Aundrea Beach-Greco Blog

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
5.26.09

Five Ways the New Housing Law Benefits Home Owners

Las Vegas, NV  - May 26, 2009 – The Helping Families Save Their Homes Act (S. 896) was recently passed by Congress and signed into law by President Obama last week. “There are five primary sections of the new law that will benefit home owners and consumers,” said Gibran Nicholas, Chairman of the CMPS Institute, an organization that certifies mortgage bankers and brokers.

Benefit #1 – Loan Modifications and Short Sales Should Get Easier
“Most mortgage loan modification plans announced by the government to date have been voluntary, meaning that mortgage companies do not have any legal obligation to participate,” Nicholas said. The new law changes that by requiring servicers to modify loans and approve short sales for consumers as long as three requirements are met:

• Default on the mortgage needs to be reasonably foreseeable
• If the loan modification or short sale is not approved the homeowner may ultimately end up in foreclosure
• The home owner must occupy the property as their primary residence
• The mortgage company needs to be able to recover more from the loan modification or short sale than they would by sending the home into foreclosure
• The bank must realize the cost associated by allowing this homeowner to go into foreclosure versus helping with a solution

“These three requirements were also present in legislation that was signed into law in 2008,” Nicholas said. “However, this new law is more effective because it specifically states that servicers must consider any of the plans that have been endorsed by the US Treasury Secretary – including the Obama administration’s Making Home Affordable plan – when making their decisions. This means that home owners should find it easier to qualify for a loan modification or short sale because their mortgage servicers are finally obligated by law to consider some of these new plans that have been completely voluntary up until this point. It may take several weeks for servicers to start implementing the new law, but the bottom line here is that help is finally on the way.”

It is more important than ever before for home owners and buyers to work with a Certified Mortgage Planning Specialist, especially with all the rapid changes that are constantly taking place in the mortgage and housing markets.


About CMPS Institute: CMPS is a training, examination, certification and ongoing membership program for financial professionals who provide mortgage and real estate equity advice. Recognized for its preeminence within the industry, the CMPS curriculum represents the core knowledge expected of residential mortgage advisors regardless of the diversity of specializations within the industry. Over 5,500 financial professionals have gone through the program since its launch in 2005. For more information, please visit www.CMPSInstitute.org

Contact:
Aundrea Beach-Greco
info@aundreabeach.com
(702) 326-7866
(877) AUNDREA