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About Teresa
Teresa Turner, Realtor & Broker, with The Teresa Turner Realty Group at Keller Williams Town & Country Realty, is one of the most established and respected names in NW Florida Real Estate with 25+ years of experience in Residential Real Estate. Over that time, she has developed a superior pipeline of connections and is the go-to person for getting results in Residential Real Estate. She understands and cares for people and is excellent at coming up with unique marketing strategies to solve complex problems and get homes sold. She keeps your personal information confidential and considers discretion to be her duty in dealing with your real estate situation. Teresa maintains a strong work ethic and is committed to building relationships based on trust and integrity. She is a Real Person with Real Solutions to your real estate needs.
Tag Archives: short sales tallahassee
Obama Administration Announces Changes to HAMP
The Obama administration has announced changes to its flagship foreclosure prevention initiative – the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP). Among the changes, borrowers who are struggling because of debt beyond their mortgage will be eligible for a secondary evaluation with more flexible debt-to-income criteria, and eligibility will be extended to investor-owned homes that are used as rental properties. The administration is also giving principal reductions a bigger role within the program, tripling incentives for investors that agree to write down an underwater borrower’s principal balance and offering these same incentives to the nation’s two biggest mortgage investors – Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Here’s more detail…
Expansion of eligibility: HAMP was designed to bring the debt ratio of mortgage borrowers down to 31% of their incomes. Those whose mortgage payments were already below that level had been ineligible for a modification. They may qualify now. The new guidelines will allow for a more flexible approach that takes other debt into account when calculating debt-to-income ratios.
Extension of eligibility to owners of rental properties: The old HAMP rules applied solely to owner-occupied homes, but now those who own rental properties may also qualifyfor a HAMP modification.
Triple-balance-reduction incentives: The new HAMP will pay between 18 cents and 63 cents for every dollar that lenders take off the mortgage principal, up from between 6 cents and 21 cents.
Pay Fannie and Freddie the same incentives: Currently, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac do not offer principal reduction plans as part of their HAMP modifications. To encourage this assistance,Treasury said it will pay the same principal reduction incentives to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, if they allow servicers to forgive principal in conjunction witha HAMP modification.
Read the entire article from CNN Money at: http://cnnmon.ie/yg7ZTF
If you are facing foreclosure, you should consider this option which is more flexible than prior versions of HAMP. If this doesn’t work for you then consider a short sale. Help is available at Teresa Turner Realty Group.
Foreclosures are endangering people’s health!
Many homeowners in financial distress are now numb to all the talk about saving their credit or saving face by walking away from their homes, but there’s another twist to all this…Foreclosures are endangering people’s health!
That’s right, “sell or get sick”. A recent study in Philadelphia showed foreclosure stress leading to 41.3% of those in foreclosure having high blood pressure, a number approaching 10% for those suffering strokes of related issues like heart attacks and kidney disease rising 2.2% for those fearing losing their homes on top of diabetes issues and depression in general.
This financial downturn is really taking a toll on people’s lives and their health. If you are experiencing too much stress from financial issues, it’s important to take care of yourself by exercising daily, eating healthy, not drinking too much, staying grounded through your faith, and keeping a network of family and friends who support you. It’s not easy, but you will get through this.
Update! State of Florida’s Foreclosure Mediation Program Ends
This information was just released…
Florida’s statewide managed mediation program for residential mortgage foreclosures is finished. Florida Supreme Court Chief Justice Charles Canady signed an administrative order on Monday, December 19th, 2011, terminating the 2-year old program. This follows a panel recommendation in October that Florida’s 20 judicial circuits should, instead, be allowed to set up local programs.
The Florida Supreme Court ordered the mediation program last year. It was designed to help clear foreclosure cases that have clogged Florida’s courts in recent years. Canady appointed the workgroup in September to determine if the program was working. However, Canady said reports suggest it didn’t work as well as hoped, and the courts could no longer justify the system.
The panel cited several problems, including economic incentives for lenders not to settle cases. According to some homeowners facing foreclosure, lenders did not take the process seriously.
Foreclosures already in the mediation process will continue on that path as they work their way through the system. New foreclosure cases, however, will not be referred to mediation.
Information provided by The Tallahassee Democrat and Florida Realtors®
Do You Know Who Really Owns Your Mortgage Loan?
Most people know who the servicer is for their loan because that’s who you make your mortgage payment to each month. But many banks are just servicers for the investors. The best way to get this information is to send a letter called a “Qualified Written Request or QWR”.
Under the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (or RESPA), borrowers may request certain information from their servicers. Most servicers will acknowledge this request within twenty (20) days and comply with the request within sixty (60) days. During the 60 days while the servicer is preparing the info, the lender may not report overdue payments to the credit bureaus. Information requested can include: payment and escrow amounts and history, other charges and expenses billed to the borrower and who the current holder of the note and mortgage is, as well as the transfer history.
You may be surprised to know who the investor is on your loan. Mortgage Notes are being sold frequently these days and sometimes to private investors in your own community!
Is the place you want to rent in foreclosure?
In representing bank owned properties, one of the unpleasant tasks I handle is to confirm occupancy on a property that has been recently foreclosed on. Almost every time I check on the property, there is someone living there and they are usually surprised to see me. They are usually leasing the property and paying rent and had no idea that the property was in foreclosure. It’s very upsetting to them and we have to work together towards a smooth transition.
In talking with the last tenant, she asked me how would she have known the house was in foreclosure? It got me to thinking that there are probably many more people like her out there who may be renting a place and need this information. Probably the easiest way to make sure that your landlord is current with their lender is to ask to see their latest loan statement. While a landlord may be reluctant to share this information, tell them that it’s justifiable for you to see it, given all the foreclosures on the market. You can also call the Homeowner’s Association and ask if your landlord is in good standing.
Another option is to do a search of the public records. You can do this by accessing the website of the clerk of the court in the county where the property is located and searching under your landlord’s name for any legal actions. If there is a Lis Pendens filed with your property address, then there is a good chance the property is in foreclosure. There is also a section on Foreclosures where the sale dates are posted. You can check this calender to see if your landlord and/or property is listed.
There are laws protecting a tenant’s rights to finish out their lease, even if the property is foreclosed on. You will need to document your lease and prove that it is valid by providing a written lease that is not expired and is signed by all the parties along with copies of your last five (5) rental payments.
