SoFi and Online Mortgage Lending

August 24, 2015 By

SoFi – How Millennial Usage of Online Mortgage Lending is Changing the Home Lending Landscape

A young couple each in their early 30’s found themselves buying a house outside of San Francisco. Being first time buyers, they searched for sources of financing on the Internet. Online they found a lender called social finance (SoFi). They received pre-qualification in 15 minutes and then got the documents for pre-approval and submitted a formal offer within a week. Because of SoFi’s simplicity, they were able to easily close on their new home.

Large groups of millennials are changing the mortgage industry because more and more lenders are using technology that enables borrowers to submit documentation online. This allows more non-bank start a blenders to compete in the mortgage industry and it also gets mortgage brokers out of the mix (who many blame on the crisis of the last decade) . Online lenders like SoFi are so appealing to millennials because of their online tools and fast closing times. Borrowers feel much more in control of their financial status due to the DIY system provided by online lenders. This freedom is what banks are unable to match.

Contact Shaffer & Gaier – Protecting Homeowner Rights

The law firm of Shaffer & Gaier protects the rights of those who are facing foreclosure or seeking mortgage modifications in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. To set up a free initial consultation, contact our office online or call our foreclosure hotline at 855-289-1660. Or call our office location in Philadelphia at 215-751-0100, or in New Jersey at 856-429-0970.

Filed Under: Bank Loan Modifications, Current Events, Foreclosure, Foreclosure Defense, Home Owners, Homeownership, Mortgage Lending, Mortgage Modification, Mortgage Refinance, Online Mortgage Lenders, SoFi Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The Home Affordable Modification Program’s Paltry Lifeline

August 18, 2015 By

A Slack Lifeline for Drowning Homeowners

JULY 31, 2015 By GRETCHEN MORGENSON

“After Lucy Circe became disabled and could no longer work, she applied to Bank of America for a mortgage loan modification on her Vermont home. Over more than two years, starting in 2012, the bank repeatedly requested copies of documents that had already been provided, asked for proof that she was no longer married to a man she did not even know, and made other errors, like asking why Ms. Circe had indicated that she didn’t want to keep her property when she had actually told the bank she did….” READ MORE HERE.

Contact an Aggressive Foreclosure Defense Lawyer at Shaffer & Gaier Today

We provide a free initial consultation to anyone with concerns about foreclosure or who is involved in foreclosure proceedings. To schedule an appointment, call our foreclosure hotline at 855-289-1660 or contact us online. Evening and weekend meetings can be arranged upon request. We will travel to your home if necessary to meet with you.

Filed Under: Current Events, Foreclosure, Foreclosure Defense, Home Owners, Homeownership, Mortgage Modification, Mortgage Refinance Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

U.S. Supreme Court Finds in Favor of Homeowners

February 9, 2015 By

In 2007, a couple from Minnesota, Larry and Cheryl Jesinoski, refinanced their mortgage with Countrywide. Exactly three years later the Jesinoskis tried to rescind the loan by writing a letter to Bank of America Home loans, which purchased Countrywide during the housing crisis. This meant that Larry and Cheryl, through the Truth in Lending Act, had the right to cancel their mortgage as long as they did so within three years after the transaction was completed.

Yet, Bank of America tried to block the rescission and the Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit ruled in favor of the bank, stating that the borrower must not only give notice but also file a lawsuit within three years. However, on Tuesday Jan 13, 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of the couple, with Justice Antonin Scalia interpreting the law, stating that it without a doubt requires only a notification of rescission within three years and not litigation. Please note that when a loan is rescinded, however, the homeowners often have to give the mortgage loan funds and fees back to the bank or lender.

Contact Philadelphia Foreclosure & Mortgage Modification
Attorneys Shaffer & Gaier

To set up an appointment, call our foreclosure hotline at 855-289-1660 or contact us online. Your first consultation is free of charge. Evening and weekend meetings can be arranged upon request. We will travel to your home if necessary to meet with you.

