NATIONAL MORTGAGE SETTLEMENT
The Federal Government & Attorneys General have reached a landmark settlement with major banks. The agreement covers roughly $25 billion in relief for distressed borrowers, states and federal government. After many months of negotiation, 49 state attorneys general and the federal government have reached agreement on a historic joint state-federal settlement with the country’s five largest loan servicers:
Ally/GMAC
Bank of America
Citi
JPMorgan Chase
Wells Fargo Who May be Eligible for Assistance
Because of the complexity of the mortgage market and this agreement, which will be performed over a three-year period, borrowers will not immediately know if they are eligible for relief. Borrowers from states who did not sign the settlement will not be eligible for any of the relief directly to homeowners. Borrowers from Oklahoma will not be eligible for any of the relief directly to homeowners because Oklahoma elected not to join the settlement.
The settlement provides assistance for:
Homeowners needing loan modifications now, including first and second lien principal reduction. The servicers are required to work off up to $17 billion in principal reduction and other forms of loan modification relief nationwide.
State attorneys general anticipate the settlement’s requirement for principal reduction will show other lenders that principal reduction is one effective tool in combating foreclosure and that it will not lead to widespread defaults by borrowers who really can afford to pay.
Borrowers who are current, but underwater. Borrowers will be able to refinance at today’s historically low interest rates. Servicers will have to provide up to $3 billion in refinancing relief nationwide.
Borrowers who lost their homes to foreclosure with no requirement to prove financial harm and without having to release private claims against the servicers or the right to participate in the OCC review process. $1.5 billion will be distributed nationwide to some 750,000 borrowers. Additional information is available at: http://www.nationalmortgagesettlement.com/help.
FAUSETT MILES ATTORNEY NAMED VICE CHAIR OF DCBA REAL ESTATE LAW AND PRACTICE COMMITTEE
Attorney Lora Fausett has been named the Vice Chair of the DuPage County Bar Association's Real Estate Law and Practice Committee. The mission and purpose of the committee is to "keep the Association fully informed of all case law, statutory and regulatory changes in this area including administrative law in coordination with Legislative Liaison. Survey various corporate in-house departments as to which service the DCBA could provide to these attorneys. Promote positive public relations with large corporations. Ensure that DCBA members speaking publicly comply with Speaker's Bureau rules, avoid personal editorial comments, and reading standard "DCBA Disclaimer" as approved by general counsel."
Courtesy of http://www.dcba.org/legal-community/about/standing-committees
DuPage County Bar Association’s Judiciary Committee Issues Recommendations for Applicants for Associate Judge
Wheaton, Illinois -- Colleen McLaughlin, President of the DuPage County Bar Association has released the recommendations just made by its Judiciary Committee which is responsible for reviewing the qualifications of those applicants seeking to fill the current DuPage County Associate Judge vacancy.
The recommendations are the result of an investigation and screening process conducted by the DuPage County Bar Association's Judiciary Committee.
The Committee consists of a cross-section of 16 attorneys who are appointed for a three year term by the DCBA President and approved by the DCBA's Board of Directors and three of the DCBA Past-Presidents. Several new Committee members are appointed each year based on expiration of terms. To ensure representation from a broad spectrum of its membership,DCBA's bylaws require that the Judiciary Committee be comprised of a set number of members having practice experience in each of three categories (5-10 years, 10+, 15+).
Candidates are evaluated upon the following criteria: 1) legal knowledge and ability which includes professional experience; 2) integrity; 3) judicial temperament; 4) diligence and punctuality; and 5) health.
Following investigation and candidate interviews, the committee rates each candidate by one of the following categories: Highly Recommended, Recommended, or Not Presently Recommended.
The names of those candidates rated Highly Recommended are as follows:
• William Belmonte of Bloomingdale
• Alan J. Brinkmeier of Elmhurst
• Kimberly A. Davis of Winfield
• Robert E. Douglas of Carol Stream
• Nicholas J. Galasso of Wheaton
• Scott M. Hardek of Elmhurst
• John P. Kelly of Wheaton
• John J. Kohnke of Glen Ellyn
• Jeffrey S. MacKay of Wheaton
• Brian N. Nigohosian of Wheaton
• John J. Pcolinski, Jr. of Naperville
About the DCBA
The DuPage County Bar Association whose members makes it Illinois' largest County Bar Association, was founded in 1879 and represents 2,500 member attorneys dedicated to advancing the practice of law and promoting the legal profession through community service and education.
