Last month, McLean County launched a new foreclosure mediation program aimed at facilitating communication between homeowners and lenders. Homeowners everywhere complain that they are unable to get through to a person at their lender’s office who will actually listen to them. While the program is voluntary for homeowners, its goal is to allow the homeowner and the lender to speak to each other face-to-face, and hopefully iron out some of their issues. Starting last month, every foreclosure in McLean County became subject to an additional $25 filing fee. Lenders are also required to serve a special summons to the homeowner, which states that they have a right to participate in the voluntary mediation program. McLean County is small — you can see that just in the number of foreclosures that were filed in 2010. Only 574 foreclosures were filed there, as compared to thousands in Cook and some of the… read more →
The National Association of Realtors (NAR) released some interesting information about last month (February 2012). If you’re wondering where the housing market is now, here are some little tidbits for you: 1) 33% of contracts to purchase real estate were canceled last month (for any reason).2) A third of homes that closed last month were bought by first-time homebuyers.3) 23% of homes bought last month were bought by investors. 4) Home sales were up in the midwestern and in the southern regions of the country.5) The Northeast and West did not fare so well. Home sales were down there. 6) The backlog of unsold homes went up another 4.3% last month.7) Foreclosures, short sales, and other distressed properties accounted for a third of properties sold last month. Let’s hope that the spring and summer months bring better news!
In a recent case, Metrobank v. Cannatello, 2012 IL App (1st) 110529 (January 9, 2012) Cook Co., 1st Div., the court determined that a bank can collect a deficiency judgment from a mortgagor even if that mortgagor was not “personally” served. In this case, Metrobank’s predecessor-in-interest lent Frank Cannatello approximately $190,000 in 2004. At some point thereafter, Cannatello defaulted on his mortgage payments. The bank filed a foreclosure suit and served Cannatello through abode service. This means that when the sheriff went to serve Mr. Cannatello, Mr. Cannatello was not home. However, another adult was at home, and the sheriff left the summons with that adult. Cannatello never appeared in court, and a judgment of foreclosure was entered against him. After the property was auctioned, the bank determined that there was a shortage of approximately $52,000. The bank went to court to obtain a deficiency judgment against Mr. Cannatello, which… read more →
If you are a homeowner in financial distress, you may have received mailings and phone calls from companies purporting to help you negotiate a settlement or modification with your lender. I have clients that have shown me letters that actually appear to come from the government, or from their lender, upon first inspection. BE CAREFUL. There are a lot of mortgage relief scams out there, and you don’t want to be their prey. The scams became so prevalent, in fact, that the FTC enacted a rule — called the Mortgage Assistance Relief Services Rule (the “MARS Rule”) in 2010. Under the MARS Rule, you should be particularly careful when dealing with a NON-ATTORNEY for mortgage relief services, especially if: 1) They request payment up front.2) They request payment from you before you have accepted the lender’s offer.3) They do not provide a written explanation of how the lender’s offer will change… read more →
Last month the Governor announced that the state will be partnering with Cook County in a trial program aimed at stabilizing some of the neighborhoods that have been hardest hit by the recent rise in foreclosures and vacant properties. The program, which is being funded by $40 million from the state and $10 million from Cook County, is intended to facilitate the purchase of vacant foreclosed homes. The homes will then be renovated and sold at low interest rates. If you qualify as a buyer under the program, you may get a $10,000 grant to be used toward your down payment and closing costs. You will also receive financial counseling. Any profits that are generated by the sale of the home to you will go back into the program to buy more vacant foreclosed property. Currently six Cook County suburbs are participating — Berwyn, Chicago Heights, Maywood, Park Forest, Riverdale,… read more →
A few weeks ago, the federal goverment, alongside state attorney generals, announced a $25 billion settlement with five large mortgage lenders — Bank of America, Chase, Wells Fargo, Citibank, and Ally Financial (GMAC). Among other things, the lenders were accused of “robosigning” — that is, signing documents that caused foreclosure without a thorough investigation of the facts, and failing to negotiate with homeowners in good faith, ultimately leading to default and foreclosure. The majority of the settlement funds — $17 billion specifically — is earmarked towards providing relief to approximately one million homeowners nationwide. Most of this relief will probably come in the form of principal reductions on the homeowners’ mortgages. Illinois is expected to receive between $1 and $1.5 billion. As an Illinois homeowner, if you meet one or more of the following criteria, you may benefit from this settlement agreement: 1) If you were foreclosed between 2008 and… read more →
Currently, homeowners can claim a homestead exemption, lowering their taxes on their primary residence. Many times, tenants renting a single-family home can also qualify for a homestead exemption if they are responsible for paying the real estate taxes on the home; in most counties, the tenant’s lease must state that a portion of the monthly rent is used toward taxes. Unfortunately, there are people claiming homestead exemptions on homes they don’t live in and other investment properties. As a result, proposed legislation is pending which would allow the county to eliminate the homestead exemption on a home that previously qualified for the exemption, if that home was not, in fact, owner-occupied. Counties could also insist that the owners of such properties refund exemptions that they previously received. Counties could even assess fines against such property-owners. Moreover, there is a move towards eliminating the loophole for single-family residences that are rented. Understandably, landlords are up… read more →
In the last few years, there have been an unprecedented number of foreclosures. So are we finding our way out of this mess? How did 2011 fare compared to recent years? RealtyTrac recently released some figures that can help us see where we stand. Well, overall 2011 was better than 2008, 2009, and 2010. In Cook County, there was a 30% drop in foreclosure filings from 2010. 56,648 homes in Cook County went into foreclosure in 2011, and that was 30% less than 2010. Wow. Nationally, the drop was larger — 34%. Despite this reduction, the average foreclosure case took over 550 days in court to resolve. Does this large 30% reduction mean that the end is in sight? Well, maybe it’s in sight, but it’s still very far away. While there was a large reduction in foreclosure filings last year, most of the reductions were attributed to the banks slowing down… read more →
A local organization, IFF, will be assisting Illinois residents with disabilities find a new home. The program has a $19,000,000 budget, and the funds will be used to find and purchase condominiums, mostly in Chicago and its suburbs. In order to be selected for the IFF program, the condominiums must be in an elevator building with easy access to neighborhood amenities and public transportation. The association must be financially healthy as well. IFF does not anticipate spending more than $150,000 on any one condominium; additionally, IFF will be paying assessments and property taxes. Once a condominium is purchased, IFF will modify the unit to make is accessible for people with disabilities. They will then rent the units to disabled tenants at discounted rates. Potential tenants must understand that they will not be living in a building where all the other residents are disabled. The goal of this program is to accommodate… read more →
Most people were happy to hear that Congress passed the payroll tax cut extension, extending the tax break for two more months. But Congress still has a budget to meet, and if taxes are reduced in one place, costs have to increase somewhere else. So where did they get the money to fund the payroll tax cut? The answer is simple — mortgages. Effective April 1, 2012, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will raise the guarantee fees charged to lenders. The new fees will be in effect until October 21, 2021. How much will the fees increase? It’s difficult to say how much the fees will go up on any given loan, but overall the increase should average out to about .1% (that is, one-tenth of a percentage point). That may not seem like a whole lot on a monthly basis, but your lender will pass this extra cost on to… read more →