A Disturbing Trend: Delinquent Homeowners Abandoning Their Homes

In my efforts to locate homeowners who are behind on their mortgage payments, or already in foreclosure, I have discovered a disturbing trend. It appears that many of these homeowners are simply abandoning their homes and ignoring their problems. This is a terrible idea. Until the bank owns your home, you are liable for anything that happens to or on your property. Beside the liability issues, "abandoning ship" does nothing to stop, or even mitigate your potential liability to the lender(s).

If you are a homeowner in financial trouble, please do not abandon your home. Follow the instructions in my blog post Question and Answer: What Should I Do if I Can't Pay My Mortgage?.

If you live in the following areas, please contact me as I can help you solve your real estate problems since I am a Middle Tennessee short sale, pre-foreclosure (preforeclosure) and foreclosure expert and REALTOR.

• Rutherford County Tennessee: Murfreesboro TN, Smyrna TN and La Vergne TN (LaVergne TN)
• Williamson County Tennessee: Brentwood TN and Franklin TN
• Davidson County Tennessee: Nashville TN and Belle Meade TN

Question and Answer: What Should I Do if I Can't Pay My Mortgage?

Question: What should I do if I can't pay my mortgage?

Answer: If you are a homeowner who cannot pay your mortgage payment(s), or are already in foreclosure, you should do the following:

1. Loan Modification - Even though you do not have a good chance of getting a loan modification approved by your lender(s), you should give it a try.  Therefore, contact your mortgage company immediately to discuss a loan modification.
2. Discuss your situation with a real estate attorney and/or bankruptcy attorney to discuss your options if the loan modification is not approved.
3. If a loan modification will not work, or is not approved, and you owe more than your home is worth and you cannot pay you mortgage, you need to speak with a REALTOR who specializes in short sales and pre-foreclosures (preforeclosures) to discuss selling your home.

If you live in the following areas, please contact me as I can help you get out of this situation.

• Rutherford County Tennessee: Murfreesboro TN, Smyrna TN and La Vergne TN (LaVergne TN)
• Williamson County Tennessee: Brentwood TN and Franklin TN
• Davidson County Tennessee: Nashville TN and Belle Meade TN

Bank of America CEO Will Resign at the End of the Year

According to this New York Times article, Bank of America Chief to Depart at Year’s End, Kenneth D. Lewis, will resign at the end of 2009. According to the article, he "celebrated his daring takeover of Merrill Lynch as the crowning triumph of a long career. On Wednesday, that conquest proved to be his downfall, as he announced his resignation after months of legal and political scrutiny over how the deal went down. Mr. Lewis leaves as Congress, the attorney general of New York and investors turn up pressure on the bank over not disclosing Merrill's losses and bonuses to shareholders. A federal judge recently refused to accept a settlement brokered between Bank of America and the Securities and Exchange Commission, saying the bank and the commission never fully explained how the decisions were made."

I think all the bank CEO's should step down right now as they have mismanaged their banks and collected millions in pay and bonuses despite their failings. The banks has completely botched the handling of pre-foreclosures, short sales and foreclosures. I am personally dealing with Bank of America on a short sale located in Murfreesboro Tennessee (Rutherford County TN) and I was able to get approval within 3 weeks, but it took a lot of phone calls and emails to push them to a decision. It just should not be that difficult. As a result of Bank of America's incompetence (and the incompetence of other lenders) there are more short sales and foreclosures in Middle Tennessee (in the Nashville TN area) than there should be. Goodbye Mr. Lewis!

If you are a homeowner who cannot pay your mortgage payment(s), or are already in foreclosure, my recommendation is that if you should do the following:

1. Loan Modification - Even though you do not have a good chance of getting a loan modification approved by your lender(s), you should give it a try.  Therefore, contact your mortgage company immediately to discuss a loan modification.
2. Discuss your situation with a real estate attorney and/or bankruptcy attorney to discuss your options if the loan modification is not approved.
3. If a loan modification will not work, or is not approved, and you owe more than your home is worth and you cannot pay you mortgage, you need to speak with a REALTOR who specializes in short sales and pre-foreclosures (preforeclosures) to discuss selling your home.

If you live in the following areas, please contact me as I can help you get out of this situation.

• Rutherford County Tennessee: Murfreesboro TN, Smyrna TN and La Vergne TN (LaVergne TN)
• Williamson County Tennessee: Brentwood TN and Franklin TN
• Davidson County Tennessee: Nashville TN and Belle Meade TN

Get Expert Assistance from a Middle Tennessee Distressed Real Estate, Short Sale, Pre-foreclosure and Foreclosure REALTOR, Real Estate Expert & Real Estate Professional

Get Expert Assistance from a Middle Tennessee Distressed Real Estate, Short Sale, Pre-foreclosure and Foreclosure REALTOR, Real Estate Expert & Real Estate Professional

Attention Property Owners and Homeowners in Middle Tennessee (Rutherford County TN, Williamson County TN, Davidson County TN, Murfreesboro TN, Smyrna TN, La Vergne TN, Eagleville TN, Lascassas TN, Rockvale TN, Christiana TN, Brentwood TN, Franklin TN, Nashville TN and Belle Meade TN) - Get Expert Assistance from a Middle Tennessee Distressed Real Estate, Short Sale, Pre-foreclosure and Foreclosure REALTOR, Real Estate Expert & Real Estate Professional

• Can't afford your mortgage payments?
• Received a Notice of Default (Foreclosure Letter) from your lender, or their attorney?
• Home worth less than your current mortgage balance(s)?

