The new Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternative Program, or HAFA, is meant to assist homeowners who are eligible for a loan modification but cannot work out a payment plan they can afford. Instead of being foreclosed, HAFA assists such homeowners with the short sale or deed in lieu of foreclosure process. HAFA is voluntary, and lenders are not required to sign up for it. Do you qualify under HAFA? Here’s a checklist to see if you do: 1) Your loan is a Freddie Mac or Fannie Mae loan. However, you may qualify even if it is NOT a Freddie Mac or Fannie Mae loan.2) Your bank or servicing company signed up to participate in the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) by December 31, 2009, AND your bank has also since signed up to participate in HAFA.3) The property in question is your primary residence.4) Your loan is the first mortgage on… read more →
As you may already know, Craigslist is a popular site on which people can post, among other things, homes or other real estate for rent or sale. Unlike an ordinary newspaper advertisement, Craigslist content is published almost immediately after a user submits its ad to Craigslist online. Craigslist does not charge the user for this service. However, Craigslist does not filter out advertisements based on the Fair Housing Act. A user can submit an ad with a statement such as “no minorities allowed” or “no children”, and the ad will be published nonetheless. As a result, Craigslist was sued (Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under the Law, Inc. v. Craigslist, Inc., 519 F.3d 666 (7th Cir. 2008)). Although the plaintiff argued that Craigslist should be required to filter the ads, and that the ads were only posted because Craigslist exists, the court disagreed and found in Craigslist’s favor. The… read more →
What happens in a situation where you own a condo, have an insurance claim, and the insurance company sends out an inspector who discovers additional damage? Well, a lot hinges on where that damage is — it is in your condominium or not? And it also depends on whether the damage, if outside your condo, caused the damage inside your condo. A recent case, Fichtel v. The Board of Directors of the River Shore of Naperville Condominium Association, No. 2 07 1237 (Ill. App. Ct. 2nd Dist., April 21, 2009), illustrates this point. In Fichtel, the plaintiff condominium owner had water damage in her unit and filed an insurance claim. State Farm, her insurance company, sent out an inspector to investigate the claim. During the course of the inspection, the inspector entered the attic space above the plaintiff’s unit to see if the water damage was coming from there. When… read more →