Austin April 12 for the 2011 Legislative Hill Visits. The governor, lieutenant governor, speaker of the Texas House, and legislators met with the Realtors to discuss a range of consumer-protection legislation, including homeowner rights. Realtors say Texas has withstood the real estate bubble that ravaged the rest of the country largely because state leaders made protection of private-property rights a priority in recent sessions.

The majority of Americans say walking away from a mortgage should never be an option for homeowners, even those who are struggling to make their payments, according to a survey conducted by FindLaw.com. No reliable figures exist to pinpoint exactly how many homeowners choose strategic default, which entails walking away and refusing to make monthly payments, but industry experts agree that it has become a growing concern in the fallout of the housing crisis.