I have seen this hundreds of times with clients and even on my own home when we were in the modification process in 2009: despite being in the process of some sort of relief sanctioned by the lender, you still get collection and demand letters that seem to be unaware that payments are not, in … Read More…
Category: Foreclosure
New York’s Shadow Inventory in 2024
Categories: Foreclosure
Since the housing crash of 2008, lenders have learned the lesson of what happens when you flood the market with foreclosed properties: prices crater as they did in the Great Recession. The lesson of the covid moratorium on foreclosures is the converse: when distressed properties virtually disappear from the market, values tend to climb. This … Read More…
Second Liens Can Foreclose- But Not Without Risk
Categories: Foreclosure
Many of the things I write about are from personal experiences. This is one of those times. A second mortgage can indeed foreclose on the property even if the borrower is current on the first mortgage. It would be subject to the first mortgage, which is why it is rare, but it can happen. I … Read More…
Foreclosure Filing Actions are Rising in New York and Connecticut
Categories: ForeclosureI attended a conference this past September on foreclosures, and heard speakers from a number of asset management companies and mortgage servicers who have the state of the industry post COVID and post foreclosure moratorium. Foreclosures are back with more of a roar in states that are not judicial states like New York. New York, … Read More…
Why a Mortgage Forbearance is Always a Smart First Step When Hardship Hits
Categories: Commentary, ForeclosureDuring the COVID pandemic when uncertainty was rampant, the government mandated that lenders extend more aid to anyone economically impacted by the restrictions imposed for public health. There were moratoriums on foreclosures and evictions, and lenders informed borrowers more proactively on the steps to get relief if payments became a burden. My lender allowed me … Read More…
Covid Moratorium on Foreclosures in New York is Ended
Categories: Commentary, ForeclosureAmong the many things that Albany did when the pandemic began was the issue a moratorium on foreclosures and evictions to protect people economically impacted by the shut downs. Given that New York is a “judicial” state, meaning that foreclosure proceedings must go through the courts, over the next year we will see a return … Read More…
When You Can’t Afford an Attorney
Categories: ForeclosureThe catch-22 of fighting a foreclosure is that financial difficulty, what causes the distress to start, prevents folks from being able to retain an attorney to represent their rights in the judicial foreclosure process. I can relate. When the private second mortgage on my own home was due and payable in 2010, the plan from … Read More…
What is “Cash for Keys?”
Categories: ForeclosureWhen you think about it, when a lender has a non-performing asset, which is to say a mortgage that isn’t being repaid by the borrower in a timely fashion, they have a big headache. They face a protracted judicial process of foreclosure which can take years. In the interim, they may have the collateral, which … Read More…
The Worst Part of Facing Foreclosure
Categories: ForeclosureThe firm probably closed on our first short sale sometime in 2007. Having watched how the public has come to grips with the housing crash and subsequent recession, I’d have to say that the worst part of being delinquent on one’s mortgage is not financial; it is the stress. By and large, even if your … Read More…
Don’t Abandon Your House
Categories: Foreclosure
Here’s the scenario: A homeowner falls behind on their mortgage due to illness, divorce, or loss of employment. As I have written before, they face stress, and no small amount of it. They may feel fear, shame, a foreboding of disaster, embarrassment, or who knows what else. Not knowing how all this works and wanting … Read More…