Hi Paul,

Can I give the house back and not lender come after me for judgements issue. House is Florida and no longer live there.

Kim (more…)

Wall Street Journal - Maguire Properties Inc., one of the largest office-building owners in Southern California, is planning to hand over control of seven buildings with some $1.06 billion in debt to creditors, the latest sign that rising vacancies and falling rents are causing stress in the commercial real-estate sector.

Maguire, which borrowed heavily during the go-go years to make disastrous top-of-the-market investments, mostly in Orange County, notified the buildings’ mortgage holders Friday that it expected “imminent default” on the loans. The buildings are all worth less then their mortgages and aren’t generating enough cash to pay debt service and finance leasing expenses.

Maguire’s problems are an example of the mounting pain among owners and lenders to office buildings, stores, hotels and other commercial real estate that is causing concern among banks and regulators that the sector may drag down a hoped-for economic recovery just as it is getting started. Initially, a dearth of financing caused the distress. But Maguire’s problems show that falling rents and rising vacancies are causing landlords to run out of cash.

Robert Maguire, the developer who founded the company and took it public as a real-estate investment trust in 2003, bought properties during the years before the bust on the assumption that rents would continue rising. But just the opposite has happened in Orange County, where the vacancy rate hovers around 20%, up from 6% three years ago, according to Maguire.

Chief Executive Nelson Rising, who was brought in by the company’s board last year to succeed Mr. Maguire, said in an interview that restructuring the debt on six of the buildings, located in Orange County and Los Angeles, is one possibility. But he said the most likely scenario is that the mortgage holders will take over the properties and try to sell them. Maguire already has a deal to turn over one of the buildings, Park Place One, in Irvine, Calif., to LBA Realty, a real-estate company that acquired the debt on the property at a discount in the spring. A telephone call placed to LBA’s principal wasn’t returned.

The debt on the other six properties was packaged by Wall Street firms and sold as commercial mortgage backed securities, or CMBS, to dozens of institutional investors. Mr. Rising said that Maguire would work closely with the servicers of that debt to transfer control of the buildings. The seven buildings, with 4.2 million square feet, make up about 20% of Maguire’s portfolio.

Maguire, scheduled to release its second-quarter earnings Monday, will take a $345 million charge on the properties’ loss in value. The company also is set to report a net loss of $380 million for the quarter, compared with a net loss of $110 million a year earlier.

Mr. Rising has succeeded in reducing Maguire’s debt by about $1.6 billion. His plan has been to sell or give back to lenders troubled properties and shore up Maguire’s balance sheet to the point that it is able to raise capital like other real-estate investment trusts have been doing.

But Maguire’s future still looks dicey. The company still has $3.5 billion in debt, and some analysts say that amount exceeds the value of its remaining properties. “Almost every building in [Maguire’s] portfolio is under water,” says Michael Knott, an analyst with Green Street Advisors. “I don’t envy some of the choices that they are having to make.”

Maguire’s stock, which traded around $12 a share one year ago, has been trading below $1 a share in recent months, a sign that many investors expect the company to fail.

Mr. Rising acknowledged that Maguire is encumbered with properties that are cash-flow negative, including three recently constructed buildings. But he expressed cautious optimism that the company would be able to dig out of its problems. “With this particular initiative we’ve made a big step,” he said.

Landlords throughout the country are watching the cash flows of their buildings dwindle. Office vacancies nationally hit 15.4% as of June 30, up one percentage point from a year earlier, as businesses dumped 25 million square feet of space on the market, according to Colliers International.

Not only are vacancies rising, but landlords often have to cut rents when tenants renew their leases to keep the tenants. Owners also have to lay out incentive packages to attract tenants by offering them interior build-outs and months of free rent. Mr. Rising estimated that it would have cost Maguire about $31 million a year to keep the seven buildings because they weren’t generating enough money to pay these and other expenses and debt service.

While these trends are clobbering landlords, tenants who have the good fortune to be in the market for space are getting deals. For example, accounting firm Moore Stephens Wurth Frazer & Torbet signed a $3.35 million, seven-year lease a few months ago for 19,000 square feet of space in a Maguire-owned building in Brea, Calif.

Maguire cut its initial rent offer by about 20% to $25 per square foot and offered generous incentives: footing the bill for the space’s renovation and charging only a $10,000 monthly rent for the first year, according to John Metzen, Moore’s administrator. “We got what we thought was an incredible deal,” said Mr. Metzen, whose firm was represented by CB Richard Ellis.

My atty is negotiating with my bank’s atty regarding an investment condo I own that is in litigation. The lender’s atty said they will entertain either a DIL or short sale but that the DIL carries no 1099C.  I believe bank’s attorney is incorrect.

My accountant tells me not to worry about the 1099C as it is business but I need to know if I took the DIL and they mark it as above, will my credit be tarnished. There are no late payments as Im up to date (performing loan). I  am under the impression that a DIL, no matter how it is reported is still a foreclosure as such and the credit companies have specific codes that will be inserted in my report no matter what how the DIL is reported. Am I right?

The lenders atty said they would probably put Disputed but Resolved.

On the other hand, a short sale will give me a 1099C that can be dealt with & probably a hit on my credit report for shorter time period.

Please take into consideration that I’m UP TO DATE ON EVERYTHING.

