Foreclosures in MA are part of the overall foreclosure crisis in America. Consumers at present have 3 years to argue their case to lenders when there is fraud or deceit involved. The homeowner is still required to pay their mortgage however, even if less than judicious circumstances exist in its processing.
The following article touches on the subject of Foreclosures and homeowners in general.
Consumers, Senators Criticize Fed’s Proposed Mortgage Rule
by Credit.com on 01/06/2011
Under a new proposal from the Federal Reserve Board, which would amend the consumer protection laws passed over the summer, consumers would have to pay off a home loan even after they received bad information, before it could be terminated, according to a report from Dow Jones Newswires. Currently, Americans have three years to argue that lenders broke consumer protection laws, and perhaps force lenders to refinance or modify the loan.
“In this time of record foreclosures and reports of systemic problems with the operations of the largest mortgage servicers, the proposed revisions are unfortunate and unnecessary,” a group of Democratic U.S. Senators wrote to the Fed, according to the report. “The mortgage market needs greater oversight and accountability to restore borrower confidence lost in the mortgage crisis. The proposed rules would undermine this goal.”
The letter was signed by Senators Sherrod Brown of Ohio, Tim Johnson of South Dakota, and former Senator Chris Dodd, who used to head the Senate Banking Committee, the report said. A Fed spokeswoman told the news organization that the lawmakers’ suggestion will be taken under advisement.
Many consumers have been victimized by improperly handled mortgages over the last few years, and many have faced foreclosure as a result.
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Crowley & Cummings are real estate attorneys located in Dedham MA specializing in real estate closings, title examinations, complex title issues, purchase & sale agreements, condo conversions, and other related services. They service lenders and mortgage brokers, real estate agents, as well as buyers and sellers in Massachusetts, New England, and throughout the US. To learn more visit them online at www.CrowleyCummings.com.
Showing posts with label MA Real Estate attorney. Show all posts
Showing posts with label MA Real Estate attorney. Show all posts
Friday, January 14, 2011
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
What a Real Estate Attorney Brings to the Table of Your Closing
Lots of people are going the do-it-yourself route in many areas of legal representation, believing, often mistakenly, that they can do the job just as well themselves for what they would spend on an attorney to do the work. Other than criminal representation in court, there are few areas of the law where this is less true than in real estate.
The sheer amount of paperwork alone would be alarming to anyone not well versed in real estate law. When taken in combination with the figures and documentation that must accompany even the simplest real estate closing, it becomes quite apparent that this is not a place for an amateur.
In order to effectively, and legally, have your closing, your real estate attorney must complete a title search, making certain there are no liens or encumbrances on the property; makes sure that there is title insurance on the title; coordinate with the lender and the seller, to make sure that the necessary documents, such as the deed, promissory note, mortgage and any inspections among others, are at the closing.
The closing attorney will act as the coordinator for all other parties involved in the purchase or sale. A closing attorney will perform such time consuming tasks as scheduling appointments, intake sessions, and the preparation of the many varied and lengthy closing documents that will be needed at the final meeting.
Some responsibilities of the closing attorney include:
Remarkably, the closing attorney's job does not stop there. They are responsible for several post-closing tasks that bring the entire transaction full circle and to completion including recording the deed, processing the loan funding, and running the title for any changes since the first time.
If you are in the process of buying a home, or are planning to buy a home in the near future, and would like more information on what your closing in MA or CT will entail, contact Crowley & Cummings for an appointment today.
------------------------------------------
Crowley & Cummings are real estate attorneys located in Dedham MA specializing in real estate closings, title examinations, complex title issues, purchase & sale agreements, condo conversions, and other related services. They service lenders and mortgage brokers, real estate agents, as well as buyers and sellers in Massachusetts, New England, and throughout the US. To learn more visit them online at www.CrowleyCummings.com.
The sheer amount of paperwork alone would be alarming to anyone not well versed in real estate law. When taken in combination with the figures and documentation that must accompany even the simplest real estate closing, it becomes quite apparent that this is not a place for an amateur.
In order to effectively, and legally, have your closing, your real estate attorney must complete a title search, making certain there are no liens or encumbrances on the property; makes sure that there is title insurance on the title; coordinate with the lender and the seller, to make sure that the necessary documents, such as the deed, promissory note, mortgage and any inspections among others, are at the closing.
The closing attorney will act as the coordinator for all other parties involved in the purchase or sale. A closing attorney will perform such time consuming tasks as scheduling appointments, intake sessions, and the preparation of the many varied and lengthy closing documents that will be needed at the final meeting.
Some responsibilities of the closing attorney include:
- Payment of realtor commissions, and any other necessary discharges or payments including but not limited to taxes, final utilities and realtor commissions
- Specific Title V and condominium certifications
- Disclosure of lending fees and closing costs, and funding of escrow account
Remarkably, the closing attorney's job does not stop there. They are responsible for several post-closing tasks that bring the entire transaction full circle and to completion including recording the deed, processing the loan funding, and running the title for any changes since the first time.
If you are in the process of buying a home, or are planning to buy a home in the near future, and would like more information on what your closing in MA or CT will entail, contact Crowley & Cummings for an appointment today.
------------------------------------------
Crowley & Cummings are real estate attorneys located in Dedham MA specializing in real estate closings, title examinations, complex title issues, purchase & sale agreements, condo conversions, and other related services. They service lenders and mortgage brokers, real estate agents, as well as buyers and sellers in Massachusetts, New England, and throughout the US. To learn more visit them online at www.CrowleyCummings.com.
Monday, November 1, 2010
MA Title Search and Closing Costs
Whenever anyone buys or sells real estate, and uses any kind of mortgage financing, the mortgage company will require that a title search is performed before an approval will be granted for the closing to occur.
The purpose of a title search is to enable the company providing the funding for the property to be certain that they will own the property outright if you should default on your mortgage payments. In order to do this, the mortgage company or finance company first needs to determine that the property is free from all liens and encumbrances of any nature that could effect the sale.
The main focus of a title search is to satisfy the criteria of whether the property is free of liens, whether the seller has the legal right to sell the property, and whether there are any restrictions on the property such as easements, or land use allowances.
The cost for a title search is included in your closing costs, and the closing will generally not proceed without a clear title.
