Category Archives: Foreclosure

General interest entries

Government Intervention in Foreclosure

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This is Part Four of a series of articles on foreclosures.
This article does not constitute legal advice.
Foreclosure laws vary from state to state.
Homeowners in financial distress should always hire legal counsel. Call your local state bar association for a referral.  Reduced or free legal aid may be available in some states. Ask for a referral from your state Bar Association or through a LOCAL HUD-Approved Housing Counseling Agency.

In this article we will address current government intervention as well as discuss possible future intervention programs. For other preventative measures, check out the other parts of this series:

Part one: Foreclosure; Losing the American Dream
Part two: Options for Homeowners Facing Foreclosure
Part three: Loan Modifications
Part four: Government Intervention in Foreclosure
Part five: Foreclosure; Letting Go and Rebuilding

Current government intervention in the foreclosure process has taken many forms. Some states such as California, Florida, New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Philadelphia, and Illinois have discussed, proposed, or passed legislation in favor of a foreclosure moratorium.  In order to avoid state mandates, some companies placed a temporary halt on foreclosures over the holidays. These companies include Indymac, Countrywide, WAMU, and loans held in the Fannie/Freddie portfolios.  Recall that during the real estate bubble run-up, government backed loans fell out of favor. Many subprime loans are held by lender/servicers in pools of mortgage backed securities. The foreclosure moratorium didn’t reach those homeowners.

State moratoriums give homeowners more time to possibly refinance into a Hope for Homeowners loan or complete a short sale and the moratorium also gives banks more time to get caught up on all the backlog of foreclosure paperwork. 

Financial Economics Analyst Edward Vincent Murphy, in his Sept 12, 2008 report “Economic Analysis of a Mortgage Foreclosure Moratorium,

Mortgage Company Merit Financial Banned from the Industry for Five Years. Scott Greenlaw: Not Banned.

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Wholesale Mortgage Company Merit Financial has the dubious reputation as being the very first company on the ML-Implode list which now sits at 312 imploded lenders.

The original Statement of Charges from 2007 focuses on violations of the state’s Mortgage Broker Practices Act such as failing to pay appraisers over and over and over again, failing to maintain a mortgage broker license, failing to attend the required continuing ed classes, failing to maintain an surety bond, failing to adequately disclose fees to consumers, and so forth.

From the Seattle Times

Merit did put loan officers through a 19-step program. “Loan Officer 101” was 15 minutes long…Saulness wasn’t impressed. She sat next to two 18-year-old loan officers. “They didn’t even know how to read a credit report,” she said.  Barry said wryly that many “had no idea what product they were selling, but they knew how much money they could make.” Merit employees proudly posted their résumés, plus photos of their luxury cars and drinking parties, on various Web sites. One loan officer had come to work fresh from being a Hooters Girl. Another solicited clients for two endeavors: writing mortgages for Merit and selling marijuana paraphernalia on the side. Indeed, several Merit loan officers boasted online that doing drugs was a favorite pastime. “Let’s get hopped up and make some bad decisions,” wrote one beside a photo of himself grinning broadly. Numerous former employees, including loan officer Sunny Hoppe, described working at Merit as a raucous — sometimes lewd — frat party. It was “young, hip, drugs and drinking,” Hoppe said, and that was at work. Former employees also said Merit regularly provided a keg of beer for some staff meetings, but Greenlaw said that, no, it was actually two kegs, and employees were free to bring in six-packs on Fridays. Asked about rumors of drug use in the office, Greenlaw said, “We just never checked.”

Washington State DFI and Merit/Greenlaw decided to settle the case and move on.  The Consent Order filed Dec 2008 says our state DFI will collect only $1500 in fines. Merit is banned from the industry for five years. Greenlaw is banned from applying for a mortgage broker/designated broker license for five years yet he is not prohibited from applying to become a loan originator.  Let’s take a look at some of the financial carnage from 2006-07:

Thousands of dollars owed to appraisers for work performed.
Thousands of dollars owed in back wages to Merit employees
Unpaid business and occupation taxes owed to the state of $351,294.
Wells Fargo was owed $244,033.
Firstam  Credco was owed $228,249.

