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Archive for the 'Finance' Category

California Debt Relief Extended for Distressed Homeowners

Senate Bill 401, which was signed into law on April 12, provides help for distressed homeowners by waiving their California state income tax owed on debt forgiven in a foreclosure, short sale or loan modification.  This news will help many during this tax season as it could mean the difference between owing money and getting a state tax refund.  This law mirrors the federal exemption, but is different in that the federal is for indebtedness up to $2 million and the state is for indebtedness up to $800,000 and forgiven debt up to $500,000.

As we do not give tax and/or legal advice, it is important to contact an accountant or real estate attorney to determine whether you qualify.  The basics, however, as stated by the California Association of Realtors are that this bill is for debt forgiven on a loan secured by a “qualified principal residence.”  What is debt on a “qualified principal residence?”  It is defined as, “debt incurred in acquiring, constructing, or substantially improving a principal residence.  It includes both first and second trust deeds.  It also includes a refinance loan to the extent the funds were used to payoff a previous loan that would have qualified.”  These tax breaks will continue for three years as they “apply to debts discharged from 2009 through 2012.” Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: debt relief, distressed, home owner

Housing Market Update…A Lender’s Perspective

Market update provided by Ron McGowan at PrimeLending for the week of March 29, 2010…

“February existing home sales were down for the third month in a row, but the 0.6% drop was less than expected.  We had severe winter weather putting a damper on things and we’re still seeing the hangover from sales pushed into October and November when everyone thought the homebuyer tax credit was going away.  February new single-family home sales were down 2.2%.  But the median price of $220,500 was UP 5.2% over last year and the average price of $282,600 was a strong 9.3% UP from a year ago.  The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) expects existing home sales to be UP almost 4% this year to 5.34 million, going to 5.72 million in 2011.  They see new home sales hitting 398,000 in 2010 and 528,000 the following year.

The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) announced new measures that will go into effect for borrowers next Monday, April 5.  Here’s what they mean:  1) The upfront Mortgage Insurance Premium (MIP) will go Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: FHA, home sales, Lending

Chase Bank lending issues and delays throughout California

Recently, a troubling trend has been occurring with Chase Bank and it’s loan processing. Reports have been flooding in from the Western Region of the United States that Chase Bank is having extremely long delays in reaching loan approvals as well as funding loans from their inceptions.

One recent transaction was noted where a loan applicant, a noted physician from the Northern California area, was purchasing a condominium in the Downtown San Diego Area. Once under contract, a copy of all the pertinent documentation was forwarded to the Chase Bank representative who was handling the dear doctor’s file. The file was submitted by the loan officer to his processor and then to the underwriter. Chase took almost 4 weeks to complete the appraisal. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: loan nightmare, san diego real estate