Yesterday I posted information about

Ideally, the outcome of mediation might allow you to restructure your loan, save your home, or agree to sell it as a short sale. In fact, a decision maker for the bank is required to be present at the Mediation meeting – at least by phone. Of course, if no agreement is reached, the ultimate outcome might be to allow your home to proceed through Foreclosure.

This mediation step is a bit more complex than the informal meeting to which you are entitled right away (see yesterday’s post). Mediation must be requested by an attorney or housing counselor within 30 days of the bank or Trustee filing of the Notice of Default and must be held within 45 days of the referral to Mediation by the attorney. You’ll also be required to pay your half ($200) of the cost of Mediation hearing ($400).

Prior to Mediation meeting, both you, as the owner-occupant, and the bank will need to assemble a list of documents – yours will include financial documents such as tax returns, pay stubs, and so on. It’s an extensive list, but not difficult. Since you will be working with an attorney or counselor, they’ll assist you in determining exactly what documents you’ll need.

Note that the Foreclosure Fairness Act took place on July 22, 2011. If you received a Notice of Default prior to that date and foreclosure of your home has not yet been completed by the bank, you are also entitled to Mediation. You’ll want to contact an attorney experienced in the Foreclosure Fairness Act as soon as possible! Doing so can delay a scheduled auction!

As usual, you should also contact your Realtor© so that you are fully aware of your options and for the name of an attorney that is experienced in Foreclosure work.

In Washington State, folks that get behind on their house payments have options as described in the

One of the first steps a lender must take for a home in Washington is to send a letter to the homeowner describing their options – the first of which is the right to request an informal meeting with the lender before a Notice of Default is filed.

But here’s the thing … the homeowner has to make the request within 30 days from the date of the options letter.

• So … open every piece of mail that comes from your lender.
• Read it carefully and then  exercise your option to meet with the lender to discuss the situation.
• Do it by phone and ask insist that they confirm your request in writing.
• Follow up with a letter to them in writing — maybe even registered mail so that you have a record of your request.
• Keep copies of anything and everything you send and notes about every conversation you have with them.
• Get the names of the people with whom you talk … and write down the phone numbers and dates you make any calls.

and finally …

Engage an attorney to represent you at the meeting. Talk everything through with him/her … and with your real estate agent so that you know what your options truly are.

But first … Just Open the Mail!

I know … I’m often considered naive in my “political” opinions. Probably rightly so most of the time. After all, I’m just a hard-workin’ self-employed real estate broker out here in south King County, home of the working folks. Most of us go to work every day doing whatever it is that needs to be done and worrying about how to make our next house payment.

Like many folks, I’ve watched my house values erode drastically over the last couple of years. Perceptually, that fall in value seems to be speeding up .. or perhaps it’s just that now we’re all aware of what buyers truly are willing to pay for things. I’ve also watched, from the sidelines, interest rates fall drastically.

More disheartening, however, … at least to those of us who are self-employed … is that we don’t qualify to refinance our home, or for any of the nifty loan modifications, and wouldn’t even if our homes hadn’t lost value. Most of us write off everything we can on our income taxes making our bottom lines pretty skinny. But that bottom line is what is used by banks to determine our income — thus one step in our eligibility for a mortgage refinance, or even a loan modification. Our W2 income simply doesn’t support our true day-to-day ability to pay the bills. (Another one of my witticisms … “gee whiz, if my income is good enough for the IRS, it oughta be good enough for the bank!”)

So … for the last few weeks, I’ve been spouting my opinion about how to fix the economy. Here it is. Have at it:

Take ALL of the mortgages that are current and unilaterally lower their interest rate to the current market rate. Okay, I’ll even go so far as to say … lower them to the current market rate plus 1%. Period. No requalifying. (Afterall, I’m talking about “current in payments.”) Without regard to the current value of the home. Just give us all a ‘buy’ and get this over with. Make it effective, say, on December 1st.

No more messing around with “loan modifications,” and all that bank nonsense. Just get it done. Drop everyone’s payments down to today’s rates. Just do it. Get it behind us. Make house payments affordable for those folks who still own them.

Heck, maybe even take a good hard look at the reason folks are behind in their payments (I’m willing to bet one major reason is because their interest rates are sky high.) And perhaps give them a ‘buy’ as well. Forget about that pending foreclosure/auction for six months and see if they can make it at a lower interest rate. Write off all the past dues and late fees. Get it over with. Yes, I know this is a whammo for the investors that bought the loans for the banks. But so is letting this housing mess go on and on and on. It’s bringing everything else down, and there’s no sign of stopping. Fix the Housing Market, Fix the Economy!

I believe that stabilizing housing is far more important than jobs creation. Home ownership will always be an American dream. Let’s stop the nonsense and keep folks in their houses.

Interestingly enough, Moody’s had a proposal published just a couple of days ago in DSNews that was surprising similar … hmmmmmm (do you think someone is actually listening to my far fetched ideas?)

Fix the Housing Market, Fix the Economy. That’s my opinion and I’m sticking to it.

The Washington State attorney general’s office recently released three videos that explain your rights and options should you be facing a foreclosure or short sale of your home.

