Hard Money Loans

In a move clearly targeting loan mod shops around the country, Sen. Charles Schumer said on June 2nd that he will amend a bill he introduced in early 2009 which initially focused on mortgage brokers doing loans and refi’s, to include loan modifications done by these brokers as well. Schumer’s bill, titled “The Borrowers Protection Act”, will now place restrictions on loan modification companies, mortgage brokers, and others who collect advance fees from struggling homeowners to modify their current mortgages.

New York Governor David A. Paterson also announced legislation that would ban advance fees paid to loan mod shops with the exception of attorney’s offices while Schumer’s amended bill will force loan mod shops to follow federal registration or licensing requirements and adhere to guidelines on truth in lending laws, fees, and marketing. The allowance for the continuing collection of advance fees by attorney’s offices should serve at least as an implied endorsement of their work in the loan modification industry.

Both bills seek to eliminate the shoddy and misleading marketing tactics often employed by loan mod shops that lure struggling homeowners into a loan modification process with guarantees of principle reductions, ultra-low interest rates, and other unsubstantiated claims. These shops often spend the bulk of their time and effort on marketing and collecting fees but then spend little or no time on the loans they have been hired to modify. Both Schumer’s and Paterson’s bills are aimed at the shops that are taking advantage of homeowners by promising undeliverable results and then, simply, not delivering. The anger and vitriol on the issue comes from the fact that those homeowners not only lose the money that they paid in fees, they are often subject to foreclosure if they have fallen too far behind on their payments during the loan modification process. Another issue with the loan mod shops is that one out of every two homeowners that get their loans modified with them fall back into default within six months. Including homeowners that negotiate directly with their lenders, Fitch Ratings expects those default rates to approach 70% of all modified loans by the end of 2009

Schumer’s and Paterson’s bills, allowing for advance fees to attorney firms and disallowing them for all others, acknowledge the superior work done by the law firms in the area of loan modifications. While statistics are hard to come by, it is estimated that attorney driven loan modifications are two to three times more successful at keeping homeowners out of foreclosure than the loan mod shops and do it yourselfers. The reason for the huge performance gap is that attorney driven loan modifications result in greater concessions from the lenders, lowering mortgage obligations to a point where the payments fit into the homeowners’ budgets, allowing them to stay current on those payments. The loan mod shops and do it yourselfers, on the other hand, are much more likely to accept offers from their lenders for modifications that are not sustainable for the short term, let alone the life of the mortgage.

“We always tell the client to always make a mortgage payment if you possibly can,” said Kisha Wright, with the Long Island Housing Partnership.

Indiana’s attorney general is expected to join in a 13-state coordinated foreclosure probe spearheaded by Iowa’s attorney general. A spokeswoman for the Indiana attorney general confirmed that the state will join the investigation and that details of how the multistate effort will be conducted will be released shortly. Up to 17 other states are interested in joining in the probe.

View full post on Mortgage Stories

Washington, DC, United States (AHN) – The nation’s largest bank, Bank of America, on Friday halted foreclosures in all 50 states, becoming the first major bank to take that action.

Bending to mounting political pressure, Bank of America (BAC) announced it would stop all foreclosure proceedings and pending sales of homes indefinitely. It had taken that action last week in 23 states that require court approval for foreclosures.

At issue is the practice of beginning the foreclosure process using so-called “robo-signers,” people who signed hundreds or thousands of documents every day without reviewing the details of any foreclosure.

Bank of America announced it would begin a nationwide review of all its foreclosures. The bank services about 14 million mortgages and approximately 14 percent of those loans are past due or in foreclosure.

The bank announced it would resume foreclosures once its review was complete, but also said that so far bank officials had found that their assessments in mortgages sent for foreclosure was accurate.

Mortgage lenders have been under investigation by the federal government and the attorneys general in several states for sloppy and inaccurate foreclosures. U.S. lawmakers on Friday called on other mortgage lenders to follow Bank of America’s action.

View full post on All Stories

Foreclosure Real Estate Investing: How NOT To Lose Your Shirt At The Foreclosure Sale For real estate professionals, this past year has been one of the most painful in recent times — defaults are up, homeownership is down, foreclosures have soared and the poorly performing housing sector is starting to create negative ripple effects in the broader national economy. Since all projections indicate that 2008 will be equally as challenging, should property investors run for the hills, put all their money in AAA rated munis, and ride out the storm until the next boom? Absolutely not! There’s no question that 2008 will bring reduced housing demand, lower prices in some areas, and fewer loan options, yet 2008 looks strong for treasure hunters. At HMB, we’ve been seeing investors scoop up bank REO’s for 40 to 50 cents on the dollar and selling them off at nice profits. After all, people will always buy property if they can get a great deal, no matter what the market conditions. Your job is to simply find the best deals. Many great deals will most certainly come from foreclosures over the next 24 months.

