Foreclosure Homes - Different Measures
The Association of Hawaii Bankers is informing home owners’ part of foreclosure homes, that the Mortgage Rescue Fraud Prevention Act which was signed in June by Governor Linda Lingle, is to offer protection to home owners from falling prey to frauds, who approach them with offering help with homes facing problems with either house foreclosures or loans.
‘Loan rescuers’ or consultants who deal with distressed properties often charge a very high fee, put in a negligible effort, and in some cases deceive the struggling home owner into transferring the deed of their property to the ‘loan rescuer’, the association said.
The Mortgage Rescue Fraud Prevention Act will require a consultant to give the home owner a contract on paper with details of their services. Home owners have also been given the right to cancel the agreement before the commencement of the services that are to be performed.
Gary Fujitani, the association’s executive director, said that neither does the home owner like to face foreclosure, nor do banks like to foreclose. He added that it was important for home owners to know that help would be made available but they would have to take initiative in asking for help and that banks would work with borrowers to try and help them keep their homes, thereby maintaining a long term relationship.
According to a recently published report, Hawaii saw more than 350 filings for pre-foreclosure in the month of July. Some of these could definitely have been avoided had the home owner taken timely measures.
The association of bankers offers these tips for home owners involved with Foreclosure Homes:
Home owners should evaluate their financial standing keeping in mind expenses on a monthly basis, thereby figuring out how much can be paid every month on their mortgage in the future. With that in place, a payment schedule could be worked upon in accordance with the lender. You could collectively work on loan modification, flexible payments or extensions. Home owners should keep in mind that missing out on even one mortgage payment has an adverse effect on the credit score.
The most important thing for home owners having trouble with making their mortgage payments is to work on remedial measures as soon as they know they have a problem.
