The American Ninja August 20, 2008

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What do the traditional Japanese Ninja and the the American Ninja have in common? Both destablize and cause social chaos. While traditional Ninjas allegedly intended to destabilize and cause social chaos in enemy territory or against opposing rules, the American Ninja never intended to do anything but make money.

The American Ninja is actually an acronym, which stands for (N)o (I)ncome, (N)o (J)ob, no (A)ssets. Apparently, HCL Finance, who dubs itself “Home of the No Doc Loan,” coined the term during the go-go days of the real estate bubble. Indeed, this “innovative product,” like so many others, was a driving force in the boom.

So, combine Salomon Brothers’ Lewis Ranieri’s idea of buying mortgages, bundling them, and issuing bonds with the bundles as collateral and the Ninja loan, and we have the perfect recipe for disaster. The US housing market is far from bottom and the effects of ridiculous lending practices will continue to be felt for some time to come.

(lawyer, Arizona, Tucson, attorney, foreclosure, real estate, “ninja loan”)

Staving Off The Foreclosure Juggernaut July 26, 2008

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RealtyTrac estimates that 1 in every 171 United States households were in the process of losing their home – up 121% on last year. To give some perspective on that number, RealtyTrac estimates that almost 740,000 United States homes entered the foreclosure process in the second quarter of 2008. That number includes receiving a default or bank repossession notice or warning of an impending auction. That is an incredible number for three months.

Not surprisingly, the worst hit areas were Nevada, California, Florida and Arizona, which had seen the biggest house price rises during the boom years, and the largest volume of sub-prime lending. Indeed, California had the most filings – 202,599 – which was up 198% from the same period a year ago.

CONGRESSIONAL RESPONSE

In response to the worsening foreclosure crisis and credit crunch, both the House and the Senante approved a housing bill – The American Housing Rescue and Foreclosure Prevention Act of 2008 – that will provide mortgage relief for 400,000 struggling homeowners. The housing plan is aimed in large part at calming the financial markets, which have been riding a roller coaster of late, due in no small part to concerns over the financial stability of Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae, and the banking industry as a whole.

THREATENED VETO

Despite an early veto threat, President Bush said he will sign the bill promptly. President Bush opposed the bill because he claimed that $3.9 billion in proposed neighborhood grants did nothing to help homeowners. President Bush had objected to the neighborhood grants, which would be for buying and fixing up foreclosed properties, saying that they were aimed at helping bankers and lenders, not homeowners who are in trouble.

OVERHAULING FHA

The bill headed for the President’s signature aims to spare an estimated 400,000 debt-strapped homeowners from foreclosure by allowing them to get more affordable mortgages backed by the Federal Housing Authority (“FHA”). The FHA could insure $300 billion in such mortgages. However, banks would first have to agree to take a large loss on the existing loans in exchange for avoiding costly foreclosures.

The bill also seeks to overhaul FHA by requiring lenders to show how high a borrower’s payment could get under the terms of his mortgage. The bill also provides $180 million in pre-foreclosure counseling for struggling homeowners.

EASING THE CREDIT CRUNCH

The bill also is designed to relieve a broader credit crunch that has taken hold because of rising defaults and falling home values. To free up safer and more affordable mortgage credit, the bill permanently would increase to $625,000 the size of home loans that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac can buy and the FHA can insure. They also could buy and back mortgages 15 percent higher than the median home price in certain areas.

The Treasury Department will also gain unlimited power, until the end of 2009, to lend money to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac or buy their stock should they need it. The Federal Reserve will also more actively oversee the two mortgage giants.

OTHER PROVISIONS

The bill also includes $15 billion in tax cuts, including a significant expansion of the low-income housing tax credit and a credit of up to $7,500 for first-time home buyers for houses purchased between April 9, 2008, and July 1, 2009. The bill also allows people who don’t itemize their taxes to claim a $500-$1,000 deduction on their 2008 property taxes. That chiefly benefits homeowners who have paid off their homes and can’t claim a deduction for mortgage interest.

Democratic leaders also tacked on an $800 billion increase, to $10.6 trillion, in the statutory limit on the national debt, which clearly irked many conservative Republicans. Those same Republicans were vehemently opposed to the bill, particularly the help for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Many argue that the companies enjoy lavish profits in good times and wield their outsized political clout to resist regulation while depending on the government to bail them out should they falter.