If you intend to jump into foreclosure auctions, follow these tips to help insure a profitable transaction: A? Do your homework: I recently had one of my investors call me and ask me if he would be risking anything greater than his security deposit if he simply walked away from a house he purchased at auction. Because he was intimately familiar with the neighborhood, he didn’t bother to visit the property. After the auction, he learned the damage to the property was more extensive than he anticipated. In a aEoehotaE? market, price appreciation could have bailed him out but, in today’s market, he was sunk. Lesson? Never buy a property sight unseen, and make sure to get the best contractor estimates possible prior to auction day. A? Read the advertisement carefully: The devil is in the fine print. You could buy a lot of trouble if you don’t read and understand every word. Examples: Many auctioneers require a Buyer’s premium. In my area, it could be as much as 10%. If your bidding on a $120,000.00 property, that’s an additional $12,000.00 expense! Even worse, you may be required to pay interest on the prior owner’s defaulting Note from date of auction forward to the date of settlement. That’s an additional 30-45 days of interest expense (or more in some instances). Worst of all, in some cases the auction purchaser could be responsible for certain outstanding liens due at the time of sale, such as water, taxes, or even condo liens. Do you really want to be responsible for the prior owner’s $3,000.00 past due HOA bill because you didn’t read the ad? A? Be careful of flipping: Flips are still possible in this market but could be dangerous to the financial health of an unseasoned or careless investor. If you intend to flip to another investor, remember he or she will be leery of buying anywhere close to retail because of the likelihood of additional price erosion over the next few years.

Did you properly discount your bid price for this? Will the property cash flow at your proposed sales price? Many investors use the 1% Rule as the aEoegold standardaE? aE” a $100,000.00 purchase price should yield a renter at $1,000.00. If you don’t carefully account for these factors, you could get stuck in the property. If you are using short-term hard money and your credit is weak, you even run the risk of loan default because you won’t be able to refinance out of your hard money loan. A? Setting property values: In addition to recent comps, you may want to go back to 2004-05 tax assessment records to review pre-bubble pricing. Is it possible for prices to retrace back to those levels? Maybe yes, maybe no, but it doesn’t hurt to bid based upon worst-case scenarios. A? Keep your cool: Don’t get caught up in the emotion of the auction. Know your absolute high price going in. Once the bidding has exceeded that price, don’t even think about it anymore. Walk to your car and leave. There’s always another deal tomorrow. A? Get finances in order before bidding: You will be required to bring to the auction a cashier’s check for the advertised deposit amount. But you may also be asked to increase the initial deposit to 10% of total purchase price within a certain time period after the auction date.

Check with the auctioneer the day of auction. Also, get lender approval prior to the day of auction. A hard money lender can be your best friend in these situations, as an approval from a hard money source accomplishes 2 things: 1) you’ll know up-front whether you’ll be able to close on the property, thereby reducing any risk of losing your deposit; and 2) you’ll get a second, and often expert, opinion on the conservative value of the property. Even if you end up using conventional lending, the hard money approval can give you great peace of mind. A? Insurance: It is critical to get a hazard insurance policy in place the day of auction. Many times, the risk of loss is contractually passed to the successful auction bidder. If you don’t have insurance and the building burns down, you lose! A? Bankruptcy: Call the auctioneer the night before (for early a.m. auctions) or the morning of the auction to make certain the foreclosed-upon borrower has not filed a bankruptcy. A bankruptcy filing stops the foreclosure process, even if it is filed one minute before auction. Probably 90% of foreclosure auctions get cancelled this way, so you’ll waste a lot time if you don’t call beforehand. A? Default: Always remember that the re-auction of a property is almost always aEoeat the risk and expense of the defaulting bidder.aE? This means if you bid on a property and don’t follow through, you could be sued for a lot more than just your deposit. Jeffrey Shiller, Esq. MD DC VA Hard Money Lender

About Author
Jeffrey Shiller, Esq. www.hardmoneybankers.com MD DC VA Hard Money Lender

Reports of short-cuts in GMAC’s foreclosure process raise ‘serious doubts’.

View full post on Finance Stories

Nothing is certain in our economy these days. Many people and businesses are still in quite good shape, but plenty of others haven’t been so lucky, and have had to close their businesses, and have filed bankruptcy or been foreclosed upon. And now, unfortunately, sub-prime mortgages aren’t available for assistance they way they used to be, due to the recent subprime mortgage crisis. It’s become much more difficult to know where to turn when it’s your financial future at stake.

