Distressed Property Timeline
Distressed Property timeline will go over the general process of what a
distressed or foreclosure property goes through before being recycled back onto
the market or sold to a new owner. It’s important for distressed homeowners or
home buyers to understand the big picture of distressed property timelines and
foreclosure properties and how these properties are handled.
1)Property Goes Into Default because payments have been missed
2)Notice of Default letter is then Issued by the Lender.
3)Borrower has stated amount of days or “reinstatement period”
to bring the loan current by paying past due payments and fees.
4)“Notice of Sale” is issued by the lender, if borrower can’t
re-instate the loan by paying all past due payments and fees.
5)At this point the homeowner/borrower can apply for
HAMP Program with borrower’s hardship letter, financial
history and expenses, tax returns, proof of employment, etc. if
they want to try and keep the property. If the borrower
qualifies, this will reduce the borrower’s payments to 31% of
his gross monthly income. If the borrower
does not want to
keep the property, they can request a short sale, through
HAFA.
6)If the lender has not discussed a short sale option or “deed
in lieu” option with the borrower, the lender must then notify
the borrower in writing of these options and give the borrower
14 days to respond, either in writing or orally. If the
borrower does not respond to this notification, this ends the
lender’s responsibility to give a
HAFA offer to the borrower. This is a crucial point
in the distressed property timeline, as many homeowners ignore
correspondence thinking that it will go away.
7)The servicer or lender must consider the HAMP eligible
borrower for HAFA within 30 days of either:
*Borrower doesn’t qualify for HAMP trial period
*Borrower doesn’t successfully complete the HAMP trial period
*Borrower is delinquent on a HAMP trial period or misses 2 payments
*Borrower requests a short sale or “deed in lieu”
8) Deed In Lieu or HAFA Program to facilitate the Short Sale. If
Deed in Lieu agreement is signed with the lender, the vacancy
date must be at least 30 days after signing the agreement. If
the borrower signs a short sale agreement with the HAFA program,
he can have anywhere from 120 days to 1 year to sell the
property, depending on lender guidelines.
9) If the property doesn’t sell through the HAFA process or the
lender doesn't get the title back through "deed in lieu", it
goes to the Foreclosure Sale at the Courthouse, sometimes known
as the Sheriff’s Sale or Trustee’s Sale, to be auctioned off to
the highest bidder.
10) The borrower still has a redemption period after the
Foreclosure Sale to pay the full balance of the note and all
costs of sale and retain the property. Most borrowers are not in
a position to do this.
11) If it doesn’t bring high enough bids at the courthouse, the
lender will bid high enough to keep it at which point it becomes
an REO or bank owned property.
12) Which 9 times out of 10 will then get
listed with a local
real estate agent for sale back into the
marketplace, where it’s
usually priced competitively with all similar properties on the
market. This process limits the lenders losses.
This
distressed property timeline seems pretty complicated, but it’s getting easier
and more streamlined everyday. The
HAFA program is trying to standardize the forms and
processes to make liquidating these properties easier for both
the lender and the displaced homeowner. It seems evident that we
haven’t seen the biggest number of foreclosures yet, and they
are becoming a huge piece of the real estate market. Cycling
through these and getting housing inventory back to normal
levels will definitely take some time.
Now, in 2011 the government has come up with the
HARP, or Home Affordable Refinance Program, for those that
have held it together, but their homes are underwater because of
depressed real estate prices. The HARP program will allow
homeowners who haven't missed mortgage payments
to refinance at record low interest rates, so that they have an
opportunity to get their heads above water again.
HAMP Home Affordable Modification Program
HAFA Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives Program
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