I wonder how he’s been paying for beer and pizza these days. Let’s find out.

Loan Modification Salesmen in WA State Must Be Licensed LOs, Mortgage Brokers, or Work at Consumer Loan Companies

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From the Washington State Department of Financial Institutions:

DFI Advises Homeowners To Verify The Licenses Of Anyone Offering Loan Modification Services Before Hiring Them

OLYMPIA – The Washington State Department of Financial Institution’s Consumer Services Division advises homeowners who are delinquent on their mortgage to be cautious about using the services of someone offering to help them work with their lender to modify the terms of their home loan.

The Department of Financial Institutions (DFI) has received a number of inquiries regarding the legality of providing this service in this state. While there is nothing inherently illegal about this business, those providing this service in the State of Washington must be licensed as loan originators, mortgage brokers, or consumer loan companies and be overseen by the Department of Financial Institutions. Additionally, under applicable law, the loan modification provider associated with mortgage brokers have a fiduciary relationship with the borrower and must act in their best interest.

“DFI is concerned that homeowners in desperate situations may pay substantial fees for loan modification services and not take advantage of the HUD-approved counseling services offered for free by numerous non-profits,

Question for Attorneys: Federal Tax Liens & Foreclosures

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tax lienCould someone with Foreclosure sale experience answer the question below?  Or, at least discuss the possible outcome?

Scenario:

A homeowner has a Federal Tax lien against the property.  The homeowner is delinquent on their mortgage and it goes to Foreclosure.  At the Foreclosure sale, the property then goes back to the lender because there were no bidders for the home.

1)   Is the Lender required to pay off the Federal Tax lien at Foreclosure or resale of the home?

2)  If the Lender pays off the Federal Tax lien, what recourse does the Lender have against the borrower?

3)  If the Lender pays off the Federal Tax lien,  has the delinquent borrower just handed off their tax burden to the Lender and walked away with no liability?

Thanks!

Options for Homeowners Facing Foreclosure

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This is Part Two of a series of articles on the foreclosure process.
This article does not constitute legal advice.
Foreclosure laws vary from state to state.

Homeowners in financial distress should always hire legal counsel. Call your local state bar association for a referral.  Reduced or free legal aid may be available in some states. Ask for a referral from the state bar association or through a LOCAL HUD-Approved Housing Counseling Agency.

For homeowners who are facing financial hardship, denial is a warm, safe comfortable place to stay, where tough decisions can’t hurt and the decision-making process is put off one day at a time.  There is FREE help available from your local state non-profit agencies.

Local, HUD-Approved Housing Counseling Agecies received 1.5 million dollars from Washington State when Gov. Gregoire signed SB 6272. State agencies are already whining that they are “overwhelmed”. Hmmm. How much of that 1.5 million dollars was spent hiring and training competent counselors and how much went into executive salaries, high paid consultants and task force meetings?  There are plenty of out-of-work mortgage production people who are (at this point) probably willing to work at non-profit agencies. Put them to work.  Perhaps I am in denial as to the extent of the problem at our state agencies. If so, agencies: please enlighten me and RCG readers.  If the problems are with the banks and their ability to handle the calls, that doesn’t mean we throw more money at the state agencies.  In part five of this series, I will ponder about massive government intervention. For now, we’re left dealing with the problems at hand.

If you are a homeowner reading this article, that means you’re starting to come out of denial.  Maybe a friend or relative forwarded this to you.  Welcome to raincityguide.com  How are you? Don’t say “fine” through tears or clenched teeth.  Not so good, right?  Okay then. Is your financial distress temporary or long term?  THIS is perhaps the most important question you’ll need to answer. This is going to require that you get real with where you are in life.  Long term, permanent financial distress situations are going open up options that might be different for a homeowner who has a short term financial distress problem.  Let’s try to break things down even more.  Long Term: You’ve been laid off and have been unable to find work at your former pay level for along time and you have third party confirmation that the chances of being able to reach that pay level again are very low. Short Term: You’ve been laid off and have been unable to find work at your former pay level but your prospects are good or you’ve recently been re-hired at a similar pay level.