If you’re one of the many, stuck between a financial rock and a hard place (or a foreclosure and a bankruptcy, as the case may be), it may be advantageous for you to look into taking out a hard money loan. Hard money loans are utilized by many people facing foreclosure or similar financial disaster, as the criteria for lending is more relaxed than a conventional loan. While your credit history is still taken into consideration by the lender, it’s typically not judged as harshly because the loan is given based on the value of real estate property you already own. Due to the slightly higher risk to the lender when dealing with hard money loans, they are not provided by banks but rather by private lenders, and as such, the interest rates of these loans aren’t based on bank rates. Typically the interest rate on a hard money loan will range from 15% – 25% (a little less for bridge loans, which are similar, but not necessarily used in times of financial hardship), which means that you probably don’t want to look to hard money loans as sources of long-term financing. The term is, in fact, often fairly short. Decide carefully if you’ll be able to afford the loan, as interest rates upon default may increase to the state limits, as high as 25% to 29%.

Typically the value of a hard money loan is about 65% – 70% of the value of the property. This is known as the LTV (Loan-To-Value). The LTV, on average used to be a bit higher than it currently is, but due to property value overestimation in the 1980s and 1990s, the LTV was lowered, and interest rates raised. Hard money lenders do usually want to be in “first lien” position (this means that their lien would take priority over any others) on a property, so if the value of that property isn’t enough to cover your existing mortgage, the loan would need to be cross-collateralized with another one of your properties. Often, these cases are called “blanket mortgages.”

It’s important to review your financial situation thoroughly when considering taking out a hard money loan, and it might benefit you to talk to a certified mortgage planner before you make the choice to do so. In the right circumstances however, a hard money loan may be what it takes to tide you over, and keep your business from going under.

Foreclosure rates are on the increase all over the country, causing alarm. The market has also seen an increase in defaults and higher loan-to-value ratios are making it more difficult than ever before for borrowers to find refinancing. However, no matter how bleak things seem, there is still an alternative to foreclosure in the form of hard-money loans. Also referred to as bridge loans, since they provide temporary financing for credit repair and property seasoning purposes, hard money loans can help to stop a foreclosure.

Homeowners who have been out of work and have now found a job may still be unable to meet the full payment demanded by the bank. But, due to improved circumstances, they will be able to make their regular monthly payments. A home foreclosure at this stage would ruin their credit rating and their current ability to make payments, seems like an unnecessary and extreme step. However, the lender may not be willing to accept anything less than the payment in full, leaving the homeowner with very few options. This is a typical situation where a hard money loan can be of help.

Depending on the amount of equity in the house and its current worth, some homeowners can qualify for a hard money loan. Such loans are generally offered by specific lenders and in spite of no special costs being involved, these lenders can close on a loan quite quickly. Hard money loans are available from groups of private investors, pooling their money to invest in real estate. These loans are used when the borrower has limited time left to close a loan. Alternatively, they can be used when the borrower does not want to give out their credit history or when they plan to keep the property only for a limited period of time or when there is already a plan to refinance in a short while after closing.

Real estate is the collateral asset in hard money loans and the lender assumes a lien on the property. The size of the loan, its rate and the term is based on the equity, the marketability of the property and the financial standing of the borrower can be used quickly by homeowners running out of time and options, to stop a foreclosure. There are myths about these loans, based on the impression that they have soaring interest rates and low loan-to-value ratios. In truth, hard money loans do carry a higher interest rate, but they are generally in the 12% range rather than the 18% range. The key issue is the valuation of the property. One of the methods for determining value is an appraisal by an objective third party with no connection whatsoever to the transaction. An accurate valuation of the market purchase price must be extensive and include relevant information about the property. Most such reports also feature a comparison with similar properties and an overview of the local real estate market, along with other relevant issues.

Homeowners who qualify for these loans may have to pay a premium to get this new loan to stop a foreclosure in progress. Hard money lenders can charge 4 to 5 points of the loan as their fee. Hard money loans are a perfectly viable solution for homeowners in foreclosure who are able to meet the requirements. Although expensive, these loans provide foreclosure victims a short term solution, giving them a chance to keep their homes. It allows them to rebuild their payment history.

According to the Mortgage Bankers Association, nearly a quarter of a million home owners face foreclosures every three months, across America.

Sixty percent of the effected families wish that they knew better about the mortgage they were dealing with. Still, it’s never too late to understand your options in case of a foreclosure.

