Gerald Justice

First-quarter foreclosure activity in California increased to the highest level in more than two years and lenders sent 18,668 default notices to California homeowners during the January-to-March period. That was up 23.4 percent from the prior quarter and up 28.7 percent from 2005’s first quarter, according to DataQuick Information Systems.

Home sales and appreciation have slowed, a larger number of homes are available, California has lost several large employers to other states, interest rates have risen sharply in the last two years, rising consumer debt, and creative financing are all contributing to the ever-increasing number of foreclosures.

Since a larger number of us might be experiencing foreclosure at some point or know someone else who is already involved in one, it is more important than ever to understand the foreclosure process in California.

Background

California has an unusual foreclosure process that all lenders must follow. Much of this process is unique because a Deed of Trust is used to secure a Real Estate Mortgage.

A Trust Deed is a written instrument legally conveying real property to a Trustee and is used to secure a mortgage or promissory note. Under this system, there are three parties to the Deed: the ?Trustor? (the borrower), the ?Beneficiary? (the Lender) and the ?Trustee? (the Lender?s representative for this particular transaction). Trustees are typically other companies that specialize in providing those services.

In California, lenders may foreclose on loans in default using either a judicial or a non-judicial process.

Judicial Foreclosure

The Judicial Foreclosure is used when the Mortgage or Deed of Trust does not contain a Power of Sale and it involves filing a lawsuit to obtain a court order to foreclose. It is uncommon with most commercially available real estate loans and more typically occurs where a private party loaned the money rather than a traditional lender like a bank.

Typically, once the court authorizes the foreclosure, a property is auctioned to the highest bidder. With a Judicial Foreclosure, a lender may seek a Deficiency Judgment to recoup some of their losses. That simply means that when the high bid on the property is less than the amount owed to the lender, a judgment may be entered against the foreclosed owner for any remaining balances. That lender could then pursue other assets and/or garnishments against the original owner to satisfy the deficiency. The court may also issue a 1099 to the Borrower for the difference because the deficiency amount is taxable as income.

Non-Judicial Foreclosure

The Non-Judicial Foreclosure is used when the Mortgage or Deed of Trust includes a Power of Sale clause where the borrower has pre-authorized the lender to sell the property to satisfy the loan should they default. That power may be performed by the lender or the Trustee.

Non-Judicial Foreclosure Process

The stages of the Non-Judicial Foreclosure process include:

? Notice of Default (NOD) ? After the property owner fails to make the loan payments as scheduled; the foreclosure process begins by the Lender or the Trustee filing a NOD with the County Recorder in which the property is located. This document serves to provide public notice of the foreclosure as required by law. It is simply a written notice notifying the Borrower that he/she has not met his/her obligations under the loan contract and that the lender may take legal action for enforcement. The owner may be delinquent anywhere from 15 days to 12 months or more, but it is quite common that the first NOD will be filed after a loan is delinquent for three months. Once the NOD is recorded, the borrower and any junior lien holders are also given proper notification and the Borrower has 90 days to bring the account current with the lender.

? Notice of Trustee Sale (NTS) ? If the loan default is not resolved within the 90 days, the Lender will instruct the Trustee to record a NTS with the County Recorder’s office. By law, the NTS must contain the date, time, and place for the auction, the property address, a statement that the property will be sold at public auction, and the Trustee?s name, address and telephone number. The NTS must also be published in a local newspaper and posted on the property.

? Trustee?s Sale ? After the NTS has been recorded and the requisite waiting period, a public auction of the property can be held. At the auction, the property may be sold to a third party bidder or it may revert back to the Lender for the outstanding balance of principal, interest, late fees, legal expenses, etc. In order to qualify for bidding on the property, a bidder must present cashier’s checks for an amount equal to or greater than the Lender?s opening bid. Each bidder will be qualified by the auctioneer before bidding can begin and the full payment is due at the time of the sale.

? Disbursement of Funds ? Once the auction is completed and if the property sells to a third party bidder, all funds owed to the Lender will be forwarded. If the property reverts to the Lender, a Trustee’s Deed Upon Sale will be issued in favor of the Lender who then has ownership of the property.

Lenders may not seek Deficiency Judgments in the Non-Judicial Foreclosure process and the Borrower has no rights of redemption.

If you become involved in a foreclosure or know someone that has, it is important to not delay dealing with it right away because options may become more limited as time passes.