Filed Under: Bank Loan Modifications, Bank of America, Countrywide Mortgages, Foreclosure, Foreclosure Defense, Home Owners, Mortgage Lending, Mortgage Modification, Mortgage Refinance, Mortgage Settlements Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

New Jersey Foreclosures Lead the Nation

January 6, 2015 By

South New Jersey Foreclosure Attorneys

As of November 2014, information released by the Mortgage Bankers Association indicates New Jersey leads the nation in foreclosures. For the most part, the foreclosure crisis that followed the 2008 financial meltdown has abated and returned to levels seen before the 2008 recession. In New Jersey, however, one in six home mortgages is either delinquent or in foreclosure. While the percent of mortgages in foreclosure or delinquent is slightly less than this time last year (8 percent and 7 percent respectively in November of 2013), New Jersey is still posting foreclosure rates substantially higher than the national average.

Why Foreclosures are Higher in New Jersey

Part of the reason why New Jersey’s foreclosure rate is so high at this time is due to how foreclosures are handled in New Jersey. Under state law, foreclosures must go through the courts, which inevitably prolong the process. Additionally, due to a near halt in foreclosure activity in 2011 after questions regarding allegations of abuse and fraud in the mortgage industry, the system now has to play catch up.

Interestingly enough, most of the troubled mortgage loans are ones that were made prior to 2007.  According to Mike Fratantoni, the chief economist for the Mortgage Bankers Association, 74 percent of delinquent loans were made before the beginning of the 2007 sub-prime mortgage crisis.

Mortgage Troubles? Contact Foreclosure Attorneys at Shaffer & Gaier

If you’re facing foreclosure or the bank has already initiated foreclosure actions against you, it’s important that you understand your legal rights and protections. In some cases, foreclosure can be avoided if you bank is willing to refinance your home. If this isn’t an option, short-selling your home can help you avoid bankruptcy and other unwanted financial complications.

To learn how we can help you, contact the foreclosure attorneys at Shaffer & Gaier today. We have offices in Haddonfield, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Filed Under: Foreclosure, Foreclosure Abuses, Foreclosure Defense, Mortgage Fraud, Mortgage Lending, Mortgage Modification, Mortgage Settlements Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Make Your Home Affordable

November 20, 2014 By

According to the US Census bureau, there are over 75 million homeowners in America; homeowner, however, is a broad term used to encompass many Americans on all different “levels” of homeownership. Based on a study conducted by the Department of Housing and Urban Development, of these 75 million homeowners, only 40% of the homes were paid off. Therefore 60% of US homeowners are essentially still paying a monthly bill for their homes and do not hold the deed that equates to actual ownership.

Be it that 45,000,000 American homeowners do not in fact actually own their homes, foreclosure is an ominous threat lurking at a vast number of doorsteps. With the aftershock of the recession still weighing heavily on our economy, an increasingly large number of Americans are finding their once affordable monthly mortgage payments are now incredibly unaffordable. As overwhelming as it is to realize that once seemingly reasonable mortgage payments now exceed your budget, it is important to never forget that help is available through a variety of channels for homeowners just like you. Specifically, a loan modification is a permanent change in the original terms of your loan that result in a payment you can afford. The Home Affordable Modification Program, commonly known as H.A.M.P., is a federal program specifically designed to offer loan modifications to eligible homeowners in mortgage debt

Been turned down before? Don’t panic. Many changes have been made to these programs to maximize the eligibility and assist as many borrowers as possible in retaining their homes. Don’t lose your home to due to circumstances out of control. It’s worth it to get the help that you deserve.

Contact Our Office

To set up an appointment, call our foreclosure hotline at 855-289-1660 or contact us online. Your first consultation is free of charge. Evening and weekend meetings can be arranged upon request. We will travel to your home if necessary to meet with you.

Filed Under: Foreclosure, Foreclosure Defense, Home Owners, Homeownership, Mortgage Fraud, Mortgage Lending, Mortgage Modification Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

PA SUPREME COURTS ALLOWS DEFAULT TO STAND AGAINST BANK OF AMERICA

September 10, 2014 By

As an update to a blog I posted in January, 2014, in which I discussed a default judgment I secured for my client against Bank of America, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court just ordered that the default judgment shall remain in place. I filed a lawsuit against Bank of America in Delaware County, PA for predatory lending and unfair trade practices. The bank failed to answer the lawsuit and I moved for a default judgment. Of course, the bank appealed, asking the trial judge to allow it to file an Answer, but the trial judge refused. The bank unsuccessfully appealed to the Superior Court and then to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, also unsuccessfully.

