Homeowners Fall Victim to Loss Mitigation/Foreclosure Services.
Frank Wible /REMAX ALL PROS/ - The term “Loss Mitigation” has become a common term with home owners and real estate professionals throughout New Jersey. This term commonly associated with a short sale (also known as a short payoff) when a lender or lenders accept a discounted payoff on your mortgage. This almost necessary method of selling a home in today’s market has created a new opportunity for entrepreneurs; homeowner loss mitigation or counseling services. Loss mitigation, meaning to mitigate, or minimize loss, is traditionally a department maintained by most mortgage companies to do just that; minimize their loss.
With sellers in despair, they look in every direction to avoid losing their homes to foreclosure. Calling investors, real estate agents, family members or whoever they can to assist them out of their financial mess. Now they can add one more to the list, a loss mitigation specialist.
With no formal training required, one can become a loss mitigation specialist with limited, or no knowledge of the real estate mortgage or foreclosure business. This in itself is downright scary. Someone you don’t know, without any training, is going to charge you a fee for a service they have never successfully performed. Loss mitigation for a home owner is a very detailed and complicated process that if not done correctly, could place the home owner in a much worse position.
Homeowner loss mitigation or counseling, when successful, should produce an agreement between the homeowner and the mortgage company so that the homeowner may keep, or sell their home with terms that are acceptable by both parties. A small or nominal fee is normally associated with the transaction if the homeowner intends to keep their home. Homeowners desperately looking for solutions have once again fallen victim to large upfront fees, unsuccessful results, and land in a worse position from when they first started.
Though it’s hard to know exactly where to turn to for guidance and direction, a neutral third party trained to help homeowners is always a good place to start. The Department of Housing and Urban Development (
www.hud.gov) maintains a nationwide directory of more than 2,300 HUD-approved agencies where counselors can evaluate your situation and create a multistep action plan. This plan may include negotiating a loan modification with your lender, helping you slash monthly expenses or referring you to an attorney if they think you have been a victim of mortgage fraud. Most of these counseling services are free. I personally maintain a working relationship with most of the New Jersey agencies on this list. Each time we’ve used them, it has produced fantastic results.
In my experience, it’s always best to make sure you contact an attorney or real estate professional for objective advice before signing anything related to loss mitigation or the sale of your home. If you or someone you know needs assistance with their mortgage, please contact me or someone at my office and we can point you in the right direction.
Frank Wible is an independent real estate columnist for local New Jersey newspapers, national newspapers, and other selected media.
Frank Wible
REMAX ALL PROS
fwible@remax.net
http://www.shortsalenj.com/
Homeowners Fall Victim to Loss Mitigation/Foreclosure Services.
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