The Congressional Budget Office (“CBO”) announced that the bailout plan could cost the government $25 billion over two years. Hard to argue that US taxpayers are not once again on the hook for a significant bailout. The difficult part in all this is to identify what the alternative is. All this “propping up” lenders and “calming” the markets gives one the feel that this is all a delicate house of cards just waiting to fall. We shall see.

(law, lawyer, attorney, Tucson)

Mr. Foreclosure and the Copper Thieves July 10, 2008

A recent Reader’s Digest article highlighted Clint Medford, referred to by some as “Mr. Foreclosure.” While the foreclosure epidemic certainly has hit many homeowners and would-be investors hard, it has created a host of interesting opportunities for savvy investors and thieves alike.

Often a foreclosed home will sit empty for a time, which has invited a brand of looters who strip a home of its valuable materials. Indeed, as copper prices have sky-rocketed in recent years, desperate looters are stealing copper wires and pipes from foreclosed homes. Indeed, it has been reported that some owners of very expensive homes have stripped their own homes before foreclosure. This phenomenon is happening most prevalently in the Rust Belt states. Some estimate that the average home has over $1,000 in copper in it. Despite some recent legislative attempts to control the scrap metal market, thieves have successfully been able to find buyers for the stolen metal.

In those instances where a lender is sitting on a home that has sat for several months and no longer is inhabitable because of the destruction to the home, Medford steps in. He has created a network of banks that look to him to unload their rising stock of these uninhabitable homes. Medford has picked up houses for as little as a few thousand dollars. Rather than touch the hyper-inflated California markets, Medford focuses his purchases in the tough hit areas in the Rust Belt and places like Detroit, that has been especially hard hit.

Medford puts a little money into the house and turns around and sells it to investors looking for rental properties. Medford has a list of about 600 to 700 investors ready to purchase the homes he has picked up on the cheap from the banks. While selling to investors proved to be good business, Mr. Foreclosure has stepped into a completely new realm – mortgage lender.

For many in the foreclosure belt, many people may be able to afford some of the houses now for sale, but they can not get a mortgage. That is where Medford is stepping in. Rather than make the mistakes that many lenders were making during the rah-rah days of the hysterical real estate boom, Medford works with people by doing something unheard of – verifying their income. Hard to believe there was a time when people could get loans with NO income, just a credit score. The same buyers that obtained sub-prime loans and later faced foreclosure are the same people coming back to buy some of the homes that Medford has to offer. In other words, Medford is stepping in where the banks are all afraid to go right now.

Many question whether someone like Medford is a “foreclosure vulture” or someone willing to stop the forthcoming blight of neighborhoods hard hit by the foreclosure crisis. Sure Medford is charging 11 percent for a mortgage on a house he may have bought for a couple thousand dollars, but he is providing people an opportunity to get back into a house for less than they would be paying in rent in many places. That is a whole lot less shady than the other vultures who swoop in before a foreclosure only to grab someone’s title and equity because they can think of no other options. It sure is interesting out there though.

What’s With the Short Sale? June 23, 2008

Simply speaking, a short sale is when a bank or mortgage lender agrees to allow a homeowner to sell their home for less than the outstanding balance on the home. Lenders often only consider this option if it makes if the cost of a foreclosure is greater than the loss it will suffer as a result of the short sale. Typically, lenders do not accept short sale offers or requests for short sales until a Notice of Default has been issued or recorded with the locality where the property is located. In other words, the lender wants to be assured that the homeowner truly is suffering financial hardship at the time the homeowner requests short sale relief.

As the foreclosure epidemic continues unabated, more and more people are considering the option of a short sale on their home to avoid foreclosure. While many real estate agents are touting this option as a way to avoid the impact on the homeowner’s credit, there are other consequences that any potential homeowner must consider as well.

First, in some states like Texas, even if the lender agrees to the short sale, it may be still come after the homeowner for the difference between the amount owed and the amount of the sale, even it approved the short sale. This is known as seeking a deficiency judgment. Indeed, some lenders may not tell a homeowner this until well down the line when the homeowner is less likely to back out. The key issue to consider is whether the loan is a “recourse” or “non-recourse” debt. If the debt is recourse, the lender can come back after the borrower, even if the short sale has been approved. If the debt is non-recourse, the lender’s only collateral is the property itself.