Your MA real estate attorney will be able to walk you through each closing process and cost and give you the answers to any questions you may have about the procedures being used at your closing.
If you are considering the purchase of real estate in Dedham MA, contact the Real Estate Law Firm of Crowley & Cummings LLC for expert and timely advice and counseling.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Crowley & Cummings are real estate attorneys located in Dedham MA specializing in real estate closings, title examinations, complex title issues, purchase & sale agreements, condo conversions, and other related services. They service lenders and mortgage brokers, real estate agents, as well as buyers and sellers in Massachusetts, New England, and throughout the US. To learn more visit them online at www.CrowleyCummings.com.
The purpose of a title search is to enable the company providing the funding for the property to be certain that they will own the property outright if you should default on your mortgage payments. In order to do this, the mortgage company or finance company first needs to determine that the property is free from all liens and encumbrances of any nature that could effect the sale.
The main focus of a title search is to satisfy the criteria of whether the property is free of liens, whether the seller has the legal right to sell the property, and whether there are any restrictions on the property such as easements, or land use allowances.
The cost for a title search is included in your closing costs, and the closing will generally not proceed without a clear title.
Your MA real estate attorney will be able to walk you through each closing process and cost and give you the answers to any questions you may have about the procedures being used at your closing.
If you are considering the purchase of real estate in Dedham MA, contact the Real Estate Law Firm of Crowley & Cummings LLC for expert and timely advice and counseling.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Crowley & Cummings are real estate attorneys located in Dedham MA specializing in real estate closings, title examinations, complex title issues, purchase & sale agreements, condo conversions, and other related services. They service lenders and mortgage brokers, real estate agents, as well as buyers and sellers in Massachusetts, New England, and throughout the US. To learn more visit them online at www.CrowleyCummings.com.
Thursday, October 14, 2010
MA Real Estate Attorneys and Qualifying Mortgages
MA Mortgage Loan and Refinancing Attorneys can help you avoid difficulties in your refinancing or first time homeowner mortgage applications.
Having one on one assistance to ensure that your closing and financial documents are in order and that your mortgage payments will be in a range that is affordable for you will help eliminate any future concerns about foreclosure or inability to make your mortgage payments on time.
The following article describes a situation involving mortgage finance companies and the housing crisis where inexperienced employees were hired to process foreclosure paperwork and mortgage information, ultimately to the detriment of the mortgage holders involved.
Bankers Ignored Signs of Trouble on Foreclosures
By ERIC DASH and NELSON D. SCHWARTZ
October 13, 2010
At JPMorgan Chase & Company, they were derided as “Burger King kids” — walk-in hires who were so inexperienced they barely knew what a mortgage was.
At Citigroup and GMAC, dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s on home foreclosures was outsourced to frazzled workers who sometimes tossed the paperwork into the garbage.
And at Litton Loan Servicing, an arm of Goldman Sachs, employees processed foreclosure documents so quickly that they barely had time to see what they were signing.
“I don’t know the ins and outs of the loan,” a Litton employee said in a deposition last year. “I’m not a loan officer.”
As the furor grows over lenders’ efforts to sidestep legal rules in their zeal to reclaim homes from delinquent borrowers, these and other banks insist that they have been overwhelmed by the housing collapse.
But interviews with bank employees, executives and federal regulators suggest that this mess was years in the making and came as little surprise to industry insiders and government officials. The issue gained new urgency on Wednesday, when all 50 state attorneys general announced that they would investigate foreclosure practices. That news came on the same day that JPMorgan Chase acknowledged that it had not used the nation’s largest electronic mortgage tracking system, MERS, in foreclosures, since 2008.
That system has been faulted for losing documents and other sloppy practices.
The root of today’s problems goes back to the boom years, when home prices were soaring and banks pursued profit while paying less attention to the business of mortgage servicing, or collecting and processing monthly payments from homeowners.
Banks spent billions of dollars in the good times to build vast mortgage machines that made new loans, bundled them into securities and sold those investments worldwide. Lowly servicing became an afterthought. Even after the housing bubble began to burst, many of these operations languished with inadequate staffing and outmoded technology, despite warnings from regulators.
When borrowers began to default in droves, banks found themselves in a never-ending game of catch-up, unable to devote enough manpower to modify, or ease the terms of, loans to millions of customers on the verge of losing their homes. Now banks are ill-equipped to deal the foreclosure process.
“We waited and waited and waited for wide-scale loan modifications,” said Sheila C. Bair, the chairwoman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, one of the first government officials to call on the industry to take action. “They never owned up to all the problems leading to the mortgage crisis. They have always downplayed it.”
In recent weeks, revelations that mortgage servicers failed to accurately document the seizure and sale of tens of thousands of homes have caused a public uproar and prompted lenders like Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase and GMAC Mortgage to halt foreclosures in many states.
Even before the political outcry, many of the banks shifted employees into their mortgage servicing units and beefed up hiring. Wells Fargo, for instance, has nearly doubled the number of workers in its mortgage modification unit over the last year, to about 17,000, while Citigroup added some 2,000 employees since 2007, bringing the total to 5,000.
“We believe we responded appropriately to staff up to meet the increased volume,” said Mark Rodgers, a spokesman for Citigroup.
Some industry executives add that they’re committed to helping homeowners but concede they were slow to ramp up. “In hindsight, we were all slow to jump on the issue,” said Michael J. Heid, co-president of at Wells Fargo Home Mortgage. “When you think about what it costs to add 10,000 people, that is a substantial investment in time and money along with the computers, training and system changes involved.”
Other officials say as foreclosures were beginning to spike as early as 2007, no one could have imagined how rapidly they would reach their current level. About 11.5 percent of borrowers are in default today, up from 5.7 percent from two years earlier.
“The systems were not ever that great to begin with, but you didn’t have that much strain on them,” said Jim Miller, who previously oversaw the mortgage servicing units for troubled borrowers at Citigroup, Chase and Capitol One. “I don’t think anybody anticipated this thing getting as bad as it did.”
Almost overnight, what had been a factorylike business that relied on workers with high school educations to process monthly payments needed to come up with a custom-made operation that could solve the problems of individual homeowners. Gregory Hebner, the president of the MOS Group, a California loan modification company that works closely with service companies, likened it to transforming McDonald’s into a gourmet eatery. “You are already in chase mode, and you never catch up,” he said.
