Mobile Home Loans and Manufactured Home Production topics.
Mobile Home owners often fail to see that the consequences of a foreclosure are very unlike those of a Manufactured Home short-sale. A short sale might be one great alternative deserving serious consideration.
How does the current Tax Credit work?
The current legislation grants a one-time credit of 10 percent of the home’s purchase price up to a maximum of $8000 to first time homebuyers or those buyers who have not owned a house in the last three years. Homebuyers can chose to claim the credit either retroactively on their 2008 return or on their 2009 obligation. If the buyer does not owe enough taxes to cover the credit the balance will be refunded to them in cash.
The new legislation is currently in front of the House Ways and Means Committee, the current First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit is very popular and could be extended beyond its current expiration date and greatly expanded. Congressman Coble’s is introducing the new legislation which would remove both the income restriction and the requirement that the home be a first-time purchase.
Around 13% of U.S. households with mortgages was in foreclosure or behind on its home loan payment during the second quarter of 2009, which puts added pressure on federal programs aimed at preventing foreclosures. However, foreclosures have slowed on the subprime loans that initially ignited the mortgage and banking crisis, loans extended to borrowers with good credit are deteriorating at a faster rate as falling home prices and mounting job losses effect more American households.
How can the situation to improve for the financial and real estate markets? There has been little reform of the housing finance system in this country. Fannie, Freddie, and the FHA still provide almost all finance for housing. Mortgage originators, the ones who make the borrower-by-borrower lending decisions, still retain absolutely no risk on the mortgages they originate. They still originate to sell, instead of selling to private investors, they sell to the government. The answer is in legislation.
According to The Daily Times, the manufactured home giant Clayton has plans to boost sales this year.
“We’re making this commitment: If someone buys a home and then loses their job because of the economic downturn, we will make payments on their home for three months,” said Kevin Clayton, president and CEO. “It won’t cost the buyer a dime.”
“We hope no Clayton homeowner ever needs this help, but we know by offering this benefit we can help ease some concerns and help more families become homeowners,” Clayton said.
The article reports that this program seems to have been manufactured with potential first-time home buyers in mind, who can also take advantage of the $8,000 tax credit passed as part of the Economic Recovery Act.
“Similar programs to help home buyers have given them a tax deduction, in effect reducing their taxable income,” said Clayton. “This program actually reduces the taxes they owe dollar for dollar over a three-year period. That’s a huge difference.”
The Daily Times reports that “Clayton’s Payment Protection Program, which will continue for 24 months, is applicable for new homes purchased between now and the end of June. If the monthly mortgage payment includes homeowners insurance and property taxes, Clayton absorbs those costs as well.
Chris Nicely, vice president of marketing, said the Clayton Homes program differs from some others that suspend payments after a job loss but add the missed payments to the back end of the loan.”
“The big difference is there is no cost to the consumer,” Nicely said. “If you happen to lose your job, even for a week, we will make three mortgage payments to help you get back on your feet.”
Business Pundit posted a very informative blog today about 5 Nasty Foreclosure Resecue Scams to avoid.
“ According to RealtyTrac, a whopping one in 54 homes received a foreclosure notice last year. That’s 3.1 million foreclosure filings.
Scared yet? An ever-increasing pool of foreclosure rescue scammers are drooling at the prospect of capitalizing off your panic. And so far, they’re doing pretty well. From forgery to title transfer, these scamsters–some of them former real estate professionals–are making an art form of the foreclosure scam.
So far, a few pervasive scams have popped up enough times in the media to be dubbed endemic. Here they are, in no particular order. Do yourself a favor and avoid these five nasty foreclosure rescue scams:
1. The Pay Me First Scam
Some foreclosure rescue scammers ask customers to pay them fees in exchange for delaying a foreclosure. It’s actually illegal for foreclosure rescue companies to collect fees before performing a service. They should be paid after negotiating new loans or monthly payments.
Unfortunately, some homeowners find out the hard way that paying companies before they perform a service leaves them without money or a home. The Star-Telegram reports on one San Francisco-area mortgage broker advertised foreclosure avoidance workshops on Craigslist. For a $2,500 upfront fee plus a $2,000 monthly payment, Freedom Financial Solutions claimed it would halt foreclosures by finding legal violations in homeowners’ mortgage agreements.
Instead, Cheryl Ann Montero, owner of the company, took an ownership stake in her clients’ houses, then filed for bankruptcy, which suspended foreclosures. Montero, who ended up delivering nothing to her clients, made off with $52,000 before declaring bankruptcy herself.
2. The Title Transfer Scam
This scam involves transferring the title of your home to the foreclosure rescue company. This is a very, very bad idea. If your name is not on the title, guess who owns your home? Hint: It’s not you.
Rip-off Report reader Cheri had a scam like this happen to her. Facing foreclosure, she contacted a mortgage rescue company. The scammers executed a buyback scheme that would allow her to re-purchase her house at a different appraisal value. In order to finish the deal, they said they needed to put someone else’s name on the title of the home. Cheri would be a trustee, “guaranteeing” her that she would maintain control of the property while staying inside a renter.
It turned out Cheri’s name never made it to the title. She was paying down a mortgage on a home she no longer owned. The scammers made off with the title, possibly some equity, and the willingness to evict her from the house.
3. Sending Mortgage Payments to a Fake Address
Some scammers ask to receive your payment in place of the lender. They claim they have a special relationship with the lender, or can renegotiate your mortgage if you send them payments. This is sketchy, to say the least. One California scammer, for example, made $1.2 million by pretending to be a lender—then fled to his native Mexico.
If someone tells you to ignore your lender letters, or to send the payments somewhere else, run the other direction.
4. Fake Lender Letters
Some fraudsters have taken to forging major lenders’ letterhead and convincing homeowners to sign up for “official” loan modification services. Mail, envelopes, and letterhead may look exactly like the lender’s, but the content will be fraudulent.
The Lake County News reports that one Los Angeles ring even filed a fictitious business permit. The swindlers forged lender and government envelopes with “Final Notice” written on the outside. The letters inside told homeowners that if they sent in their mortgage information, they could apply for a home rescue program.
Once homeowners applied, they received a confirmation note and a set of forged lender documents. In the meantime, they were instructed to send their mortgage payments to a “Payment Processing Dept” located at a scammer’s PO box, where the money was stolen.
5. The Obama Rescue Plan Scam
The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that some rescue companies are charging as much as $3,000 to modify customer loans under the new Obama relief plan. The truth is that you can find out about rescue plan yourself, either online at MakingHomeAffordable.gov, through the Homeownership Preservation Foundation at 995hope.org, or by calling 1-888-995-HOPE.”
