The issue is key in Metropolitan Orlando, which has the nation’s 11th-highest rate of mortgage modifications, with 18,000 homeowners in trial modifications and 2,468 in permanent ones, the report stated. Loan modifications aren’t the only way of out a foreclosure. In January, about a quarter of all Orlando-area home closings were short sales, which occur when the lender allows a homeowner to sell the property for less than what’s owed on the mortgage. But when it comes to short sales, Bank of America also lags other lenders, real-estate agents say, by taking too long to respond to offers. “Realtors that I work with, if they hear Bank of America, they won’t even show the property,” said David Pruett, a broker for D.A. Pruett Properties. The chairman of the Orlando Regional Realtor Association, Kathleen Gallagher McIver, said recently that Bank of America has the worst record for expediting short sales, “and there’s not anyone out there who will tell you otherwise.” Bank of America acknowledges it needs help with its short sales. “We clearly recognize the need to improve the short-sale process for both our customers and the real-estate professionals who are critical to a successful transaction,” said Jumana Bauwen, a bank spokeswoman.

The company said it has updated its training, enhanced its technology and established a short-sale team to help customers and real-estate agents navigate the process. It is piloting a short-sale program for owners who don’t qualify for new mortgage terms. And it has established a 24-hour phone line so agents, buyers and sellers can track the status of their short sales. Bank of America is not alone in its struggles to deal with the avalanche of defaulting home mortgages, according to the February modification report by the U.S. Treasury Department and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Wachovia Corp., now owned by Wells Fargo & Co., has approved permanently modified terms for fewer than 1 percent of its 86,461 defaulting mortgage customers.

American Home Mortgage Servicing Inc. has a similar track record with the 127,521 mortgages headed toward foreclosure that it holds. Among the nation’s largest lenders, GMAC Mortgage Inc. had the best rate: 17 percent of its 65,751 defaulting home loans have been permanently modified. Bank of America, which inherited much of its mortgage portfolio from Countrywide, says part of the problem is that many homeowners have not been diligent about submitting the documents needed to convert a trial mortgage modification into a permanent one. Clermont resident George Simmons said he is now totally frustrated, having tried for more than a year to get Bank of America to convert a series of trial modifications into something permanent. “Let’s see, the last correspondence I had from them said they didn’t have my income-tax return and my Social Security records,” Simmons said. “I sent it to them so many times. I’ve got my fax receipts and my certified postal receipts. They just keep asking for the same paperwork over and over and over again.” Overall, about a fifth of Bank of America’s defaulting-mortgage customers have received temporary, three-month trial modifications.

To address the huge volume of troubled loans needing permanent solutions, the company has hired about 15,000 staffers. Workers knock on doors and call homeowners with trial modifications at least 10 times before the temporary terms expire in three months. At one point, Bauwen said, Bank of America was behind in getting homeowners into trial loan modifications. But it has ramped up those efforts, she said, and many of those trials will be converted into permanent modifications. More importantly, Bauwen added, the company is not ramping up its foreclosure efforts unnecessarily.

Copyright © 2010 The Orlando Sentinel, Fla., Mary Shanklin. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

How widespread is this? More than 11 million families are in “negative equity”—that is, they owe more on their home than it is worth—according to a report out this week by FirstAmerican Core Logic, a real-estate data firm. That’s a quarter of all families with mortgages. And for more than five million of those borrowers, the crisis is extreme: They are more than 25% underwater—the equivalent of having a $100,000 loan on a property now worth just $75,000 or less. That’s true for a fifth of mortgage holders in California, nearly a third in Florida and an incredible 50% in Nevada.

Are you in this situation? Are you still battling to pay the bills each month, even when it may make little financial sense to do so? It’s time for some tough talk. Stop trying to chase your lost equity. That money is gone. Don’t think like the gambler who blows more and more cash trying to win back his losses. That’s how a lot of people turn a small loss into a big one. And do the math. Even if you hope the real estate market is near the bottom—it’s possible, but by no means certain—it may still take years to see any meaningful recovery. If you are 25% underwater, your home will have to rise by 33% just to get you back to even. Is that likely? And over what time period? Even if home prices rose by 5% a year from here, that would still take six years. And during that time you could instead be building fresh savings elsewhere.

