In many neighborhoods, “for sale” signs rival the number of telephone poles, and some of those signs are looking weather-beaten. Even owners of oceanfront properties are having trouble finding buyers, at least at a price that will cover the mortgage.

One way around this problem is to stay put until the economy turns around and the housing market recovers.

But if you’ve lost your job and need to move to find employment, that’s not an option. Even if you’re lucky enough to find a buyer, closing the deal could take weeks or even months.

In the interim, it’s not enough to ask your next-door neighbor to keep on eye on your property until the new owners move in.

You should also contact your insurance agent, or the company that provides your homeowners insurance.

Standard homeowners policies are designed to cover homes that are occupied. If you leave your home uninhabited for a month or longer, your policy may not cover damage or losses, says Michael McRaith, director of the Illinois Department of Insurance.

You could also expose yourself to lawsuits, McRaith says. If a child gets hurt while playing on your property, your insurance may not protect you from liability, he says.

Full story is available on Seattle Times

Certified distressed property experts, Karen Melillo and Anastasia Satras, of Sedona Realty, have made it their mission to inform worried homeowners of the options available. To that end, Melillo and Satras have created an information website.

The website covers all of the options available to homeowners facing foreclosure or who fear they soon will. The site explains in detail how a “short sale” works to avoid foreclosure and possibly loss of credit.

For some homeowners facing foreclosure, a short sale could be the lifeline that saves their credit and, perhaps, their self-esteem.

The website explains that a short sale might avoid foreclosure when a homeowner owes more on the property than it is currently worth (commonly referred to as being upside down). This typically requires that the homeowner has a qualifying hardship instead of simply wanting to get out of the property and buy another at a lower price. Acceptable hardships include, but are not limited to, mortgage payment increase, job loss, divorce, excessive debt, and forced or unplanned relocation.

Full story is available on Verde News

t’s the untold mortgage crisis– homeowners who get scammed while trying to keep their homes out of foreclosure.

In St. Louis, Friday, officials with the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, the Federal Trade Commission, and attorneys general from Missouri and Illinois kicked-off an initiative to prevent loan modification scams. Julie Stackhouse is senior vice-president of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.

Stackhouse said, “Foreclosures are now approaching an all-time high of nearly 8-percent.”

That has created an environment ripe with opportunity for scam artists.

Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan said, “What they say to people is ‘We understand that you’re struggling, that you want to save your home, and we’re experts. We can work with your lender.’”

Madigan said it’s a lie.

“I have never seen a legitimate, for-profit loan modification service,” she added. “The vast majorityof these scammers do absolutely nothing that they promise to do. So they don’t contact the lender, they don’t get a modification on your mortgage, and they don’t represent you in court. So whether these folks call themselves ‘loan mod consultants’ or mortgage rescuers, these are totally con artists. And they are nothing more than opportunistic predators.”

Full story is available on KSDK.com

Failed mortgage lender Countrywide Mortgage, once the nation’s largest home lender, has agreed to pay $108-million in fines to the Federal Trade Commission for scamming homeowners in foreclosure out of excessive fees.

The Countrywide settlement comes more than two years after the FTC charged the failed lender with collecting excessive fees from cash-strapped mortgage borrowers in foreclosure. The cases involved jacking up fees for such services as property inspections, clean-ups, and charging $300 to mow a small track home’s lawn.

“Life is hard enough for homeowners who are having trouble paying their mortgage,” said FTC chairman Jon Leibowitz. “To have a major loan servicer like Countrywide piling on illegal and excessive fees in indefensible.”

Former homeowners that were victims of the alleged scam by the lender, taken over by Bank of America at the height of the Wall Street financial meltdown are expected to be reimbursed from the proceeds, but federal officials have not said how much or when they should expect to see any of the money.

Full story is available on Housing Predictor

When it comes time to buy that dream home, the cost to insure it is often overlooked. The Insurance Information Institute says there are two questions everyone should ask before they buy: How much will the home cost to insure? And, will separate coverage be needed for certain disasters, such as flood or earthquake?