DISCLAIMER:

Although knowledgeable about the foreclosure process, the author is not an attorney and provides this general information only to help readers better understand how it works and how to safely cope with their own legal needs. However, legal information is not the same as legal advice. The application of law varies with every individual’s specific circumstances. Although great lengths have been expended to make sure this information is accurate and useful, it is strongly recommend that you consult a lawyer if you want professional assurance that this information, and your interpretation of it, is appropriate to your particular situation.

For more information, visit www.ocforeclosurehelp.com or call (949) 963-9021 for 24-hour recorded information.

Gerald G. Justice is CEO of JP Investment Holdings LLC, with offices in San Clemente, California and Las Vegas, Nevada. The firm primarily invests in residential real property with a particular emphasis on financial distress situations. For more information, visit our website or call (949) 963-9021.

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Dennis Evans

With FORECLOSURES at a all time high many are making a dangerous assumption that now is the time to invest but with some hard work and research everyone will learn that the are some locations or areas that are more attractive than others. As a matter of fact there are some regions that are not as attractive for investment because of several factors that are holding down the development opportunities. Careful studies of the local business strength will determine if homes foreclosures are even ready for the market. For instance, factories are also closing at an alarmingly high rate. Although this provides some available foreclosures at affordable rates however the amount of regional income must be able to support the new hopeful home owners. In short if there are no or little jobs in a city it is hard to expect to sell a house there.

What you need to do is check the job market in the area you are targeting. Then determine job availability and an outlook for the local businesses. What for cities that have numerous factory closings as a bad sign of any possible home purchase at any price. Chances are you may have to sit on that foreclosed home for some time till situations change.

In my home town this situation is exactly what is happening. Several bankrupt factories fighting to survive and uneasy job security for local residence have created enormously all time high house markets with little turn over. The first impression of great bargains is easy to over shadow the pending decline in some populations of some smaller cities. The result you are left holding a property you can not turn around and profit off in a timely manner.

This is just one area of foreclosure purchasing that you need to do some serious studding before you do and investing. I like to compare the following with the principles of where to look for foreclosure investments. Just remember it is easy to sell a boat near water but the desert is a hard sell for any boat of any size regardless of the price. Enjoy your searching for foreclosure!

Dennis Evans has turned small investments in hugh profits with careful research in foreclosed properties. Visit my website for lists of foreclosures, home and business. Find useful tips and guides to numerous websites not easily found anywhere else at http://guidetoforeclosure.com/.

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Mark Lambie

We understand the being in foreclosure is a scary thing. You are probably wondering how can I stop foreclosure on my house. There are many options available when facing foreclosure. They may include reinstating the loan, forbearance, loan modification, mortgage refinancing, sale of the property, deed in lieu of foreclosure, or bankruptcy filing.

There are also many services that will work with your to help with your situation. These companies are able to tailor a plan specific to your needs. It is most important to know that time is your worst enemy when facing foreclosure. Even if you are just one payment behind, you should do something rather than wait until you are even more behind. This may sound like common sense but many people fail to do something, and just pretend like nothing it wrong. Seeking help before you are 90 days or more behind on your payments can greatly increase your chances of success.

Here are a few tips if you are facing foreclosure. First no not ignore any attempts of contact from your lender specifically letters. If you can not keep up on your payment, call or write to your lender and explain your situation. Be prepared to give financial information, and tell them that you would like to work out an arrangement until you can resume making timely payments. It is also a good idea to keep records of any contact you have with your lender. Keep in mind that any workout plan you agree to with your lender should be realistic, don?t agree to something you can?t follow through with.

If the bank is not willing or able to work something out with you consider getting in touch with a loss mitigation service. They will be able to work with you and develop a plan that can save your home. They will work with you one on one and structure a plan that is best suited to your needs. Since everyone?s situation is different contact them to tell them your specific situation. Many have forms you can simply fill out and get a response within hours. For more information on loss mitigation services visit http://www.foreclosure-helper.com for a free foreclosure situation analysis.

Mark Lambie is the owner of Stop Home Foreclosure Today a website dedicated to helping homeowners facing foreclosure

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Shawn Daren

Auction is the stage of the foreclosure home process when the pre-foreclosure phrase of a foreclosure home has ended. Lenders will bring the title of the foreclosure home for auction and looking for new owner of the foreclosure home. The purpose of the lenders putting the foreclosure home on auction is to recapture the losses that the previous owner caused. There is only business in auction. People bid and the highest bid win the foreclosure home.

