Dennis Wyatt
Manteca Bulletin
Managing Editor
There is a chance that a number of homeowners on the verge of losing their homes to foreclosure could walk away from the Manteca Senior Center on Friday cutting deals with lenders that makes it possible to stay put.
Five lenders – Countrywide, Indy Mac, Wells Fargo, Chase, and Washington Mutual – will have representatives on hand with many authorized to make loan modifications on the spot if they have all of the appropriate information from borrowers. For those who don’t have a loan through one of those five lenders, representatives of five different housing counseling firms that have HUD approval will serve as advocates.
“It means a lot to a lender when they get a call from someone that’s HUD approved,” said Ana Rocha, a Manteca Redevelopment Agency representative.
It’s all part of the grassroots non-profit No Homeowner Left Behind effort that has conducted nine similar efforts in the Northern San Joaquin Valley during the past year that have helped hundreds of families save their homes some times the same day of the workshop.
The Manteca gathering is this Friday from 2 to 8 p.m. at the Manteca Senior Center, 295 Cherry Lane. If you can’t make it Friday, there is also one Saturday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Stanislaus Agricultural Center at 3800 Capricornia.
Edward Parcaut – a certified mortgage planner with SourceOne Financial in Modesto who is among the moving forces behind the effort to give homeowners in distress free help that arms them with knowledge and connections necessary to have a solid chance at saving their homes – noted that the chances of getting a resolution has improved significantly in recent months.
“A lot more banks are willing to take steps and modify loans upfront,” Parcaut said. “It saves them a lot more money.”
It’s based on the new reality of home loan math. For example, if a loan is outstanding for $477,000 a bank now realizes if it foreclosures on a home it can only get $277,000. It costs as much as $57,000 in additional costs to foreclosure. The bank looks at that, considers loan modification and is able to reduce their losses upfront.
There is no guarantee that a home can be saved on the spot, but the organizers say it happens every time – or within weeks of the workshop.
As for those that can’t save their homes as a bank may decide against loan modification based on financials and income, organizer Dori Beck noted, “we can work to make sure they leave their homes with the same dignity they had when they moved in.”
Those attending need to bring their loan information and documents, pay stubs for the past month, and current mortgage payment.
“There’s a huge chance it (a loan modification) can happen,” Parcaut said of those who attend the workshop.
The Federal Reserve is helping publicize the Manteca workshop by sending notices all the way back to June 1 who got foreclosure notices in San Joaquin County.
Rocha said the City of Manteca is participating in the effort under the direction of the City Council that wants to do everything it can to help people keep their homes in Manteca.
It is also open to those who have bought homes as an investment.
Parcaut said banks have worked with those people as well adding that many of those homes have renters in them who will lose a place to stay if the bank forecloses.
At such gatherings in the past, some homeowners have been successful with negotiating with bank representatives on the spot to secure 30-year fixed rate loans that have kept them in their homes,
Organizers have cautioned that not all banks are working to that degree. They also warned that some people might simply not be in a position to be helped based on the determination of the bank to get a streamlined loan at a reduced rate. The climate today has vastly improved compared to six months ago when banks were struggling to figure out what to do.
There are over 1,200 homes in Manteca property in various stages of foreclosure. Either the bank have repossessed them, they are in escrow to be transferred to another buyer, are in the final stages of having their home reposed or have just missed their first payment.
There is a serious concern about whether the market can continue to absorb foreclosures.
That is why some banks – but not all – are now working with those caught up in the foreclosure process.
For more information contact the Manteca Redevelopment Agency at 239-8427.
CAROL PERDEW
Prudential California Realty
(209) 239-7979
www.CentralValleyHomes.com
