Feldman Law Center

Feldman Law Center – News by Feldman Law Center – Feldman Law Center: If you are considering bankruptcy because of the debt you owe on your house, you probably know something about filing for bankruptcy, but are still checking out the options that you have.

Chapter 7 Bankruptcy, sometimes referred to as a “straight bankruptcy,” is where your non-exempt property is sold and the cash proceeds are given to your creditors. This method of filing for bankruptcy has become more difficult recently, due to new legislation on the issue.

Chapter 13 Bankruptcy allows you to reorganize your debts – consolidating your debts and paying them off, free of interest, over a time period of three to five years. This plan prevents creditors from collecting from you during the terms of the contract, as required by Federal Courts. However, you must have a consistent source of income for this type of bankruptcy to be approved, and you must continue to pay for your monthly living expenses as well as the debts you consolidate.

Although both Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 bankruptcy can help you to get rid of some of your debts, filing for bankruptcy does cost money, and the legal battle can take time. A bankruptcy also stays on your credit report for ten years, marring your credit score, which can affect your ability to rent property or get a job, among other things. It also affects your short-term ability to get credit. In the past, bankruptcy was a popular way of dealing with mounting debts, such as too-high mortgage payments.

Bankruptcy has become an increasingly difficult legal process to complete, it may not actually get you out of your mortgage agreement, and it is a major blemish on your credit history. The attorneys of The Feldman Law Center believe that you have other options, and that you should avoid foreclosure at all costs.

If you have been making late payments on your loan, have a climbing adjustable interest rate, or have not paid interest and fees on your mortgage, one option that you should consider is a loan modification. One of our California loan modification attorneys can help you negotiate your loan agreement with your mortgage company. The attorneys at the Feldman Law Center not only know the latest regulations regarding home loan modifications, but they are able to negotiate a more favorable contract with your lender than you would be able to do on your own. Some positive changes that can result from a loan modification include a lower interest rate on your mortgage, forgiveness of some of the amount you owe, stabilization of an adjustable rate mortgage, negotiation of lower monthly payments, and more.

Not only can the above things result from enlisting the help of a home loan modification attorney, but you can also avoid the expense and time that a bankruptcy would entail. A loan modification will not adversely affect your credit report like a bankruptcy will, and you can stay in your house and retain the money that you’ve already paid towards your mortgage. An attorney at the Feldman Law Center can help you get these results more quickly than you could do on your own, and can save you the hassle of filing for bankruptcy. Contact us today for your free consultation.

About Feldman Law Center
The Feldman Law Center was founded for the purpose of negotiating mortgage loan modifications on behalf of their clients. These negotiations have two major goals; to reduce monthly mortgage payments to a level of affordability for the homeowner and to either stop  foreclosure proceedings. The mission at The Feldman Law Center is to provide the highest level of professional service while delivering the best possible result on each mortgage loan modification we negotiate on the behalf of the families we represent.

Having negotiated over 500 attorney driven loan modifications, we realize that each homeowner’s situation is unique and that each modification may require a different approach than the one before it. To that end, we can always call on our 25 years of negotiating, knowledge, and real estate experience to provide the most optimal solutions for each family’s situation. While we are negotiating your mortgage loan modification with your lenders our friendly and compassionate team will keep you updated all the way on how the process is advancing.

The people at The Feldman Law Center completely understand the stress of being behind in your monthly payments and the sleepless nights that can be brought on by an impending foreclosure. Rest assured that we will stand with you all the way through the loan modification process and that we are driven to get the best outcome possible for you and your family. If you are struggling with your monthly payments and worried about the threat of foreclosure, we can help. Call The Feldman Law Center today at 800-588-0425 or visit www.feldmanlawcenter.com.

