Ohio Hardest-Hit Fund (Ohio HHF)

Directly from the Ohio Housing Finance Agency (OHFA) website:

President Obama established the Housing Finance Agency Innovation Fund for the Hardest-Hit Markets in February 2010 to provide financial assistance to families in the states most impacted by the downturn of the housing market. On August 4, the U.S. Department of Treasury (U.S. Treasury) announced the approval of the Ohio Hardest-Hit Fund (Ohio HHF) plan for $172 million. Subsequently on August 11, U.S. Treasury announced another round of funding which allocated $148 million to help unemployed and underemployed homeowners pay their mortgage. The Ohio Housing Finance Agency (OHFA) will administer the program and use the total allocation of $320 million in federal foreclosure prevention funding to help families who have fallen behind on their mortgage loans, or are having trouble making monthly payments. Homeowners experiencing a financial hardship may begin submitting applications online or over the phone on September 27, 2010.

OHFA has worked with Governor Ted Strickland, the Department of Commerce and the Save the Dream Ohio partners to develop a comprehensive, statewide strategy. The plan aims to assist 26,000 unemployed and underemployed homeowners who are experiencing financial hardship and are at-risk of mortgage loan default or foreclosure. Ohio HHF program options will assist homeowners with financial hardships who have been unable to qualify for existing loan modification and foreclosure prevention programs. Available programs will include:

• Rescue Payment Assistance will provide a payment to a participating homeowner's servicer to help bring the homeowner current on his or her delinquent mortgage. The payment could cover principal, interest, fees, delinquent taxes or escrow shortage and homeowners insurance.

• Partial Mortgage Payment Assistance will support unemployed homeowners by providing partial mortgage payments while they search for a job or participate in job training.

• Modification Assistance with Principal Reduction will provide a payment incentive to servicers to reduce a participating homeowner's mortgage principal to the level necessary to achieve a loan modification with a target of a 115 percent loan-to–value ratio or less. This program should increase the number of loan modifications that are approved and available to both Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) eligible and non-HAMP eligible borrowers.

• Transitional Assistance will offer an incentive to servicers to complete short sales and deed-in-lieu agreements to help homeowners exit their homes gracefully. This will allow homeowners who cannot sustain homeownership to pursue alternatives to foreclosure, reducing the negative impact on their credit rating and losses to the servicer.

If a homeowner uses Ohio HHF to stay in their home and then sells or refinances their home within five years, the assistance would be repayable from the net proceeds.

The Ohio HHF plan will launch September 27, 2010, but borrowers who are in need of immediate assistance should visit the Save the Dream Ohio website at www.savethedream.ohio.gov or call the hotline at (888) 404-4674 to get free assistance and speak directly with a housing counselor.

Changes to Homeowners Association Bylaws - SB 187

Directly from the Ohio Legislative Service Commission website:

The bill creates new procedures in state law for the establishment and governance of planned communities similar to those for condominium associations. The bill sets out definitions for planned communities and homeowners' associations, provides for the establishment of boards of directors, establishes the rights of these boards and individual homeowners in associations, and lays out the powers and duties of the boards in governing the associations. Overall, these provisions will increase the number of legal instruments processed by county recorders. The bill is most likely to have a greater effect on urban and suburban counties, where most of these planned communities are situated, than on rural counties.


The bill identifies three instances in which an individual or association would be required to file with the county recorder's office: (1) the initial declaration and bylaws for the establishment of a planned community, (2) any subsequent amendments made to the declaration or bylaws, and (3) any lien placed on an individual lot by the association for payment of assessments, charges, and other fees and costs. The bill also applies to existing non-condominium developments that wish to have the status of a planned community. In all these cases, county recorders would process the required instruments and collect the filing fees.

While it is difficult to predict how many existing communities might declare as planned communities or how many new communities may be developed as a result of the bill, a majority of these planned communities are likely to be in predominantly urban or suburban counties. Recorders' offices in these counties would thus incur some new costs for processing the necessary legal instruments, most if not all of which would be offset by recordation fees. Both new expenses and revenues would depend upon the number of (1) newly formed planned communities, (2) amendments to declarations and bylaws, and (3) liens placed on property owners in a community.

Additionally, the bill provides for civil actions by owners and associations concerning disputes over liens and other violations of association policy or law. This is unlikely to create any significant new costs for county municipal courts and courts of common pleas.
 
Click here for more information.

FHA MIP Delayed

The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) has decided to delay instituting the planned adjustments to its insurance premium structure by one month, after the industry expressed concerns about being ready for the upcoming changes in time.

According to a statement from HUD Deputy Assistant Secretary Vicki Bott, FHA will make the premium fee changes on all new case numbers effective October 4, 2010. “Over this past week, the industry responded with support of the new fee structure, but voiced strong concern about having system changes ready in time to meet the original September 7, 2010 deadline,” Bott said. “Since these system changes impact regulatory disclosures, lenders expressed they must have the additional time to implement and test systems. FHA took this feedback seriously and has accommodated the need for additional time.”

FHA received congressional approval on August 5th to raise borrowers’ annual premiums for single family mortgage insurance. Lawmakers gave the federal mortgage insurer enough leeway to increase the annual fee it charges borrowers three-fold, up to 1.55 percent. However, according to Bott, the annual premium is not going to go that high. The annual mortgage insurance premium will increase from 0.55 percent to between 0.85 percent and 0.90 percent of the loan amount. At the same time, though, FHA will lower the upfront premium charged on the amount borrowed by 100 basis points from the current 2.25 percent.

The new premium structure gives FHA a means of increasing its capital reserve funds, which as a result of rising mortgage defaults had deteriorated to its lowest level in the agency’s 75-year history at the end of fiscal year 2009.