To make matters worse, the banks had few financial incentives to invest in their servicing operations, several former executives said. A mortgage generates an annual fee equal to only about 0.25 percent of the loan’s total value, or about $500 a year on a typical $200,000 mortgage. That revenue evaporates once a loan becomes delinquent, while the cost of a foreclosure can easily reach $2,500 and devour the meager profits generated from handling healthy loans.
“Investment in people, training, and technology — all that costs them a lot of money, and they have no incentive to staff up,” said Taj Bindra, who oversaw Washington Mutual’s large mortgage servicing unit from 2004 to 2006.
And even when banks did begin hiring to deal with the avalanche of defaults, they often turned to workers with minimal qualifications or work experience, employees a former JPMorgan executive characterized as the “Burger King kids.” In many cases, the banks outsourced their foreclosure operations to law firms like that of David J. Stern, of Florida, which served clients like Citigroup, GMAC and others. Mr. Stern hired outsourcing firms in Guam and the Philippines to help.
The result was chaos, said Tammie Lou Kapusta, a former employee of Mr. Stern’s who was deposed by the Florida attorney general’s office last month. “The girls would come out on the floor not knowing what they were doing,” she said. “Mortgages would get placed in different files. They would get thrown out. There was just no real organization when it came to the original documents.”
Citigroup and GMAC say they are no longer giving any new work to Mr. Stern’s firm.
In some cases, even steps that were supposed to ease the situation, like the federal program aimed at helping homeowners modify their mortgages to reduce what they owed, had actually contributed to the mess. Loan servicing companies complain that bureaucratic requirements are constantly changed by Washington, forcing them to overhaul an already byzantine process that involves nearly 250 steps.
This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:
Correction: October 14, 2010
A photo caption with an earlier version of this article referred incorrectly to documents related to foreclosures. They are depositions from robosigners, not lawsuits.
This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:
Correction: October 14, 2010
A previous version of this article referred incorrectly to one bank that had halted foreclosures. They were halted by GMAC Mortgage, which is owned by Ally Financial, not by the online retail operation, Ally Bank.
------------------------------------------
Crowley & Cummings are real estate attorneys located in Dedham MA specializing in real estate closings, title examinations, complex title issues, purchase & sale agreements, condo conversions, and other related services. They service lenders and mortgage brokers, real estate agents, as well as buyers and sellers in Massachusetts, New England, and throughout the US. To learn more visit them online at www.CrowleyCummings.com.
Having one on one assistance to ensure that your closing and financial documents are in order and that your mortgage payments will be in a range that is affordable for you will help eliminate any future concerns about foreclosure or inability to make your mortgage payments on time.
The following article describes a situation involving mortgage finance companies and the housing crisis where inexperienced employees were hired to process foreclosure paperwork and mortgage information, ultimately to the detriment of the mortgage holders involved.
Bankers Ignored Signs of Trouble on Foreclosures
By ERIC DASH and NELSON D. SCHWARTZ
October 13, 2010
At JPMorgan Chase & Company, they were derided as “Burger King kids” — walk-in hires who were so inexperienced they barely knew what a mortgage was.
At Citigroup and GMAC, dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s on home foreclosures was outsourced to frazzled workers who sometimes tossed the paperwork into the garbage.
And at Litton Loan Servicing, an arm of Goldman Sachs, employees processed foreclosure documents so quickly that they barely had time to see what they were signing.
“I don’t know the ins and outs of the loan,” a Litton employee said in a deposition last year. “I’m not a loan officer.”
As the furor grows over lenders’ efforts to sidestep legal rules in their zeal to reclaim homes from delinquent borrowers, these and other banks insist that they have been overwhelmed by the housing collapse.
But interviews with bank employees, executives and federal regulators suggest that this mess was years in the making and came as little surprise to industry insiders and government officials. The issue gained new urgency on Wednesday, when all 50 state attorneys general announced that they would investigate foreclosure practices. That news came on the same day that JPMorgan Chase acknowledged that it had not used the nation’s largest electronic mortgage tracking system, MERS, in foreclosures, since 2008.
That system has been faulted for losing documents and other sloppy practices.
The root of today’s problems goes back to the boom years, when home prices were soaring and banks pursued profit while paying less attention to the business of mortgage servicing, or collecting and processing monthly payments from homeowners.
Banks spent billions of dollars in the good times to build vast mortgage machines that made new loans, bundled them into securities and sold those investments worldwide. Lowly servicing became an afterthought. Even after the housing bubble began to burst, many of these operations languished with inadequate staffing and outmoded technology, despite warnings from regulators.
When borrowers began to default in droves, banks found themselves in a never-ending game of catch-up, unable to devote enough manpower to modify, or ease the terms of, loans to millions of customers on the verge of losing their homes. Now banks are ill-equipped to deal the foreclosure process.
“We waited and waited and waited for wide-scale loan modifications,” said Sheila C. Bair, the chairwoman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, one of the first government officials to call on the industry to take action. “They never owned up to all the problems leading to the mortgage crisis. They have always downplayed it.”
In recent weeks, revelations that mortgage servicers failed to accurately document the seizure and sale of tens of thousands of homes have caused a public uproar and prompted lenders like Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase and GMAC Mortgage to halt foreclosures in many states.
Even before the political outcry, many of the banks shifted employees into their mortgage servicing units and beefed up hiring. Wells Fargo, for instance, has nearly doubled the number of workers in its mortgage modification unit over the last year, to about 17,000, while Citigroup added some 2,000 employees since 2007, bringing the total to 5,000.
“We believe we responded appropriately to staff up to meet the increased volume,” said Mark Rodgers, a spokesman for Citigroup.
Some industry executives add that they’re committed to helping homeowners but concede they were slow to ramp up. “In hindsight, we were all slow to jump on the issue,” said Michael J. Heid, co-president of at Wells Fargo Home Mortgage. “When you think about what it costs to add 10,000 people, that is a substantial investment in time and money along with the computers, training and system changes involved.”
Other officials say as foreclosures were beginning to spike as early as 2007, no one could have imagined how rapidly they would reach their current level. About 11.5 percent of borrowers are in default today, up from 5.7 percent from two years earlier.
