A record 2.8–million U.S. properties had foreclosure filings filed against them in 2009, representing a 21% increase in the number over the previous year and 120% above 2007, according to RealtyTrac's annual year-end report.

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SHERIFF SALES IN NEW JERSEY BY COUNTY

Atlantic County
Thursdays at 12:00 p.m.
For More Information Please Visit
The Atlantic County Sheriff Website

Bergen County
Fridays at 1:00 p.m.
For More Information Please visit
The Bergen County Sheriff Website

Burlington County
Thursdays at 12:00 p.m.
For More Information Please visit
The Burlington County Sheriff Website

Camden County
Wednesdays at 12:00 p.m.
For More Information Please visit
The Camden County Sheriff Website

Cape May County
Wednesdays at 1:00 p.m.
For More Information Please visit
The Cape May County Sheriff Website

Cumberland County
Tuesdays at 2:00 p.m.
For More Information Please visit
The Cumberland County Sheriff Website

Essex County
Tuesdays at 1:30 p.m.
For More Information Please visit
The Essex County Sheriff Website

Gloucester County
Wednesdays at 2:00 p.m.
For More Information Please visit
The Gloucester County Sheriff Website

Hudson County
Thursdays at 2:00 p.m.
For More Information Please visit
The Hudson County Sheriff Website

Hunterdon County
Wednesdays at 2:00 p.m.
For More Information Please visit
The Hunterdon County Sheriff Website

Mercer County
Wednesdays at 2:00 p.m.
For More Information Please visit
The Mercer County Sheriff Website

Middlesex County
Wednesdays at 2:00 p.m.
For More Information Please visit
The Middlesex County Sheriff Website

Monmouth County
Mondays at 2:00 p.m.
For More Information Please visit
The Monmouth County Sheriff Website

Ocean County
Mondays at 2:00 p.m.
For More Information Please visit
The Ocean County Sheriff Website

Passaic County
Tuesdays at 2:00 p.m.
For More Information Please visit
The Passaic County Sheriff Website

Salem County
Mondays at 2:00 p.m.
For More Information Please visit
The Salem County Sheriff Sale Website

Somerset County
Tuesdays at 2:00 p.m.
For More Information Please visit
The Somerset County Sheriff Website

Sussex County
Mondays at 2:00 p.m.
For More Information Please visit
The Union County Sheriff Sale Website

Union County
Wednesdays at 2:00 p.m.
For More Information Please visit
The Union County Sheriff Website

Warren County
Mondays at 2:00 p.m.
For More Information Please visit
The Warren County Sheriff Website

Buying a Short Sale or Foreclosed Property

Due to the recent market correction, buyers can find homes at more affordable prices than at the height of the market. The foreclosure and short sale markets have also become more prevalent. Buyers interested in purchasing a short sale or foreclosed property are advised to work with a REALTOR® who will help in the step-by-step process.

• A REALTOR® can aid in negotiating with a lender on a price to purchase the property.

• Be prepared to provide proof of income and produce financial documentation in the mortgage pre-approval process. Lending standards now require more time and documentation.

• If your offer is accepted, there is a good chance the home will be sold "as is," which means home improvements become the buyers' responsibility.

• It is important to obtain a thorough home inspection to assess the condition of the property.

• Be aware that buying a foreclosure or short sale may take more time than a transaction involving a new home or current seller. With third parties involved, such as a bank, lender and any other lien holders, it may take more time to negotiate a price, approve an offer and close on the property. If time is on your side, it will help to exercise patience and full cooperation on your part as the buyer.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) offers a program to finance the costs of rehabilitation and improvements made on the home. Rather than obtain separate mortgages to finance the purchase and rehabilitation of a home, the 203 (k) program offers buyers the opportunity to obtain a single mortgage from a Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-approved lender to finance the purchase and subsequent improvements that may need to be made to occupy the residence.

Read about Andrea and Donald's successful purchase of a foreclosed home in Linden.

via www.realstorynj.com

Short Sales, Bank Fraud and Off-HUD Payments

CNBC – Big Banks, Short Sales, Kick Backs and Fraud

This morning CNBC aired the story we brought them regarding short sales, bank fraud and kick-backs to banks.

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Diana Olick — CNBC Real Estate Reporter
Big Banks Accused of Short Sale Fraud

Just as regulators, lawmakers and all forms of financial oversight boards are talking about new regulations to guard against mortgage fraud and another mortgage meltdown, there appears to be yet a new mortgage fraud out there today, allegedly perpetuated by agents of, yes, the big banks.

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Facing Foreclosure?