Reinstatement
If you are payment or two behind, which may happen with temporary financial distress, your lender will be thrilled beyond your wildest expectations to accept the total amount owed in a lump sum.  Reinstatement often happens simultaneously with a forbearance agreement.

Forbearance Agreement
Your lender agrees to reduce or suspend your payments for a short period of time.  These two options are good for people whose financial distress situations are temporary.

Repayment Plan
Your lender helps you get “caught up” by allowing you to take missed payments and tack them on to your existing payment each month until you are caught up.

If your financial distress is long term and will permanently affect your ability to continue making your payments:

Consider Selling
With home values going down, if you do have some equity remaining in your home, you may be better off selling NOW rather than waiting until next year when scads of REOs (already foreclosed-upon homes that the lenders must dispose of) will continue to hit the market, driving inventory up and home values down.  If you owe more on your home than what the home can be sold for in today’s market, you have probably already heard of the term Short Sales.  In this case, the lender is asked to reduce the pricipal balance and allow the loan to be paid off in order to facilitate a sale.  Most lenders are not radically motivated to approve short sales unless foreclosure is imminent.  This author does not recommend that you stop making your mortgage payment in order to force the bank to approve your short sale. All homeowners in financial distress should have an attorney holding their hand the entire time.  If you have assets, you do not qualify for a short sale. Short sales are reserved for homeowners with NO MONEY and you will be asked to provide proof that you have no money.  If you have money, this is a different kind of transaction. It’s called “Making Your Downpayment in Arrears” and you’ll be asked to bring that money at closing.  Don’t ask anyone to help you hide your assets. Doing so may constitute mortgage fraud which is now a class B felony in Washington State. I could go on and on about short sales. If you need more education in this area, we’ve covered the topic in these RCG articles:

Short Sales
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Question From Today’s Short Sale Class
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Should You Buy a Short Sale Property?
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Is a Short Sale a Bargain?
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Why Do Banks Take So Long to Approve a Short Sale?

Maybe you would prefer not to sell. Consider taking on a tenant or moving out into more affordable living quarters and renting out your home.

Refinancing is a tough road for homeowners in financial distress. On the one hand, they have been hit by some kind of financial hardship and this typically affects their credit score, which means lender’s rates and fees will be higher.  In addition, tightening underwriting guidelines is something banks do in order to help stop the rising tide of foreclosures. People who hold mortgage loans today might not be able to re-qualify for that same loan if they had to requalify under today’s guidelines.  Income and assets must be fully documented. Find a licensed, local mortgage lender with FHA-approval to see if you might qualify for an FHA loan.  For people who made the conscious decision to state their income higher than reality are out of luck, unless they can prove that they were coached to do so by their lender.  Consult a local attorney for further guidance.  Since refinancing might only be yesterday’s dream for some, Loan Modifications are all the rage in my spam bin. We’ll cover Loan Mods in Part Three.

While doing research for this blog post, I stumbled upon even more money that went from our state government’s rainy day fund, into a state fund to help low to moderate income Washington State homeowners in foreclosure refinance into new loans through the Wash State Housing Finance Commission.  Read more here. I sent an inquiry asking the WSHFC how many WA State Homeowners have been helped this far by this new law and they said, emphasis mine:

Dear Ms. Schlicke:

Thank you for your interest in the Smart Homeownership Choices Program. To date, we have not made a loan to a prospective applicant.  The good news is that when we have talked to the delinquent homebuyers, it seems they have not been able to make contact with their lenders to discuss foreclosure options.  So, we have been able to facilitate getting them to the right person for loan modifications, etc.  There have also been homeowners who have not been pleased with the fact that the assistance is in the form of a loan and not a grant.  They believe the government should be giving them the money to save their home. While we cannot respond positively to these folks, we do send them to one of our homeownership counseling partners to help them with other options that   might be available.