To win in auction, you must have understood the process of foreclosure auction. In most of the cases, lenders are the first mortgage holder of a foreclosure home. Thus, the fund collected from auction has to first give to the lenders. Once the first mortgage holder has been satisfied, any extra funds will be used to settle any other remaining obligations. Then only the funds will be disbursed to the foreclosure homeowner if there are any remain.

1) Foreclosure Home Title Research
Who don’t want to make money if there are chances? To make money through buying foreclosure home in auctions, there are a few preparations you must do. If you are seeing a foreclosure home, you must first do a title research on it. The goal of doing the title research is to determine all the liens or judgments against the foreclosure home. These can include civil lawsuit judgments, unpaid personal property taxes and state and federal tax liens. This is because if you got the hammer knock on the foreclosure home, you will be granted the title to the foreclosure home subject to all liens and encumbrances. If you misjudge the hidden liens, there will be extra costs in your planning.

2) Getting Finance
Secondly, after doing the foreclosure home research and info collections, you need to be ready with financing. This is because in order to bid in auction, you need cash or cash equivalent to show you’re affordable to participate in auction. They will record your cash amount and that will be your limit to bid. If your bid exceeds the limit, your bid will be counted as invalid. Besides, when you present the winning bid, you will need to pay a 5-10% deposit on the spot as the conclusion of the auction while the balance of the purchase price due within a few days. You will need financing to back you up immediately.

3) Psychology Preparation
Thirdly, the psychology preparation you need is to get yourself used to the auction environment. It’s recommended that you attend the auction for a few times before making the first bid. This act will help you to get comfortable with the auction process and give you confident. Auction is very intense during the process. People will easily get controlled by the intense environment and get high in auction. This is always the cause of mistakes. For foreclosure home, if your bid exceeds the value of the house, you will earn nothing though you’ve won the auction. Thus, you have to set a bottom line in your bidding and stick to it. Most importantly, stay firm with your bottom line in auction and don’t easily get affected by the intense environment there.

Buying a foreclosure home in auction could really be a great bargain. Because a foreclosure home is being sold based on the balance of the loan but not on the market value. That means a foreclosure home is more profitable if the differences between the balance of the loan and market value is huge. Buying foreclosure home in auction can bring you fortune. If you are a home buyer, u save money; if you are an investor, you make money when reselling the foreclosure home with market value. Either way, to enjoy the profit from foreclosure home, you need to first start your research with free foreclosure listings now.

For being involved in both home loan and real estate career offline, Shawn Daren is experienced to share his knowledge with us. Visit his site to learn more on free foreclosure listings and how to buy foreclosure.

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Herbert Addison

Financial literacy is the means of empowering consumers to make informed financial decisions through exposure to accurate and timely information. In no other area is the void of accurate information more evident that in the area of foreclosure.

The national foreclosure rate is at the highest level since the Great Depression. Families fall behind on the mortgage payments because of illness, job layoffs, business failure, divorce and marital problems, and bad money management decisions. Foreclosure and the loss of the home is the usual result. Foreclosure is financially and psychologically devastating to the stability of the household.

This article provides information to expose homeowners to the financial principles of loss mitigation. Loss mitigation is essential to asset protection because it provides the borrower with information necessary to make good decisions. Learning the programs or “tools” available as an alternative to foreclosure is the key to preserving home ownership.

For example, If I told you that the mortgage servicing industry reports average loss of $20,000 to $30,000 per foreclosure, then you may be inclined to believe that foreclosure is not an efficient and cost effective means of collections for the lender. According to Vic Draper, President of Universal Default Services, “33% of all mortgage defaults that go to REO never made contact with the borrower!” The lender does not want your home and will work out a financial alternative if you speak their language.

LOSS MITIGATION TOOLS

A homeowner should know and understand options available during times of crisis. It makes the difference in gaining ground in challenging situations. A point well presented by Gerry Spence, legendary attorney and best selling author of ?How to Argue and Win Every Time,? a book I first bought as a young attorney and have since read numerous times. Spence stresses that you cannot make the winning argument if you are speaking English and the other person is speaking French. Parlez-vous Francais?