There are Options to Help You Stay Afloat

If you are currently a mortgage holder and you are having difficulty making your payments, first consult your lender or loan officer to explore options other than foreclosure, such as seeking a forbearance, loan modification, refinance, or selling your home through a short sale. There are loan modification programs and refinancing options being offered through the following organizations:

Making Home Affordable from the U.S. Department of Treasury

Fannie Mae

Freddie Mac

HOPE NOW - (888) 995-HOPE (4673) - a HUD-approved alliance that provides free foreclosure prevention assistance.

HOPE for Homeowners program, which allows distressed borrowers to refinance into affordable, government-back mortgages.

Contact a housing counselor in New Jersey. They can offer guidance to hopefully lead you to recovery and help you stay in your home.

If losing your home is in the foreseeable future, it may be in your favor to consider a short sale. The short sale’s effect on credit may not be as detrimental as a foreclosure.

A short sale* is a transaction for the sale and purchase of real property where the purchase price is less than the amount required to pay off the liens on the real property, such as mortgages, judgments, taxes, homeowner or condominium association fees, assessments, as well as closing costs including but not limited to brokerage commissions, realty transfer fee, and attorney’s fees.

It is recommended that homeowners contact a knowledgeable REALTOR® to help navigate a short sale transaction and market the property to potential buyers. Look for a REALTOR® in your area. Short sales can be lengthy processes as they tend to involve numerous parties, such as the lender and any other lien holders.

Read more about the difference between a short sale and foreclosure.

Beware of foreclosure recovery scams, or fraudulent companies that target borrowers at risk for losing their home. Read the warning signs to protect yourself from becoming a victim. Only consult trustworthy resources from state and local government agencies aimed at helping you to avoid foreclosure.

Resources for Improving Credit & Avoiding Scams

Foreclosure Mediation from the N.J. Judiciary
Making Home Affordable from the U.S. Department of Treasury
Mortgage Tips from the Federal Reserve Board
HOPE NOW - (888) 995-HOPE (4673) - a HUD-approved alliance that provides free foreclosure prevention assistance.
How You

via www.realstorynj.com

7. Do nothing or Walk Away

Walking away from the loan or asking the lender to proceed with the short sales simply because the value went down may NOT be a viable option and if it is, there will often be additional financial consequences. No matter what the bank/lender will find you.

6. Foreclosure

If the homeowner is only weeks away from the foreclosure taking place, the homeowner may not be able to pursue any of the previous options, including a short sale. If you decide to still try to contact a real estate professional contact your LENDER IMMEDIATELY to explore your foreclosure alternatives. Sometimes a foreclosure may in the best interest of the distressed homeowner, although doing so will wreak the most damage to their credit.

5. Deed in Lieu of Foreclosure

A deed in lieu of foreclosure occurs when the borrower/home owner agrees to trade the property to the lender in exchange for the cancellation of the note. This foreclosure alternative is more likely to work in state where there is a long foreclosure timeline such as New Jersey and New York. The lender will be able to get the property much sooner than going through the foreclosure, which also lessens the probability of the property being in disrepair as well as eliminates the lender’s costs to foreclose. As with the mortgage workout, sellers who are interested in a deed in lieu of foreclosure should consult their attorney or contact the lender directly.

Market conditions as well as state specific laws will influence whether and how the lender accepts the deed in lieu of foreclosure. Typically in a declining market lenders are less willing to consider this. Note: when accepting deed in lieu of foreclosure, the lender assumes all outstanding liens on the property as well.

4. Short Sale

A short sale is a situation wher the SELLER OWES more money on the loan than the sale of the property will likely produce on the market and the seller is unable or unwilling to bring money to the closing. In a short sale, the lender has NOT FORECLOSED on the property, which provides a window of opportunity for the owner to sell the property in order to at least partially get the lender what is owed.

Because short sales may require multiple approvals and can be extremely time consuming, short sales are considere to be complicated transactions.

So what makes for a SUCCESSFUL SHORT SALE?

Property is worth less than owed
The seller has some hardship that makes it impossible or impractical to keep the property.
The seller is COOPERATIVE and WILLING to work on with a real estate professional to package the short sale. NO ABSENT SELLERS
The lender is contacted and expresses willingness to entertain a short sale
The property is listed with appropriate caveats and protections for the seller and is PROPERLY PRICED to CURRENT FAIR MARKET VALUES and marketed effectively.
The lender is presented with a contract, accepted, signed and dated by the seller, along with a completed short sale package and narrative explaining the necessity and desirability of the proposed short sale.
With lender approval in writing the offer and sale closes as usual.