Fortunately for borrowers, Arizona has anti-deficiency statutes to protect against a lender going after a borrower for any deficiency.

The other major consideration in a short sale is the potential tax hit to the seller. As if they pressures of a potential foreclosure are not enough, the IRS may hit you for any forgiven debt. In other words, if the bank agrees to a short sale, any amount between what was owed on the mortgage and what the property sells for may be viewed as income by the IRS.

Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007

As the foreclosure crisis mounted, Congress and President Bush took action. The Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007 was enacted on December 20, 2007. Generally, the Act allows exclusion of income realized as a result of modification of the terms of the mortgage or foreclosure on a homeowner’s principal residence.

Usually, debt that is forgiven or cancelled by a lender must be included as income on your tax return and is taxable. The Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007 allows an owner to exclude certain cancelled debt on his or her’s principal residence from income.

the Act applies only to forgiven or canceled debt used to buy, build or substantially improve the owner’s principal residence, or to refinance debt incurred for those purposes.

Rules for debt forgiveness:

1. The debt must have been discharged by the lender in 2007, 2008, or 2009.

2. The amount of debt that can be excluded is limited to $2 million.

3. The exclusion can be used only if the loan was taken out to acquire, build or substantially improve a principal residence. Forgiveness of debt on vacation homes, second homes and investment property doesn’t qualify. This is a huge exception given the number of speculative investment purchases that have helped fuel the foreclosure crisis.

4. Debt forgiven on a cash-out refinance or home equity loan must be apportioned between the amounts used for home acquisition, construction or improvement and amounts used for other purposes such as tuition, travel or repayment of other debts. Only the allowable portion qualifies for the tax break, says John W. Roth, a senior tax analyst at CCH, a provider of tax services, software and information in Riverwoods, Illinois.

So, if a lender accepts a short sale, and the borrower does not meet the exceptions above, again, the IRS normally views the discounted loan amount as income. For the real estate investor, the taxable income may be used to offset other income, but that is an issue best handled by a tax adviser.

In the end, while the short sale seems like a good option on first blush, any sale is discretionary the part of the lender and it will take a significant amount of time to consummate any transaction. Finally, a short sale can have tremendous tax implications to a seller. This is an issue I am not sure that real estate agents are in a good position to advise their clients of. Sellers need to understand there are several issues at play in a short sale, and jumping in without adequate advice can only add more trouble to an already difficult situation.

Not Your Typical Foreclosure…. June 12, 2008

Clearly, the foreclosure crisis is real and is affecting a broad spectrum of people. In other words, the epidemic is not just hitting homeowners with subprime mortgages with adjusting rates. Indeed, it seems those at the upper echelons are being hit as well. Indeed, Ed McMahon‘s six-bedroom, five-bathroom, 7,000-square-foot house is on the verge of foreclosure.

While predatory lending certainly is component in the foreclosure epidemic, the example of Ed McMahon exemplifies the current problem – living beyond your means. Ed McMahon stated “If you spend more money than you make, you know what happens. . . ” Indeed, this seems to be what is happening to many people in general. When lending was loose, people were qualifying for homes they likely had no business purchasing in the first place. Once the go-go days of the real estate boom ended, equity dried up and many are now upside down in their houses. It seems that no one expected for prices to turn so quickly and drop so hard.

I am not sure there is a silver lining in all of this, but I think with a foundering economy, high gas prices, and the steep downturn in the housing market, people are beginning to reassess their lifestyles, and perhaps question whether the immediate gratification mindset is sustainable any longer.

Foreclosure Woes June 12, 2008

I will be focusing many of my future posts on the foreclosure crisis. Here is a good article talking about the record number of foreclosures in the United States.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — More than one million homes are now in foreclosure, the highest rate ever recorded, according to a trade group which warned Thursday that number will continue to climb.

The Mortgage Bankers Association’s first quarter report showed that a record 2.5% of all loans being serviced by its members are now in foreclosure, which works out to about 1.1 million homes. That’s up from the 2% of loans, or about 938,000 homes, that were in foreclosure at the end of 2007.