The following financial tools act as a safety net that allows for a quicker recovery. The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has been instrumental in establishing guidelines to assist homeowners experiencing financial hardships. The goal is to offer financial alternatives to foreclosure, while allowing lenders to make determinations based on certain risk criteria. Lenders also benefit from the prevention of losses due to foreclosure sales. Without these programs, millions of people would lose homes each year.

FORBEARANCE PLAN

Immediately contact the lender to report a temporary loss or reduction in income and signup for a forbearance. A forbearance plan is designed to bring payments current over a period of time by paying a full payment each month, plus a partial payment on the delinquent amount. An initial down payment is required. Most lenders have a forbearance program. However, you must be diligent in requesting forbearance even if it means speaking with a manager with authority to approve the plan. Request that the approval be sent to you in writing.

Affordability

An important subsection in acceptance of forbearance is the probability of successfully completing the plan. It is easy to agree to any repayment plan when desperately trying to stop foreclosure. You will be happy to stop the process by any means necessary.

I have had clients who agreed to ridiculous repayment plans that they obviously did not have the income to cover. In some cases, it appeared that the lender pulled numbers out of the sky without gathering information on the homeowner?s ability to repay. This is poor mitigation technique that will normally count against the client as a broken promise to pay and often leads to the decision to sell the property rather than take additional risk with the homeowner.

During the early part of 2004, a prospective client contacted Save Your Home two days before his home was scheduled for sale. Despite time limitations, we had a very good relationship with this particular lender and agreed to intervene on the homeowner?s behalf.

He had $8,000 to use as a down payment to stop the sale but the lender refused to accept it because a forbearance plan had been put in place three months earlier in which our client had paid a $6,500 down payment, but failed to make the subsequent payments under the terms of the agreement. This made him a bad risk for reinstatement and foreclosure seemed the most prudent financial decision for the lender to recover its arrearage.

However, the truth of the matter was the homeowner agreed to a plan that he could not afford to pay. It was not a good plan because it was based on a higher monthly income due to miscalculations where a quarterly bonus should have appeared on the financial status report. His monthly income had been overstated by $600 per month. When it was time to make the other payments, he was rich on paper but was cash poor. He did not have the income and as a result violated the repayment plan.

We convinced the lender to take another look at the numbers. In the end, the lender accepted a $2,500 down payment and modified the terms of the loan. The client was able to keep his home because he correctly reported his income to the lender. Make sure that you report your income accurately so that you can afford the repayment plan offered to you.

LOAN MODIFICATION

When the financial loss is due to an illness, death or loss of a spouse, or unexpected increase in expenses, (e.g. tax levy, sick child, or other permanent hardships), talk to the lender about a loan modification. A loan modification changes the terms of the loan to lower the payments. Documentation of the hardship will be necessary. Loan modifications are granted frequently. Still, you must aggressively negotiate with the lender. Refer to examples in case study.

REVERSE MORTGAGES

This is a type of home equity loan that allows you to convert some of the equity into cash while retaining ownership. If you are 62 or older and are ?house-rich and ?cash-poor,? a reverse mortgage is an option to consider. Consult with your family, attorney, or financial advisor before applying for a reverse mortgage. Knowing your rights and responsibilities as a borrower may help to minimize financial risks and the threat of foreclosure.

DEED IN LIEU OF FORECLOSURE

If turning over the home is an option, contact the lender to voluntary release the deed to the property with the stipulation that the lender agrees not to start or complete foreclosure proceedings. Many lenders will agree to this arrangement since it gives them possession of the property minus exorbitant legal fees and court costs. Further, request that the lender remove some or all of the missed payment reports to the credit bureau. If not, threaten to file bankruptcy or to fight to keep the home. Get all agreements in writing on company letterhead.

PARTIAL CLAIM

A partial claim is an interest free loan available on FHA/HUD loans. To qualify, a loan must be at least 4 months delinquent but not more than 12 months. If approved, the partial claim is repaid after the first loan has been paid in full.

SHORT REFINANCE
The area of loss mitigation is always changing in order to address new challenges within the economy. Because of a tremendous loss of jobs in some areas, property values have steadily declined.

A new loss mitigation tool that some innovative lenders are using to address the new economy is called the short refinance. Remember that refinancing out of foreclosure is extremely difficult because of loan to value restrictions that may not be sufficient to pay off the existing mortgage and cover closing costs.