Resources:

Feldman Law Center: Profile – Business Exchange

Press Release – The Feldman Law Center’s Code of Ethics and Practices

Loan Modification – Feldman Law Center

Feldman Law Center, Mission Viejo CA 92691

Feldman Law Center – The Cream Rises in Loan Modifications

Feldman Law Center – Ten Tips for a Successful Home Loan Modification

Feldman Law Center – Saving Thousands with a Loan Modification – Debt Settlement Combination

Feldman Law Center – Mission Viejo, CA, 92891 – Citysearch

Feldman Law Center – The New York Times gets it About Half Right

Feldmanlawcenter.com – Feldman Law Center Company News

Feldman Law Center

Feldman Law Center Trulia Profile

At the Feldman Law Center, we have seen many homeowners wrestle with the difficult financial challenges facing everyone today.  However, it is not just homeowners who are wrestling with difficult financial circumstances.  Fortune 500 companies are declaring bankruptcy, banks are failing and even politicians are having a hard time selling their homes.  One amazing occurrence that the entire financial industry is paying attention to is how many commercial foreclosures and bankruptcies there are.

For example, in the first half of 2009, the bankruptcy and debt restructuring activity among major corporations increased 329 percent!  For major corporations, loan modifications are not an option, and they must handle their debts much differently.  The industries facing the highest number of bankruptcies include financial services, manufacturing and industrials, real estate and consumer retail.

Other signs of financial trauma include United States Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner having a hard time selling his home.  It was also reported that 1,200 businesses in Rhode Island were threatened with foreclosure for not paying their taxes.  That is not 100 businesses, but over 1,000 businesses could face foreclosure for allegedly not paying taxes.  It seems like there is just a smaller amount of money than ever before, and everyone is trying to get what they can.  State governments are fighting city governments, large corporations are fighting small businesses and the average homeowner is trying to keep their home out of the foreclosure process.

As mentioned earlier, General Motors can’t just call a loan modification attorney and try to get a loan modification for all of their manufacturing plants.  However, a homeowner can do just that, and save himself or herself the pain and embarrassment of a foreclosure.  A mortgage loan modification is an agreement between the borrower and the lender to renegotiate the terms of a home mortgage loan.  A home loan modification could change the interest rate, eliminate late fees and penalties, adjust the length of the loan and much more.

Another major asset in the loan modification process is a loan modification attorney.  A loan modification attorney can offer a specialized skill which is incredibly valuable to anyone looking for a great loan modification.  A loan modification can provide excellent advice and counsel, as well as a particular skill in negotiating a home loan modification.  Negotiating with lenders can be trick, and even in a difficult financial time like we are in now, banks and mortgages companies do not want to give up too much.  Banks will take advantage of every situation they can, but with a California loan modification attorney on your side, you can have a highly trained professional representing you.

If you are in a difficult financial circumstance, you can comfort yourself with the knowledge that you do not have the debt problems that a large corporation has and you have many more options as well.  A loan modification attorney can help you get the best mortgage loan modification possible and help you stay in your home for the long term.

Visit Feldman Law Center at http://www.feldmanlawcenter.com or call 800-588-0425.

About Feldman Law Center
The Feldman Law Center was founded for the purpose of negotiating loan modifications on behalf of their clients. These negotiations have two major goals; to reduce monthly mortgage payments to a level of affordability for the homeowner and to either stop or avoid foreclosure proceedings. The mission at The Feldman Law Center is to provide the highest level of professional service while delivering the best possible result on each loan modification we negotiate on the behalf of the families we represent.

Having negotiated over 500 attorney driven loan modifications, we realize that each homeowner’s situation is unique and that each modification may require a different approach than the one before it. To that end, we can always call on our 25 years of negotiating, knowledge, and real estate experience to provide the most optimal solutions for each family’s situation. While we are negotiating your loan modification with your lenders our friendly and compassionate team will keep you updated all the way on how the process is advancing.

The people at The Feldman Law Center completely understand the stress of being behind in your monthly payments and the sleepless nights that can be brought on by an impending foreclosure. Rest assured that we will stand with you all the way through the loan modification process and that we are driven to get the best outcome possible for you and your family. If you are struggling with your monthly payments and worried about the threat of foreclosure, we can help. Call The Feldman Law Center today at 800-588-0425.