“The systems were not ever that great to begin with, but you didn’t have that much strain on them,” said Jim Miller, who previously oversaw the mortgage servicing units for troubled borrowers at Citigroup, Chase and Capitol One. “I don’t think anybody anticipated this thing getting as bad as it did.”
Almost overnight, what had been a factorylike business that relied on workers with high school educations to process monthly payments needed to come up with a custom-made operation that could solve the problems of individual homeowners. Gregory Hebner, the president of the MOS Group, a California loan modification company that works closely with service companies, likened it to transforming McDonald’s into a gourmet eatery. “You are already in chase mode, and you never catch up,” he said.
To make matters worse, the banks had few financial incentives to invest in their servicing operations, several former executives said. A mortgage generates an annual fee equal to only about 0.25 percent of the loan’s total value, or about $500 a year on a typical $200,000 mortgage. That revenue evaporates once a loan becomes delinquent, while the cost of a foreclosure can easily reach $2,500 and devour the meager profits generated from handling healthy loans.
“Investment in people, training, and technology — all that costs them a lot of money, and they have no incentive to staff up,” said Taj Bindra, who oversaw Washington Mutual’s large mortgage servicing unit from 2004 to 2006.
And even when banks did begin hiring to deal with the avalanche of defaults, they often turned to workers with minimal qualifications or work experience, employees a former JPMorgan executive characterized as the “Burger King kids.” In many cases, the banks outsourced their foreclosure operations to law firms like that of David J. Stern, of Florida, which served clients like Citigroup, GMAC and others. Mr. Stern hired outsourcing firms in Guam and the Philippines to help.
The result was chaos, said Tammie Lou Kapusta, a former employee of Mr. Stern’s who was deposed by the Florida attorney general’s office last month. “The girls would come out on the floor not knowing what they were doing,” she said. “Mortgages would get placed in different files. They would get thrown out. There was just no real organization when it came to the original documents.”
Citigroup and GMAC say they are no longer giving any new work to Mr. Stern’s firm.
In some cases, even steps that were supposed to ease the situation, like the federal program aimed at helping homeowners modify their mortgages to reduce what they owed, had actually contributed to the mess. Loan servicing companies complain that bureaucratic requirements are constantly changed by Washington, forcing them to overhaul an already byzantine process that involves nearly 250 steps.
This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:
Correction: October 14, 2010
A photo caption with an earlier version of this article referred incorrectly to documents related to foreclosures. They are depositions from robosigners, not lawsuits.
This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:
Correction: October 14, 2010
A previous version of this article referred incorrectly to one bank that had halted foreclosures. They were halted by GMAC Mortgage, which is owned by Ally Financial, not by the online retail operation, Ally Bank.
------------------------------------------
Crowley & Cummings are real estate attorneys located in Dedham MA specializing in real estate closings, title examinations, complex title issues, purchase & sale agreements, condo conversions, and other related services. They service lenders and mortgage brokers, real estate agents, as well as buyers and sellers in Massachusetts, New England, and throughout the US. To learn more visit them online at www.CrowleyCummings.com.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Mortgage Application Rejections and Second Chances
Wall Street Journal article regarding the options available to many borrowers facing initial rejection for their mortgage applications, posted here by Crowley and Cummings Massachusetts Real Estate Attorneys.
The full article is posted below.
'Second Look': First Aid for Borrowers
By RUTH SIMON
When a borrower hears a "no" from the bank, sometimes it really means "maybe."
Many of the biggest U.S. banks, criticized since the financial crisis erupted for making fewer loans and toughening borrowing standards, have launched what industry officials call "second look" programs to review rejected loan applications.
Some bank employees hunt for credit-report errors that hurt borrowers the first time their applications were vetted, or unreported sources of income that would make a consumer loan look less risky. Even more common are reviews of rejected small-business loans by loan officers and other bank employees.
The moves are a throwback to traditional roll-up-the-sleeves loan underwriting, emphasizing a potential borrower's track record and relationship with a bank over credit scores and other data that powered the industry's loan machine when credit was fast and cheap.
"I don't think of it as being looser. I think of it as making good judgments," says Stephen D. Steinour, chairman, president and chief executive of Huntington Bancshares Inc. At the Columbus, Ohio, bank, a second-look program and separate effort to make more loans to companies that regained profitability after hitting a rocky patch have boosted the approval rate for small-business loans by 4.7 percentage points in the first half of 2010, when compared with the rate for all of 2009.
The Financial Services Roundtable, a trade group of 100 large financial companies, says nearly all its members have second-look programs. Such banks include Bank of America Corp., J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., PNC Financial Services Group Inc. and U.S. Bancorp.
At some banks, the reviews are triggered automatically for spurned loan applications that fell just outside the lender's standards. Lenders also may allow borrowers to request a review.
While the collective push isn't nearly enough to end the loan logjam, bankers say it is starting to have an impact. For example, last month's Federal Reserve survey of senior loan officers showed the first overall easing of lending standards for small businesses since 2006. "Part of this is due to the second-look programs," says Bob Seiwert, a senior vice president of the American Bankers Association, a trade group of U.S. banks.
Frederick Cannon, co-director of research at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Inc., says that the effectiveness "of any one of these campaigns individually is modest, but at the margin, these things can make a difference.
William Dunkelberg, chief economist of the National Federation of Independent Business, a trade group for small businesses, says the moves "can't hurt," but believes second-look programs are aimed more at rehabilitating banks' public-relations image than at making new loans.
Some banks acknowledge that their second-look programs are at least partly in response to outside pressure.
"I give him full credit," says James Dimon, chairman and chief executive of J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., referring to Lawrence Summers. The top economic adviser to President Obama suggested to Mr. Dimon at a meeting last December that the nation's largest bank in stock-market value review small-business loans it had denied.
Since then, the New York bank has offered $198 million in loans to borrowers who got a second round of scrutiny. J.P. Morgan won't comment on the loans' performance.
U.S. Bancorp says it sees the "same relative performance from second looks and appeals as we do from first-pass approvals," according to a spokeswoman for the Minneapolis bank.
The deeper analysis can cost hundreds of dollars or more, compared with $30 to $50 for a loan analysis based on credit scores.
"There's no right way or wrong way, but these two ways of underwriting a business loan can result in a different answer," says Mr. Seiwert of the ABA.
