John Beckett's Real Estate Blog

Even if you owe the money in question, you do not have to put up with harassment. Here’s how to make the calls stop — and fight a claim if it’s a mistake. You owe money, and a debt collector is calling you night and day. Or maybe you don’t owe money, and a debt collector is calling you night and day. Collectors are applying the thumbscrews — often illegally — as recent complaints to the Federal Trade Commission bear out.

1. Get the facts. In its first letter, the collection agency must provide you with the name of the creditor, the amount of the initial debt, a breakdown of penalties and interest, and an explanation of your rights. If the collection agency calls rather than writes, get the details on the phone and remind the caller that you are entitled to the written information within five days. Ask for an address and a phone number so you can follow up if necessary, and start a file that includes a record of every call and a copy of every document involved in the claim.

2. Set the record straight. If you don’t recognize the debt, or know you’re being dunned in error, write a letter disputing the claim to both the collection agency and the creditor. Include details, dates and copies of any supporting paperwork, and send the letters by certified mail, with a request for a receipt, within 30 days of the first written notice. The burden is on the agency to make its case — say, by providing a copy of the creditor’s judgment. If it doesn’t, you’re in the clear, for now. However, agencies sometimes sell their accounts to other collectors. Be prepared to fight the claim all over again.

3. Hang up on harassment. Collection agencies are prohibited from calling you between 9:00 p.m. and 8:00 a.m. and from using abusive or threatening language. If you don’t want to be called or contacted at all, write to the agency and say so. It must abide by your terms, although it may send one more notice telling you how it will proceed. If your lawyer writes the letter, the agency must communicate only with him or her.

4. Agree on a plan. If the debt is yours, work with the agency to come up with a realistic plan for paying it back. “Don’t promise something you cannot do,” says Robert Markoff, the president of the National Association of Retail Collection Attorneys. Debt collectors would rather adjust the terms of repayment than face future defaults, he says. “They want payments that come in like clockwork, so they can move on to the next case.” Fail to come to terms and you could end up in court; lose there, and the agency wins the right to put a lien on your property (certain property is exempt) or have your wages garnisheed.

5. Tell the authorities. Still have a problem? Complain to the Federal Trade Commission, which enforces the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. Your complaint, added to others, can help it identify and pursue the most egregious bad guys. Also contact your state attorney general’s office. Depending on state law, that office may be willing and able to pursue your case.

6. Sue the bums. You can sue a collection agency that flouts the federal law and collect statutory damages of up to $1,000, plus real damages and attorney’s fees. Many lawyers will take your case on a contingency basis or charge a fee of, say, $25 to $100, says Robert Hobbs, the deputy director of the National Consumer Law Center. Some will also represent you in serious cases involving collectors who are not covered by the federal law.

This article was reported by Jane Bennett Clark for Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine. Published August 27, 2009

In most cases, certain closing costs are charged to buyer and others to the seller.  State law may dictate the division of some fees, but usually the division of costs follows local custom.  For most charges, it is always possible for an agreement between the parties to change the usual practice. In general, the seller usually pays for the costs of proving clear title, which may involve a survey and a search of the public records, summarized in an abstract of title. The seller usually pays any broker’s commission or state transfer taxes if required, and for any termite inspection. The buyer usually pays the costs of placing a new mortgage (application fee, appraisal, points on the loan), recording the mortgage and deed in the public records, mortgage tax if required, title insurance and home inspector’s fees where used. Again, the division of the charges can be changed by agreement between the parties.  Many mortgage plans set a limit on how many of the buyer’s costs the seller may agree to cover.

Read more at: http://www.askedith.com/questions/buying/who-pays-closing-costs

For all the homeowners who are upside down and can no longer make their mortgage payment (because of either a job loss, divorce, or an option ARM that’s resetting higher), up to now the only option was, well, letting the bank foreclose. That’s not a good option since a foreclosure sticks on your credit record for at least 10 years. But some experts are now advocating a “short sale.” This is a case of a distinction with a difference: If your bank agrees to a short sale, you then hire an agent to find a buyer for the house, you sell the house for a loss, and with the bank’s blessing, they agree to eat the loss.

That’s the really short version of how it works. The experts say you will need to find a real estate agent and you’ll also need to scale back your own spending. Putting expensive jewelry on your credit card will make a bank less inclined to do you any favors on the sale of your home.

Of course, the better option is to find some way to stay in the house—by first, seeing if the lender is willing to restructure the loan, or forgo a couple of monthly payments to help you get back on your feet. Apparently, more and more lenders are willing to make accommodations to avoid taking the property back. Banks hate to take over homes, especially in a declining market, so you shouldn’t underestimate the willingness of a bank to make concessions.

Read at: http://www.businessweek.com/the_thread/hotproperty/archives/2007/03/the_new_exit_st.html

The First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit of 2009 was given new life late last year. President Obama extended the original credit end date until April 30th for purchases and buyers under contract before then have until the end of June to close escrow and claim the credit. The credit has been a success to this point, helping to drive consumers back into the ailing real estate market. There has been some talk in the media about 2010 being the rebound year for the economy. Home sales in several areas around the country are up and prices have stabilized or increased. However, foreclosures are still a problem in several states coupled with high unemployment.  Considering the overall state of the union, I wonder if the government isn’t considering an extension of the credit into the fall. Interest rates are still very low and there is plenty of surplus housing available.  Consumers have been buying but new inventory coming on the market is still a factor.

What do you think?

Reference: http://www.realestateindustrywatch.com/tax-credit-coming-to-an-end/

The clouds may be starting to lift, ever so slightly, for the beleaguered housing market. The latest evidence came recently when new data showed that fewer homeowners are falling behind on their home loans. The delinquency rate for mortgage loans on one-to-four-unit residential properties fell to a seasonally adjusted rate of 9.47% of all loans as of the end of the fourth quarter of 2009, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. That’s down from 9.64% in the third quarter. It’s extremely rare for the delinquency rate to decline at the end of the year when homeowners are grappling with the cost of heating bills and Christmas presents. The data still pointed to a troubled housing market that is likely to worsen before it improves. The delinquency rate was up from 7.88% a year ago. And though California is faring better than some other hard-hit states, the state delinquency rate is 12.49%.  In a sign that delinquencies may be leveling off, loans past due by 30 days and 60 days declined compared with the third quarter of 2009 and the fourth quarter of 2008. The number of loans going into foreclosure, though up from a year earlier, declined compared with the third quarter as efforts to modify mortgages took hold. But the portfolio of loans more than 90 days past due—containing the mortgages being evaluated for modifications—continued its rise to record levels. That indicates that there is still much short-term pain for the housing markets to endure as many of these fall into foreclosure.  4.99% of all prime fixed-rate loans, the kind made to the best-qualified borrowers, were categorized as seriously delinquent (that is, in foreclosure or more than 90 days past due), up from 2.25% a year earlier. For prime adjustable-rate loans, the category containing tricky pay-option mortgages, 18.13% were seriously delinquent, compared with 10.45% a year earlier. And 42.7% of subprime adjustable loans were seriously delinquent, up from 33.78% in the fourth quarter of 2008.

Read the entire article at:  http://rismedia.com/2010-02-22/mortgage-delinquencies-slowing/