Loss Mit Services

Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act Extended for 2017

Posted on 10. Feb, 2018 by ctlms in My Blog, Real Estate, Short Sale

The IRS tax exemption that many homeowners used to avoid takes from a short sale or other mortgage debt forgiveness has been retroactively extended to cover 2017.

This exemption was originally signed into law in 2007 and has expired and been extended a few times over the past several years. The last few times it was extended, it was near the end of the year after it had expired.  In those instances, it was made retroactive to cover the current year and was signed into law in Dec of that year.  The last time it was extended was in Dec 2015 and covered 2015 and 2016.

In 2017 the law was not extended at any time during the year and Jan 1 2018 came without any extension being signed into law.  On Feb 9 2018, as part of the bill signed into law to end the 2nd Government shut down of the year, this tax exemption law was extended to retroactively cover 2017.  It still does not cover 2018.

So what does this mean?

Any homeowner who had debt forgiven from a "Purchase Money Mortgage" on their "Primary Residence" in 2017 can use this exemption to completely avoid any of that debt forgiveness from being added to their ordinary income and taxed.  This exemption does not cover all mortgage debt forgiveness though.  If the property was not your primary residence for 2 of the last 5 years or the mortgage debt was a cash out refinance, you would not qualify.  But still, many more homeowners will benefit from this extension.

More about this exemption can be found at this link to the IRS website. https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/home-foreclosure-and-debt-cancellation

Link to Bill https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/1892/text#toc-H418A9EDBCCA64DE7B5B9827C4973A1EA

Link to notice on IRS website https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/three-popular-tax-benefits-retroactively-renewed-for-2017-irs-ready-to-accept-returns-claiming-these-benefits-e-file-for-fastest-refunds

Sean Wilder

Loss Mit Services

Who owns your mortgage? Probably not your bank!

Posted on 02. Jun, 2017 by ctlms in Blog, Foreclosures, My Blog, News, Real Estate, Short Sale, foreclosure

Who owns your mortgage?  And Why does a Short Sale Take So Long?

Many homeowners I speak with do not understand how the mortgage industry works and the players involved.  So let's talk about it.

Let's start with a typical mortgage origination scenario.

1. A Home-buyer goes to ABC Bank and applies for a mortgage. For this example, let's say it is a conventional mortgage.

2. ABC bank is a large, regional or national bank.  They underwrite that loan so that it meets Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac standards. This makes it possible for them to sell the loan to Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac or some other Secondary Market Investor, after the loan is originated.

3. The loan is approved and closes.  ABC Bank takes their own money, or money they have borrowed, and lends it to the Home-buyer.  They charge him an Origination fee for creating the mortgage.

4. ABC Bank then turns around and sells that loan to a Secondary Market Investor, and hopes to keep the Servicing Rights.  That means, they still send the new Borrower their monthly bill and collect the payments, etc.  For this, they get paid a monthly servicing fee.

But now ABC Bank has that money back that they loaned out.  So they are able to do this same activity over and over and over collecting more and more Origination Fees and Servicing Fees.  This is how most Mortgage Companies make money on mortgages.

So now the loan is seriviced by ABC Bank, but even though they originated it, they no longer own it.  The new owner of that loan is called The Investor.  If that loan needed mortgage insurance, there is also a Mortgage Insurer involved with that mortgage.

So this leads me to the following question that I get all the time... "Why do the banks take so long to review a short sale and make a decision?  Don't they want to get this resolved asap?" The answer is that they don't necessarily want it to be resolved asap.  That is because there is a conflict of interests between the Servicer and the Investor.  The Investor is the one losing the money, and possibly the Mortgage Insurer.  So they have an interest in potentially resolving a delinquent loan sooner rather than later.  But the Mortgage Servicer is being PAID every month to service that loan.  Once that loan is closed out, that income will stop.  So the Servicer does not have an incentive to make the process fast and efficient.  So long as the Investor on the loan is not unhappy with their current timelines and servicing of the loan, then the bank has no incentive to spend money to better train their staff, streamline the process, or hire more staff to handle to volume of files they have to review.  So nothing changes for the better, even so many years after the initial downturn that caused the real estate crisis to start.

