What happens when a new bank takes over

The FDIC closes a bank, offers that bank for sale, finds a buyer and agrees to cover some of the losses that the buyer incurs. That's how it works when your bank goes under.

But, what happens after you become a loan customer of the new bank? Is it all peaches and cream? Not necessarily so.

According to a report on CharlotteObserver.com, banks often put roadblocks in front of their borrowers and either hound them to pay off  their loans or face foreclosure.  One borrower wouldn't roll over and took the bank to court.  It WON!

Read the full story here.

For your next title order or

if you have questions about what you see here, contact

Stephen M. Flatow, Esq.

Stephen's Title Agency, LLC
dba Vested Land Services LLC

165 Passaic Avenue, Suite 101

Fairfield, NJ 07004

Tel 973-808-6130 - Fax 973-227-0645

E-mail Stephen AT vested.com

New life after foreclosure?

The New York Times writes about “The Post-Foreclosure Wait.” The good news is that, “mortgage troubles won’t necessarily shut you out of the housing market forever.”

As the economy and real estate market continue to struggle, millions of Americans have lost their homes through foreclosure, short sale (when a property is sold for less than is owed) or a deed in lieu of foreclosure (when the bank takes ownership without foreclosure).

Even if you think you never want to own a home again, clean credit is important. Bad credit can make it more expensive to rent. In some fields, especially financial services, it can make it difficult to find or keep a job.

What affects recovery speed?

In a short sale where the balance is forgiven and no deficiency is recorded in public records, recovery can be quick. A foreclosure or bankruptcy can weigh you down for years.

As long as 7 years.

But if someone has gone through foreclosure and still has a mountain of debt and not enough income, bankruptcy is worth considering, said Tracy Becker, the founder of North Shore Advisory, a credit-restoration company based in Tarrytown, N.Y. Sure, it will be another hard blow to your credit rating — but your credit most likely is already “wrecked,” at least for now, she said.

OK, so you have pushed the plunger,

And what about a future mortgage? Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Housing Administration set guidelines for how long a borrower must wait after a “significant derogatory event.”

There are plenty of asterisks and conditions. But to generalize, the wait is longest after a foreclosure. Extenuating circumstances like a job loss, illness or divorce reduce the wait.

With such circumstances, Fannie and Freddie specify a two-year wait after a short sale, deed in lieu, or discharge or dismissal of bankruptcy, and three years after foreclosure. Without extenuating circumstances, waits can extend to four years after bankruptcy and seven years after foreclosure.

Read the full report.

For your next title order or

if you have questions about what you see here, contact

Stephen M. Flatow, Esq.

Stephen's Title Agency, LLC

165 Passaic Avenue, Suite 101

Fairfield, NJ 07004

Tel 973-227-4724 - Fax 973-556-1628

E-mail Stephenstitle AT comcast.net - www.stephenstitle.com

Obama administration to send $112M to N.J. for mortgage assistance

Some New Jersey residents stand to benefit from mortgage assistance coming out of Washington, D.C.

Staying out of foreclosure in this economy can be tough enough. Try keeping up with the mortgage after losing a paycheck.

To try to help prevent more defaults, the Obama administration today said it will send $112 million to New Jersey to design a program to help unemployed homeowners stay in their homes while looking for work.

New Jersey is one of 17 states with persistently high unemployment rates to share $2 billion in funding through the program, dubbed the "Hardest Hit Fund."

The state still has to come up with a plan on how the money will be dished and no one is predicting, yet, how many people will actually benefit from the program.  Of course, there’s a risk of abuse—money going to the wrong people—but this is New Jersey, after all.

In any event, hats off to the folks in Washington for sending this money our way.

Read the full report from the Star-Ledger.

If you have questions about what you see here, contact 

Stephen M. Flatow 

Stephen's Title Agency, LLC 

StephensTitle@comcast.net