Focusing on foreclosures.

Focusing on foreclosures

An upcoming housing fair in Thornton will give homeowners who are struggling with their mortgages a rare opportunity to meet face-to-face with their lenders and banking representatives.

Colorado Congressmen Jared Polis and Ed Perlmutter are hosting the Aug. 22 event in response to frustrations voiced by residents who are facing or hoping to avoid a foreclosure, said Gina Salazar, deputy district director for Congressman Polis' office. Constituents often call their congressional offices for help after they've given up trying to get a hold of their own lenders and banks, she said.

"They just weren't getting calls back, or had perpetual waits or got stuck with auto-attendants on the phone," Salazar said. "Basically, we're hearing it's difficult to talk to a live person."

The housing fair, she said, will give homeowners a four-hour window to speak with many of the major players in the banking and mortgage arena, including representatives from American Home Mortgage Servicing, Bank of America, Chase, Wells Fargo, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae.

"It's about empowering our constituents who are trying to save their home or protect their investment," Salazar said.

The fair also has an educational component. Workshops will touch on everything from foreclosure and new home ownership to how to talk to lenders, said Debra Gray, neighborhood services housing coordinator for the City of Thornton.

"If you combine all these resources in one room, then it's kind of like one-stop shopping," Gray said. "It's a wonderful benefit to people that just doesn't happen very often."

Thornton and several other communities in Adams County have been hard hit by the recent wave of foreclosures. The county once had the highest foreclosure rate in the state.

Recent data, however, indicates the situation may be getting slightly better.

The number of completed foreclosures in Adams County fell 19 percent in the first half of 2009 compared to the same period last year, according to a report from the Colorado Division of Housing. The same report shows the number of foreclosure filings also dropped in Adams County, down 11 percent this year compared to the same period in 2008.

But even with the slowdown, Thornton still remains vulnerable to the foreclosure crisis, Gray said. Neighborhood Services works to track housing trends in the city, and right now, it appears the north part of the city is experiencing a higher than normal rate of foreclosures, she said.

The city is conducting outreach efforts in that area, including placing posters at bus stops that advertise foreclosure prevention resources. Those efforts, along with the housing fair, are intended to help residents avoid the dreaded Notice of Election and Demand in the mail.

"The key is to get help," she said, "before it's too late."

The housing fair is scheduled to go from 8 a.m. to noon Aug. 22 at the Margaret Carpenter Recreation Center, 11151 Colorado Blvd., Thornton. Call 303-287-4159 for more information or to R.S.V.P.

Denver homeowners meet with Lenders over foreclosure issues.

Focusing on foreclosures

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An upcoming housing fair in Thornton will give homeowners who are struggling with their mortgages a rare opportunity to meet face-to-face with their lenders and banking representatives.

Colorado Congressmen Jared Polis and Ed Perlmutter are hosting the Aug. 22 event in response to frustrations voiced by residents who are facing or hoping to avoid a foreclosure, said Gina Salazar, deputy district director for Congressman Polis' office. Constituents often call their congressional offices for help after they've given up trying to get a hold of their own lenders and banks, she said.

"They just weren't getting calls back, or had perpetual waits or got stuck with auto-attendants on the phone," Salazar said. "Basically, we're hearing it's difficult to talk to a live person."

The housing fair, she said, will give homeowners a four-hour window to speak with many of the major players in the banking and mortgage arena, including representatives from American Home Mortgage Servicing, Bank of America, Chase, Wells Fargo, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae.

"It's about empowering our constituents who are trying to save their home or protect their investment," Salazar said.

The fair also has an educational component. Workshops will touch on everything from foreclosure and new home ownership to how to talk to lenders, said Debra Gray, neighborhood services housing coordinator for the City of Thornton.

"If you combine all these resources in one room, then it's kind of like one-stop shopping," Gray said. "It's a wonderful benefit to people that just doesn't happen very often."

Thornton and several other communities in Adams County have been hard hit by the recent wave of foreclosures. The county once had the highest foreclosure rate in the state.

Recent data, however, indicates the situation may be getting slightly better.

The number of completed foreclosures in Adams County fell 19 percent in the first half of 2009 compared to the same period last year, according to a report from the Colorado Division of Housing. The same report shows the number of foreclosure filings also dropped in Adams County, down 11 percent this year compared to the same period in 2008.

But even with the slowdown, Thornton still remains vulnerable to the foreclosure crisis, Gray said. Neighborhood Services works to track housing trends in the city, and right now, it appears the north part of the city is experiencing a higher than normal rate of foreclosures, she said.

The city is conducting outreach efforts in that area, including placing posters at bus stops that advertise foreclosure prevention resources. Those efforts, along with the housing fair, are intended to help residents avoid the dreaded Notice of Election and Demand in the mail.

"The key is to get help," she said, "before it's too late."

The housing fair is scheduled to go from 8 a.m. to noon Aug. 22 at the Margaret Carpenter Recreation Center, 11151 Colorado Blvd., Thornton. Call 303-287-4159 for more information or to R.S.V.P.