If you know someone who might benefit from the program, please feel free to give them my contact information.

Sincerely,
Dee Taylor
Director, Homeownership Division
Washington State Housing Finance Commission
1000 Second Avenue, Suite 2700
Seattle, WA 98104-1046
(206) 287-4414

Part one: Foreclosure; Losing the American Dream
Part two: Options for Homeowners Facing Foreclosure
Part three: Loan Modifications
Part four: Government Intervention in Foreclosure
Part five: Foreclosure; Letting Go and Rebuilding

Foreclosure; Losing the American dream

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This is Part One of a series of articles on the foreclosure process.
This article does not constitute legal advice.
Foreclosure laws vary from state to state.

Homeowners in financial distress should always hire legal counsel. Call your local state bar association for a referral.  Reduced or free legal aid may be available in some states. Ask for a referral from the state bar association or through a LOCAL HUD-Approved Housing Counseling Agency.

Most mortgage loans are not mortgages. Instead, lenders shifted to using a deed of trust type of document in many states. With a mortgage document, a lender would have to use the judicial system for foreclosure which was time consuming and expensive.  With a deed of trust, the lender can take back the asset in a much shorter period of time although that’s arguable in today’s rising foreclosure climate.  Each state will have their own Deed of Trust Act.  Within each state’s Act, there will be a specific timeline that must be followed by the lender.  Moe at LoanSafe provides a basic timeline here.  First the homeowner misses a payment. Late charges are assessed and the lender may begin an effort to contact the homeowner to determine what’s going on. A “notice of default” letter is mailed informing the homeowners that if they do not catch up, the trustee sale will be scheduled.  At this point, the lender hires an attorney to file the public records documents, publish the required notices in local newspapers, and prepares for the auction.  Depending on state law, the homeowner will have a specific number of days before the sale date to bring the loan current and pay all late payments, including interest and penalties, attorneys fees, and trustee fees. After the date of the trustee sale, the homeowner will have a state-specified number of days to vacate the property. A sheriff is usually asked to help with eviction, if needed.

Washington State enacted the Distressed Property Law in June of 2008 which means, among other things, that the homebuyer of a home in foreclosure as well as the Realtors owe the the homeowner the highest duty of good faith and loyalty; fiduciary duties to the homeowner (one-to-four family residence, owner occupied.) Read more about the DPL here.

Securitized lending helped fuel the real estate and mortgage bubble because banks and lenders could package up loans and sell them as pools of Residential Mortgage Backed Securities (RMBS) thereby freeing up more mortgage money to loan.  Before securitized lending, banks would hold the mortgage loans on their books as part of their assets.  A mortgage payment arriving in the mail each month at a bank is considered an asset.  A delinquent loan is considered a non-performing asset. A foreclosed home is considered owned-real estate or Real Estate Owned (REO.) 

At trustee sales during the bubble run-up, there were many get-rich-quick believers with notebooks and cashiers checks bidding on homes that looked like a possible quick flip-for-profit on paper.  The lender was able to score the principal amount of the remaining loan balance plus all the other expenses, the high bidder went away happy, and the homeowner re-entered the housing market as a renter.  Today’s trustee sales are remarkably different.  In most cases, there are no bidders and the home is deeded back to the bank.  REO portfolios at banks are starting to hit the market. An institutional owner is far less emotional about the sales price and far more goal oriented about reducing the price in order to dispose of the asset.  BEFORE the trustee sale, there are options that homeowners weigh.  Repayment plans, forebearance, loan modifications, and short sales are some of the options we’ll discuss in part two.

