STUDY SHOWS OHIO HOMEOWNERS INCREASED TAX BURDENS

Post by Maple Heights African American Gazette.

ESOP: DESPITE SLIGHT DECLINE OHIO FORECLOSURES STILL HIGH

For Immediate Release
May 2, 2013

Contact:
Deonna Kirkpatrick
(216) 361-0718
dkirkpatrick@esop-cleveland.org

Despite Slight Decline Ohio Foreclosures Still High

CLEVELAND, OH – Today the Ohio Supreme Court released foreclosure numbers for 2012 and even though there has been a slight decrease in the overall number of foreclosures there is still a serious foreclosure crisis in Ohio.

The number of Ohio foreclosure case filings decreased in 2012 by 1.5 percent. That’s about 1,000 fewer cases than in 2011. But there were still 70,469 new residential, commercial, and tax foreclosure case filings in 2012.

“There is still a lot of work to be done to help Ohio homeowners,” said Roslyn Quarto, ESOP’s Executive Director. “We are not surprised by the foreclosure numbers released today. It matches up with what we’re seeing at our offices all over the state.”

ESOP foreclosure prevention advocates are swamped every week with people who need help. Many of the people we’re seeing have suffered a loss of income. Companies making layoffs or cutting back workers’ hours are still putting a crunch on family budgets.

Today’s numbers underscore the need for continued funding of foreclosure prevention counseling and relief programs that help keep families in their homes and stabilize communities. “Now is not the time to slash funding for housing counseling," said Quarto. "As legislators prepare the budget for next year it is critical that they recognize the important work of housing counselors as an investment in financially stable families and communities and an essential part of fueling the housing recovery.”

Link:

http://www.courtnewsohio.gov/happening/2013/foreclosureStats_050213.asp

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ESOP is a HUD-approved foreclosure prevention counseling agency. We have nine offices across Ohio to help urban, suburban and rural homeowners. ESOP has been on the frontlines of the predatory lending and foreclosure epidemic since 1999, combining community organizing, foreclosure prevention and advocacy.

ESOP: WATT NOMINATION A GOOD SIGN, BUT HOMEOWNERS NEED RELIEF NOW

For Immediate Release                                                         
May 2, 2013                                                                   

Contact:
Deonna Kirkpatrick
(216) 361-0718
dkirkpatrick@esop-cleveland.org

Watt Nomination a Good Sign, But Homeowners Need Relief Now

CLEVELAND, OH – President Obama’s nomination of Congressman Mel Watt for Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency is a welcome sign of the administration’s commitment to dealing with the lingering devastation of the housing crisis.  Empowering and Strengthening Ohio’s People urges the Senate to move quickly to confirm Representative Watt. While this nomination moves through the Senate we also ask the White House to immediately name a new Acting Director to help homeowners who continue to struggle with underwater mortgages and a sluggish housing recovery.

While national trends for the housing market are on the rise, in Ohio there were more than 70,000 new foreclosure filings last year.  According to RealtyTrac Ohio has had more than 10,000 new foreclosure filings in both February and March of this year. Families are still suffering and there is still much work to be done.  This crisis calls for American ingenuity and leadership. It’s time to use all the options available to protect homeownership, help families stabilize their finances, and rebuild American communities.



The current Acting Director Edward DeMarco has repeatedly declined to use all of the effective options available to help homeowners recover from the housing crisis. He has refused to allow mortgage principal correction despite his own agency’s evidence that a principal correction program would keep families in their homes while saving taxpayers money.

ESOP is optimistic that Representative Watt will show real leadership to help keep families in their homes, ensure fair lending and servicing practices, boost the housing recovery and chart a course for the appropriate role of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in housing finance.

Every day that DeMarco remains in his position the FHFA puts more families at risk of foreclosure and delays the housing recovery.  If DeMarco won’t act then we call on the Senate and the White House to act quickly to replace him with someone who will.

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ESOP is a HUD-approved foreclosure prevention counseling agency. We have eight offices across Ohio to help urban, suburban and rural homeowners. ESOP has been on the frontlines of the predatory lending and foreclosure epidemic since 1999, combining community organizing, foreclosure prevention and advocacy.  