This means that the case can now proceed to a jury trial to determine the amount of my clients’ monetary damages. Certain discovery issues need to be worked out; primarily I am in the process of securing testimony from a Bank of America Corporate Representative regarding the net worth of the company in 2012 and 2013.

This is because I included a claim for punitive damages, which are used to punish the defendant for wrongful conduct. One of the ways that a jury is allowed to and able to determine an appropriate dollar amount for damages is to consider the net worth of the defendant. The Bank is, of course, objecting to such an inquiry, and is not agreeing to produce such a representative; again, the trial judge will decide the scope of the deposition testimony. I am hopeful for trial in January/February 2015. I will keep you posted.

Contact the law firm of Shaffer & Gaier, LLC

We provide a free initial consultation to anyone with concerns about foreclosure or who is involved in foreclosure proceedings. To schedule an appointment, call our foreclosure hotline at 855-289-1660 or contact us online. Evening and weekend meetings can be arranged upon request. We will travel to your home if necessary to meet with you.

Filed Under: Bank of America, Current Events, Foreclosure, Foreclosure Defense, Mortgage Lending, Mortgage Modification, Mortgage Settlements Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

THE ELUSIVE HOUSING RECOVERY

June 26, 2014 By

With all the happy talk recently about the nation’s housing recovery, much of eastern Pennsylvania and central and southern New Jersey real estate markets still have a significant amount of homes that are underwater (when the mortgage balance is greater than the value of the home). Many of these properties were purchased or refinanced by homeowners during the housing bubble which collapsed in 2007.

Recent reports continue to suggest that the best solution for all parties (banks, homeowners, investors, states and municipalities) is for the approach of “principal reduction.” By this method, if lenders rewrote the loans to reflect fair market values, then owners would have lower monthly payments which would put more money and tax dollars into local economies. Cities and towns could have more stable property tax revenues and lenders may ultimately benefit by having fewer delinquent loans.

The solution is not so simple because many banks no longer own the loans they made. Many of the underwater home loans have been pooled into private securities, and sold off to investors. The companies who service these securities and loans generally will not reduce the principal because, since they do not own the loan, they do not have the authority to reduce the principal balance. With all the talk over the last 12 to 18 months about settlement agreements between the Justice Department and the big banks, none of these initiatives require the banks or their investors to reset loans as a condition of getting Federal funds. Even the government’s Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) has helped barely 25% of the 4 million homeowners it was supposed to reach. Worse still, the Federal Government itself is an obstacle to a lot of the reform measures because the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which oversees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, will not allow these two mortgage giants to reduce the principal on any of the underwater mortgages they own or guarantee. The new FHFA director, former-Representative Melvin Watt, could change that policy and he could do it without Congressional approval. It remains to be seen if the Administration will embark on principal reduction.

Contact Our Office

We provide a free initial consultation to anyone with concerns about foreclosure or who is involved in foreclosure proceedings. To schedule an appointment, call our foreclosure hotline at 855-289-1660 or contact us online. Evening and weekend meetings can be arranged upon request. We will travel to your home if necessary to meet with you.

Filed Under: Foreclosure, Foreclosure Defense, Mortgage Lending, Mortgage Modification, Underwater Home Loans Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

RELIEF FOR SOME HOMEOWNERS – BUT THEN A TAX BILL?

February 12, 2014 By

The big banks will be able to write-off the billions of dollars in debt relief they agreed to give to homeowners, but for the homeowners that received that help, the debt relief is treated as taxable income, which can result in large tax bills. There had been a tax exemption for mortgage debt forgiveness, but Congress let this expire on December 31, 2013. While Congress often allows tax breaks to expire, only to reinstate them later, the mortgage debt relief exemption has not yet occurred. This could partly be because there is a movement in Congress to broadly overhaul the entire tax code, and in an election year, this year was considered “small” relative to other tax matters that affect the nation as a whole.

