Top News, Week of Dec 7th, 2009

The Nation's Housing. In trouble and thinking about a short sale? Help is on the way.
By Kenneth R. Harney
Saturday, December 12, 2009
If you're in trouble on your mortgage and can't get a loan modification, check out the Obama administration's new standardized short-sale plan that's scheduled to roll out during the next several months. The program, outlined Dec. 1 by the Treasury Department, is an attempt to streamline what has traditionally been a contentious, time-consuming process by requiring lenders and others to use nationally uniform documents, timelines and financial incentives...

Short sale plan should standardize, quicken the process
By Kenneth R. Harney, Special to the Times
In Print: Saturday, December 12, 2009
Short sale plan should help standardize, quicken process. WASHINGTON — If you're in trouble on your mortgage and can't get a loan modification, check out the Obama administration's standardized short sale plan that's scheduled to roll out during the coming months. The program, outlined Dec. 1 by the Treasury Department, is an attempt to streamline what has been a contentious, time-consuming process by requiring lenders and others to use nationally uniform documents, time lines and financial incentives.

Standardized short-sale plan may relieve big headache
By Kenneth R. Harney Syndicated columnist, The Seattle Times
WASHINGTON — If you're in trouble on your mortgage and can't get a loan modification, check out the Obama administration's new standardized short-sale plan scheduled to roll out during the coming months. The program, outlined Dec. 1 by the Treasury Department, is an attempt to streamline what has been a contentious, time-consuming process by requiring lenders and others to use nationally uniform documents, timelines and financial incentives.

Ginnie Mae enables the firms to issue more taxpayer-backed loans
By Brian Grow and Zachary A. Goldfarb Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, December 10, 2009
The trouble signs surrounding Lend America had been building for years. A top executive was convicted of mortgage fraud but still helped run the company. Home loans made by its headquarters were defaulting at an extremely high rate. Federal prosecutors alleged in a civil suit that the company falsified loan documents and committed fraud.

JUST 4 PERCENT IN FINAL STAGE
Thousands now risk losing mortgage help
By Renae Merle
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, December 11, 2009
The government's foreclosure relief program is sputtering, according to government data released Thursday showing that the pace of help being offered to struggling homeowners slowed last month and many borrowers are at risk of losing the aid they have already received.

Lawmakers growing frustrated with mortgage-relief failures
By Renae Merle
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, December 9, 2009 Most of the struggling homeowners who have enrolled in the Obama administration's marquee mortgage-relief program still haven't proved they qualify for help, illustrating lingering weakness in the effort to aid distressed borrowers. About 70 percent of the borrowers who have signed up for the program, called Making Home Affordable, have yet to provide adequate documentation, and many homeowners continue to struggle even after their mortgage payments are lowered, industry and government officials told the House Financial Services Committee on Tuesday.

Top Updates: Week of Dec 30th, 2009

An attempt to open banks' doors to all

By Michelle Singletary
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Millions of Americans -- 60 million, in fact -- conduct their day-to-day financial business outside the banking system, leaving many to be preyed upon by payday-loan companies, rent-to-own establishments and other non-bank institutions.

Quarter of borrowers in anti-foreclosure plan are behind
Delinquencies worry some; other experts say it's too early to judge
By Renae Merle
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, December 5, 2009
About 25 percent of borrowers helped under the administration's massive foreclosure prevention plan have already fallen behind on their new mortgage payments, according to government data that raise new questions about the program's effectiveness.

ECONOMICS AND MORTGAGE MARKET ANALYSIS
By Fannie Mae
Housing Forecast: November 2009

Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives Program (HAFA)

The U.S. Treasury Department announced new guidelines this week designed to make short sales go more smoothly. To qualify under these new guidelines:
* The property must be the home owner’s principal residence.
* The home owner must be delinquent on the mortgage or close to defaulting.
* The loan must have been made before Jan. 1, 2009, and be for less than $729,750.
* The borrowers’ total monthly mortgage payment must exceed 31 percent of their before-tax income.
Under the plan, borrowers will receive $1,500 from the government for selling homes for less than the amount of their mortgages. Mortgage-servicing companies will get $1,000 for each completed short sale.
Second-mortgage holders can receive up to $3,000 of the sales proceeds in exchange for releasing their liens.
Investors who hold the first mortgage can collect up to $1,000 from the government for allowing the payments. Borrowers who complete a short sale under the program must be "fully released" from future liability for the debt, according to the guidelines.