If the property value has decreased, certain lenders and investors may be willing to accept less money. You must agree to an in home inspection and provide the normal loss mitigation package for approval. The lender closes a new mortgage loan to pay off the mortgage that is in foreclosure. If you have a second mortgage lien, this lien holder is not included in this deal and will still have the same loan amount.

SHORT SALE
Lenders are in the business of lending money not owning houses. The lender will allow you to sell the home to someone and accept far less than what you currently owe on the mortgage. This is also called a short payoff because the lender agrees to cancel the note and mortgage as a lien on the home. The lender may want to perform an in home inspection to determine the property?s condition and value. Cooperation with this request by allowing access

All of these programs may not be right for everyone so you must evaluate your situation to decide which one will benefit you the most. For more information, visit www.syhuniversity.com for a free copy of the loss mitigation book, How to Save Your Home.

Herbert Addison, JD is a former consumer law attorney and is President of Save Your Home, Inc., a nationally acclaimed loss mitigation firm located in Columbia, South Carolina. Mr. Addison and Michael Taylor, Sr. are co-authors of the book, How to Save Your Home, that teaches homeowners how to properly negotiate foreclosure alternatives with mortgage lenders. Mr. Addison has also been published in Service Managment, the leading default management magazine to the mortgag servicing industry. He can be reached at 877-212-1880. His business websites include http://www.syhuniversity.com; http://www.contacttheexpert.com and http://www.saveyourhome.info Email: taddison@saveyourhome.info.

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Rolf Rasmusson

Southern california real estate foreclosure:

If you want to find southern California real estate foreclose property its best to use services that make it their business to provide listings. At one time finding distressed properties was primarily in the hands of experts that make a full time living purchasing southern California real estate foreclosure property, normally doing some cleanup, repair and restoration and then selling the property for a handsome profit.

Things have really changed and the process no longer is limited to those in the know. With some simple homework or a couple classes most people can take advantage of buying and selling these types of properties. The growth and success of the internet has leveled the playing field and opens up the previously hard to find information to the simple click of the mouse.

You now can sit back with your favorite drink, relax while looking for the homes or properties in the area’s that interest you and poof in a very short period of time you’ll have a raft of information that you were looking forward right there in front of you. Hit the print button, map it out and you’re ready to go.

Most services charge a small membership fee to access their data base, but by comparison it amounts to nothing compared to driving to the county clerk and recorders office spending hours there finding what you need that you can find out online in minutes. You now are easily able to explore the vast southern California real estate foreclosure market.

More on Southern California property foreclosures…

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Ron Victor

When a person falls upon financial hard times without their fault at several times and they are behind on mortgage payments they may need some financial help to stop foreclosure on their property. You can stay apart from foreclosure through hard work and not by sitting back and giving up frequently. You have the potential to do some things for stopping the foreclosure because nobody wants the sheriff to deliver a foreclosure notice. In any circumstances do not ignore letters or phone calls concerning your aberrant mortgage payments.

Get in touch with the lender and elucidate your situation, as they may be keen to work and know that you are annoying to make things in an exact way so offer you financial help to stop foreclosure. While discarding the property you may get debarred for aid. When you work with the lender and your financial problems are temporary, the lender might be able to help with financial help to stop foreclosure. Often this is a one time loan, bringing your mortgage payments up to date. The upside is that the monthly mortgage payments are smaller but the lender interest rates are higher.

Always be honest and upfront with the lender and they will work with you. After examining your financial position and the reason for your nonpayment, the lender could reduce the monthly payment or suspend payments temporarily. Be honest with your lender and by working with them and examining the options available as it is possible to get the financial help to stop foreclosure.

Foreclosures cost lenders money, big money, so it is in their interests to reach a workout with the borrower, either to rescue the mortgage, if this is possible, or to reduce the loss as a result of foreclosure. Don’t be intimidated by the lender or his attorneys. Apprise yourself of your exact financial position. Know your rights as well as options and be honest in your statements. Maintain a written record of all communications.

Read all communications from your lender. Time is your enemy, so the earlier the potential problem is recognized by both parties, the better the chances of a resolution. If you are suffering from financial loss due to the death or loss of a spouse, illness, or unexpected increase in your outgoings, contact the lender and request a loan modification, which effectively changes the terms of the loan to lower the payments.