The tax exemption helped homeowners who are underwater in their mortgage – that is, those who owe more on their mortgage than their home is worth (approximately 6.4 million households nationwide). Put in real terms, this means that if you owe $250,000 on your mortgage, and your bank lets you sell it by way of a short sale for $150,000, then the $100,000 difference is treated as taxable income. This would lead to an approximately $28,000 tax bill because of the typical tax laws in which if someone lends you money and then later says you do not have to pay it back, the IRS counts the amount forgiven as income (except in cases of bankruptcy or insolvency). Nationwide, approximately 100,000 people used the mortgage debt relief exemption in 2011. In 2013, however, that number will be much greater, simply because there were approximately 250,000 short sales, yielding an average debt reduction of approximately $37,000. A homeowner in the 25% tax bracket would then face an extra $9,250 tax bill.

What remains to be seen is if Congress recognizes the unfairness of giving the banks a welcome form of tax relief, while piling even more debt upon the innocent homeowner.

Contact Shaffer & Gaier

To set up a free initial consultation, contact our office online or call our foreclosure hotline at 855-289-1660. Or call our office location in Philadelphia at 215-751-0100, or in New Jersey at 856-429-0970.

Filed Under: Foreclosure, Foreclosure Abuses, Foreclosure Defense, Mortgage Debt Forgiveness, Mortgage Lending, Mortgage Modification Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Favorable Settlement During Trial in Philadelphia

November 28, 2013 By

Our client had been sued by HSBC, one of the world’s largest banks (its initials stand for Hong Kong Shanghai Banking Corporation). In 2010, my client’s employer cut back on his overtime hours, and this caused a decrease in take-home pay. During the build-up to the housing bubble, HSBC acquired hundreds of thousands of U.S. mortgages from smaller lenders. Many banks got bailed out, but HSBC did not, and now claims that since it did not take any federal bailout money, it does not have to adhere to federal guidelines to modify mortgage loans, or engage in what I call reasonable settlement/resolution practices.

HSBC, therefore, demanded that the only way to reinstate my client’s delinquent loan was for the him to come up with 40% of the arrears. For homeowners that have been in foreclosure for a year or more, this often means that HSBC will not modify the mortgage unless the homeowners has tens of thousands of dollars to put down towards the new loan. In my client’s case, as in the case of most homeowners, this was not possible.

This scenario causes, in my view, more trials than are necessary since it is so difficult to settle by a loan modification. In this trial which started on November 27, 2013, the results ended favorably for my client. In this Philadelphia County case, HSBC was demanding that my client come up with over $60,000 in order to reinstate his mortgage loan (which already contained a 10.9% interest rate). My client rejected the offer, and the case proceeded to trial. Midway through the trial, HSBC made an offer to let our client remain in the home for almost another 12 months, and to waive the entire unpaid loan amount of $177,000. The case has been in litigation for nearly 3 years so this was a fantastic result for my client. The terms of the settlement were put on the record in front of the judge.

Contact Shaffer & Gaier

To set up a free initial consultation, contact our office online or call our foreclosure hotline at 855-289-1660. Or call our office location in Philadelphia at 215-751-0100, or in New Jersey at 856-429-0970.

Filed Under: Foreclosure, Foreclosure Abuses, Foreclosure Defense, Mortgage Lending, Mortgage Modification Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

Now Lenders are Being Extra Careful

October 1, 2013 By

During the mortgage lending boom in the middle of the last decade, prospective loan originators and mortgage brokers would lend money to almost anyone, whether the perspective homeowner had sufficient income to pay the loan back or not. In recent days, however, lenders are risk-averse, and they are demanding detailed documentation for all areas of the applicant’s financial status and background. Borrowers should be prepared to answer questions about gaps in their employment, pending lawsuits and even divorce proceedings.

There is, however, a limit to how much personal information can be requested. Questions about whether an applicant is pregnant are prohibited under federal law, but lenders have figured ways of getting around those delicate (and unlawful) inquiries. For instance, the lender may ask a young woman, applying for a mortgage on her own, whether she has any children yet, or whether she likes children. While this may not be unlawful, it certainly is a turn-around from the way business used to be conducted. Racial profiling is fair game in the paperwork, largely so regulators can identify and keep statistics on whether race is a factor in the kinds of loans offered, interest rate and other qualifying factors.

Contact Shaffer & Gaier

To set up a free initial consultation, contact our office online or call our foreclosure hotline at 855-289-1660. Or call our office location in Philadelphia at 215-751-0100, or in New Jersey at 856-429-0970.

Filed Under: Mortgage Lending, Mortgage Modification, Predatory Mortgage Practices Tagged With: , , , ,
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