The California study uncovered an amazing 45% of cases where the property was “taken back” at the sale by someone erroneously claiming to be the beneficiary of the deed of trust, ie the mortgage lender. Thus, the report is quoted as concluding, “a ‘stranger’ to the deed of trust,” gained ownership of the property, and the resulting sale may be invalid.

The report has been turned over to the California Attorney General, which is already investigating widespread irregularities in the foreclosure process. Here in New Jersey, persons facing foreclosure or buying at a sheriff sale should be skeptical and demand proof  that the foreclosing lender holds valid “title” to the loan.

For more on these and related subjects, please visit our website at http://www.nv-njlaw.com

Recent reports have some sheriff sales coming after only 6 to 9 months. If this develops as a pattern there are several possible reasons for it. Our information is that 85% of foreclosures are filed through an electronic filing system called JEFIS. Those filings can be processed much more quickly by the clerk’s office. Initially, we are told, this system became quickly overloaded and broke down, but more recently is up and running.

Another reason may be because in late 2010 or early 2011, the Superior Court in Mercer County issued an order directing the Office of Foreclosure (located in that county) to cease processing foreclosure Complaints filed by any of six major major mortgage lender/processors and holding up Sheriff’s sales for those lenders. This arose from challenges to possible irregularities in their legal procedures. Other controversies have arisen concerning the required Notice of Intent to Foreclose, and the backup to establish that the foreclosure plaintiff really “owns” the loan being processed. With the pipeline “blocked” the backlog in the clerk’s office or at the local Sheriff’s office could be expected to clear.

However, large backlogs now and the future may mean a change to quicker foreclosures is going to be a long time in coming. According to are report in Bloomberg News, the Acting Commissioner of the NJ Community Affairs Department reports there are 50,000 to 100,000 existing judicial foreclosures in the system.  And we are told that something like 20,000 to 30,000 judicial foreclosure Complaints in New Jersey were ready to go but were held up by these legal challenges. However, in August 2011, the court issued a new order allowing processing of uncontested foreclosures by four of the six lenders to resume. (Bank of America/BAC Home Loan Servicing LP; JP Morgan Chase/Chase Home Finance LLC; Wells Fargo/Wells Fargo Bank NA/Wells FargoFinancial New Jersey, Inc.; and CitiBank, NA/CitiResidential Lending). Ally Financial (f/k/a GMAC) and One West Bank FSB (f/k/a Indymac) are still stayed.

So the volume of new foreclosures may resume. Whether this will engender the delays we saw recently is an open question. Whenever a judicial foreclosure is challenged by a borrower with meaningful and valid defenses, the process will be delayed. If a borrower files a Chapter 13 Bankruptcy to try to save the home, that will delay the process.

Any way you look at it, the foreclosure mess is bad for borrowers and lenders alike. What has been missing until now was a consistent and practical approach to a solution. But recent reports by the Bloomberg new service (February 7, 2012 “Banks Paying Homeowners to Avoid Foreclosures”) suggests that some large lenders are finally seeing their way to offering incentives for cash strapped borrowers to cooperate in an early short sale of their home. The article notes instances where borrowers have received thousands of dollars to facilitate a move out and move own to rental housing, along with offers to cancel any personal indebtedness. These offers appear to be prevalent in those states where judicial foreclosures result in long and costly delays before the foreclosed home can be sold. JPMorganChase, Wells Fargo, Citigroup and Bank of America are mentioned in the article.

There are good reasons to consider such offers seriously, but the devil is in the details. But “buyer beware” is still the watchword. Borrowers need to consider the tax consequences and the alternatives. All in all, a cooperative and bottom-line approach by lenders is long overdue and a welcome development. But the situation is fluid, and we have seen promising developments fail to materialize in the past. Time will tell.

For more about the judicial foreclosure process in New Jersey, deeds in lieu of foreclosure, and alternatives to foreclosure, visit our website at http://www.nv-njlaw.com.

My response is that bankruptcy and other laws do exist for the benefit of all, and do work. They just work differently. Careful review and consideration of the costs and benefits is needed. For large businesses, the costs can be spread over a much larger base, and the size makes post-bankruptcy financing more attractive.

If you are a small New Jersey business in financial trouble, please visit this area of our website for resources and articles and feel free to contact us at 856.596.2828.

We tend to measure our social and personal standing in the community by what the people around us are doing, saying or thinking. When everyone was spending money on new cars, new houses, and other trappings of success, that raised the bar for those of us who measured ourselves against others. It did not matter that those people were running up mortgage or credit card debt to spend beyond their means. We had to do as well….

This of course creates a self-fulfilling feedback loop. We spend and buy because others are doing so. More money goes around, and the expanding money flow creates jobs and apparent well-being. But if the spending is fueled by increasing debt, as it was until 2008, the appearance is an illusion that sooner or later has to come to an end.