PROMPT NOTIFICATION OF SHORT SALE ACT

MARCH NEWSLETTER

Speeding up Home Sales

One sure way to reduce the deficit is to strengthen the economy—so more Americans have good-paying jobs and can support themselves and their families rather than relying upon the safety net to make ends meet. We have grown our way out of past recessions through a strong manufacturing sector and a robust housing market. But when empty homes are scattered from Cleveland Heights to Kennedy Heights, we know that the housing market still has a long way to go before it recovers. Although many prospective home buyers have made legitimate, good-faith offers to purchase a new home, they often encounter banks that ignore or slow walk those offers when sellers owe more on their mortgages than the selling price of these homes. And right now, this is the case for nearly 25 percent of Ohio homeowners. To help sell these homes and keep our economy moving forward, a short sale often makes sense. Short sales are real estate transactions that must be approved by the bank because the seller owes more on their mortgage than the proposed sale price. Both parties agree to the short sale process because it allows them to avoid a foreclosure – which typically takes longer to complete, involves hefty fees for the bank, and leaves a negative mark on the homeowner’s credit report. For too many buyers and sellers, the time that it takes to complete a short sale is anything but short. Too often in a short sale, once a buyer makes a written offer and has paid her earnest money deposit, there is a break in communication between the loan servicer and the buyer of the short sale property. The breakdown deprives buyers of knowing whether their offer has been accepted, rejected, or countered – which prevents them from making offers on other homes. This lapse in communication – especially when big banks are involved – makes it harder for families to move to Ohio. Kathy Hlad discovered this when she put her house, located in Lake County’s Concord Township, on the market in August 2010. Although a buyer submitted an offer on her house, her bank did not respond for eight months. When she finally heard back, the buyer was out of the country for an extended period of time and could not be reached to approve the counter offer. Because more than 30 days elapsed, the deal fell apart and the buyer walked away. Simply put, homes aren’t being sold – even when there is a demand. Potential buyers – fed up with the waiting game that lasts for months on end – simply walk away. And sellers who may need to move for a new job – either don’t move or take a huge financial hit. More efficient short sales could make a difference for our economy. If we’re going to recover from the housing crisis, we need to make it easier for qualified candidates to purchase homes.   That’s why I have introduced bipartisan legislation, the Prompt Notification of Short Sale Act, to improve the process for buyers considering a short sale.    First, the legislation would achieve creating greater accountability for the loan servicer and improved communication between the buyer and loan servicer by requiring a written response of an acceptance, rejection, counter offer, or extension within 30 days of the homeowner’s request. Last year, I met with a group of Ohio community bankers who said they could make a decision on a short sale in less than an hour.  What a million-dollar community bank in Ohio can do in thirty minutes we're asking multi-billion dollar banks to do in 30 days. And it would help to bolster our housing market and our economy by providing homebuyers with certainty and assurance by giving them a final date at which they can close the transaction, or move on. This common-sense legislation would help prospective home buyers – and distressed homeowners alike – while helping to rebuild our neighborhoods and fostering long-term economic growth. This is about stabilizing home values – shoring up our economic future, and standardizing processes that make sense for Ohio families. It’s about ending a waiting game and stopping the delay that represents a dangerous drag on the housing market and our nation’s fiscal health. We cannot afford to wait any longer. Now is the time to stabilize the housing market and stabilize our economy. Sincerely, Sherrod Brown U.S. Senator

ADDRESSING WRONGFUL FORECLOSURES IN OHIO

FROM SHERROD BROWN'S NEWSLETTER: 7/31/2012

"If you’re one of the thousands of Ohio families who has experienced the pain of losing your home to a wrongful foreclosure, help could finally be on the way. But you must act quickly.

Before the reports of widespread foreclosure fraud two years ago, Ohio had 14 consecutive years of increased foreclosures.

Then, we discovered that many of the biggest banks in the country simply didn’t follow the law and give people the chance they deserved to keep their homes. We found that servicers used poorly maintained, lost, or even forged documentation to evict homeowners.

Big banks tell us that these mistakes are isolated and harmless. But these problems are not new. 

Senator Sherrod Brown with Housing Secretary Donovan in Cleveland:

Too many Ohioans were unjustifiably foreclosed on in recent years. That’s why it is important that the more than 140,000 Ohioans whose homes were foreclosed on in 2009 and 2010 know about the free Independent Foreclosure Review (IFR) process.

The IFR process – enforced by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Reserve – awards financial assistance to borrowers who were foreclosed on because of inaccuracies and oversights.

According to the Independent Foreclosure Review website, borrowers are eligible for independent foreclosure review if:  (1) the property securing the loan was the borrower’s primary residence; (2) the mortgage was in the foreclosure process at any time between January 1, 2009 and December 31, 2010; and (3) the mortgage was serviced by one of 27 IFR approved servicers. These servicers include: America’s Servicing Co.; Aurora Loan Services; BAC Home Loans Servicing; Bank of America; Beneficial; Chase; Citibank; CitiFinancial; CitiMortgage; Countrywide; EMC; EverBank/EverHome Mortgage Company; Financial Freedom; GMAC Mortgage;  HFC;  HSBC;  IndyMac Mortgage Services; MetLife Bank; National City Mortgage;  PNC Mortgage; Sovereign Bank; SunTrust Mortgage; U.S. Bank; Wachovia Mortgage; Washington Mutual (WaMu); Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.; and Wilshire Credit Corporation.

And while it’s estimated that 147,000 Ohioans are eligible, as of now, only 6,000 have requested IFR reviews.

The good news is that it’s not too late. With the application deadline extended to September 30, 2012, it is important to spread the word to Ohio homeowners that they may be eligible to receive compensation or other support.

For the families who were foreclosed on – even when they were abiding by the terms of their mortgage or their modification agreement, even after they requested assistance and submitted all the required documentation on time, or even though they were protected by bankruptcy – IFR can help.

The Independent Foreclosure Review process may provide compensation in the form of a lump sum payment, a loan modification, a suspended foreclosure, or even a corrected credit report. 

While IFR is a good option for many homeowners, it’s not a perfect process and I’m working to fix some serious flaws in it. That’s why I sent a letter to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency requesting that homeowners have access to an appeal process that ensures Ohioans can receive the assistance they deserve.

And though not everyone will receive compensation, going through the IFR process is free of charge and won’t prevent Ohioans from pursuing other options related to foreclosure assistance.

If homeowners don’t take advantage of this opportunity and participate in this program, then the banks will avoid making payments for their wrongdoing. Our economy will never fully recover until we stabilize the housing market – and that means restoring trust for both homeowners and investors.

But it’s up to all of us to take action. By raising awareness of the services the Independent Foreclosure Review process provides, we can help Ohio homeowners receive the compensation they deserve.

To find out more about the Independent Foreclosure Review process, Ohioans can call 1-888-9105 or visit the website https://independentforeclosurereview.com/ "

Sincerely,

Sherrod Brown U.S. Senator"

Senator Sherrod Brown's Website




UPDATE - RELATED:

"Matt Taibbi & William Black on Bailout Secrets & How New Foreclosure Deal Spares Banks from Justice" .. Democracy Now, January 11, 2013