If you are reluctant to give up on “your” home, realize that it isn’t “yours.” If you are in negative equity, it’s the bank’s home. You’re just renting it. And right now you may be paying way above market rates. You need to be ruthless about your cash flow. Are you worried about the legal consequences of walking away? Certainly, you should check with a lawyer before doing anything, but the consequences will probably be more limited than you think. In “non-recourse” states, the mortgage lender may have no right to come after you for any shortfall. They may have no option but to take the home, sell it and eat the loss. According to a survey last year by the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, such states include negative-equity hot spots California and Arizona. Even in “recourse” states, lenders may have limited ability to come after you. Often they’d have to jump a lot of legal hurdles, and it’s just not worth it for them. They’re swamped with cases anyway. “In my experience, right now they’re not really going after anyone,” says Richard Nemeth, a bankruptcy attorney in Cleveland. “They just don’t have the resources.”

If you’ve taken smart steps to protect your money, you may be safer still. For example, money held in a 401(k), Individual Retirement Account or pension plan is sheltered from creditors. Sure, a strategic foreclosure may hurt your credit score. But if you’re in financial difficulties, it’s probably already suffered. And your credit score is not the only thing in life that matters. Still, when it comes to the idea of walking away from debts, many people are held back by a sense of morality. They feel it’s wrong to abandon their obligations. They don’t want to be a deadbeat. Your instincts, while honorable, are leading you astray. The economy is fundamentally amoral.

Sometimes I think middle-class Americans are the only people who haven’t worked this out yet. They’re operating with a gallant but completely out-of-date plan of attack—like an old-fashioned cavalry with plumed hats and shining swords charging against machine guns. Do you think your lenders would be shy about squeezing you for an extra nickel if they thought they could get away with it? They knew what they were doing when they wrote your loan. Many were guilty of malpractice, but they pocketed good money and they’ve gotten away with it. And if they thought your loan was “risk free,” how come they were charging you so much more than the interest on Treasury bonds? If you’re only a small amount underwater on your mortgage, it’s probably the case that you’re going to be better off staying put. But if you are deeply underwater, it’s a different matter.

Whether we like it or not, walking away from debts is as American as apple pie. Companies file for bankruptcy all the time, and their lenders eat the losses. Executives and investors pocketed millions from the likes of Washington Mutual, Lehman Brothers and Bear Stearns when the going was good. They didn’t have to give back one cent of that money when the companies went into bankruptcy. Limited liability, after all, is one of the main reasons every business from your local dry-cleaner to a major multinational gets incorporated in the first place. They’re not shy about protecting themselves if things go wrong. You shouldn’t be either.

Courtesy of  Brett Arends Wall Street Journal brett.arends@wsj.com

Realtor Extordinaire

Top Producer – Tarpon Coast Realty

2 Arlington Terr 

Exquisite custom 2004 built model home.  Grand living & dining areas have 12-14ft ceilings. 13 ft window adds elegance to the dining room area. Large separate Family room. French doors from master bedroom leads to screened lanai with 6ft depth beautiful pool , Quartz finish, flow crete deck.Roman shower, separate tub, 2 walk-in closets in master bedroom.An oversized garage allows for extra storage or workshop. Property has 11 ft elevation. Located 1 mile north of Boca Grande & 10 mi to beaches.This Grand Home built up to new code of 2004. Truly must see!!!  

$279,000  – Not a Short Sale!

Call Ron McGuire Today 941-223-7481

Sales of new single-family homes in the U.S. sank 11% in January to a
seasonally adjusted annual rate of 309,000. It was an unexpected tumble that
sent sales to their lowest level since records began in 1963 and wiped out
much of the progress made in the last year. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones
Newswires had expected sales last month rose 3.8%. Sales in December fell
3.9%, revised from an originally reported 7.6% decline

Read the complete WSJ  article:   http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704240004575085232728239148.html?mod=djemalertNEWS

6090 Diana Venice, FL

BANK APPROVED 110K,

Great house, 2 story home, close to beach!  Just off Manasota Key road.  Perfect family

or vacation home!  Call today 941-964-0000, won’t last long!

LISTING PRICE MAY NOT BE SUFFICIENT TO COVER ALL ENCUMBRANCES, CLOSING COSTS, OR OTHER SELLER CHARGES AND SALE OF PROPERTY AT FULL LISTING PRICE MAY BE CONDITIONED UPON APPROVAL OF THIRD PARTIES.  1 MILE TO MANASOTA BEACH 2 STORY HOME LAMINATE FLOORS IN LIVING AREA FIREPLACE & BAY WINDOW IN LIVING ROOM*OPEN KITCHEN*MAIN BEDROOM ON GROUND FLOOR*2 BEDROOMS & BATH ON 2ND FLOOR

Short sale opportunity for nice 3 bedroom, 2 bath home in nice neighborhood on 6th hole of SaraBay Golf Club