Huntington, with 608 branches in six states and about $52 billion in assets, made about 475 loans in the first half of 2010 to small businesses and consumers using its second-look program. Fourteen consumer-loan specialists work with loan officers to uncover new information about consumers that could make a difference in whether they should be approved for a loan. Huntington's 300 small-business bankers are encouraged to look for ways to help rejected loans meet the bank's standards.
"The financial statement doesn't tell the whole story," says Mr. Steinour, who became Huntington's CEO in January 2009.
In mid-July, Curtis and Renee Fields got a $25,000 unsecured personal loan to get their Cincinnati lunch spot, called the Squirrel, ready for its grand opening in August. Huntington initially rejected their application because bank officials worried they would be carrying too much debt. The Fields had applied for two Small Business Administration loans totaling $50,000 but needed cash quickly to pay contractors.
Their banker at Huntington realized the couple's debt level was temporarily too high because they had been using their own money to finance the restaurant. Based on their relationship with the bank and good overall credit record, Huntington decided to approve the loan. It was repaid the following month.
"We're hanging in just fine," Mr. Fields says. The Squirrel, known for its double-decker sandwiches, opened on time and now has 12 employees.
Lynne Logel, a 66-year-old elementary-school teacher living in Marysville, Ohio, was turned down for a mortgage refinancing by Huntington because her credit score was too low. After a consumer-loan specialist at the bank suggested she check her credit record, Ms. Logel found two errors.
After the flubs were fixed, Ms.Logel's credit score jumped to 709 from 656. In July, she got a $140,000 home loan from Huntington that she plans to pay off by the time she retires in six years.
"I feel like I can retire," she says. "I had been praying about this."
—Robin Sidel contributed to this article.
------------------------------------------
Crowley & Cummings are real estate attorneys located in Dedham MA specializing in real estate closings, title examinations, complex title issues, purchase & sale agreements, condo conversions, and other related services. They service lenders and mortgage brokers, real estate agents, as well as buyers and sellers in Massachusetts, New England, and throughout the US. To learn more visit them online at www.CrowleyCummings.com.
The full article is posted below.
'Second Look': First Aid for Borrowers
By RUTH SIMON
When a borrower hears a "no" from the bank, sometimes it really means "maybe."
Many of the biggest U.S. banks, criticized since the financial crisis erupted for making fewer loans and toughening borrowing standards, have launched what industry officials call "second look" programs to review rejected loan applications.
Some bank employees hunt for credit-report errors that hurt borrowers the first time their applications were vetted, or unreported sources of income that would make a consumer loan look less risky. Even more common are reviews of rejected small-business loans by loan officers and other bank employees.
The moves are a throwback to traditional roll-up-the-sleeves loan underwriting, emphasizing a potential borrower's track record and relationship with a bank over credit scores and other data that powered the industry's loan machine when credit was fast and cheap.
"I don't think of it as being looser. I think of it as making good judgments," says Stephen D. Steinour, chairman, president and chief executive of Huntington Bancshares Inc. At the Columbus, Ohio, bank, a second-look program and separate effort to make more loans to companies that regained profitability after hitting a rocky patch have boosted the approval rate for small-business loans by 4.7 percentage points in the first half of 2010, when compared with the rate for all of 2009.
The Financial Services Roundtable, a trade group of 100 large financial companies, says nearly all its members have second-look programs. Such banks include Bank of America Corp., J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., PNC Financial Services Group Inc. and U.S. Bancorp.
At some banks, the reviews are triggered automatically for spurned loan applications that fell just outside the lender's standards. Lenders also may allow borrowers to request a review.
While the collective push isn't nearly enough to end the loan logjam, bankers say it is starting to have an impact. For example, last month's Federal Reserve survey of senior loan officers showed the first overall easing of lending standards for small businesses since 2006. "Part of this is due to the second-look programs," says Bob Seiwert, a senior vice president of the American Bankers Association, a trade group of U.S. banks.
Frederick Cannon, co-director of research at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Inc., says that the effectiveness "of any one of these campaigns individually is modest, but at the margin, these things can make a difference.
William Dunkelberg, chief economist of the National Federation of Independent Business, a trade group for small businesses, says the moves "can't hurt," but believes second-look programs are aimed more at rehabilitating banks' public-relations image than at making new loans.
Some banks acknowledge that their second-look programs are at least partly in response to outside pressure.
"I give him full credit," says James Dimon, chairman and chief executive of J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., referring to Lawrence Summers. The top economic adviser to President Obama suggested to Mr. Dimon at a meeting last December that the nation's largest bank in stock-market value review small-business loans it had denied.
Since then, the New York bank has offered $198 million in loans to borrowers who got a second round of scrutiny. J.P. Morgan won't comment on the loans' performance.
U.S. Bancorp says it sees the "same relative performance from second looks and appeals as we do from first-pass approvals," according to a spokeswoman for the Minneapolis bank.
The deeper analysis can cost hundreds of dollars or more, compared with $30 to $50 for a loan analysis based on credit scores.
"There's no right way or wrong way, but these two ways of underwriting a business loan can result in a different answer," says Mr. Seiwert of the ABA.
Huntington, with 608 branches in six states and about $52 billion in assets, made about 475 loans in the first half of 2010 to small businesses and consumers using its second-look program. Fourteen consumer-loan specialists work with loan officers to uncover new information about consumers that could make a difference in whether they should be approved for a loan. Huntington's 300 small-business bankers are encouraged to look for ways to help rejected loans meet the bank's standards.
"The financial statement doesn't tell the whole story," says Mr. Steinour, who became Huntington's CEO in January 2009.
In mid-July, Curtis and Renee Fields got a $25,000 unsecured personal loan to get their Cincinnati lunch spot, called the Squirrel, ready for its grand opening in August. Huntington initially rejected their application because bank officials worried they would be carrying too much debt. The Fields had applied for two Small Business Administration loans totaling $50,000 but needed cash quickly to pay contractors.
Their banker at Huntington realized the couple's debt level was temporarily too high because they had been using their own money to finance the restaurant. Based on their relationship with the bank and good overall credit record, Huntington decided to approve the loan. It was repaid the following month.
"We're hanging in just fine," Mr. Fields says. The Squirrel, known for its double-decker sandwiches, opened on time and now has 12 employees.
