Foreclosures
You cannot pick up a newspaper or watch TV without a reference to today’s deteriorating real estate market. Foreclosures are skyrocketing for homeowners and businesses. If you are facing foreclosure, an experienced real estate attorney may be able to help you stop a foreclosure and negotiate a solution that will protect your home, your income and your peace of mind today and in the future.
"[Fredrick] Niemann represented me in my house closing. Their real estate staff was consistently accessible and responsive to my questions, needs and concerns. Buying a home is stressful, but Fredrick Niemann made the process orderly and understandable."
—Esther Dice, Freehold, NJ» Read more testimonials
Call us today to discuss your real estate file. We can assist you with buying a home, land or other real estate property.
Avoiding Foreclosure through Short Sales
Short sales are defined as sales where one or more mortgage holders agree to discount its debt so that the property can be sold at its current market value to a willing buyer. Currently, short sales account for more than 40 percent of residential transactions and the numbers appear to be increasing.
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Short Sales
More and more home owners find themselves overwhelmed by their mortgage debt. For owners who can no longer afford to keep mortgage payments current, a short sale could be a good alternative to bankruptcy or to foreclosure proceedings. Short sales can preserve a homeowner’s creditworthiness and can help homeowners avoid the harsh long-term consequences of a foreclosure.
For a seller in a short sale, the process tends to be both unique and complex. It usually involves intermediation between first and second mortgagees as well as the need for extensive drafting of agreements and releases. Real estate agents can often act effectively as the preliminary negotiators. They initiate the short sale process by opening communication with loss mitigation officers. Agents can provide property specific data to the lender and they can arrange for the homeowner to provide proofs of hardship which are required by mortgagees before the short sale is considered.
In a market where an increasing number of homes are no longer worth as much as the liens which encumber them and consumers no longer can afford their scheduled monthly payments, there is an increase in the number of short sales transactions. Loss mitigation officers, who negotiate short sales on behalf of the lenders, may be handling short sales from all over the country and may not have adequate knowledge of the differences among applicable state laws. This could delay the process for several months. An attorney with intimate knowledge of the “workout” process could propose practical and effective short sale formats that can satisfy the needs of both the loss mitigation officer and the homeowner.
Looking Forward
The trend in short sales is expected to continue well into 2010, attributable to the recent failures of major mortgagees and to the fact that more adjustable mortgagors felt the shock of payment “resets” in the first six months of 2009. More resets occurred in the first six months of 2009 than have occurred in any one full year period in American history and are expected to generate a tidal wave of short sales. In response to the current number of defaults, and in anticipation of even more in coming months, the holders of securitized mortgages are increasingly opting for loan discounting as their alternative to protracted, and ultimately costly, judicial foreclosures.
The increasing willingness of residential mortgagers to grant discounts shows a preference for short sales as a practical means to cut their losses and to quickly purge their portfolios of at-risk loans. To be most effective, homeowners and real estate agents should find lawyers to work with who are specifically trained in the particulars of short sales, including the ability to make a case for mortgagees to discount their loan balances, enabling the homes to be sold.
Call us today to discuss your real estate matter, including exploring the possibility of a short sale.
Fredrick P. Niemann
Toll Free: (888) 800-7442