Courtesy of www.dcba.org
FAUSETT MILES P.C. Attorney Joins National Association of Professional Women (NAPW)
Attorney Lora Fausett has recently joined the National Association of Professional Women. The NAPW boasts the country's most accomplished professional women in over 200 industries and professions.
New bill requires landlords to report contractor information
Janet Portman - Rent It Right
According to Section 2101, all landlords will have to file "information returns" (in most cases, the IRS Form 1099-MISC) when they pay a service provider (such as a plumber, accountant or landscaper) $600 or more during the tax year. The 1099 filing requirement applies only to payments to service providers who are not incorporated, (with the exception of lawyers). In other words, payments to corporations (other than legal corporations) are exempt, as are payments for goods (such as appliances or furnishings). Landlords must also send these 1099s to the provider.
Article
Q. I've heard that the new tax bill signed by President Obama in late September 2010 affects landlords — that we will have to file 1099s when we pay contractors over a certain amount. Is this so? What a pain!
A. You heard right. On Sept. 27, Obama signed the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010, a hefty bill that aims to spur small-business hiring through measures designed to make credit more available and to give small businesses many tax breaks. But deep within the bill there's a section titled "Reducing the Tax Gap" (Subtitle B, Part I), and you can imagine what that means — bringing back into the IRS tax coffers some of the money that the rest of the bill leaves in the pockets of those small businesses. The landlord provision is one of them.
According to Section 2101, all landlords will have to file "information returns" (in most cases, the IRS Form 1099-MISC) when they pay a service provider (such as a plumber, accountant or landscaper) $600 or more during the tax year. The 1099 filing requirement applies only to payments to service providers who are not incorporated, (with the exception of lawyers). In other words, payments to corporations (other than legal corporations) are exempt, as are payments for goods (such as appliances or furnishings). Landlords must also send these 1099s to the provider.
Until now, only landlords who were actively engaged in running their business (by managing day-to-day activities, for example) were required to file 1099s. "Investors" (owners who turned over all or most management duties to someone else) didn't have to file them. The new law declares that even investor landlords must send 1099s, and it applies to payments made after Dec. 31, 2010.
And how, you may wonder, will filing 1099s result in more money to the tax man? Once the IRS receives the landlord's 1099 showing that it paid a contractor a specified amount, the IRS will expect that contractor to pay taxes on that income. Contractors know this, and feel pressured to report — and pay — accurately, or face fines. According to the Senate Finance Committee, the number of increased tax filings will result in additional revenue of $2.5 billion over a period of 10 years.
The reporting requirements apply only to landlords whose rental income is over a threshold amount, which is yet to be determined, in regulations that will be issued by the secretary of the Treasury. And the ...
Relaxing the rules on condo rentals
Article
By Pamela Dittmer McKuen, Special to the Tribune
One of the early issues tackled by the new Kedvale Gardens Condominium Association in 2004 was renters. The board decided that up to six units, or 15 percent, of the 41 units could be rented at any given time. The policy worked well until a couple of years ago.
"Then the economy blew up," said Kerry Smith, president of the association in Chicago's Old Irving Park neighborhood. "People were begging and pleading for us to let them rent. They couldn't afford to keep their units, and they couldn't sell either."
The board responded by granting four one-year hardship exemptions, raising the number of rentals to 10.
A few years ago, renters were largely unwelcome in community associations. Among the arguments: Owners take better care of the property, frequent move-ins tear up hallways, and rental restrictions protect property values. Some associations were so averse to renters that they amended their declarations to ban them.
But times have changed. Financially stressed owners increasingly are asking for exceptions to no-renter policies. Boards often are granting them, just as Kedvale did.