Sean Wilder

Loss Mit Services

Beware the Vacant Short Sale

Posted on 26. May, 2017 by ctlms in Blog, Foreclosures, My Blog, News, Real Estate, Short Sale, foreclosure

What to look out for with a vacant short sale.

There are things to look out for when your short sale is a vacant house.  There are processes the lender will take that the seller and agent should be aware of.

The vast majority of the short sales we negotiate are on mortgages that are no longer current on payments.  Once the loan is delinquent the mortgage servicer is going to start certain processes that they are required to do.  Collection calls and letters are obvious actions they will be taking.  Eventually they will also start "soliciting" the borrower to apply for assistance.  This means sending them an application package and encouraging them to complete it and send it back to be reviewed for a loan mod and other options.

Vacant Properties have their own concerns.

Another process the servicer is going to do is to start checking on the property.  Somewhere within the first 90 days the bank is going to send a property preservation contractor to the property to see if it looks like it is occupied, being maintained, or vacant.  If the property is occupied, you may hear from the homeowner that they saw someone walking on the property or taking photos.  They may even peek in the windows.  This contractor is looking to see if the property is abandoned and they are taking photos for the report that they have to submit.

If the property looks vacant, the contractor will usually leave a door hanger or put a stick on the door that says something like "This property is believe to be abandoned.  If this is not the case, call you lender immediately at 555-555-5555".  If the property is not vacant, the homeowner will want to call and let the bank know that is not.  If the property is vacant and the homeowner is maintaining it and checking on it, they would want to let the bank know that also.

If it is Vacant, expect it to be Secured.

If the property is vacant, even if the homeowner is maintaining it, expect that the bank will "Secure" it.  Secure it means breaking in, changing the locks on at least one door, and usually winterizing it.  Even in warm weather months, it is not uncommon for them to still winterize it.  The lender has the right to secure the asset that is collateral on the loan against damage or loss of value.  So they will do that.  Their concerns are things like burst pipes and water damage in the cold months.  But even in the warm months, vandalism and damage due to stolen copper pipes are concerns.

So do not be surprised to show up at the property to find the locks changed and either no lock box or a different lock box than the one the agent left at the property.  Typically the agent's lock box will be found inside on the floor, still attached the the door handle that was removed and replaced.  Even if there is a real estate sign in the yard, it is not common for the preservation company to call the agent to ask about the occupancy or let them know they will be securing it, though it does happen sometimes.

The bank cannot lock out the homeowner.  So we or the homeowner are able to get the new lock box code or a copy of the keys.  The main reason they changed the locks was so that the preservation contractor has access to the property for routine checkups on the property in the future, without having to break in again.

Beware the Preservation Contractor!

The companies that are hired for the property preservation work are not licensed, or regulated in CT and many other states.  Many of these companies subcontract out the inspections and actual securing of the property.  There is little to no oversight or accountability.  Due to these facts, some of the shadiest people you will meet are involved here.  I have seen many instances of theft, vandalism, and shady actions by these companies.  I have seen properties secured that were obviously occupied.  Only for the occupant to come home and not be able to get in.  I have seen MANY things stolen.  I have seen utilities turned off in the middle of winter, but no water drained from the pipes.  I have seen doors and windows left wide open, presumably for someone else to come back after dark to steal from the house.

So what to do?

For the homeowner: If the property is vacated by the homeowner and the payments are not being made, they should move out all of their belongings.  Do not consider the property to be a good place to store belongings until closing.  Things will disappear once the property is secured and if they call the Police they will be told this is a civil matter, not criminal.  The bank has no accountability or oversight over these companies and does not care about any of this.

If you see that the property has been secured, check it out.  Did they turn everything off?  Did they drain the water?  Their incompetence may have put the property at further risk of damage, rather than reduced the chances as the banks intend.

For the agent: If the agent sees a sticker on the property or gets a call from a company that says they are going to secure the property, I would either remove the lock box or try to put it somewhere other than the door handle that would be changed if they changed the locks.  No one likes losing a lock box, especially the electronic ones.

This is all something to be aware of and keep in mind when dealing with vacant properties and delinquent mortgages.

Sean Wilder

Loss Mit Services