Many homeowners have reported frustration in working with their loan servicing department towards a workable solution that will allow them to stay in their home.  We will discuss options to avoid foreclosure in part two.  Before we do that, we must first revisit Federal Accounting Standards Board Rule 140 from this article called “Predators are Still Safe”:

many loan servicing agreements prohibit the Servicer from modifying loan agreements entirely, or limit such modifications to no more than 5-10% of a total pool. Further, loan modification may run afoul of FASB rule #140, (2), which says that if a bank alters the terms of a loan it has pooled, it cannot keep the loan off its books. It must repurchase the loan, return it to the books, set aside a reserve for losses, and actively manage it.

The industry asked for and got it.  FASB Rule 140 will be delayed until after Nov 15, 2009, and the murky, opaque waters that make up credit crisis continue to pool around the banks that don’t want to tell us just how many bad loans they’re holding.  Will the TARP plan help banks? Will the involuntary capital injections help banks and anyone seeking credit? Will homeowners get help? It’s hard to say because the only way we can see what banks are holding is when the regulators take over.   What we do know is that homeowners are reporting that it’s becoming excruciatingly difficult to work with their loan servicing department. 

When the industry jumped into subprime lending, we underpriced risk.  We also underpriced the true cost of “servicing” a loan. I’m surprised we’re not reading about meltdowns in the servicing sector. I’m sure those folks are working 80-hour weeks and get yelled at all day long by Realtors.  In the future, we should expect tougher state or federal laws governing mortgage loan servicing (Kary Krismer’s short sale requests must be responded to within 24 hours, phone messages must be returned, and so forth) which will translate into higher bank fees and higher interest rates in the future. Or perhaps now.

Author’s note: Part one of this series was designed to be incredibly basic. So basic as to prompt a reader looking for more detailed help to seek legal counsel.  An attorney licensed in your state is the best person to help you understand the deed of trust act in your state, and all your possible options.

Part one: Foreclosure; Losing the American Dream
Part two: Options for Homeowners Facing Foreclosure
Part three: Loan Modifications
Part four: Government Intervention in Foreclosure
Part five: Foreclosure; Letting Go and Rebuilding

Quick snap shot of recent Snohomish Co. Notice of Trustee Sales (foreclosure)

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Spending time at the Snohomish Co.  excise tax and recording office today afforded me the opportunity to pull some records on current Notice of Trustee Sales recorded from Sept. 1, 2008 to today.   There were more than the 36 in my sample before I became restless and bored with basically the same theme that I knew would play out.

All were purchased within the last 4 yrs, most of the sample from 2006, one in 2008.    One was for $3 million in arrears, another for $1.28 million in arrears and even one at $56,000.00   So, foreclosures are affecting all property types and income strata.

Here’s the tally of when the homes were purchased in my quick sample:

2004: 2

2005: 4

2006: 18

2007: 11

2008: 1

Lenders represented (again no surprise):

WaMu, Countrywide (several), Flagstar, First Franklin, AEGIS, Homecomings, GMAC, Indymac, Everhome Mtg, HSBC, EMC, Wells Fargo, First Horizon (now Metlife), Greenpoint and US. Bank.

Side note: Short sales are taking 60-90 days from the sampling we are closing in our office.  It is UNREALISTIC for agents to expect anything sooner.   If it happens sooner then great, but do not expect quick responses.  On Monday, we received approval/clearance on a short sale from a Purchase & Sale agreement signed around from this past JUNE.

It is not terribly efficient to have borrowers lock in interest rates two months prior to receiving short sale approval.  We are seeing this happen.  The downside for the borrowers in this volatile mortgage market speaks for itself.

Has the Distressed Conveyances law curtailed foreclosure rescue scams?

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In this Sunday’s Seattle Times there was an article on “foreclosure rescue scams.” I found the timing interesting given the recent enactment of the Distressed Conveyances law effective in June of this year. This law was specifically enacted to curtail these practices and even provides a rather large “stick” to use in convincing people that they should not lure owners into such transactions (in the form of punitive damages of up to $100,000).

