Metro Philly 'Bricks and Sticks'

The Internal Revenue Service is relaxing how it handles tax liens on property to allow home owners with outstanding liens to refinance mortgages or sell homes without a lien delay or a block on the process.

Home owners with a lien on the property can ask the IRS to make its lien secondary to that of the lender that’s refinancing or restructuring the loan. If the property is being sold, the homeowner can ask the IRS to “discharge” its claim, which clears the home from the lien. The action does not eliminate the tax debt, however.

There are more than 1 million federal tax liens outstanding that are tied to real estate and personal property, according to IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman. He said IRS officials would respond more quickly to taxpayer requests to clear liens. Previously, clearing a lien took about 30 days after the request was filed. Shulman was unable to say specifically how much faster the IRS will now respond.

“Five or 10 years from now, when the financial crisis has ended and housing prices are up smartly once more, we’ll look in the rearview mirror and realize that we missed a golden age for first-time homebuyers.” Read more…

Thousands of Pennsylvania families faced with the possible loss of their homes through foreclosure have received help from the Homeowners’ Emergency Mortgage Assistance Program (HEMAP). This unique program, created by Act 91 of 1983, is the only one of its kind in the nation. HEMAP is a cost effective means to prevent homelessness among Pennsylvanians. By giving assurance of steady mortgage payments, it allows homeowners to seek alternate employment, job training, and/or education when they need it most. The program is funded by State appropriations and repayment of existing HEMAP loans.

HEMAP is a loan program designed to protect Pennsylvanians who, through no fault of their own, are financially unable to make their mortgage payments and are in danger of losing their homes to foreclosure. HEMAP funds loaned to prevent foreclosure are not a grant. These funds are a loan and must be repaid. Please note that FHA Title II (purchase) mortgages are not eligible under this program. Read the rest of this entry »

Housing consultancy Global Insight reports that nationwide, housing prices are now 3.8 percent undervalued, based on total market value. It says values fell at a faster pace in the third quarter after stabilizing earlier in the year.

According to Global Insight’s calculations, prices are now 6.5 percent below their 2007 peak. They fell at a 6.9 percent annual pace affecting 241 of the 330 metropolitan areas analyzed by Global Insight. That’s up from 150 metro areas affected in the second quarter.

Contraction is most severe in the Southeast and Southwest with only the Pacific Northwest remaining overvalued, Global Insight says.

Home prices fell more than 10 percent in the third quarter in nine central California communities. The Central Valley communities of Merced, Stockton, and Modesto have seen property values fall to less than half their 2005 value. Twenty-nine metro areas in California, Florida, and Nevada ­– at one time among the most overvalued – have seen price declines in excess of 30 percent. Similar steep price drops are occurring in Michigan, northeast Ohio, the southern metro areas from Charlotte to Atlanta, as well as in New England.

“Weak economic conditions and wary consumers continue to hold the housing market back. Although many areas are seeing home sales increase, it is largely due to foreclosure homes being snapped up at significantly discounted prices. As the inventory of these homes is removed from the market, prices will remain on a downward path,” predicts Jeannine Cataldi, senior economist and manager of Global Insight’s Regional Real Estate Service.

The U.S. Department of Treasury, Office of Inspector General (OIG), is investigating incidences whereby individuals are using fraudulent promissory notes and bonds to attempt to purchase vehicles and real estate. The OIG has been notified of numerous occurrences throughout the United States where fraudulent documents were used to attempt to purchase vehicles. Treasury OIG has also been made aware of incidents in Arizona and Colorado where similar fraudulent documents were used to attempt to purchase homes and an office building.

The fraudulent documents are not referenced as “U.S. Treasury” bonds or promissory notes. They are referenced as “personal promissory note” and “private offset bond;” however, they have the name of Henry Paulson, Secretary, U.S. Treasury, on the face of the documents.

Treasury OIG has learned that the only type of hard-copy bond issued by the U.S. Treasury that a citizen can purchase today is a savings bond. All other bonds are electronic and the buyer would not receive a hard-copy document. Finally, Paulson’s name should not appear on any document listed as a private bond or promissory note since these items are not backed or guaranteed by the U.S. Treasury.

If you have any information regarding this type of fraudulent activity, we request that you contact the U.S. Department of Treasury, Office of Inspector General (OIG), Office of Investigations Hotline, at 800/359-3898 or e-mail Hotline@oig.treas.gov. REALTORS® approached by a person giving these or similar circumstances should consider the potential for fraud. Should you suspect fraudulent activity, it is recommended that you contact the OIG Hotline and your local law enforcement agency immediately. Additional information regarding this and other similar fraud schemes can be found at
the following Department of Treasury Web site:

http://www.treasurydirect.gov/instit/statreg/fraud/fraud_bogussightdraft.htm

An effort by the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® to spur home sales through a mortgage-interest rate buydown appears to be gaining traction. Reports in major news media like the Washington Post and Wall Street Journal today quote sources familiar with a meeting between U.S. Treasury officials and NAR in November in which the buydown proposal was discussed.

“Treasury officials told the REALTORS® that the [buydown] plan could be a more effective way to help homeowners than focusing solely on borrowers who are struggling to meet their monthly payments,” the Washington Post story says.

Under the Treasury plan, lenders would sell newly issued mortgage-backed securities to the government provided the interest-rate on the loans collateralizing the securities was no higher than 4.5 percent. Although NAR supports a buydown, it does not take a position on how low interest rates should go.

To pay for the plan, Treasury would issue bonds at 3 percent, creating a 1.5-percent spread that it could use for buying the securities. Those securities would then be purchased by secondary mortgage market companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which are under federal conservatorship.

NAR has been calling for a buydown and other measures to help stimulate housing sales as part of a four-point plan it showcased at its annual meeting in Orlando last month. To date, tens of thousands of REALTORS® have sent letters to their members of Congress asking for quick action to help housing, which is widely considered a crucial first step to a broader economic recovery. Other parts of the four-point plan include making 2008 high-cost conforming loan limits, which are now $729,750, permanent, and improving the home buyer tax credit by expanding it to all buyers, not just first-timers, and eliminating the repayment requirement.

Some analysts have calculated that an interest-rate buydown could help as many as 2.5 million households.