Lynne Logel, a 66-year-old elementary-school teacher living in Marysville, Ohio, was turned down for a mortgage refinancing by Huntington because her credit score was too low. After a consumer-loan specialist at the bank suggested she check her credit record, Ms. Logel found two errors.
After the flubs were fixed, Ms.Logel's credit score jumped to 709 from 656. In July, she got a $140,000 home loan from Huntington that she plans to pay off by the time she retires in six years.
"I feel like I can retire," she says. "I had been praying about this."
—Robin Sidel contributed to this article.
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Crowley & Cummings are real estate attorneys located in Dedham MA specializing in real estate closings, title examinations, complex title issues, purchase & sale agreements, condo conversions, and other related services. They service lenders and mortgage brokers, real estate agents, as well as buyers and sellers in Massachusetts, New England, and throughout the US. To learn more visit them online at www.CrowleyCummings.com.
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
What About the Seller?
Crowley & Cummings LLC MA Real Estate Attorneys Checklist for Sellers of Real Estate
With all the emphasis on buyers, First time buyers, second home buyers, a seller could get lost in the shuffle. This handy checklist of items to remember (it’s your closing too after all), will help keep you from feeling alone while the spotlight is on the buyer.
Up to 4 Weeks Before Closing
Remind your broker to have your home fire inspection done; the closing cannot move forward without this report from the local fire department. You will receive a Certificate of Compliance. Make a note of the date the department was contacted, the date of your inspection and the date the certificate was obtained.
Up to Two Weeks Before Closing
Notify your utility companies so that you can get your final readings. Make a note with the name, phone number, and the name of the person you spoke to and on what date so that you will have the information should you need it to call again and remind them a week later. For oil heat you need to obtain proof of how many gallons are left in the tank from your oil company, unless you have made another agreement with the buyer. Your broker will be able to explain the entire process to you in detail. Make a note of the date for anything you do, and anyone you speak with regarding the details of the closing and the tasks leading up to it.
Contact the post office or visit a branch and obtain a Change of Address package. Make sure that you have sent your new address information to everyone and have changed it with the post office. This will allow them to forward any mail from anyone that you might have forgotten to notify personally. Make a note of the date and a list of to whom you send notices.
Fill out a change of address form with the Registry of Motor Vehicles for your car, and get a sticker for your license.
Last Minute to Up to One Week Before Closing
Write down contact information and include the name and telephone number of your Crowley & Cummings Attorney, the name and phone number of your broker, the address for the home or business you are selling, and the address for where the closing will be held.
Either you or your broker will need to contact the water and sewer departments for final readings at least 5 days before your closing.
Have your homeowner’s insurance set to cancel the day after your closing, and remember to notify your insurance agent(s) with your new address for automotive insurance as well. Make a note of the date of every conversation, and the name of anyone with whom you speak.
Make sure that your moving arrangements have been made to allow you plenty of time to vacate the premises some time prior to the closing. In most cases, the property must be delivered ‘free and clear’ of any debris or occupants/tenants. And unless you have made other arrangements, the property should be swept clean leaving no trace of occupancy. Make a note of the date you contacted the moving company as well as the name and address of the company, and the moving date you have arranged.
Remind your attorney at Crowley & Cummings to have the new deed prepared. If you are not planning to attend the closing, this would also be a good time to have a power of attorney prepared so that you can go in and execute both that and the deed at the same time. Provide your attorney with instructions in writing as to how you would like the funds from the sale deposited. Date all of your interactions.
If you are planning to attend the closing, you will need to bring two forms of identification, one a license or valid legal ID, the Certificate of Compliance from the Fire Department (your broker should be available to help you with this), any keys to the property and any buildings thereon, a few blank checks in the event that there are last minute adjustments that need to be accounted for. If you are not going to attend the closing, bring these items with you when you execute the power of attorney and deed, or drop them off on the day of the closing.
If you are selling or buying a home in Massachusetts and need a closing attorney or mortgage financing, contact the real estate law office of Crowley & Cummings and have everything taken care of in one place.
------------------------------------------
Crowley & Cummings are real estate attorneys located in Dedham MA specializing in real estate closings, title examinations, complex title issues, purchase & sale agreements, condo conversions, and other related services. They service lenders and mortgage brokers, real estate agents, as well as buyers and sellers in Massachusetts, New England, and throughout the US. To learn more visit them online at www.CrowleyCummings.com.
With all the emphasis on buyers, First time buyers, second home buyers, a seller could get lost in the shuffle. This handy checklist of items to remember (it’s your closing too after all), will help keep you from feeling alone while the spotlight is on the buyer.
Up to 4 Weeks Before Closing
Remind your broker to have your home fire inspection done; the closing cannot move forward without this report from the local fire department. You will receive a Certificate of Compliance. Make a note of the date the department was contacted, the date of your inspection and the date the certificate was obtained.
Up to Two Weeks Before Closing
Notify your utility companies so that you can get your final readings. Make a note with the name, phone number, and the name of the person you spoke to and on what date so that you will have the information should you need it to call again and remind them a week later. For oil heat you need to obtain proof of how many gallons are left in the tank from your oil company, unless you have made another agreement with the buyer. Your broker will be able to explain the entire process to you in detail. Make a note of the date for anything you do, and anyone you speak with regarding the details of the closing and the tasks leading up to it.
Contact the post office or visit a branch and obtain a Change of Address package. Make sure that you have sent your new address information to everyone and have changed it with the post office. This will allow them to forward any mail from anyone that you might have forgotten to notify personally. Make a note of the date and a list of to whom you send notices.
Fill out a change of address form with the Registry of Motor Vehicles for your car, and get a sticker for your license.
Last Minute to Up to One Week Before Closing
Write down contact information and include the name and telephone number of your Crowley & Cummings Attorney, the name and phone number of your broker, the address for the home or business you are selling, and the address for where the closing will be held.
Either you or your broker will need to contact the water and sewer departments for final readings at least 5 days before your closing.
Have your homeowner’s insurance set to cancel the day after your closing, and remember to notify your insurance agent(s) with your new address for automotive insurance as well. Make a note of the date of every conversation, and the name of anyone with whom you speak.