Short Sale Reforms Receive Mixed Reviews
By: Brittany Dunn, DSNEWS.com
As DSNews.com reported earlier this week, the U.S. Treasury Department announced new guidelines to the short sale process on Monday in hopes of speeding up the recovery of the housing market. Occurring when a lender accepts the sale of a home at a price below the actual amount owed, short sales have become a growing part of the real estate business as troubled homeowners seek out alternatives to foreclosure.

Government unveils new short-sale rules
By J.W. Elphinstone
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Tucson, Arizona Published: 12.03.2009
The Treasury Department unveiled sweeping rules this week to help financially troubled homeowners who need to sell but can't get a price high enough to pay off their mortgages. Homeowners will even get $1,500 to help cover their moving costs.
The plan is designed to help homeowners who don't have the income or debt levels to qualify for a loan modification under the Obama administration's $75 billion Making Home Affordable program. The plan establishes timelines, a standard process and documents, and cash incentives for participation.

Press Releases from MakingHomeAffordable.gov
Read New Articlies here
Servicer Performance Report through October 2009

Government Will Provide Financial Incentives To Encourage Short Sales
Wednesday, December 02, 2009
Written by: Jon Prior , HousingWire.com
The US Treasury Department has announced plans to launch a foreclosure program aimed at encouraging borrowers, servicers and investors, to pursue short sales. Scheduled to launch in April 2010, the Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives Program (HAFA) will offer up to $3,500 in incentive payments to qualified borrowers, servicers and investors who complete short sale transactions for properties with loans on the verge of foreclosure.

Weekly Updates from Making Home Affordable
This site provides mortgage servicers with the information and tools needed to participate in the Obama Administration's Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) and other program updates related to the Making Home Affordable (MHA) Program.
December 2, 2009
HAMP Update - Q4 2009 Base NPV Model Documentation Supplement Now Available

Short Sale Incentives Coming in 2010, Treasury Says
By JON PRIOR
December 1, 2009 10:38 AM CST
As HousingWire first reported, the US Treasury Department will launch the Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives Program (HAFA) in 2010.

Guidelines Aim to Ease Short Sales
By RUTH SIMON , Wall Street Journal
December 1, 2009
The Obama administration laid out final guidelines on Monday that should make it easier for some financially troubled borrowers to sell their homes.
The guidelines are designed to encourage the use of short sales, transactions in which the borrower with lender approval sells the home for less than what is owed on the loan. The program also makes it easier for borrowers to voluntarily transfer ownership of properties through a "deed in lieu of foreclosure."

On November 30, 2009, the Treasury Department released guidelines and forms for its new Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives Program (HAFA).
by Realtor.org
HAFA is part of the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP). HAFA provides incentives in connection with a short sale or a deed-in-lieu of foreclosure (DIL) used to avoid foreclosure on a loan eligible for modification under the HAMP program. HAFA applies to loans not owned or guaranteed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, which will issue their own versions of HAFA in coming weeks.
HAFA is a complex program, with 43 pages of guidelines and forms, designed to simplify and streamline use of short sales and deeds-in-lieu of foreclosure. HAFA:
Complements HAMP by providing a viable alternative for borrowers (the current homeowners) who are HAMP eligible but nevertheless unable to keep their home.
Uses borrower financial and hardship information already collected in connection with consideration of a loan modification.
Allows borrowers to receive pre-approved short sales terms before listing the property (including the minimum acceptable net proceeds).
Prohibits the servicers from requiring a reduction in the real estate commission agreed upon in the listing agreement (up to 6 percent).
Requires borrowers to be fully released from future liability for the first mortgage debt (no cash contribution, promissory note, or deficiency judgment is allowed).
Uses standard processes, documents, and timeframes/deadlines.
Provides financial incentives: $1,500 for borrower relocation assistance; $1,000 for servicers to cover administrative and processing costs; and up to $1,000 for investors for allowing a total of up to $3,000 in short sale proceeds to be distributed to subordinate lien holders (on a one-for-three matching basis).
The program does not take effect until April 5, 2010, but servicers may implement it before then if they meet certain requirements. The program sunsets on December 31, 2012.

Introduction of Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives – Short Sale and Deed-in-Lieu of Foreclosure
Making Home Affordable
November 30, 2009
Help for America's Home Owners
Supplemental Directive 09-09

HAMP Update – New Program Offers Borrowers Foreclosure Alternatives
Making Home Affordable
November 30, 2009
Help for America's Homeowners
Supplemental Directive 09-09: Introduction of Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives – Short Sale and Deed-in-Lieu of Foreclosure was published

Weekly News Review

Fannie Mae to tighten lending standards
Banks will demand higher credit scores, lower borrower debt
By Dina ElBoghdady
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Fannie Mae, the giant mortgage finance company that helps shape lending guidelines, plans next month to raise minimum credit score requirements and limit the amount of overall debt that borrowers can carry relative to their incomes.