The problem was (and still is in my view) that so few people learned to manage their expectations. So few individuals know how to do simple financial planning or care to keep a basic budget, to see what they could afford. Even today, so few people I see and so few business owners I counsel can really tell me what they have to spend to survive. We suffer from a studied blindness to simple personal finance. That has gotten many into trouble and until that changes, the root problem remains.

The key to managing expectations is found in the article I read — hope for the best, but plan for the worst. Maintain a positive outlook, but one tempered by and grounded in objective facts. Make decisions based on an objective non-emotional assessment of the present, but with a positive outlook. Be grounded in the real numbers that a budget, or cash flow projection shows. Actively market and sell to new customers. Look for new opportunities. Remember that the past is not prologue to the future and every day is a new day. Above all, remember that things go in cycles.

We help people and businesses every day to get relief from debt, and to take back control of their business and personal financial lives. For more information, please visit all areas of our website and feel free to contact us at any time.

1. Life is a long road, and the bumps in the road become less important once we get over them.  Don’t dwell on the past, on how much better things were or how you never thought you would end up in financial uncertainty. Accept that there may be costs and difficulties ahead but facing them usually leads to calm and reasoned actions.

2. Our first obligation is to our family, and to preserving our ability to support them.  Don’t worry about the loss of a good credit score, or what people will think, if you lose a house you can no longer afford. Our first duty is not to our creditors, but to support and maintain our families and those important to us and if this means that we have to shed financial obligations that threaten our ability to keep our jobs or to put food on the table, then so be it.

3. Enjoy and revel in the things that money cannot buy. Family, friends, shared experiences.

4. Have faith that no matter what happens, “this too shall pass”.  Many years ago, someone told me it is not the number of times you fall down that counts, but the number of times you get up. All my clients eventually find a way to get on with their lives.

I hope these pointers help you to overcome the many fears you may be experiencing.  Please browse this website for resources and full information on bankruptcy and bankruptcy alternatives.

“U.S. foreclosure filings fell last month as delinquent homeowners got a holiday break, RealtyTrac Inc. reported.

A total of 224,394 properties received notices of default, auction or repossession, down 14 percent from a year earlier, the Irvine, California-based data seller said today in a report. One in 579 U.S. households got a filing, compared with one in 563 in October, a decline partly the result of a holiday eviction moratorium by mortgage giants Fannie Mae (FNMA) and Freddie Mac (FMCC), said RealtyTrac Chief Executive Officer James J. Saccacio.

The U.S. housing market must digest more than 14 million distressed properties — 1.5 million homes in the foreclosure process, 3.5 million with delinquent mortgages and at least 10 million “underwater” properties, whose owners owe more than the homes are worth — before the foreclosure crisis will subside, according to RealtyTrac.

“The python took a break — the pig is still in there,” Saccacio said in a telephone interview.”

Where all these properties are going is a mystery to me. Word is a significant percentage are being kept off the market by the lenders. How long can that go on?

First things first — don’t despair. Even American Airlines, once the world’s largest airline, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy a few short weeks ago. We’re living in uncertain economic times and running a thriving business may prove daunting in times like these.

But…bankruptcy may not always be the answer. This may sound strange coming from a bankruptcy attorney but we’d much rather offer our clients the best solution to their problem. Used properly, a bankruptcy is a financial and business planning tool that can save a business from the worst consequences of past mistakes or bad luck. When properly applied, a Chapter 11 reorganization results in all creditors receiving more than they would be getting any other way. Where Chapter 11 is appropriate and successful, the business lives on to generate a valuable product or service, to continue paying taxes, and to generate profit for its owners.

It is never too early to get help planning and thinking about alternatives, even bankruptcy. We do not sell bankruptcy — We sell advice to help you make the right decision for you and your business.

Little in most people’s work experience prepares them for the demands of starting and running a successful business. The rewards are there, true. These include the psychic benefit of being your own boss. But being the boss means you have to pay the bills, and worry about meeting payroll.

True, the financial rewards of owning your own business are unique. The profit you make is yours, at least after taxes. And business owners have tax deductions that others may not have. They have the privilege of deciding for themselves how the business is run. But the flip side is that business owners take the risks.

Running and building a business requires time, care, knowledge and attention. It is really a full-time (if not seven day a week) job. As I’ve written elsewhere, the easiest thing to do as a business owner is make mistakes. (See www.nv-njlaw.com- a business owners guide to avoiding bankruptcy ) Successful business owners have learned to be careful,  attend to details, know their market and  competition, and to hire and supervise the right support staff. Most importantly, they know when and how to get qualified legal and financial advice.

As of this writing (November 2011), the road to mortgage modification success is bumpy, uneven, winding and difficult. A recent survey I conducted among colleagues revealed that some are granted relief while others equally or more qualified are denied without rational explanation. My own experience as a foreclosure mediator confirms this. But with the right guidance, a healthy skepticism and realistic expectations, the process is still worth undertaking, for those whose financial situation makes them viable candidates. If you believe a mortgage modification is worthwhile for you, please link to our QuickList of 6 pointers to follow.