In May 2009 the Obama Administration announced the development of FORECLOSURE ALTERNATIVES, anothr program of the Making Home Affordable initiative. Under this program, borrowers and mortgage servicers are provided incentives and documentation is standardized to help facilitate short sales and deed in lieu of foreclosure if short sales are not successful.

Features of the program include but are not limited to:

> 90 days up to one year to market and sell the property, depending on market conditions.

> No Foreclosures may occur during the marketing period specified inthe short sale agreement.

> Mortgage servicers may NOT charge FEES to borrowers for participating in Foreclosures Alternatives.

> Mortgage servicers may not negotiate lower commission after an offer is received.

For more detailed information on this program visit www.MakingHomeAffordable.gov.

3. Lender Workout

Lenders often will work with distressed home owners to help them keep their homes by reducing or rolling back interest rate, forgiving back payments or adding them to the loan amount, or possibly recasting the entire loan and wrapping fee into a fixed rate mortgage.

This MUST be done in the first 3 months of going default.

Mortgage Loan Work Out Options

· Forbearance Lenders may let you make partial payments, skip a payment if you have a reasonable plan to catch up. Tell your lender if you expect a tax refund, bonus, or a new job.

· Reinstatement Refers to making a payment that covers all your late payments, usually at the end of a forbearance period.

· Repayment Plan If you can’t afford reinstatement, and can start making payments to catch up, the lender may let you pay and additional amount each month until you are caught up.

· Loan Modification Your lender may agree to amend your mortgage to help you avoid foreclosure. Options can include:

o Adding up all the missed payments to the loan amount and increasing the payment to cover the larger loan.

o Give you more years to pay off the loan, lower the interest rate, and/or forgive part of the loan, to lower your monthly payments.

o Switching from an adjustable rate mortgage to a fixed rate mortgage, so you are not exposed to increases in monthly payments.

o Requiring amounts for taxes and insurance to be included in you monthly mortgage payments so you avoid big bills in addition to your mortgage.

· Sign over the property to the lender in Exchange for Debt Forgiveness. This can hurt your credit, and is better than having a foreclosure in your credit history

In many markets homeowners/borrowers are not aware of the available work out options. So if you know of someone who is starting to get into difficulties let them know about this. ( in a Freddie Mac survey in 2008 more than 50% or half of delinquent borrowers did NOT KNOW that their lenders may have alternatives to help them avoid foreclosure. Mac/Roper Survey available at www.freddiemac.com )

For many struggling to stay current with mortgage payments who experience a change in income or other financial hardships (medical bills, divorce,death, caring for senior,home equity loans some examples) may seek loan modification via the Home Affordable Modification,. This is a Voluntary program with participation form major mortgage servicers including but not limited to Chase Financial, GMAC mortgage, Countrywide, and Wells Fargo. Eligibility criteria required.

*How much of an interest rate deduction is needed to bring the payment to less that 31% of gross income.
*Evaluate whether modifying is less costly than not modifying.
*Borrowers are put on a 3 to 5 month trial period. For more information visit www.MakingHomeAffordable.gov.

There are MANY RESCUE SCAMS!

Watch out for unethical investors who will try to convince you to sign a quitclaim deed for the property and then lease it back to you. In many cases the former owners will still be liable for the mortgage even though they no longer own the property.

2. Sell & Bring Cash To Closing

Although many homeowners today may not have the necessary cash to cure the deficiencies at closing, they may have liquid assets: Us treasury bonds,individual retirement accounts (IRA) to do so. By curing the deficiency at the closing, hoemowners can avoid the credit damage a short sale or foreclosure can cause. Consult with your tax professional BEFORE bringing liquid assets to closing.

1. Refinance

Homeowners who are current on their mortgage payments may be able to take advantage of today’s mortgage rates and keep their homes by refinancing to a 30 or 15 year fixed mortgage rate loan via the Home Affordable Refinance, a component of the Making Home Affordable initiative launched early 2009.

Eligibility Criteria overview of Home Affordable Refinance

HOME: owner occupied, primary residence 2 out of 5 years. 1 to 4 unit home

EXISTING MORTGAGE: Owned or backed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac
Loan to Value ratio is above 80% but NOT MORE than 105%

BORROWER/HOMEOWNER: CURRENT on exiting mortgage payments.

Has enough income to support new mortgage payments

While Homeowners who are at risk of default or who have defaulted on their mortgage may feel that "walking away" is their ONLY solution. There ARE OPTIONS!
Real Estate professional can help outline the foreclosure alternatives and direct them to seek legal and tax advice.
Depending on the homeowners' circumstances, some alternatives are more viable that others.