Hard Money Loans

Hector Milla Editor of the “Best Loan Modification Companies” website — http://www.BestLoanModificationCompanies.com — pointed out;

“…Typically the best option that most are unaware of is getting a hard loan. To many, it is possibly the simplest option to stop foreclosure and requisite. These hard money loans are never offered by the banks or financial institutions. In order to avail these, you will have to look in your local area for private lenders. A legal expert can easily locate such lenders but nowadays nearly every community has at least one private lender who specializes in hard money loans…”

Terms

The private lenders will provide up to 60 to 70 percent of the amount as collateral against the value of your home. A major drawback is that the interest rate will be on a higher side ranging from 11 to 19 percent, in most cases. Furthermore, to safeguard the interest of a lender, the appraised value of the home will be assessed lower than its original market value.

Nevertheless, getting a hard loan is sometimes very beneficial as the home owners not only get the financial help they require but it seldom entails any income or credit evaluation.

“…Before you embark on a journey to financial freedom with hard loans, make sure to consult an attorney. As hard loans are mostly unregulated, an attorney can easily assess the terms of the lender and protect you from any undue claims…” H. Milla added.

Further information about how to get professional assistance with a mortgage loan modification by http://www.BestLoanModificationCompanies.com

A hard money loan is a type of asset-based loan, which is usually provided by a private lender, oftentimes an individual.

Terms vary between lenders, are usually more specific and strict than with conventional lenders, and they often come with high interest rates. Typically, a maximum of 70% of the home’s market value will be loaned by the hard money lender.

Hector Milla Editor of the “Best Mortgage Loan Modification” website — http://www.BestMortgageLoanModification.net — pointed out;

“…It is possible to refinance a hard money loan into a more traditional mortgage on a foreclosure or any other property; however, the borrower will want to fully research the terms of both the hard money loan and refinancing loan. He/She will also want to make sure they qualify for the refinancing that they want…”

Qualifying for hard money may be easier in certain aspects(often credit score is not considered) than with typical lending institutions, so this is an important point to consider.

If the deal is not structured right, there may be seasoning issues with the institution when the decision to refinance is made. Seasoning is a term that refers to the length of time that the property has been owned by the seller. Different types of loans have different seasoning requirements, and these will need to be fully understood before setting up the deal.

Many hard money lenders will not issue a loan on a home that will be the borrower’s primary residence, so this will also need to be considered.

The new value of the home at the time of refinancing will need to be verified, and any repair or fix-up costs will need to be validated through receipts and other paperwork. The investor may also need to wait from 6-12 months to refinance depending on seasoning issues.

“…In conclusion, it is possible for a foreclosure property to be refinanced from a hard money loan originally used to purchase the home –or other property– but this will depend on several factors: the terms of the original loan, the terms of the new refinanced loan, and whether or not the buyer qualifies for both loans. This is not a situation to jump into without thorough and proper research…” H. Milla added.

Further information about how to get professional assistance with a mortgage loan modification by visiting; http://www.BestMortgageLoanModification.net

Hard money loans are specialty loan products, only taken on by investors who are willing to invest in high risk loans.

The loan to value ratios are low, the interest rates are higher, the points or fees are typically much larger than other mortgage loans, and these types of loans are often due and payable sooner.

Natalia Osorio Editor of the “Loan Modification Foreclosure” website — http://www.LoanModificationForeclosures.com — pointed out;

“…The financing criteria for a hard money loan is often based exclusively on the value of the collateral which is the property being financed, and no or very little consideration is given to a borrower’s credit. This means that even a person in foreclosure whose credit and credit score has severely declined can qualify for this type of loan if there is a sufficient amount of equity in their property that reduces the investor’s risk. The loan to value is 65% or less. This means that if your home has a value of $350,000, the maximum loan amount would be $227,500 which is 65% of $350,000. Hard money lenders really prefer making loans on properties with a loan to value of 50% or less…”

Interest rates on hard money loan to stop foreclosure immediately will be substantially higher than other mortgage loans, often 12% or even greater. Often they are interest only loans so that none of the payments apply to the principle.

In addition, a hard money loan will charge the borrower the maximum amount of points allowed under mortgage law regulations. So expect to pay at least six points or six percent of the loan amount to acquire this financing. Usually the six points plus all other closing costs are included in the total amount of the loan, so you will need some wiggle room in the value of your collateral to cover the loan closing costs as well.

These loans are often amortized over 30 years, but are due and payable within eighteen months to five years.

“…In addition, if you own other property, you are an especially good candidate for a hard money loan to stop foreclosure immediately because these lenders are open to cross collateralizing your other property. This means that other properties of yours would be encumbered in the hard money loan as well…” N. Osorio added.

Because of the small number of qualifying features, as well as the independent nature of these investors, hard money loans can close very quickly and can be excellent to stop a foreclosure.

Further information about how to get professional assistance with a mortgage loan modification by http://www.LoanModificationForeclosures.com