Part 3 of the Countrywide saga.

Well, it looks like good news for my friend. After doing some tap dancing with the work out department at Countrywide they have agreed to move all missed payments to the back of his loan, and also set up escrows for him. So this changes his payment from over $2,000 a month (not including escrows) down to $1,650 a month including his escrows. He is one happy and relieved camper.
I have to admit that I had my doubts, but I have been pleasantly surprised. Keep us the good work Countrywide!

Pete Temple
National Operations Manager
www.MortgageProcessor.com
(866) 418-3472

Mortgage Help may be on the way.

From the Detroit Press :

"WASHINGTON -- The House passed a plan Thursday to provide cheaper, government-backed mortgages for half a million debt-ridden borrowers.

Despite veto threats from President George W. Bush, the measure was approved by a 266-154 vote, with 39 Republicans supporting it -- mostly those from areas suffering worst from housing woes.

All members of the Michigan delegation voted for the bill except Republicans Dave Camp, Peter Hoekstra, Candice Miller and Tim Walberg.

The measure, which awaits Senate action, would let the Federal Housing Administration take on up to $300 billion in new mortgages so that borrowers facing foreclosure could refinance.

The plan by Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., is the centerpiece of a package of bills approved Thursday that Democrats say will prevent more foreclosures and help deal with the fallout from the mortgage meltdown.

"We are in a recession, and the major cause of that is the subprime crisis," said Frank, the Financial Services Committee chairman.

"Diminishing the number of foreclosures is in the interest not simply of those who will avoid foreclosure, but people in their neighborhood, the cities in which they are located, and the whole economy."

Proponents say they hope the package will serve as the basis for a bipartisan housing compromise that could satisfy both parties' appetite for delivering election-year aid to constituents.

Under Frank's plan, homeowners considered too risky to qualify could refinance into FHA-backed loans if their lenders agreed to take substantial losses on the original mortgages. Borrowers would have to show they could make payments on the new loans.

They would have to share with FHA at least half of their proceeds if they profited from selling or refinancing again.

The plan is projected to help roughly 500,000 borrowers at a cost of $2.7 billion over five years.

The House also passed, on a 239-188 vote, a bill to send $15 billion to states to buy and fix foreclosed properties. Bush threatened to veto that measure, too, contending it would reward lenders who helped cause the housing chaos."

New Websites, new services.

It seems these days that everyone needs not one website, but many. Not just a website, but a blog to go with it. Now I don't complain about it that much as my background is computer science and I can whip up a website in a day.
The problems come in with maintaining all thos sites, and building new content for them. For example, here are a few of the new sites we have picked up in the past few months: AAALoanProcessor.com, MyLendersReportCard.com, and MyRealtorsReportCard.com. Creating websites, blogs and content can be a full time job in itself. Add to that providing tech support for our processing company, doing search engine optimization, and creating viedo and annimation for the web sites.
Right now it's 11:45 pm and I'm just getting ready to call it an evening. Oh well, at least I'm not bored. Keep your eye on our main site www.MortgageProcessor.com for updates and new servcies to be announced soon. Hope your all having a steller day!

Pete Temple
National Operations Manager
www.MortgageProcessor.com
866-418-3472

Countrywide - has a heart and a brain? Part 2.

I told you I would follow up on my last post regarding Countrywide offering to immediately reduce my friends interest rate. The question was "what would they do about the three months back mortgage payments". Well the good news is that they are willing to work with you on the back payments. The bad news is that it has to be done through the "work out department". So now begins the process of faxing and calling the work out department to see if they will grant the modification of the loan to take care of the overdue balance.
If you have a customer near foreclosure they may be getting a similar letter. Only time will tell if this is going to work for the people who need so much help out there. Contact me at pete@MortgageProcessor.com if you have any additional information on this program or success stories!

Countrywide - has a heart and a brain?

I was at a friends today helping him paint his house. You see he is heading for foreclosure and wanted to make a good impression putting his home on the market to try to sell it. His adjustable rate had raised his payment over $1,000 over the past 18 months and there was no way he could keep up.
Today as we pulled out our paint cans a Fed X truck pulled up and delivered a letter. We were expecting the worst as he opened the letter, but much to our surprise Countrywide had offered a huge olive branch. They offered to take his adjustable rate mortgage back to the start rate of 6.5% and fix it for the next 5 years effective immediately. On top of that they are willing to talk to him about working out a payment plan for any unpaid balance to get caught back up. Had he been transported to the land of OZ and received a gift from a benevolent wizard? No, this was Countrywide!
As we sat with our mouths agape we thought "what has the world come to when a mortgage company would voluntarily fix our rates and give up over $1,000 a month in interest payments?"
Tomorrow my friend will call Countrywide to see what they offer via re-payment of his back mortgage payments. I will keep you up to date as to what they say.
Has Countrywide become the wizard of OZ and given them selfs both a heart and a brain? The scarecrow and tin man may be out of luck, but it looks like my friend is the beneficiary. Let's hope more lenders follow suit.