Cleveland Real Estate News

Thanks once again to Lou Tisler of NHSGC for alerting me to this during an insanely busy work week. Ohio Senator George Voinovich is introducing legislation he feels will help homeowners struggling to stay out of foreclosure. Highlights here:

1. Moratorium on pre payment penalties. These are fees many feel have been lumped into lending contracts by lenders who charge thousands of dollars to borrowers who try to renegotiate loans…and these fees are more often than not involving sub prime loans.

2. A one year extension on the moratorium on taxes borrowers traditionally owe on the forgiven portion of their loans. Example: You sell your home in a short sale situation, your lender accepts 80k instead of the 100k you owe on your mortgage. Without the moratorium, you still owe taxes on that additional 20k. This was sponsored by Voinovich and signed into law.

3. Community Block Grant funding would be increased since these funds are being used to help revitalize neighborhoods hard hit by foreclosures and abandoned houses. Funds would be available for additional demolition projects for abandoned properties.

4. Calls for simplifying mortgage documents, making them more uniform and understandable for borrowers…presumably to help them better understand what they are signing and agreeing to pay.

Plain Dealer article here.

Senator Voinovich’s website with releases about this legislation is here.

These points were part of the Ohio House Task Force recommendations (I did a post about that here).  And here is a quote from NHSGC about there their ability to help you if you are experiencing mortgage payment difficulties:

“….Neighborhood Housing Services of Greater Cleveland is proud to partner with the City of Cleveland, the Cuyahoga County Board of Commissioners and Cuyahoga County Treasurer Jim Rokakis’ office, the Ohio Department of Development, the Ohio Housing Finance Agency, NeighborWorks America and many other organizations to address the statewide and community problem of foreclosure.  NHSGC is committed to providing free, fair and unbiased information, programs and services to the residents of Cuyahoga, Lorain, Erie and Huron counties….If you or someone you know is having trouble paying their mortgage or facing foreclosure, please call Neighborhood Housing Services of Greater Cleveland at 216.458.HOME (4663) or 2-1-1 in Cuyahoga County, or nationwide at 888-995-HOPE (4673) for help today“

Peace Out – 3C

April 8th Update: This happened on Monday, and this time it’s a group of banks aggreeing informally to participate in Task Force Recommendations that might save homes for qualified homeowners in trouble. Shout out to Toby Boyce, a Realtor® in Delaware Ohio for his post on this effort by some banks in Ohio.