Does anyone have any insight into whether these scams continue unabated? Unfortunately, I have no direct personal insight into the issue. [CAUTION: Plug Ahead.] Although I offer a very affordable consultation that is well-suited for anyone who has been approached by a “rescuer,” I have yet to generate much business. So, I really have no idea whether the new law is having the desired effect. Unless the Seattle Times is behind the curve, it would seem that the new law has yet to achieve the desired impact (i.e., make this practice less common).

Predatory Upfront Loan Modification Fees

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I’m troubled by a trend that I’m seeing.  Recently I’ve noticed that mortgage brokers/loan originators have become interested in learning about loss mitigation techniques. When I ask why, they say that they’re hearing there’s good money to be made doing loan modifications.  What? Wait a second. I thought loan modifications were done by the lender for free.

More and more spam is popping up in my spam bin advertising loan modification services, offered by loan originators so I decided to call one of these LOs today after sending an email late last night asking for more information and receiving no reply. 

This particular person goes by the title of “mortgage planner.”  On her website, she advertises a wide variety of mortgage products including the pay option ARM and the hybrid ARM (are those even available anymore?) but there’s nothing on her website about loan modifications. None of the staff bios show any experience in doing loan modifications. Here’s what I found out.  The upfront fee charged to the homeowner is $3500.  But the LO assures me that all the work is handled by attorneys, she says.  The borrower’s up front fee is placed into escrow.  If a request for loan modification is accepted by the lender for loss mitigation (statistics were offered that 93% of loans are being modified) the full fee is due.  If the loan does not get modified, $2,000 is refunded and the remaining $1500 is not.  I asked the LO why a homeowner wouldn’t just work directly with an attorney.  She said that she works with a network of attorneys with a high loan mod approval rate and homeowners are always free to hire their own attorney and not work with her.

I asked her how much of the $3500 goes to the attorney and how much of it she gets to keep.  Her response was, “why are you asking me that?” To which I replied, “because if the attorney is doing all the work, then I’m wondering how much of that fee is going to you.”  She said “Well I work with the clients. I put a package together and follow up with the lender.” I said, “but a few minutes ago you mentioned that everything is handled by attorneys.”  Of course at this point the conversation has turned a tad bit adversarial and she starts to probe deeper into my true intentions. My intentions are only to get closer to what’s really going on here. I need to know if this sort of gig is something that is a viable alternative for Realtors to know about when counseling homeowners in financial distress.  My intentions are to be able to help other loan originators evaluate whether receiving a referral fee on a loan modification is going to get them into trouble.  If I were to guess, I’d say that the LO earned $2,000 for a successful loan mod and the remaining $1500 went to the attorney. There are forums out there confirming my guess.

In some states, including Washington State, Mortgage Brokers and their LOs now owe fiduciary duties to consumers.  Fiduciary comes from the Latin word fiducia, meaning “trust.

Why do banks take so long to approve a short sale?

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This question comes up over and over again from Realtors, homeowners and homebuyers everywhere I go. A one sentence answer doesn’t exist for this question. If you truly want to know the answer to the question, “why” continue reading.  This means you will have to take a step back from your particular emotional situation enough to really listen to what’s being said because everyone wants their deal approved NOW. 

Banks are under no obligation to approve your short sale.  I know what you’re thinking, reader. You’re thinking, “Well if the G.D. bank would just approve my short sale faster, they wouldn’t be losing so much money!”

Let’s start at the beginning. A homeowner is said to be in a short sale situation when he or she owes more than what the home is currently worth, is in default and must sell.  Traditionally, homeowners agreed to pay back the difference between what was owed and the sales price. The short sale seller signed a new, unsecured note at closing and promised to pay back the difference in regular monthly installments.  The only cases where the debt was “forgiven” was for true financial hardship cases where there was absolutely no way the homeowner could ever repay the difference. An example would be the untimely death of one of the breadwinners. But that was then.

In today’s politically charged, loan modifications for all, HoHo, let’s-dump-everything-into-FHA environment, homeowners in a short sale situation today are receiving debt forgivness and even temporary tax exemptions on top of that.  Don’t worry, the rest of us tax payers will pick that up for you.

