Posted on December 24, 2012 in Foreclosure

In Illinois, 13,520 properties received foreclosure letters last month—equating to roughly one out of every 392 houses in the state. This figure is up 9 percent from November 2011, and puts Illinois only behind Florida and Nevada in terms of foreclosure rates.

Illinois' Cook County had the highest figures in the state: 2,299 homes received initial notices of default, 2,651 homes were scheduled for court-ordered sales, and 2,086 homes were repossessed by lenders. The cities of Rockford and Chicago ranked 11^th and 13^th in foreclosure rates.

Nationally, more than 59,000 homes were repossessed, a 5 percent rise from last November. In addition, the number of homes that became bank-owned rose on a year-over-year basis for the first time since October 2010.

However, according to an article from the Chicago Tribune, foreclosure trends are heading in the right direction. Although Illinois' foreclosure rates have increased from a year ago, the numbers have dropped 9 percent from October 2012. In Cook, DuPage, Kendall, Will, Kane, and Lake Counties, the figure has dropped 10.5 percent from October. Experts are viewing this as a positive sign, saying that we are past the worst of the housing problems.

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 Posted on December 15, 2012 in Foreclosure

Illinois is one of several states in the US that is still experiencing a large amount of foreclosures. The results from October of this year have the foreclosure rate increasing by 6% over September. Compared to October of last year, that rate has increased by 19%.

The good news is that state and federal governments have noticed these trends and have stepped in to help. Take the federal program Hardest Hit as an example. This program was created in 2011 to offer relief to the unemployed and underemployed homeowners. They have dispersed over $57 million to residents of Illinois up to $25,000 per resident.

Since Illinois ranks third in the nation in past due home loans, there are other steps that the state is doing to help Illinois residents. There has been a push recently to fund more counseling programs for distressed home owners. This counseling has proved very beneficial according to Illinois Housing Development Authority. The executive director of IHDA Mary Kenney said that defaulting homeowners who receive counseling have a 50 percent better chance to receive a loan modification. They are also 67 percent less likely to fall into default again.

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 Posted on October 22, 2012 in Foreclosure

In last August, the foreclosure rate of Illinois was the highest in the nation. However, it has decreased gradually in September and October, although the rate still remains relatively high, according to the Chicago Tribune.

In September, over 14,000 homes in Illinois were the subject of a foreclosure filing. The filings included initial notices of default, notices that a court-ordered sale of the property had been scheduled, and homes repossessed by the lender. In Cook County, which has the highest population of any county in the state, the foreclosure rate decreased from August of this year, but is 18 percent higher than a year ago in September. Foreclosure matters should be handled with the assistance of highly qualified attorneys.

Foreclosure rates have declined on a national level and have been lowest this year since July of 2007. The national decline is driven by improvement in large states which do not rely on the courts to process actions. For example, in California, Texas, Arizona and Michigan the situation has improved during the year, according to Realty Trac, which collects foreclosure data from all over the country. In states such as Illinois and Florida, where the foreclosure process is handled by local court systems, the average time to foreclosure is still high. On average, it takes almost 700 days to complete a foreclosure action in Illinois.

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 Posted on September 28, 2012 in Foreclosure

Today we will further elaborate on short sales, a viable alternative to foreclosure that many people choose. Simply put, a short sale is selling your house “short” of what you owe the bank. First, you must list the property for sale with a realtor or by independently finding a buyer. Generally one will notify the bank in order to receive a reasonable amount of time to find a buyer and receive an offer. After receiving an offer, this is then submitted to the bank who will decide to accept or reject the offer. If the bank accepts, they can choose to either write the difference off or pursue the difference owed from the property owner. Short sales are typically an attractive option for banks and there are a variety of ways to help put you in the best position possible for a short sale. The attorneys at Newland & Newland can help you assess if a short sale is a good option for your situation and to help you through the process.

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 Posted on September 14, 2012 in Loan Modification

Finding yourself in hot water with your mortgage and trying to stay out of foreclosure? There may be a solution.

Whether it's called a loan modification, mortgage modification, restructuring, or workout plan, it's when a borrower who is facing great financial hardship, having difficulty making their mortgage payments and is facing foreclosure, works with their lender to change the terms of their mortgage loan to make it affordable. The workout plan varies by lender, but changes could include temporary or permanent changes to the mortgage rate, term and monthly payment of the loan, the past due amount could be rolled into the loan, and the new balance re-amortized.