Resources:
Feldman Law Center: Profile – Business Exchange

Press Release – The Feldman Law Center’s Code of Ethics and Practices

Loan Modification – Feldman Law Center

Feldman Law Center, Mission Viejo CA 92691

Feldman Law Center – The Cream Rises in Loan Modifications

Feldman Law Center – Ten Tips for a Successful Home Loan Modification

Feldman Law Center – Saving Thousands with a Loan Modification – Debt Settlement Combination

Feldman Law Center – Mission Viejo, CA, 92891 – Citysearch

Feldman Law Center – The New York Times gets it About Half Right

Feldmanlawcenter.com – Feldman Law Center Company News

Feldman Law Center

Feldman Law Center Trulia Profile

Feldman Law Center – News by Feldman Law Center — As the foreclosure backlog grows, a new class of American homeowners as described by a recent article in the Washington Post is growing by the month. These are homeowners that have fallen into a financial limbo where they are badly behind on payments, but their lenders have not yet foreclosed on the home. “I have even begged them for a foreclosure,” delinquent mortgage-holder Charlotte Jensen said. Behind on payments and not willing to wait for an eviction notice, she filed for bankruptcy, and left the home. Nearly a year later, still with no further payments, Bank of America has yet to take back the home.


The total of the backlog is estimated at one million borrowers, sits on top of the one million foreclosure actions that had been taken this year through May. It presents a major obstacle for any kind of rebound or stability in the country’s hard hit real estate markets. It’s also an obstacle than can drive the market lower and then keep it there indefinitely. Banks are currently doing the best they can not to flood the market with foreclosures but each sale, when one occurs, is counted as a “comp” for appraisal purposes. Everything similar gets indexed to the comp until the next sells at a lower price. For evidence of properties being kept off of the market one need only look at one of highest foreclosure states in the country. California had 111,000 foreclosed properties which could have gone to auction in May. Of that number, only 17,000 went to auction and only 2,000 sold. If those kinds of numbers repeat for just a few months, the state will have a backlog that will take years to unwind. Properties that aren’t sold on the way down would most likely be sold as prices stabilize or start to bounce back, which would mute any recovery.
“Lenders are having an immensely difficult time handling the capacity. They are torn between loan modification, short sales, foreclosures, and they are finding they can’t do all these things at once, and do them well, so we’re seeing a lot of things falling through the cracks,” said Howard Glaser, a housing industry consultant and a housing official during the Clinton administration.
Mortgage lenders and investors in that scenario would be looking at more losses as a result of the mortgage crisis. “It just means foreclosure rates are going to keep rising,” said Patrick Newport, an economist for IHS Global Insight. Without an end to the downward spiral in prices any kind of meaningful recovery in the economy will be impossible.


Another issue is the growing conflict of interest between mortgage investors and the companies that service the loans for them. In many cases, what is good for the servicers is bad for the investors and vice versa. For instance, in a home loan modification versus foreclosure situation, the servicer will favor the modification because it keeps payments and fees they can charge on them alive. The mortgage investors, seeing the potential for a decrease in cash flow as a result of the modification, will favor foreclosure as a means of getting their money out of the deal. The resulting stalemate can cause a house to sit in limbo while the servicers and lenders decide a course of action. For the homeowners in the situation, the stalemate can be beneficial as it allows them to stay in the house but the stress of knowing that an eviction can come at any time is tough to deal with.


While some of the backlog reflects the inability of lenders to keep up with the sheer volume of delinquent properties, another reason is an intentional slowdown in the pace of foreclosures as government and industry try to work with borrowers who want to stay in their homes. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-run mortgage financing companies, put a temporary moratorium on foreclosures late last year, some states imposed moratoriums, and many of the country’s largest lenders voluntarily participated as well. The extra time gave lenders time to see how the guidelines of the Obama Administration’s “Making Home Affordable” would work and which borrowers could be helped by modifying their current mortgages under the plan. Many of those moratoriums started expiring at the end of the first quarter of this year, and foreclosures have been setting records on a monthly basis since then.