Make sure that your moving arrangements have been made to allow you plenty of time to vacate the premises some time prior to the closing. In most cases, the property must be delivered ‘free and clear’ of any debris or occupants/tenants. And unless you have made other arrangements, the property should be swept clean leaving no trace of occupancy. Make a note of the date you contacted the moving company as well as the name and address of the company, and the moving date you have arranged.
Remind your attorney at Crowley & Cummings to have the new deed prepared. If you are not planning to attend the closing, this would also be a good time to have a power of attorney prepared so that you can go in and execute both that and the deed at the same time. Provide your attorney with instructions in writing as to how you would like the funds from the sale deposited. Date all of your interactions.
If you are planning to attend the closing, you will need to bring two forms of identification, one a license or valid legal ID, the Certificate of Compliance from the Fire Department (your broker should be available to help you with this), any keys to the property and any buildings thereon, a few blank checks in the event that there are last minute adjustments that need to be accounted for. If you are not going to attend the closing, bring these items with you when you execute the power of attorney and deed, or drop them off on the day of the closing.
If you are selling or buying a home in Massachusetts and need a closing attorney or mortgage financing, contact the real estate law office of Crowley & Cummings and have everything taken care of in one place.
------------------------------------------
Crowley & Cummings are real estate attorneys located in Dedham MA specializing in real estate closings, title examinations, complex title issues, purchase & sale agreements, condo conversions, and other related services. They service lenders and mortgage brokers, real estate agents, as well as buyers and sellers in Massachusetts, New England, and throughout the US. To learn more visit them online at www.CrowleyCummings.com.
Friday, September 10, 2010
MA Real Estate Attorneys and Closing Costs
Buyer Closing Costs and FHA Loans
The current FHA financing rate is very low, hovering at around 3.5%, making a buyer's downpayment lower right now. The FHA also places mortgage insurance on loans made by their approved lenders.
The downside to an FHA loan is the fact that the buyer is required to carry Mortgage Insurance Premiums (MIPs) on their loan. This charge is generally factored into the mortgage payments for FHA approved buyers. Adding to the confusion, is the PMI, or Private Mortgage Insurance that is also required whenever a buyer puts down less than a 20% deposit on a real estate purchase. This payment however, does not extend for the life of the loan and will stop being charged once the buyer has paid 20% of the mortgage.
Factors that determine the closing costs are the individual circumstances of the buyer, credit score, type of loan, amount of downpayment, and type of mortgage.
------------------------------------------
Crowley & Cummings are real estate attorneys located in Dedham MA specializing in real estate closings, title examinations, complex title issues, purchase & sale agreements, condo conversions, and other related services. They service lenders and mortgage brokers, real estate agents, as well as buyers and sellers in Massachusetts, New England, and throughout the US. To learn more visit them online at www.CrowleyCummings.com.
The current FHA financing rate is very low, hovering at around 3.5%, making a buyer's downpayment lower right now. The FHA also places mortgage insurance on loans made by their approved lenders.
The downside to an FHA loan is the fact that the buyer is required to carry Mortgage Insurance Premiums (MIPs) on their loan. This charge is generally factored into the mortgage payments for FHA approved buyers. Adding to the confusion, is the PMI, or Private Mortgage Insurance that is also required whenever a buyer puts down less than a 20% deposit on a real estate purchase. This payment however, does not extend for the life of the loan and will stop being charged once the buyer has paid 20% of the mortgage.
Factors that determine the closing costs are the individual circumstances of the buyer, credit score, type of loan, amount of downpayment, and type of mortgage.
------------------------------------------
Crowley & Cummings are real estate attorneys located in Dedham MA specializing in real estate closings, title examinations, complex title issues, purchase & sale agreements, condo conversions, and other related services. They service lenders and mortgage brokers, real estate agents, as well as buyers and sellers in Massachusetts, New England, and throughout the US. To learn more visit them online at www.CrowleyCummings.com.
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Mortgage Applications and Refinance Activity on the Rise
MA real estate attorneys Crowley &; Cummings found the following article concerning an increase in home mortgage refinance activity and wanted to share it here. The full article follows below.
Home Mortgage Refinance Activity Skyrocketed Last Week
By Michael Kraus
August 18, 2010
The Mortgage Bankers Association released its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey today. Total mortgage applications increased 13 percent from the previous week. Refinance activity surged 17.1 percent from the week prior, reaching the highest levels since May 2009. Purchase applications decreased 3.4 percent from the previous week. Refinances made up 81.4 percent of all mortgage applications.
Refinance activity increased on the strength of current mortgage rates, which are at an all-time low. According to Freddie Mac, the average mortgage rate on a 30 year fixed rate mortgage was 4.44 percent last week, while 15 year fixed rate mortgages averaged 3.92 percent. This is the sixth straight week that mortgage rates have set record lows.
Purchase applications have been hurt by the low demand for houses resulting from high unemployment and the generally poor economy. Purchase activity has been more or less level for three months, corresponding roughly with the expiration of the first time home buyer tax credit. With each economic report it becomes increasingly clear to me that the first time home buyer tax credit was bad policy which only prolonged the period of time it took for the market to correct.
Low demand for housing combined with the rising supply of homes on the market (lead by the burgeoning inventory of distressed and foreclosed homes) means that there will likely be downward pressure on home prices for the remainder of the year, if not longer.
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Crowley & Cummings are real estate attorneys located in Dedham MA specializing in real estate closings, title examinations, complex title issues, purchase & sale agreements, condo conversions, and other related services. They service lenders and mortgage brokers, real estate agents, as well as buyers and sellers in Massachusetts, New England, and throughout the US. To learn more visit them online at www.CrowleyCummings.com.
Home Mortgage Refinance Activity Skyrocketed Last Week
By Michael Kraus
August 18, 2010
The Mortgage Bankers Association released its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey today. Total mortgage applications increased 13 percent from the previous week. Refinance activity surged 17.1 percent from the week prior, reaching the highest levels since May 2009. Purchase applications decreased 3.4 percent from the previous week. Refinances made up 81.4 percent of all mortgage applications.
Refinance activity increased on the strength of current mortgage rates, which are at an all-time low. According to Freddie Mac, the average mortgage rate on a 30 year fixed rate mortgage was 4.44 percent last week, while 15 year fixed rate mortgages averaged 3.92 percent. This is the sixth straight week that mortgage rates have set record lows.