In February 2009, the government unveiled the Making Home Affordable Program, which is made up of two main programs: one for loan modifications and one for refinance loans. The loan modification portion is called the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP). It is designed to reduce mortgage payments struggling homeowners pay per month to sustainable levels.

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 Posted on September 10, 2012 in Foreclosure

Today, we will discuss an alternative to foreclosure that may not be available to everyone, but is nonetheless an excellent option if you qualify for it. Refinancing your home requires good credit to qualify and your lender will also consider aspects such as income, assets, debts, and current value of the property. Refinancing can be considered for a number of reasons. These include lowering your interest rate, adjusting the length of your mortgage, changing from an adjustable rate mortgage to a fixed rate mortgage or to get an adjustable rate mortgage with better terms. Refinancing fees can greatly vary by lender, but they can amount to 2% to 6% of your outstanding principal.

If you think refinancing is an option for your property, please talk to one of our many qualified attorneys that can help walk you through the process.

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 Posted on July 04, 2012 in Loan Modification

If you're a typical homeowner, you probably feel like David facing up at Goliath when you speak with your lender about modification of your home mortgage. Despite efforts to put the odds more in the consumer's favor, most aspects of modification are in the bank's hands. But there are some ways to make easier.

Hire an experienced attorney. The bank has plenty of legal advice and firepower on their side. Plus, they're the ones who make the contracts you sign. So they're at a distinct advantage when negotiating anything with you. In order to even things up, secure an attorney who is knowledgeable and experienced with loan modification.

Write our a concise hardship letter. Explain why your circumstances have changed to the point that you can no longer afford your payments. Were your hours cut back at work? Do you have unexpected medical bills?

Be honest about your financial situation. You'll have to compile a lot of paperwork about your current financial situation. Don't lie about your current assets, or try to make things sound worse than they actually are.

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 Posted on June 18, 2012 in Foreclosure

For some homeowners, especially those who are significantly underwater, walking away from the property is the desired outcome. They ask themselves “Why should I payoff or modify a loan for $200,000 for a property that is only worth $100,000?” This is a very good question, and an important one to ask. The problem in this situation, however, is a personal deficiency judgment. This is when the bank can take a judgment against the borrower personally to satisfy the outstanding amount of the debt that remains after the property is sold.

For some homeowners, sentimentality is the answer. The property is very important to them as it is the only home they have ever owner or it is where they raised their children. If this is the case, then a modification is an excellent option, if possible.

If, however, the sentimental value associated with the property does not rise to the level of wanting to payoff or modify an underwater property. For those homeowners, the a big concern is a personal deficiency judgment against their personal property or assets.

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 Posted on May 06, 2012 in Foreclosure

Attorneys General from over ten states including Illinois have penned a letter to theFederal Housing Finance Agency to encourage loan giants Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae to reduce loan principals for homeowners who are struggling to avoid foreclosure on their homes.

The letter states that by using principle forgiveness, the cost to investors and banks would be minimal. Despite a statement in January by Federal Housing Finance Agency head Edward DeMarco that principal forgiveness would result in a burden to tax payers, the coalition of Attorneys General argue that forgiveness could result in savings of almost $1.7 billion.

As Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae own the majority of home loans in the United States, the letter urges them to act as a leader in principal forgiveness, rather than a hindrance in restarting the economy.

The attorneys further argue in the letter that increasing incentive payments to investors under the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) would help ally concerns that forgiveness would negatively impact Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. While many lenders have complained that participating in in forgiveness would involve costly changes to existing computer programs, the recent Foreclosure Settlement proves that lenders are capable of handling any resulting changes in their existing programs and procedures when dealing with home mortgages.

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 Posted on May 04, 2012 in Foreclosure

If you have been served with foreclosure documents, attached to the complaint is a document called a note. Also included may be various other documents and affidavits executed by banks. These documents, which claim to be executed by banks, must bear a signature from an authorized employee at that bank.

We have recently found that Margaret Dalton has executed different documents on behalf of at least ten different lenders, usually in her capacity as Vice President. This means that some of these documents may not be valid.

Please look over your foreclosure documents. If any of them were allegedly executed by Ms. Dalton, please contact an attorney.

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