The report also showed that 448,000 homes, or about 1% of loans being serviced, began the foreclosure process during the first quarter. That’s up from about 382,000 homes, or 0.83%, that entered foreclosure in the last three months of 2007.

The seasonally-adjusted rate of homeowners behind on their mortgage payments also hit a record high. Nearly 3 million home loans, or 6.4%, have missed at least one payment, while about 737,000 are at least three months past due, but not yet in foreclosure.

Grim numbers

“The figures aren’t surprising, but they’re pretty ugly nonetheless,” said Michael Larson, real estate analyst with Weiss Research. “We’re talking higher delinquencies and foreclosures pretty much across the board.”

And he doubts that there’s much reason to expect the foreclosure crisis to abate until next year at the earliest, adding that it could be a couple of years or more before foreclosure rates retreat to more normal historical averages.

“It’s the same story we’ve been seeing for a while now – we had too much reckless lending, and buyers who got over-extended,” he said. “We’ve had an unprecedented decline in home prices on a nationwide basis, which is public enemy number one for mortgage loans. And now you’ve got an overall economy that has slowed adding to this toxic stew.”

Good credit, bad credit

Much of the problem lies with subprime loans given to borrowers with weaker credit records, especially those loans that had adjustable rates. Nearly four out of ten subprime ARM loans are a month or more late, or in foreclosure. And subprime ARMs account for 39% of the loans that fell into foreclosure during the quarter.

Prime fixed-rate loans, which are considered very low risk, have also seen sharp increases in their delinquency and foreclosure rates, although they are performing far better than the riskier loans on the market.

There are 431,000 prime loans in foreclosure, a seasonally adjusted rate of 1.2% that is more than double the 0.5% rate a year ago.

The report showed about 1.2 million prime mortgages are now a month or more past due, a seasonably adjusted rate of 3.7% of those loans. That’s up from a rate of 2.6% a year ago.

According to Jay Brinkman, MBA’s vice president for research and economics, the prime loan segment was hurt by so-called Alt-A loans, which didn’t require income verification for buyers with good credit. Prime loans are also getting into trouble in places such as Florida and California, which have seen sharp home price declines.

“You still have people with prime fixed rate loans who lose their jobs, who get a divorce or have an illness come up, and can no longer afford a house,” Brinkman said. “In areas where there’s been home price appreciation, you can get out of that with the sale of a home or some other negotiation.”

Getting worse before it gets better

This marks the sixth straight quarter in which a record percentage of loans went into foreclosure.

The trend has led to a widespread decline in home prices, as well as huge losses for banks and other financial firms that issued or invested in the loans.

Nearly half of the homes in foreclosure are concentrated in six states. But those states are undergoing two very different types of housing meltdowns.

California, Florida, Arizona and Nevada have been hit by a hangover after a home building boom in the middle of the decade, which was fueled by rising home prices and investors snatching up real estate using risky mortgages. Those four states have nearly 400,000 homes in foreclosure, or a third of the nationwide total. Roughly 3.6% of all of the loans in these states are now in foreclosure.

“Clearly things in California and Florida are going to get worse before they get better,” said Brinkman.

The other two states that are ground zero for the crisis – Michigan and Ohio – have been hit by the more traditional economic woes stemming from rising job losses, particularly in the automotive sector.

Ohio has about 61,000 homes in foreclosure, while Michigan has about 54,000. The foreclosure rate in those two states is 3.9%.

There is a glimmer of good news. The rate of homes going into foreclosure in Ohio and Michigan was narrowly lower than it was in the fourth quarter, and 18 other states also saw a decline in that rate.

Brinkman said he hoped that means the crisis is at or near a bottom in much of the country, and that foreclosure prevention efforts have started to have an effect. But he added that a slight improvement in one quarter doesn’t necessarily mean the end is near.

Indeed, the rate of homes going into foreclosure continued to climb sharply higher in California and Florida, as has the rate of loans in those states that are 90 days or more past due but not yet in foreclosure. Brinkman said that in markets like these, where home prices have fallen so far from the market’s peak, finding solutions to keep a home out of foreclosure are more difficult.

He also added that, given the large impact California and Florida are having on the national foreclosure numbers, and the fact that historically foreclosures peak about three years into the loan’s life, he expects the number of foreclosures will continue to rise.