New economic numbers offer modest hope
SPENDING, INCOME RISE
New jobless claims reach 14-month low
By Neil Irwin and Dana Hedgpeth
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, November 26, 2009
A new round of economic data released Wednesday offers evidence that the economic expansion has continued through the latter part of the year but raises questions about the strength of the industrial sector in the months ahead.

New-home sales rise as supply starts to wane
October figures for U.S. get boost from South; other regions suffer
By Dina ElBoghdady
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Sales of newly built homes rose to the highest level in more than a year while the supply of these homes dropped to new lows, according to government data released Wednesday.

American Capital nears agreement with all its lenders on debt restructuring
Bethesda firm scrambling to avoid bankruptcy
By Thomas Heath
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, November 28, 2009
American Capital, a key financial player in the Washington region for decades, said it has reached agreements with lenders on 95 percent of its loans in an attempt to avert bankruptcy, the company said in a regulatory filing Friday.

The Washington Post Articles

2.8% drop in lending is largest since 1984
Reduction, especially by large banks, seen as impediment to recovery
By Binyamin Appelbaum
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Lending by U.S. banks plunged by 2.8 percent in the third quarter, the largest drop since at least 1984 and the fifth consecutive quarter in which banks have reduced lending, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. reported Tuesday.

Economy limping back to strength

'SLOW-MOTION RECOVERY'Fed: Return to normal may take 5 or 6 years
By Neil Irwin and Renae Merle
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
The unemployment rate will remain elevated for years to come, according to a forecast released Tuesday by the Federal Reserve that addresses for the first time economic conditions at the time of the next presidential election.

Metro News

Fairfax County Sales Still Down from Last Year

By Julia O'Donoghue
Wednesday, October 07, 2009

Fairfax County retail sales in June 2009 declined significantly from the same month the previous year, according to Fairfax County’s Department of Management and Budget newsletter in September. Virginia distributed about $13 million in sales tax receipts to Fairfax County this past August. That sales tax revenue, which reflects retail purchases at county stores in June, has dropped off by 10 percent from the same time period in 2008. One percent of all sales tax collected in Fairfax goes to fund the public school system. In September, Fairfax County Chairman Sharon Bulova (D-At-large) and Supervisor Patrick Herrity (R-Springfield) announced intentions to start a "Buy Fairfax" campaign, to encourage residents to make purchases at local stores and shops. Shopping in Fairfax’s retail shops, as opposed to online or in another locality, is better for the community, said Herrity.Some of the local sales tax not only goes to funding public schools but shopping at local businesses also helps retain jobs in the county during a difficult economic period, he said.

MCA Approves Three ProjectsVinson Hall expansion, organic food market, storage facility all head to Planning Commission.
By Mike DiCicco
Wednesday, November 11, 2009

On Wednesday, Nov. 4, the board of the McLean Citizens Association approved three projects proposed for the McLean area.Vinson Hall Retirement Community agreed to downsize and alter its proposed expansion, although the facility already had approval to build more units than it had been asking for. The expansion has been debated since the facility filed last year for a plan amendment that would allow it to expand from its current 169 independent living units to 350 units over several years. Currently, up to 276 independent living units are allowed on the site, along with the facility’s 49 assisted living units and 21 nursing beds...

Home sales rebound to early-2007 level

DOUBTS ABOUT RALLY LASTINGMarket still propped up by tax credits

By Dina ElBoghdady
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Economists and policymakers got what they were looking for Monday: a clear uptick in the housing market. The catch is, few believe it's sustainable.
The National Association of Realtors reported that sales of existing single-family homes, townhomes and condominiums in October surged to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.1 million units from 5.54 million in September -- making last month the strongest since February 2007. Sales were up 23.5 percent from last October.
Every piece of housing data is scrutinized these days because it was primarily the housing market that derailed the U.S. economy, and its recovery is key to restoring economic vitality.

Video: October home sales rise 10.1 percent from Sept.
Home sales far exceeded expectations last month, surging to the highest level in 2.5 years as first-time buyers rushed to take advantage of an expiring tax credit.(Nov. 23) (The Associated Press).