If one or more of the above situations apply to you then you need to get help from a Short Sale, Pre-foreclosure and Foreclosure REALTOR & Real Estate Professional who can help you avoid Foreclosure, sell your home via a Short Sale, or even get a Loan Modification.

A Loan Modification may help you keep your home and should be considered. However, many lenders seem unwilling to grant modifications. If you cannot get a loan modification, or your home is worth less than the mortgage balance(s), or you just can't afford to keep your home then a Short Sale may be your best option as it could salvage what is left of your credit and to reduce the risk of the lender pursuing you for their net loss (deficiency judgment). Acting quickly will give you the greatest chance of getting your life back without all the stress and worry. For immediate help please contact Jim McCormack now!*

Jim McCormack's Foreclosure and Short Sale Assistance Hotline

(615) 653-4383

*Jim McCormack is a REALTOR, not an attorney. You should consult an attorney before making any real estate decisions.

For more information, please visit my real estate website, JimTheRealEstateExpert.com, which is focused on helping property owners who are in foreclosure, or who need expert assistance with a short sale (i.e. where the property value is worth less than the mortgage debt). My website is designed to inform short sale and pre-foreclosure sellers and consumers on how to best solve their real estate problems in the quickest time possible. The articles and tools throughout the website are FREE, with zero strings attached.

If you would like more information first, please let me introduce myself. My name is James W. McCormack. I am a Short Sale, Pre-foreclosure and Foreclosure REALTOR and Real Estate Expert. I am a 10+ year real estate sales veteran and full-time real estate professional who specializes in helping people solve their real estate problems. I focus on short sales, pre-foreclosures, foreclosures and investment properties in the Middle Tennessee TN market with my primary focus being on Murfreesboro, Smyrna, La Vergne and Eagleville in Rutherford County, Brentwood and Franklin in Williamson County and Nashville and Belle Meade in Davidson County. My website helps you to search for and find short sale listings, pre-foreclosure listings and foreclosure listings in Murfreesboro TN, Smyrna TN, La Vergne TN, Brentwood TN, Franklin TN, Belle Meade TN and Nashville TN.

I am a real estate expert who is here to help you. Please call me at 615-653-4383 to discuss your real estate situation or problems. I almost always return phone calls by the next business day.

I provide the following real estate services:

Specialty and Challenging Real Estate (Sales, Consulting & Leasing):
1. Physically Distressed Properties (i.e. fixer uppers, rehab properties, handyman specials, etc.).
2. Foreclosures.
3. Pre-foreclosures (i.e. Notice of Default, etc.).
4. Short Sales (i.e. where the sale price is not enough to pay off the mortgage(s) and other liens.).
5. Bank Owned Real Estate (i.e. REO's).
6. Divorce Sales.
7. Estate Sales.
8. Abandoned and Vacant Properties.
9. Rental Homes and Properties (Leasing and Consulting).
10. Lease Option/Lease Purchase Homes (Sales, Leasing & Consulting).
11. Other Difficult Situations.

Commercial and Investment Real Estate (Sales & Leasing):
1. Small Multifamily Properties (2-4 units).
2. Apartment Buildings (5+ units).

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Freddie Mac Goes Door Knocking to Help Struggling Homeowners Complete Loan Modifications

According to this Freddie Mac news release, FREDDIE MAC STARTS DOOR-TO-DOOR EFFORT HELPING BORROWERS COMPLETE HOME AFFORDABLE MODIFICATIONS, Freddie Mac "has hired Titanium Solutions, Inc. to meet with delinquent borrowers at their homes and help them supply missing information, documents and complete other actions needed to begin their three month trial payment periods for Home Affordable Modifications under President Obama’s Making Home Affordable program. Titanium Solutions will target late-paying borrowers with Freddie Mac-owned mortgages who have not returned letters or phone calls sent by their servicers, or who need to provide additional information or documents to launch their three-month Home Affordable Modification trial periods. Titanium will also help those borrowers who have started their Trial periods complete the documentation process to enable them to be converted into final modifications."

The release quotes Ingrid Beckles, Senior Vice President of Default Asset Management at Freddie Mac, as saying "By meeting with our borrowers, one on one, in their homes Titanium Solutions can help them overcome the roadblocks keeping them from starting their Home Affordable Modification trial periods. We believe this can give borrowers seeking Home Affordable Modifications the same type of personalized guidance they may have had when they were buying their home or applying for their mortgage.

Overall, I think this door knocking is a good idea since most homeowners who have fallen behind on their mortgage payments, or are already in foreclosure, just stop communicating with the lenders and try to ignore the whole thing (not a good idea). Struggling homeowners should openly engage their lenders to see what options they have. A loan modification may indeed be the best option, however, most people do not qualify for a loan modification due to insufficient income (think unemployed) or too much overall debt.  While I do not think that loan modifications can solve the foreclosure crisis we are currently in, for some folks it is the best option.

My recommendation is that if you are a homeowner in financial distress you should contact your mortgage company immediately to discuss a loan modification even though you do not have a good chance of getting a loan modification approved. Some chance is better than the no chance you will have if you do nothing. You may also want to speak with a real estate attorney and/or bankruptcy attorney to discuss your options. If a loan modification will not work, or is not approved, then you need to speak with a REALTOR who specializes in short sales and pre-foreclosures (preforeclosures) to discuss selling your home when you owe more than your home is worth and/or you are not able to pay your monthly mortgage payments. If you live in the following areas, please contact me as I can help you get out of this situation.

• Rutherford County Tennessee: Murfreesboro TN, Smyrna TN and La Vergne TN (LaVergne TN)
• Williamson County Tennessee: Brentwood TN and Franklin TN
• Davidson County Tennessee: Nashville TN and Belle Meade TN