This is a very common process, but you will need to offer evidence about the change in your circumstances. If you feel that you are qualified for a loan modification, and your lender refuses, contact the HUD for advice. Get in touch with your lender and request forbearance if your loss of income is temporary. This means that you may get period which is granted during which your monthly payments are “suspended”, after which you must resume your monthly payments with a partial payment in addition towards the payments you missed.

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Srini Saripalli

Foreclosure is a legal process that a lender initiates after the borrower fails to repay the loan as per the terms of the contract. The lender initiates the foreclosure process to reclaim the possession and ownership of the property. If the borrower misses three consecutive monthly payments(state specific), then at the end of the 90th day or third month the lender will file a “Notice of Default” at the county recorder’s office.

The opportunity to buy a pre-foreclosure property opens the day the “Notice of Default” is filed. The opportunity ends on the day the property is sold at the auction. The time between these two events enables a buyer to work with the homeowner and the lender to negotiate and structure a deal that could be a win-win deal for everyone. This is the only time in the entire foreclosure process where the buyer can use conventional mortgage, hard moneylenders or creative financing techniques to buy the property.

When a borrower defaults on mortgage payments, the original lender takes back the property and sells it at auction, often at a seriously discounted price. But just like a repossessed vehicle auction, he resale of the property is done on a caveat emptor basis: Let the buyer beware, buying a home in auction is not for the faint of hearts and it’s certainly not as easy as it seems.

Buying at a foreclosure auction all too often means buying blindly.The title of the home can be (and should be) examined before the sale, but that is the extent of the paperwork involved, and a purchaser is basically buying with no idea of any preexisting conditions the home may have. An interior inspection before the sale is a luxury that does not happen often and shouldn’t be expected. The same goes for any paperwork aside from the title. For all you know, your foreclosed, discounted gem may very well be under a lien, second mortgage, or court claim that you know nothing about. Although you should be legally protected from liability in most instances, it’s a toss-up situation, and youmight not know what you’re getting yourself into.

Foreclosure purchases also require cash in hand. This is a big one for most people, unless you happen to be sitting on a serious chunk of change. No mortgages or financing is offered on a foreclosure purchase. You pay once, you pay it all up front, and you buy the foreclosure property as-is.

What does it take to succeed in Foreclosure & Pre-Foreclosures?

Foreclosure and Pre-Foreclosure investing requires a lot of experience, knowledge and perseverance.

Srini Saripalli is a technologist, marketing expert and a real estate investor. To learn more about his techno-marketing strategies & techniques and sign-up for free tele-seminars on how to find motivated sellers and drive more profits visit Real Estate Investing Strategies

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Jarad Severe

By far, the most essential step in the short sale process is finding motivated sellers
in pre-foreclosure. If you can’t find motivated sellers in pre-foreclosure, then it will
be very difficult to do short sales.
I will share with you a few of my secrets of finding motivated sellers and you just
need to choose 3 or 4 of them to use that fit your style. The idea behind this is to
maintain a constant flow of pre-foreclosure leads - potential homeowners who need
your help and expertise.

There are several ways in which to find motivated homeowners. Newspapers, ads,
signs, courthouse, attorneys, just to name a few. See, when a homeowner is
delinquent on their mortgage, a legal notice or notice of default must be sent to the
homeowner to let them know that their property will be going to auction soon. Once
the legal notice has been recorded, you can go to the courthouse and research these
files to find homeowners in default. These legal notices are published weekly,
sometimes daily at the courthouse. This will be the first place to look. Go down to
your county courthouse and ask to speak to the clerk of courts. Then ask him
where they publicize the legal notices or notices of foreclosure or lis pendens.
Depending on what state you live in, they may call it something different. If you
can’t get any answers, then go to the recorders office. Any legal action must be
recorded. You are looking for notices that show homeowners have defaulted on a
loan and are now trying to collect the debt. Once you find them, make sure you
don’t take any of these notices or files out of the building, just ask them if you can
make copies.

Before you leave, ask the clerk or recorder if there is a county website or newspaper
that publishes all the legal notices so you can save time by just looking them up on
your computer. Most newspapers have a website with everything on it - yes even
legal notices. Let me clarify one thing. Ideally, you are trying to find homeowners
who are 90 days from the auction because this gives you more time to negotiate a
short sale with the bank. Every state is required to notify the public, usually by
newspaper, that there will be a foreclosure auction on such and such a property
anywhere between 3 to 5 weeks before the auction. So be aware that if you find
legal notices in a newspaper, the auction is only 3 to 5 week away. You must act
very quickly and know what you are doing. On the other hand, when you go to the
courthouse or recorders office, typically the homeowner still has a few months
before the auction.

