During the first half of 2018 there was a 15% decline in foreclosure filings nationwide. Foreclosure filings are properties that had a default notice, a scheduled auction, or bank repossession. There were a total of 362,275 foreclosure filings, a far cry from the 1.6 million foreclosure filings eight years ago in the first half of 2010. Even though the overall, nationwide number of foreclosure starts had decreased, there was an increase in foreclosure activity in 88 of 219 me

When you buy a home in a covenanted community, you will receive a copy of the Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions (CC&Rs) along with your closing documents. The CC&Rs will spell out all the regulations (rules/conditions) and the amount of Homeowner’s Association (HOA) fees, which are typically paid monthly. Each year the HOA’s Board of Directors meet to discuss and set the budget that will include how much every household (property or unit) will be charged for their monthl

Gantenbein Law Firm, Denver, Colorado is proud to announce its attorney, Keith Gantenbein, was named to 2017 Colorado Super Lawyers, Rising Stars list. Congratulations to owner and managing attorney Keith A. Gantenbein Jr, who was selected, named and included on the “2017 Colorado Super Lawyers Rising Stars” list. Super Lawyers is the Thomson Reuters lawyer rating service. To be selected as a Super Lawyer, attorneys are nominated by their peers and evaluated on 12 indicators

If you’re thinking of buying a home you’ve probably noticed the inventory of available houses for sale has been declining and mortgage rates and housing prices are on the rise. After years of having a huge inventory of houses to choose from, thousands of foreclosures and very low mortgage rates, the market is heading the other way. Denver is number three regionally for having the fastest time to sell a house. The average amount of days in Denver to sell a home is now 18 days,

Nationwide, home foreclosures have dropped to their lowest level since November 2005. During April 2017, there were 77,049 filings reported in the U.S. This number includes default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions. The figures reflect the lowest number of foreclosures since the housing crisis began. While the drop is significant, at the same time there was a rise in repeat foreclosures. A repeat foreclosure is noted as any property address with the same owne

The Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, known as Freddie Mac, announced last week that it’s selling off non-performing loans to private investors. Freddie Mac is a public government-sponsored enterprise (GSE) headquartered in Virginia. Freddie Mac was created in 1970 to help expand the mortgage market alongside the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae). Previously, from 1938 to 1968 Fannie Mae was the only institution that bought mortgages leading to and enco

Last year, in 2016 the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) levied a multi-million dollar fine against PHH Corporation for allegedly illegally referring consumers to mortgage insurers in exchange for kickbacks. PHH provides mortgage services to some of the world’s largest financial services firms and is located in New Jersey. PHH then sued the CFPB, challenging the CFPB’s Director Richard Cordray ability to be able to increase their original $6 million fine against PHH

Colorado has joined the new age in providing online foreclosure auctions. Last year, Realauction.com was approached by the Denver Public Trustee’s office and asked to provide Denver with its own auction site. That site is up and running and bringing huge cost savings to Denver and making it easier for more people to be able to bid on the foreclosed properties. Realauction.com runs many foreclosure auctions throughout Florida. One by one, counties in Florida put their foreclos

The Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) was introduced in 2009 and established to help homeowners recover from the great housing bubble burst. The HAMP was part of the Making Home Affordable program (MHA) along with the Hardest Hit Fund program (HHF) that was under the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). These programs were part of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 and put into place to help struggling homeowners avoid foreclosure. HAMP and the entire

California is a step closer to signing a bill into law to protect families from foreclosure after the death of the primary mortgage note holder. The Bill is known as the “Survivor Bill of Rights”. Other states may soon follow in passing similar laws. When a spouse dies, often the surviving spouse can’t afford the mortgage payment. The survivor usually calls the lender to let them know the spouse has died. When the survivor tries for a loan modification due to loss of income,

Are the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) and Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP) really be ending at the end of this year? The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Director Mel Watt gave a speech last year on both HAMP and HARP programs. He revealed that HAMP would be finished at the end of 2016. Concerning HARP, Watt said ‘we anticipate that this will also be the final extension for HARP.” Originally set to expire at the end of December 2013, the programs w

The past seven years have been horrendous for millions of homeowners who lost their homes. Somewhere between 7 and 8 million homes were lost. The majority of homes lost to foreclosure were around 6 million. These were mostly due from distressed homeowners who suffered hardships ranging from losing their jobs to serious health issues. Around 2 million homes were sold as a short-sale (sold for less than what was owed) and given back to the lender by a deed-in-lieu (DIL) that a

Our law office continues to receive numerous calls from homeowners who were scammed by so-called ‘loan modification’ companies. Most of the ‘loan modification scammers have companies based in California, Florida, New York and New Jersey. By the time the homeowner figures out the scam, they’ve lost between $700 and $5,000 on average and/or received a notice they are in foreclosure. Some homeowners have had no idea they’ve been scammed until someone comes to their door with doc

Housing prices have plummeted in the last year in Ferguson, Missouri. The average home sold for $66,764 in 2014. In the last three months of 2014, average home prices dropped to $36,168 and have steadily declined. Today, the average price for a home is $22,951 and still falling. Ferguson’s housing is in serious trouble. Foreclosures in this hamlet jumped almost 73% in the last few months of 2014 and the first few months of 2015. Almost half the homes in Ferguson are underwate