FHA Mortgages - Seller concessions gone gone gone

One of the key attractions of FHA home mortgage financing might be gone very soon. Sometime this summer, the Federal Housing Administration plans to slash maximum “seller concessions” from 6 percent of the home price to 3 percent. However, sellers and buyers who move fast can still make the most of it.

Homebuyer Tax Credit Closing Deadline Extended

Congress has passed an extension of the closing deadline for the Homebuyer Tax Credit, the Homebuyer Assistance and Improvement Act (H.R. 5623). The extension applies only to transactions that have ratified contracts in place as of April 30, 2010, that have not yet closed. The legislation is designed to create a seamless extension; the new closing deadline for eligible transactions is now September 30, 2010. There will be no gap between June 30 and the date the President signs the bill into law.

HUD Asks for Public Comment on RESPA Rules Regarding Affiliated Business Arrangements

As recently stated on the OAITA blog,

HUD has just announced that it is now seeking public comment until September 1, 2010 concerning the "required use" of controlled business arrangements by way of the Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR).

You can make comments here.  Click on the Public Submissions to see the comments from others.

The purpose of the ANPR is to solicit information that can be used to inform any future revision or clarification of the regulatory definition of the "required use" of affiliated settlement service providers in residential mortgage transactions.

While that sounds broad, the ANPR is principally directed at homebuilders. The ANPR was launched once before and tabled in 2008. The latest ANPR is in response to the complaints that homebuyers have sent to HUD concerning the practice of homebuilders forcing their customers to use a builder's affiliated mortgage lender in exchange for construction discounts, etc.

The specific requests HUD provided within the latest ANPR suggest a sole focus on the homebuilder question, not realtor-owned or bank-owned CBAs. With the weakened state of the homebuilder lobby and the desire on the part of real estate and bank lobbies to squeeze more business out of the settlement service market, look for the homebuilders to get creamed with this rule.

Further driving a pessimistic view of the ANPR is the fact that the former guru of the CBA program for Long & Foster Realty is now the Director of FHA within RESPA and has heavy influence over the Interstate Land Sales office from which RESPA compliance activities are launched.

Closing Date and Possession Date the Same! Really?

In the past within the central Ohio real estate market place, it was more common that the closing date was different than the possession date. The closing date is the day title legally changes hands. When the buyer gets possession of the property is always negotiable.

Again, it used to be customary in our area to give the seller an extra 3 to 4 days to move out completely. Ideally, in a perfect world the buyer gets possession on the day the deal closes, however, in today’s crazy last minute world, I’m not so sure that possession date and closing date should ever be the same. For both the buyer and seller, this can wreak havoc on their personal and financial lives.

Within the last year, we have seen closing after closing where the seller has moved out of the house only to find that the buyer does not get approved until the very last minute or not at all.

We have even had deals where the buyer's loan was still in underwriting and "not approved" until they walked into the closing room. I could write a chapter or two on "bomb outs". This does not make good sense for either side when they have their moving trucks in our parking lots and it doesn’t close that day or worse off doesn’t close the next day or even weeks later.  You can only imagine the ramifications.

2010 Multi-Chamber Business After Hours & Expo

PLEASE STOP BY OUR BOOTH!

The Dublin Chamber, in conjunction with the Westerville, Worthington and Powell Chambers of Commerce, will host the 2010 Chamber Business Expo. One of the best business development events of the year, the Expo brings together more than 100 vendors and 600 area business representatives!

The 2010 Chamber Business Expo takes place from 4:30 to 7 p.m. June 17 at the Bridgewater Banquet & Conference Center, 10561 Sawmill Pkwy., Powell.

Admission is free to this great networking event. Complimentary hors d’oeuvres and a cash bar are available. In addition, you will have the opportunity to enter to win one of many great door prizes.

To RSVP to attend as a guest, please submit the form below.

https://www.dublinchamber.org/_register.cfm?eventID=515&CFID=6040135&CFTOKEN=35493414

Why a Survey?

For most Americans, their home is their major investment. People protect their investment by insuring it, making needed repairs, etc. It is also vitally important that they know the boundary lines of the property they own and to determine if other such encroachments such as a neighboring fences exist. A survey will also tell you whether the legal description of your property is accurate.

When purchasing a home or a parcel of land, people need the services of a Professional Land Surveyor, licensed in the State of Ohio.

Surveys are also done to determine utility easements, accessibility to the property, joint driveways, encroachments, overhangs or projections. It is not uncommon for a utility company to have the right to access and use part of your property for the maintenance of underground or above ground utility lines such as gas, electric, phone and cable.

“Also, before making any improvements such as home additions, new garages, driveways, fences, or even landscaping, you need to know that you are making the improvements on the land you own rather than on your neighbor’s land”, says AJ Myers of Myers Surveying Company.

Surveyors can also certify that you are not in a Flood Plain and help you avoid costly insurance. Surveyors are needed if you are dividing your land, if you are having a boundary dispute with your neighbor, if you have a deed that you may believe is incorrect.

Protect your major investment, contact AJ Myers of Myers Surveying Company, a highly reputable Professional Land Surveyor.

Ohio Abolishes Use of Transfer on Death Deed

Effective January 2, 2010, a new bill known as S.B. 124 became law in Ohio which effectively abolishes the use of transfer upon death deeds in Ohio and replaces them with transfer upon death affidavits. The new affidavit requires a description of the property, the specific interest to be transferred if it is to be less than the entire interest, a statement by the individual executing the affidavit that he is the record owner of the property, and if the owner is married the affidavit must include a statement by the owner's spouse subordinating the spouse's dower interest. The bill also allows a person to designate less than his/her entire interest as transferable on death.