The first step in figuring out why your short sale is taking so long to be approved is to inquire about whether the homeowner is asking the bank to forgive the difference or if the homeowner is gainfully employed and able to pay back the difference.  This all must be proven and documented to the lender’s satisfaction.  If the homeowner is asking for debt forgiveness, the short sale will take longer to approve if the bank does not have all the required documentation.

Thought question: Why would any lender approve a short sale, especially one that requires debt forgiveness, unless there is proof that foreclosure is imminent? Answer: They won’t.  Lenders have to weigh the costs associated with the short sale proposal against the cost of foreclosure.  If a homeowner has not yet defaulted on their loan, the bank has little motivation to approve the short sale. Why not wait for a better offer to come along?  (Note, homeowners reading this article should always consult with an attorney if you are selling short, in default, or will be in default on your mortgage loan(s).)

All loan servicing departments have processes in place for dealing with short sale approvals.  They may not have fancy computer systems so that everything is automated but maybe that’s a good thing. Look where automated underwriting got us.

Next step: Homeowners must prove that they do not have the money to make up the shortfall. This means sending in copies of all bank statements, tax returns, w-2s, and other supporting documents to verify that the homeowners is financially insolvent. Short sales are reserved for people with NO MONEY. 

Gentle reminder: The new sale must be an arms-length transaction.   Another common problem that lenders must watch for is when the real estate agent on the transaction happens to be the “assigned” buyer on the purchase and sales agreement.  The lender is not going to be thrilled in paying a real estate commission on that kind of transaction. Further, there are plenty of foreclosure rescue scams happening nationwide. Lenders scrutinize short sale offers to look for signs of fraud.  Tanta reminds us:

Is it the job of the Loss Mitigation Department to care about clearing your local RE market? No. Is it their job to care about keeping your buyer wiggling on the hook long enough to get papers signed? No. Is a short sale supposed to be a painless alternative to foreclosure for anyone involved? No. There are no painless alternatives. There shouldn’t be. There cannot be.

Next, everyone who is patiently waiting for the bank to approve the short sale must now realize that once the bank says “okay” to the short sale, there very may be a long list of investors who own pieces of this mortgage loan. Each and every investor will have to give their approval for the short sale.  We enjoyed many years of growth in the real estate industry and the overall economy thanks to the invention of Residential Mortgage Backed Securities.  RMBS made millions of dollars for many people.  The downside to securitizing mortgage loans and then selling off slices of each mortgage to different investors is that when it comes time to tell the investor “you’re going to have to take a haircut” that investor gets to have a say in the matter.

Calling loan servicing and yelling at them over the phone will get you nowhere.

I would like to be first to predict that the next meltdown will be loan servicing.  But perhaps my prediction is so obvious as to not be much of a prediction at all.  How much longer can they sustain this level of stress and pressure, with their current staffing levels, while the banks are facing enormous losses?  Of course when that meltdown happens, I predict our government will step in and mandate harsher regulations on servicers, which will be passed on to the consumer in the form of higher interest rates.

Loan servicing use to offer what it said: “service.”  It was treated as a cost center on a bank’s balance sheet.  Over the past 15 years, servicing became a “profit center” and the highest expense, namely labor, was cut to achieve profit goals.  This is one more lesson in underpricing. The cost of “good” loan servicing in which phones are answered and files processed smoothly, would have cost us all way, way, way more on the retail end, than what we paid. 

Let’s say we could create instant loss mitigation nirvana today.  All phones are answered on the first ring, all short sales are approved with no questions asked, no documentation required, no proof of hardship necessary, no proof of financial insolvency needed, and all Realtors receive their full 6% commission. 

The consequences of not performing due diligence at the loss mit stage are disaster for all of us. Compare this to the current nirvana we just left behind: A world where anyone could get a mortgage loan with no verification of ability to repay, with massive fraud still being uncovered.  We need to do it right this time, and it takes TIME to do proper short sale loss mitigation.