Real estate agents can become very useful to you. They are constantly looking at
real estate, it’s their job. Start networking with them. Come up with some sort of
win-win. Let them know if they ever see a property that is upside down or
over-leveraged, to give you a call. If you buy the property, let them list it for you.
Agents make their money from commissions. You treat them good, they will treat
you good.

Business cards are another great way to find pre-foreclosures. You can hand them
out to everyone and let them know you buy distressed properties. Give them out to
real estate agents, attorneys, friends, neighbors and so on. Anything that gets your
name out there that you are looking to invest in distressed properties. Make them
attractive so people want to call you back. Send them out in all your letters. Money
talks for most people. So set up some sort of referral program where you give them
money if they know of anyone who may need your help and you buy their home. I
don’t know how many people I’ve talked to just because of a small finders fee. Most
of the time it’s friends and neighbors of the people you are doing the short sale
with. They are so pleased with what you’ve done with them, they want you to help
their friends or family, plus they get a finders fee. You could have something like
this - ?this card is worth $1000 to whomever finds me a property!?

Attorneys work well because a huge number of people are filing for divorce or
bankruptcy. If you know any attorneys that specialize in these areas, work with
them. They can become one of your greatest assets.

Other methods include flyers, magnets, newspaper ads, and signs you see on the
side of the road. Try all these ways to find pre-foreclosure leads and then focus on
the ones that bring you the best results.

Jarad Severe is a leading authority and expert in Foreclosures. He is President and CEO
of Foreclosures and Flippers Inc. Jarad can be reached by email at:
info@foreclosuresandflippers.com or you can visit his website at: http://www.foreclosuresandflippers.com to receive more information on foreclosures, short
sales and more.

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Lionel Spears

Currently in the United States foreclosures are at an all time high. Thousands of homeowners are just one paycheck away from getting behind on their mortgage do to any unforeseen circumstance. For most people, their home is their castle, their most precious asset and the only options that usually present themselves to prevent foreclosure are investors attempting to take their home or attorneys advising them to file bankruptcy. With the new bankruptcy law, which became effective on October 17, 2005, this option is more difficult but still applies.

Most homeowners are unaware of their rights and options, the programs that are available for them to get current on their mortgage, plus they are usually intimidated by the lender, and understandably so.

Typically the lender will demand all of the arrears and all of the late fees, delinquent charges, etc. This situation leaves the homeowner with few options if they are unable to come up with the arrears. Seldom can a homeowner find the extra cash to save the home in this fashion.

The average foreclosure often generates huge losses to the homeowner and the lender. It is therefore in the best interest of the homeowner and the lender, to come to a settlement, stop the foreclosure proceedings, and re-instate or modify the mortgage of the home. Unfortunately for homeowners and lenders, this coming together doesn?t occur as often as one outside the industry would think.

There is a solution to this problem which is called loss mitigation. When a hardship has occurred that caused the homeowner to originally fall behind in their mortgage payments and has been resolved, loss mitigation can be the most effective means of avoiding or stopping foreclosure. Loss mitigation is an intervention program wherein the lender is willing to work out an agreement that will allow a homeowner to continue making payments, save the home and not come up with all of the past due arrears.

There are twenty seven different ways to mitigate a case to prevent foreclosure. In order to qualify for loss mitigation assistance you must be delinquent sixty days or more on your mortgage payments, you must have resolved the hardship that caused your delinquency and you must have sufficient income to resume your mortgage payments.

If you are having difficulty in making your mortgage payments, we suggest that you should contact your lender as soon as possible to negotiate arrangements to avoid further delinquency. Consider tapping into all financial resources that you have available at your disposal to draw from to make the next month?s payment, i.e. ? 401k hardship withdrawal, part-time job, savings etc. Be sure to read all your mail from your lender.

Lionel Spears is a Foreclosure Consultant and has 8 years of experience in the financial industry. Lionel is looking to help provide solutions to homeowners that are facing foreclosure different alternatives that will help them save their home, credit, dignity, equity and their family from embarrassment from losing their home to foreclosure. Lionel can be reached by linking on to his website at http://www.spearsrealtysolutions.com/

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