Insurance is an expense you will have for as long as you own the home. Before purchasing a home, there are important factors to consider that will affect the cost of insurance. The I.I.I. has created a checklist to help:

• How far is the home from the fire department? Houses that are near a fire station with professional firefighters usually cost less to insure.
• What is the condition of the plumbing and electrical systems? Poorly maintained, unsafe and/or outdated systems can cost more to insure.
• Is the home vulnerable to wind damage? Find out if private insurance is available, or a state-run insurance program. Is there a windstorm deductible, and how high is it? A home on or near the beach may be more costly to insure than one inland.

Full story is available on Insurance Information Institute

There’s no doubt about it. California foreclosure law is complex.

I sometimes hear California referred to as a “non-recourse” state. That designation can be misleading.

California has two types of loans: Recourse and non-recourse. When reduced to their most essential terms, the difference between these two is: A borrower may have personal liability following a foreclosure on a recourse loan.

Conversely, a borrower will generally have no personal liability following a Judicial Foreclosure Sale on a non-recourse loan.

That’s the difference. But the practical application of that difference, and the effects and consequences, could fill volumes.

For example, a short sale is not a foreclosure sale. It’s a voluntary sale, whereas a foreclosure is involuntary. When borrowers sell short, they agree to the sale. In a foreclosure, there’s no agreement to sell; the property is seized and sold by the county

That simple difference can have far-reaching consequences. California has several laws that protect, to a certain degree, the interests of borrowers in a foreclosure. But some of these laws and protections may not apply to a short sale.

Full story is available on The Inside Bay Area

Time is running out. Homebuyers must sign a contract by the end of next week to take advantage of federal tax incentives.

In the rush to make a deal, one detail that they’ll need to weigh carefully is securing the appropriate insurance to protect their investment.

Keep in mind these basics when thinking about homeowners insurance coverage:

Full story is availble on The New York Times

Nothing short of a miracle, it seems, will keep Melissa Miller in the house in Honey Brook, Chester County, that has been part of her family for more than a century. Despite her best efforts, it goes to sheriff’s sale Thursday.

The house is Miller’s home, but she has not owned it since 2006, when she tried to save it with an “unconventional refinancing” and ended up being scammed out of the legal title to the property.

Miller, 40, is one of 350 victims of a complicated mortgage-fraud scheme federal prosecutors have dubbed “Operation Homewrecker.”

Full story is availalble on Philadelphia Inquirer

The supply of foreclosed homes that banks need to sell is rising again, signaling further downward pressure on home prices in some parts of the U.S.

Mortgage analysts at Barclays Capital in New York estimated that banks and mortgage investors held a total of 645,800 foreclosed homes in January, up 4.6% from 617,286 a month earlier.

According to Barclays, the supply peaked at around 845,000 in November 2008 and then declined through 2009.

Even though the number of people behind on mortgage payments kept rising last year, the flow of homes into bank ownership slowed markedly because of time-consuming efforts to figure out which distressed borrowers could qualify for programs that attempt to avert foreclosures by reducing monthly payments. Meanwhile, brisk demand from investors and first-time home buyers helped banks unload many of the homes they held.

Full story is available on The Wall Street Journal

A home is probably the best investment you will ever make in your life. This only adds to the fact that you need to secure your investment through home insurance. Insure4USA.com recently released guide for buyers of home insurance highlights the most effective ways to obtain affordable home insurance. The home insurance buyer’s guide contains comprehensive information on types of home insurance policies available.

Dropping home insurance during these tough economic times may occur to many homeowners. However, the thought of cutting back on home insurance can only lead to further disaster in case of any mishaps. According to CEO of Insure4USA.com, “This is a time when homeowners require specific guidance on the best home insurance packages available in the market”. He stresses the fact that many homeowners don’t have a clue as to the type of insurance they need and the benefits of umbrella policies. For the uninitiated, an umbrella policy is that protects you against any lawsuits that may be filed by someone that may be injured within your property. You can get to know more about this policy in Insure4USA’s homeowners guide.

Full story is available on Online PR News