Steve (more…)

Hi Paul -

Just having read briefly some of your posts, I am hoping you may have a few words of advice for me.  I recently received a huge paycut (27%) and now am unable to afford my mortgage payments.  As an act of good faith, I contacted my mortgage co (not a bank, the original lender of my 80/20 loan) on June 29 — a few days before the first of the month (July) in which I would not be able to pay, and explained my situation… after a lengthy phone conversation, the Home Retention team member suggested that a deed-in-lieu would probably be the best option for me, especially since I have no issues about giving up my home at this point (I tried in the summer of 2007 to sell, without receiving any offers, and then my mortgage co helped by giving me a LM in September of that year (reducing my interest percentages)).

Now it seems that even though the mortgage co (AHMSI holds both loans — and I specifically asked on June 29th if this would hinder a DIL application, and was told no it would not) lists DIL on their own website as a means of assistance, they are insisting I try to remain in the home and try again for some kind of modification.  My income is now so severely reduced (about $850/mo, and I was only living check-to-check as it was!) that I don’t see how they can modify without losing as much as they would if they just accepted my DIL.  Furthermore, they are beginning to try to pressure me into paying (which I cannot do anyway!) by threatening foreclosure.  I understand they have every right to come after me, especially when I haven’t paid them (though I am only one month behind at this point).  HOWEVER, the reason I went to them first, BEFORE ever missing a payment, was to avoid a “full” or regular foreclosure in the hopes that they too would see the benefit of taking this easier way out (if there is such a thing here).  Either way, they will end up with a very underwater property — why would they rather hire lawyers and come after me the hard way, when I’ve been trying to offer my deed over to them on a silver platter for more 5 weeks now?!!

Any advice you can give would be most appreciated.  Thank you in advance.

-Karen (more…)

This is a fantastic site for anyone who is facing any type of mortgage related financial issues.  My question is this…

My wife and I want to file Chapter 13 to help eliminate a lot of unsecured debt that has piled up over the past few years, mainly because of a job layoff I suffered in 2007, and the ongoing housing crisis that has destroyed our house value here in FL.

We have two homes, one in Florida, and one in VA.  If we file Chapter 13, we hope to eliminate our credit card debt, a large amount of hospital bills and two car repossessions.  Until I lost my job, our bills were paid on time every month, but since then, we have found it impossible to catch up. 

Our primary residence is two months behind, and we owe about $75,000.00 more than it is worth on an 80/20 loan.  Our 2nd home in VA is one month behind, but has roughly $40,000.00 in equity.  We are thinking of giving back both homes, and read that you can possibly qualify for an FHA secured mortgage after making 12 payments in a Chapter 13 plan. 

If we relinquish both properties and rent for a year, is this possible, or will we have to wait just as we would if we let both the homes foreclose? 

I read in one of your blogs that the mortgage company can file a motion b/c the 1st mortgage on our primary residence and the mortgage on the second home are both secured, even though the 2nd mortgage on our 1st home can be stripped off.

We have talked to two bankruptcy attorneys, both of whom said to let go of both houses, and apply for an FHA loan after making 12 payments with the bankruptcy trustee.  I would rather keep our primary residence than rent if we will have to wait 3 or 4 years. 

What is your thought on this?  Thanks for the help.

Jason (more…)

I’ll try to make this short. My wife and I were discharged from a Chapter 7 almost a year ago (we’re in Colorado). We kept our home, did not reaffirm 1st (ARM) or 2nd (HELOC) mortgages.

After almost one year we are upside down in the home (value $150K, owe $210K). We starting to struggle. 2nd mortgage will not subordinate for a refinance, even though they are discharged and have no equity position. We are unable to keep up on badly needed repairs, etc., and definitely will fall behind if rates rise.

We have decided to give back the home (we’ll have no liability due to the BK). Wondering if we should do a short sale to prevent a foreclosure on our credit reports, or if it matters. 1st has not reported to credit reports in a year, but second has been reporting current payments, even though we have had lates (are they allowed to report after BK when not reaffirmed?).

We are going to stop making all payments to 1st and 2nd to save for a new home, possibly starting short sale process soon. Will we be able to buy a more modest home in 1-2 years? We will rent until then.

Casey (more…)

We have a home in punta gorda florida that we were going to move to, but we had to shut down our business over there and stay on the east coast as there is no more demand. 

We have a first and second with wells fargo.  Current for now on both, mortgage is in my name only. 

Will they negotiate a deed in lieu of foreclosure or will I still have a deficiency. 

First is 200k and 2nd is 148k.  Value is around 200-225 - nothing in area is selling. 

Should we get an attorney, not sure how to proceed.

Deb (more…)

I am in the process of having a LM done, but the servicing company will not responed. I am in foreclose not 1/16/09, Hired an attorney, but after putting 2 and 2 together me and my husband really don’t think that we will get the LM and can’t afford the mortage, we are upside down in the house.

Can we tell the attorney that we would like to give the house back to bank and walk away owing nothing, I am so sick over this I can’t sleep or eat.

Thanks for doing a good job of answering people in need.

Thanks,
Lou (more…)

I can not afford to pay my mortgage an retire in 6 year on my pension.  I have an V A loan, with Citimortgage of Citigroup. 

If I stop paying and notify them that I can afford the payment.  What could happen, credit wise can I repair it. Or could judgement against me or wage bank account or ect. 

What the least and most that could happen and how to deal with it. 

John (more…)

Paul-

The other day we were talking about deed in lieu of foreclosure.  My client that has a property that has second was willing to do a deed lieu.  They approved the deed in lieu, but are still continuing with foreclosure proceedings.  You said that they could not do deed in lieu, because the second had to release the mortgage.  What if we requested a copy of the note from the second from the servicer, and they did not have it?  Would it give us leverage or time to be able to short sale the property?  

Thanks,
Kel (more…)