Purchase applications have been hurt by the low demand for houses resulting from high unemployment and the generally poor economy. Purchase activity has been more or less level for three months, corresponding roughly with the expiration of the first time home buyer tax credit. With each economic report it becomes increasingly clear to me that the first time home buyer tax credit was bad policy which only prolonged the period of time it took for the market to correct.
Low demand for housing combined with the rising supply of homes on the market (lead by the burgeoning inventory of distressed and foreclosed homes) means that there will likely be downward pressure on home prices for the remainder of the year, if not longer.
------------------------------------------
Crowley & Cummings are real estate attorneys located in Dedham MA specializing in real estate closings, title examinations, complex title issues, purchase & sale agreements, condo conversions, and other related services. They service lenders and mortgage brokers, real estate agents, as well as buyers and sellers in Massachusetts, New England, and throughout the US. To learn more visit them online at www.CrowleyCummings.com.
Friday, July 16, 2010
Government Housing Subsidy Ends for First and Second Time Home Buyers
With the government subsidy for both first and second time buyers of homes coming to a close this past April of 2010, the real estate market may be beginning to see its first glimpse of what the absence of this extra funding will mean in terms of sales and mortgage applications for American buyers in some locations.
Data on Friday June 4, 2010 was more optimistic than anticipated, not only with the ending of the tax credit, but in spite of it. The information concerning mortgage applications however, shows a more discernible downward trend. The applications began to sink by as much as 40% from May 2010, to the lowest point they have been at since April of 1997.
Conversely, refinancing seems to be on the upswing nationally, with a 2.4% growth during the last week of May. Attitudes toward buying and home-ownership have altered somewhat in light of the recent financial crisis involving the mortgage companies, and it would be folly to say that the market has not been affected, at least for the foreseeable future, by these changes.
The good news is that housing prices will begin to decline even more and as labor markets, wage growth, and the economy improve, buying a home will become more affordable for a group of people that may not have ever had a chance at home-ownership pre-decline.
In some areas this improvement has already started to take hold as closings were up significantly at Massachusetts based real estate attorney firm Crowley and Cummings. People who have the money and the credit, will still be buying homes, except that they will be in a better position to pay the mortgage payments by not having extravagant interest rates to pay, and by paying fair market value for their homes to begin with.
------------------------------------------
Crowley and Cummings are real estate attorneys located in Dedham MA specializing in real estate closings, title examinations, complex title issues, purchase & sale agreements, condo conversions, and other related services. They service lenders and mortgage brokers, real estate agents, as well as buyers and sellers in Massachusetts, New England, and throughout the US. To learn more visit them online at www.CrowleyCummings.com.
Data on Friday June 4, 2010 was more optimistic than anticipated, not only with the ending of the tax credit, but in spite of it. The information concerning mortgage applications however, shows a more discernible downward trend. The applications began to sink by as much as 40% from May 2010, to the lowest point they have been at since April of 1997.
Conversely, refinancing seems to be on the upswing nationally, with a 2.4% growth during the last week of May. Attitudes toward buying and home-ownership have altered somewhat in light of the recent financial crisis involving the mortgage companies, and it would be folly to say that the market has not been affected, at least for the foreseeable future, by these changes.
The good news is that housing prices will begin to decline even more and as labor markets, wage growth, and the economy improve, buying a home will become more affordable for a group of people that may not have ever had a chance at home-ownership pre-decline.
In some areas this improvement has already started to take hold as closings were up significantly at Massachusetts based real estate attorney firm Crowley and Cummings. People who have the money and the credit, will still be buying homes, except that they will be in a better position to pay the mortgage payments by not having extravagant interest rates to pay, and by paying fair market value for their homes to begin with.
------------------------------------------
Crowley and Cummings are real estate attorneys located in Dedham MA specializing in real estate closings, title examinations, complex title issues, purchase & sale agreements, condo conversions, and other related services. They service lenders and mortgage brokers, real estate agents, as well as buyers and sellers in Massachusetts, New England, and throughout the US. To learn more visit them online at www.CrowleyCummings.com.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
MA Real Estate Attorney Needed at Closings
Why You Need a Real Estate Attorney at a Closing
Everyone wants to save money when they buy or sell their home or business. Very often, buyers and sellers of real estate will try to cut corners by not using an attorney for their closing. There are several reasons why this may be a bad practice, and feed misconceptions about the real estate process as a whole.
Isn’t it my real estate agent’s responsibility to represent and protect my interests at the closing?
No. Your real estate agent is there to make sure the proper paperwork gets where it needs to be, to coordinate inspections, explain contract items to you the client, along with managing your preferences and scheduling open houses and viewings for you. A real estate closing attorney will handle the details of your closing and protect your investment.
Crowley & Cummings are professional real estate attorneys who also own a real estate agency. Their services are included free of charge for clients of their real estate agency.
------------------------------------------
Crowley & Cummings are real estate attorneys located in Dedham MA specializing in real estate closings, title examinations, complex title issues, purchase & sale agreements, condo conversions, and other related services. They service lenders and mortgage brokers, real estate agents, as well as buyers and sellers in Massachusetts, New England, and throughout the US. To learn more visit them online at www.CrowleyCummings.com.
Everyone wants to save money when they buy or sell their home or business. Very often, buyers and sellers of real estate will try to cut corners by not using an attorney for their closing. There are several reasons why this may be a bad practice, and feed misconceptions about the real estate process as a whole.
Isn’t it my real estate agent’s responsibility to represent and protect my interests at the closing?
No. Your real estate agent is there to make sure the proper paperwork gets where it needs to be, to coordinate inspections, explain contract items to you the client, along with managing your preferences and scheduling open houses and viewings for you. A real estate closing attorney will handle the details of your closing and protect your investment.
Crowley & Cummings are professional real estate attorneys who also own a real estate agency. Their services are included free of charge for clients of their real estate agency.
------------------------------------------
Crowley & Cummings are real estate attorneys located in Dedham MA specializing in real estate closings, title examinations, complex title issues, purchase & sale agreements, condo conversions, and other related services. They service lenders and mortgage brokers, real estate agents, as well as buyers and sellers in Massachusetts, New England, and throughout the US. To learn more visit them online at www.CrowleyCummings.com.
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