Joanna Dziok, who owns Integral Residential LLC in Chicago and who manages Kedvale, said most of her client associations have "reluctantly" allowed more renters in recent years.
"Boards felt they needed to do something," Dziok said. "They were getting pressured from both sides, from owners who need to rent and from others who said, 'I didn't sign up to live in a rental building.'"
"We decided it was in our best interest to temporarily raise the cap," said Smith. "No one wants a vacant unit."
"This is a reversal of trends, driven solely by economic factors," said attorney David Allswang, of Holland & Knight in Chicago. "Today, when sales are (made) less often, to put it mildly, the option of renting is much more prevalent than the option of selling."
For some owners, the only other option is foreclosure, which will depress the value of everyone else's unit, he said.
Foreclosures also strain an association's budget. It can take six months to a year for lenders to sort out ownership and loan issues; meanwhile, assessments most likely go unpaid, said developer Garry Benson, chief executive of Garrison Partners in Chicago.
"Associations are sensitive about getting a transient reputation if they allow renters, but they often make exceptions because of the opportunity to recoup their overdue assessments," he said. "It's all about cash flow."
That sentiment is echoed by Gene Fisher, executive director of Diversey Harbor Lakeview Association, which represents 30 North Side associations.
"There is little question that the number of condo rentals has increased," he said. "It's a concern, but I have a sense that most buildings in this neighborhood have put their concerns about rentals on the back burner as long as assessments keep getting paid."
Boards are adapting their rental policies to economic conditions in various ways, ranging from rigid to permissive and from simple to elaborate.
Dziok said that some of her buildings lifted all restrictions for a year or two. Others raised prerecession rental caps, generally ...
Scam artists pretend to be federal mortgage relief programs
WASHINGTON -- You've probably seen the pitches on TV and the Internet or found them stuffed in your mail: official-looking communications complete with logos and letterheads that look vaguely like those used by the Treasury, IRS and other federal agencies.
The promoters have names that resemble federal foreclosure-intervention programs such as Making Home Affordable or Home Affordable Modification. Some even flash photos of President Obama or the great seal of the United States.
They are instead criminal enterprises posing as do-gooders who promise to get you out of the mortgage jam you're in, whether you're severely delinquent or deeply underwater. They claim they can persuade your lender to cut your monthly payments, forgive all penalties, slash your interest rate and even get your loan balance reduced. If your lender won't cooperate, they say they'll perform “forensic audits” on your mortgage and convince a court to cancel your entire loan transaction because of technical mistakes in the paperwork.
Bogus firms always insist on getting your money upfront often thousands of dollars and then do little or nothing. But now the Federal Trade Commission is cutting off the main fuel supply for mortgage modification scammers: Under new rules outlined Nov. 19, the agency plans to ban virtually all upfront payments, institute mandatory disclosure rules, and clamp new federal restrictions on lawyers who participate in mortgage modification schemes.
Under these rules, companies offering mortgage relief will have to contact your lender or servicer and present you a written proposal describing the key changes to your mortgage terms that the note holder is willing to make before any money can be collected in advance.
Modification companies also will be required to make clear they have no connection with any government agencies or program, and that you're free to reject any offer from the lender, with no requirement to pay a fee. The rule also prohibits modification firms from using one of their most commonplace and destructive ploys: They can no longer instruct clients to stop communicating with their lender or servicer. Many scammers not only urge unwary consumers to let them handle all negotiations but also direct them to stop sending in payments or worse, to send all payments to the modification company. Typically that has the effect of rendering any ultimate modification with the lender or servicer even less likely.
The FTC estimates bogus modification companies have stolen millions from unwary homeowners in the past two years; ironically, there's been a huge increase in the number of abusive schemes in the wake of the federal government's efforts to create legitimate foreclosure relief programs. The FTC has brought more than 30 cases against these operations, but until now the agency has had no way to control the pervasive advance-fee requirements that are so costly to some homeowners.
Now, when that portion of the new rule takes effect Jan. 31, the FTC will be able to proceed against any firm that collects upfront fees without obtaining the required written proposals at no charge from lenders. It will be a litmus test: If ...
