California Homeowner Bill of Rights signed into law


California Governor Jerry Brown signed into law yesterday the Homeowner Bill of Rights to help struggling Californians keep their homes. This law aims to avoid foreclosure where possible to help stabilize California's housing market and prevent the other negative effects of foreclosures on families, communities, and the economy. The new law will generally prohibit lenders from engaging in dual tracking, require a single point of contact for borrowers seeking foreclosure prevention alternatives, provide borrowers with certain safeguards during the foreclosure process, and provide borrowers with the right to sue lenders for material violations of this law.

Making sense of the story

• The Bill of Rights prohibits “dual track” foreclosures that occur when a mortgage servicer continues foreclosure while also reviewing a homeowner’s application for a loan modification.

• Under the new law, homeowners must be provided with a single point of contact when negotiating a loan modification.

• It expands notice requirements that must be provided to a borrower before taking action on a loan modification application or pursuing foreclosure.

• Additionally, the bill allows injunctions against foreclosure until violations are corrected and permits civil penalties against servicers that file multiple, inaccurate mortgage documents or commit reckless or willful violations of law.

• These new laws make California the first state in the nation to take provisions in the National Mortgage Settlement, which covered the nation’s five largest mortgage loan servicers, and apply those rules to all mortgage servicers.

• The law will go into effect January 1, 2013.

"Brace yourself real estate prices are going back up! House prices, after falling for more than five years, are rising again. All the major sales-price indexes show that there have been modest national increases in recent months, even after adjusting for seasonal patterns. "
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Reverse Mortgage

Thinking about taking a reverse mortgage out on your home? Make sure you understand the ins and outs before you sign on the dotted line. Reverse mortgages can be very complicated and their are lots of bad people out there waiting to take advantage of you. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has put together a report that is a must read if you think a reverse mortgage is the answer to your problems. To read the report CLICK HERE

Thought For The Day

"Look for sale prices, and never regard falling prices as inherently bad news. Instead, falling prices create the opportunity to buy even more of something that was already worth owning. " Warren Buffet

California First Time Buyer Tax Credit

California running out of Ten Thousand Dollar tax credits. First-time home buyers wanting to take advantage of the state’s $10,000 tax credit may not have as much time as they thought they had. California set aside $100 million to help home buyers purchase new construction, hoping to get the residential-construction market going. The good news is; it worked and is helping to lure home buyers into purchasing a newly built home. However, there only is about 20 percent of the funding remaining. Call me now to buy your NEW Studio City of San Fernando Valley Home before the money runs out.

Just in from C.A.R

Home sales increased 56.7 percent in August in California compared with the same period a year ago, while the median price of an existing home fell 40.5 percent, C.A.R. reported Sept. 25.

The Bail Out

If this bail out package passes will it be enough? I don't think it is going to help the guy set up to lose his house next month only the banks can do that. Why can't the banks just stop foreclosing on people that took and have been paying on that interest only for three years mortgage that is about to turn into some other monster. Extend the mortgage they can afford instead of upping the interest rate to 9% and forcing people out of their homes. Who is helping that guy?