With potentially millions of foreclosed homes on the market and more coming every day, Prices have been hit across the country. The prices for existing homes fell another 16% in May versus the prices one year prior.  The growing backlog of homes in limbo indicates that foreclosure rates are likely to increase dramatically during the second half of this year and into 2010. Some estimates are calling for foreclosures to reach 2.4 million by year end. Bob Bellack, chairman of Zetabid, which auctions foreclosed properties, said “Prices will fall to the point where you have equilibrium, and it won’t reach that until there is no longer this foreclosure overhang.”
Financial firms that carry mortgages or mortgage-backed securities on their books are scrambling to stem past and anticipated losses with any means possible. Whether a sign of desperation or not, mortgage investors have thrown their support behind  the Hope for Homeowners plan, a leftover from the Bush Administration which was considered an absolute flop the first time around. Intended to help over 400,000 homeowners at its outset, the plan originated only one loan. If the economy doesn’t turn, and without some sort of government assistance, continued foreclosures will result in continuing rounds of losses for investors.
Being in limbo has allowed some homeowners the time to save money while not making mortgage payments and take action through the home loan modification process to save their homes from foreclosure. In general, however, statistics don’t bode well for homeowners once they start missing payments. According to a March report from NeighborWorks America, a large housing counseling group, 60 percent of homeowners go into foreclosure after missing more than four payments.


Normal protocol is for the foreclosure process to start after the third payment has been missed but now it’s common for a foreclosure process to take nine months or more to get started, said Guy Cecala, publisher of Inside Mortgage Finance. “No one is in a rush, lender-wise, to deal with the property,” he said. “If you have to sell at a loss, why rush?”


Another protocol has lenders writing down the value of the home six months after an owner stops making payments, but the total loss is not recorded until the property is sold in foreclosure, said Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody’s Economy.com. “Some may feel that the property is worth more than the market can bear at this time, and they are willing to wait until the market improves”, he said. “They don’t want to sell it into a completely depressed market.”
The typical foreclosure process varies by state and has been slowed down by the constant incoming volume. The timeline of the process is also dependent on who actually owns the mortgage and whether a bankruptcy has been filed by the homeowner. One of the biggest issues in the process now is that the phase preceding eviction, sale at auction, isn’t happening. Lenders, considering their workload and the costs of each foreclosure, aren’t eager to start a process which isn’t likely to be seen through to completion so limbo is the next best option.
“During that period, where the property is in limbo, until there has been a sale of the property, the homeowner is still the owner, technically,” said John Rao of the National Consumer Law Center. Despite being seriously delinquent, homeowners can apply for a home loan modification to stay in their homes, even if they were turned down previously. Success after being turned down can be achieved if the homeowner has been hired into a new job, is generating more income, and/or by hiring legal representation to renegotiate the terms of the existing mortgage. The odds of approval are also increasing due to lenders’ reluctance toward taking more properties into foreclosure. Whatever they may have thought about home loan modifications before, at this point they’re a better option than either foreclosure or sitting in limbo.

About Feldman Law Center
The Feldman Law Center is one of California’s top loan modification companies, providing excellent service to our clients and is completely focused on keeping everyone one of our clients in their homes.  Our loan modification experts work tirelessly to provide every homeowner we work with the information, guidance and support they need to modify their mortgages and keep the homes they’ve worked to buy.


About Loan Modifications
If you’re unfamiliar with what a loan modification is, a mortgage loan modification is quite possibly the most effective tool you can utilize if you are behind on your mortgage, and are in the midst of a financial  hardship, in order to save your home from interesting foreclosure.  A loan modification is literally is a process where the terms of a mortgage are modified outside the original terms of the contract agreed to by the lender and borrower (i.e mortgagor and mortgagee). In general, any loan can be modified.  The Feldman Law Center knows every law in California (and the country) that may be able to keep you in your home.  Lenders would rather renegotiate the terms of your loan, and possibly even negotiate a principle reduction, than let the house go into foreclosure.
With years of experience negotiating with lenders, as well as years of experience keeping people in their homes, the Feldman Law Center is one of the most experienced loan modification firms in all of California.

Visit www.feldmanlawcenter.com or call 800-527-8497 for more information about California loan modifications.

Feldman Law Center: Profile – Business Exchange
Feldman Law Center
Loan Modification – Feldman Law Center
Feldman Law Center, Mission Viejo CA 92691