Cook Co. sheriff investigating rapid-fire foreclosures
Article:
By Ted Cox
While being compelled to resume evictions, Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart is turning up the heat on the practice of “robo-signing” foreclosure documents.
Dart’s office announced Friday it is referring several cases to the his office’s financial-crimes unit to see whether lenders filing foreclosures were engaging in fraudulent or deceptive practices. The Loyola University School of Law also committed to looking through 2,200 cases “for any signs of irregularities.”
Dart halted evictions Oct. 13 after stories broke nationwide about lenders failing to verify all documents in foreclosures. He claimed to have found evidence of “robo-signing,” in which lenders assign staff to hurriedly sign foreclosure documents “sometimes hundreds a day,” according to the sheriff’s office falsely claiming they’ve verified all the information in a foreclosure file.
In halting evictions, Dart challenged bank attorneys to sign sworn affidavits verifying that foreclosures were valid. “None would,” he said.
The Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office has since advised the sheriff to enforce all foreclosure evictions signed by a judge, and evictions could resume next week.
Yet the new investigation could throw a wrench in that process. According to Dart’s office, a “careful analysis” of recent foreclosure filings turned up evidence that “70 percent appear to have been ‘robo-signed.’”
In the meantime, sheriff’s police officers will include contact information for pro-bono legal help and the help desk at the circuit court’s chancery division with all deliveries of foreclosure notices.
Link: http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20101119/news/711209941/
Dart plans to halt foreclosure evictions — again. Considering mayoral run, Cook County sheriff insists plan isn’t political grandstanding.
Article
By Becky Schlikerman and Mary Ellen Podmolik, Tribune reporters
Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart is again halting foreclosure evictions, two years after he received national attention for a similar plan.
Dart, who is mulling a run for Chicago mayor, said he won't carry out evictions by three banks that have admitted questionable foreclosure practices until they can provide proof that their evictions are legal.
Dart said he plans to halt hundreds of evictions starting Monday unless the lenders — Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase and Ally Financial Inc.'s GMAC unit — can provide sworn statements that "everything was done properly."
At a news conference, Dart insisted his plan isn't political grandstanding, though he remained coy about whether he will run for mayor. He is also up for re-election as sheriff in the Nov. 2 election.
Dart halted evictions by his deputies in 2008 after finding that many renters being evicted hadn't received any notice from banks that the building they lived in was being foreclosed. The evictions resumed after court officials put procedures in place to protect renters.
Chief Judge Timothy Evans' office declined to comment on Dart's latest plan, saying it would be improper to do so because the issue might come before the Circuit Court.
Dart's latest concerns stem from admissions by employees at some of the nation's leading lenders that they had signed off on foreclosures without even reading pertinent documents — they'd simply "robo-signed documents," the sheriff said.
Bank of America and Ally/GMAC said they are moving forward with evictions and foreclosures. Chase has not announced when it would resume its foreclosure process. Ally/GMAC spokesman James Olecki reiterated that the lender has not found any "inappropriate foreclosures."
"We are happy to respond to any questions from the sheriff related to this matter," Olecki said.
Tribune reporter John Chase contributed to this report.
bschlikerman@tribune.com
Illinois, other states join foreclosure investigation
http://www.chicagolawbulletin.com/news/get_story_text.cfm?id=100012766&SessionID=919218647679797
Ill., other states join foreclosure investigation
By Bethany Krajelis
Law Bulletin staff writer
SPRINGFIELD — Illinois has joined a multi-state task force that will investigate the nation's major loan servicers, Attorney General Lisa M. Madigan announced Wednesday.
The effort was spurred by recent allegations that some of these companies have been mishandling foreclosure filings.
Madigan is one of 49 attorneys general on the task force and will also serve on the group's 12-member executive committee. The attorneys general, along with 37 state bank and mortgage regulators, will look into whether loan servicers have been filing foreclosure documents with procedural errors.
The investigation comes just days after some of the nation's largest loan servicers — Ally, Bank of America and JP Morgan Chase— admitted that their employees have engaged in "robo-signing," a process in which they signed off on foreclosure affidavits without confirming their accuracy or verifying the loan information.
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