Local Government Host Forum

So I had the pleasure of attending a local forum this last weekend that was presented by local government. There were representatives from Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and local government agencies. It was a very informative for homeowners who do not know how or what the modification process is about. While I believe it was a good source of information for the home owner there are a few things I didn’t agree with.

1. Warren Harris of Fannie Mae with his arrogant and entitled attitude. As I sat in the audience and listened to his speech I quickly got the feeling that he believes it’s the home owner’s fault they were in their current situation. I know I was not the only one as I heard other people in the audience commenting as well. His overall attitude and demeanor needs adjusting. I don’t think he understood that the people in the audience need some kind of compassion. There was none coming from him whatsoever.
2. The Freddie Mac representative, while informative, had the same cold and non compassionate attitude. I appreciate the way she did certain things to keep things moving but some manners would have been nice.
3. The over emphasized promises that all the home owner has to do is contact a “Hud Certified” counselor. If it was truly that easy for the home owner there would not be so many quests in the audience of EVERY forum they host.
4. The way the representative from the State of Nevada and the Bureau of Consumer Protection spoke of scams they made it appear as if any company performing modifications for a fee is a scam. Well I asked this gentleman why they are allowing licensing, bonding and business licenses for modification companies if they are all scams. He had no answer other than “well, you should just be careful.” The truth is the state and local government is making money off of the modification companies that are following the laws that have been put in place. So why would they make it illegal across the board?

I have said since we started this business and I will say until the day modifications are no longer available….. There are people out there (JnR Associates) who have others best interest at heart. We work, and work hard therefore believe we can ask for a fee that the market will bare. We have integrity, honor and pride in all the work we do and we will continue to fight for the home owners who are not having their own success with these so called “Hud Certified Counselors”.

Here is the original link to the forum announcment.

http://www.rgj.com/section/blogs12?plckController=Blog&plckBlogPage=BlogViewPost&U=8a686c58-d08c-47e8-8216-d67b1e581e99&plckPostId=Blog%3a8a686c58-d08c-47e8-8216-d67b1e581e99Post%3a1305c7f2-662a-4c37-8c45-af8be55bfcab&plckScript=blogScript&plckElementId=blogDest

www.jnrassociates.com

CNN Reports Nevada leads the Nation in foreclosures

In recent news CNN had reported 1 in 23 Nevada homes are in foreclosure. These dismal numbers have Nevada leading the nation on the greatest percentage of homes in foreclosure vs. homes not in foreclosure. This is evidence enough that Nevada home owners are not informed of their options. Many of these homes could have been saved through a Loan Modification. Even if many of these homes were non-owner occupied investment properties, the Loan Modification option is still available. Lenders do not want these homes back and are willing to work with the borrowers on a Loan Modification despite the home owner’s non-occupancy status of the property.

If you are an investor with property located in Nevada and contemplating letting the property go into foreclosure due to the decline in property values, or the inability to cover the full payment with the rents received; wait there are options for you. I encourage you to contact your lender and see what options are available to you. You may also want to contact a licensed loan modification company to assist you with the bank negotiations, as it can be a little complicated in preparing the financial information in a format best received by the mortgage lender in an effort to modify the mortgage loan on your investment property.

How to calculate your income for note modifications using the methods of banks

It is important to understand how to calculate your income using the same method as the banks will. To clarify there are not 4 weeks in a month! There are 52 weeks in a 12 month calendar year. This makes the average month contain 4.34 weeks. To more accurately compute your monthly gross income you must perform the following calculations:

W2 Wage Earner Example the Paycheck Check:

Pay date 9/21/2009
Pay period beginning 8/03
Pay period ending 8/17

Pay check amount $1404.84
Year-to-Date Gross Income $35,237
Year-to-Date Net Income $26,075.38

To determine your monthly income from your most recent paystub you must first find the pay period ending date. This date is NOT the pay check date. The pay period is usually expressed over a two week period and will be shown in a similar format as shown above.

You now must determine how many months to the percentage of the current month the Year-to-Date Income is has accounted for.

In the pay period expressed above you will perform the following calculations

The pay period ended in September 17. To determine the percentage of September accounted for you take the pay period ending date and divide by 30 (the average days in a month) shown as 17/30 = .56666. This means the pay period end date was .56666 of the month of September. You now take this portion of the month of September (.56666) and add it to the amount of full months already accounted for the year thus far (January through August) which is 8 full months. You now have your year to date months worked as 8.56666

To determine your actual Year-to-Date monthly income you take your full Gross (pre taxed income) of $35,237 and divide this amount by the amount of months to the fraction of the current month determined to be 8.5666. This is expressed as $35,237/8.56666 = $4113.27

Monthly Income calculations Summarized from info above

17/30 = .56666
.56666 + 8 (full months already passed) = 8.56666
$35,237/8.56666 = 4113.27

In preforming your own loan modification it is important to understand how to compute yur income correctly, as it will be needed in creation your financial budget and proposed payment.

Things you must know about loan modifications

What you need to know about loan modification

Loan modifications may not have been applicable to all loans, because most big lenders sell the loans to Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac or Ginnie Mae. These government-sponsored enterprises group the mortgages that they acquire and sell them to investors. In such cases, a loan modification was not always an option. However, now that the federal government has taken over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, you can expect more lenders to offer loan modifications. If a loan cannot be modified, the client has the option of applying for a “streamlined” refinance with the same loan servicer. It proves advantageous in using the current loan servicer, as homeowners can reduce the amount of paperwork, costs, and delays. Loan modifications are easier to complete in cases such as these, but are not limited to these alone:

• The Homeowner has fallen behind on the mortgage payments

• The Homeowner is financially affected because the principal loan amount is higher than the current appraised value of the home.

• The Homeowner currently has an interest only loan(s)

• The Homeowner is in an adjustable rate mortgage that either have not yet begun to adjusted, or are in their adjustment period.

• The Homeowner is in A Minimum Payment Adjustable Rate Mortgage called an Option Arm.

• Income has changed or expenses have increased

If you have one or more of these acceptable hardships then your chances of successfully completing a loan modification is greatly increased. Contact JNR Associates for a free analysis!

RGJ.COM acknowledges not all Nevada Loan Modification companies are scams

Finally the local media has taken a step in the right direction to point out that loan modifications are not a scam.  Maybe they will start to shine some light on the positive side of them.

Read Reno Gazette Journal article here