As an active Realtor®, I frequently receive phone calls from people that are already behind on their payments, or feel as though they will soon be in trouble with their mortgage. Sometimes, the call is from someone that is trying to get out from under a home that has lost significant value and is now worth far less than what they owe. Each of these types of calls requires a knowledgeable response and action. Sometimes the best response is to refer the person to an attorney. Most often, however, it’s a chance to help education the caller as to their possible options based on their personal situation.

The three videos provided by Rob McKenna (Washington State Attorney General) and his staff explain some of the options available and the impact of these options on the consumer who may be facing a foreclosure or short sale of their home.

Each of the videos is moderated by Annie Fitzsimmons, the legal counsel for Washington Realtors. They are easy to understand and just a few minutes long. If you are facing a foreclosure or short sale, I urge you to take the time to view these videos, then give me a call if you have any questions or if you would like to discuss them.

In Part One, Mr. McKenna provides an overview of the options that are available:

In Part Two, Marc Cote, a Certified HUD Housing Counselor, discussses what will happen when you meet with a HUD Housing Counselor, what you need to be prepared for the meeting, and the options available when working with a HUD Counselor:

Part Three, presented by Rob Dickson, Lawyer and Short Sale Negotiator, discusses the short sale process, along with some of the difficulties that are faced when negotiating a short sale.

Obviously, at this moment many of us that are homeowners are facing significant loss of value in our homes and sometimes it takes just the smallest event to trigger an inability to make mortgage payments. Should that happen to you, please contact me at 206.300.8421 or gabrielle@gabriellenemes.com just to talk … and take advantage of the resources outlined in these videos.

However, Foreclosure Radar does offer some interesting charts and graphs for foreclosure data. Interesting enough that I thought I’d post them here and then watch the stats for a couple of months to see how they compare, overall, to the stats I run and am able to gather off the NWMLS (NorthWest Multiple Listing Service).

So, with a bit of hesitation, but why not? going on, here are the pertinent September 2010 foreclosure statistics as posted by Foreclosure Radar for Auburn, WA.

Auburn,WA – Foreclosure Filings

Foreclosure Filings is meant to display the number of Notice of Trustee Sales that were filed. A Notice of Trustee Sale is filed no sooner than 30 days after the homeowner receives a Notice of Default.

Auburn,WA – Foreclosure Inventories

Foreclosure Radar explains this chart as:” Preforeclosure inventory is an estimate of the number of properties that have had a Notice of Default filed against the property, but have not yet been Scheduled for Sale. The Scheduled for Sale inventory indicates those properties that have had a Notice of Trustee Sale filed, but have not yet been sold or had the sale cancelled. The Bank Owned (REO) inventory indicates the number of properties that have been sold Back to the Bank at the trustee sale, and which the bank has not yet resold to another party.”

Auburn,WA – Time to Foreclose

There’s an error in the explanation for this chart, but even so I found it a bit disturbing. The Time to Foreclose illustrated here is meant to display the number of days after the Notice of Trustee Sale is filed before the bank actually forecloses. Statutory guidelines indicate that a minimum of 90 days must occur after the the Notice is recorded. As a agent that assists homeowners in selling short sales, I can tell you that in nearly every instance I’ve handled thus far, at least one auction postponement has occurred. What I believe this chart illustrates is that most homeowners are either unsuccessful in selling a short sale, or that they just didn’t try. These are, overall, very tight to that 90 day window!

Here’s the explanation from ForeclosureRadar: “Time to Foreclose—The average number of days between the filing of the Notice of Trustee’s Sale and the final sale at auction for foreclosure sales that occurred during the specified month. Time to Resell—The average number of days between the final sale at auction and when the property was resold by the bank or 3rd party.

As seen here, researching data from multiple sources helps provide a more complete view of what’s really happening in the world of foreclosures and short sales. Be sure to check in here regularly for updates based on real, locally produced, data.

As always, if you are behind in your payments now, or anticipate being so in the near future, please give me a call. A short sale is often the best solution to avoid foreclosure. I can help.

Taking the certification class was a fascinating experience – of the group of approximately 50 agents present, fewer than 30% of the agents had ever handled either the buyer or seller side of a short sale property! Wow, where have they been and how on earth are they still in business?

When questioned about where they work, well over half of the agents at the class focused on the east and northeast sides of King County – i.e., Bellevue, Redmond, Issaquah, Sammamish, etc., where short sale and bank owned properties aren’t as prevalent as they are in my practice areas. (Briefly, a short sale property is identified in our MLS as one where a property’s sale price is less than its outstanding indebtedness and some sort of negotiation, concession and/or approval is needed by the lien holder(s) before a sale can be completed.)

These types of transactions – for BOTH Sellers and Buyers – require considerably more experience and expert handling than do “regular” purchases and sales (whatever those are – I’ve almost forgotten!). From our informal classroom survey, it’s possible than over 70% of agents in our area have never handled a short sale or bank-owned property!!

Therefore, when you find yourself in need of help – or know someone who does – buying or selling short sale or foreclosure properties, call an experienced agent! I can be reached by phone at 206.300.8421 or by e-mail at gabrielle@gabriellenemes.com.