Atlanta Foreclosure News: Jim Chapman Communities Announces Jim Chapman Construction Services

-(blog post copy courtesy of Atlanta Real Estate Forum.com)

As one of the builders continuing to open new communities despite the rough economic times, Jim Chapman Communities has decided to take the initiative to help the local real estate industry by finishing homes that are in foreclosure throughout Atlanta. With the launch of Jim Chapman Construction Services, LLC, a full-service general contracting firm, Jim Chapman will lend an expert hand to banks and investors by turning properties that are in dire need of completion into beautiful, quality-built Atlanta new homes.
It’s no secret that many home builders in Atlanta have been forced into foreclosure to release their assets back to the banks that issued the loans on the properties, which results in many banks finding themselves with multiple properties in an incomplete state. These distressed properties are extremely detrimental to the housing market because they risk permanent devaluation of the surrounding area. So, it’s great to have Jim Chapman Communities taking the initiative to help out these suffering properties. To date, Jim Chapman Construction Services’ largest and most notable clients include SunTrust Bank and Resource Real Estate Partners, LLC. We can’t wait to see the great things that come from this new company and the positive impact it will have on the Atlanta real estate market. Great job Jim Chapman!

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Landlord advice: Hownowners, Avoid Foreclosure Rescue Scams

(source: Ga government)
Foreclosure scams come in many forms, but at the heart of each is a false promise that the firm will save the consumer's home. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) urges consumers who are looking for foreclosure prevention help to avoid any company that:

• guarantees to stop the foreclosure process --- no matter what your circumstances
  
• instructs you not to contact your lender, lawyer, or credit or housing counselor
• collects a fee before providing you with any services
• encourages you to lease your home so you can buy it back over time
• tells you to make your mortgage payments directly to it, rather than to your lender
• tells you to transfer your property deed or title to it
  

The FTC says that consumers having trouble paying the mortgage or who have gotten a foreclosure notice should contact their lender immediately. They may be able to negotiate a new payment schedule. Legitimate help is available through the Homeownership Preservation Foundation (HPF), a nonprofit organization that operates the national 24/7 toll-free hotline (1.888.995.HOPE) with free, bilingual, personalized assistance to help at-risk homeowners avoid foreclosure. To learn more, visit www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/credit/cre42.shtm

Common Scams

Scam artists follow the headlines, and know there are homeowners falling behind in their mortgage payments or at risk for foreclosure. Their pitches may sound like a way for you to get out from under, but their intentions are as far away from honorable as they can be. They mean to take your money. Among the predatory scams that have been reported are:

• The foreclosure prevention specialist: The “specialist” really is a phony counselor who charges outrageous fees in exchange for making a few phone calls or completing some paperwork that a homeowner could easily do for himself. None of the actions results in saving the home. This scam gives homeowners a false sense of hope, delays them from seeking qualified help, and exposes their personal financial information to a fraudster.

• The lease/buy back: Homeowners are deceived into signing over the deed to their home to a scam artist who tells them they will be able to remain in the house as a renter and eventually buy it back. Usually, the terms of this scheme are so demanding that the buy-back becomes impossible, the homeowner gets evicted, and the “rescuer” walks off with most or all of the equity.

• The bait-and-switch: Homeowners think they are signing documents to bring the mortgage current. Instead, they are signing over the deed to their home. Homeowners usually don’t know they’ve been scammed until they get an eviction notice.

Visit the following links for more information on "Foreclosure Rescue Scams" and how to avoid becoming a victim:

OCC Consumer Tips to Avoid Foreclosure Rescue Scams

Federal Reserve Board: 5 Tips for Avoiding Foreclosure Scams

National Consumer Law Center, Inc.’s Tips For Consumers On Avoiding Foreclosure “Rescue” Scams

Freddie Mac: Avoiding Foreclosure and Beware of Scam Artists

HUD: How to Avoid Foreclosure and Foreclosure Prevention Companies

Federal Trade Commission: Mortgage Payments Sending You Reeling? Here’s What to Do - Be Alert to Scams

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Foreclosure

Foreclosure Help

HOPE NOW is an alliance between HUD approved counseling agents, servicers, investors and other mortgage market participants that provides free foreclosure prevention assistance.

HOPE NOW is an alliance between counselors, servicers, investors, and other mortgage market participants. This alliance will maximize outreach efforts to homeowners in distress to help them stay in their homes and will create a unified, coordinated plan to reach and help as many homeowners as possible. The members of this alliance recognize that by working together, they will be more effective than by working independently.

The Department of the Treasury and the Department of Housing and Urban Development encouraged leaders in the lending industry, investors and non-profits to form this alliance.

Alliance Action Plan

* The alliance will conduct a new, national direct mail campaign to contact at-risk borrowers, encouraging them to either call their lender or a credit counselor.
* This alliance has agreed to adopt a standard process model that will strengthen and speed work flow, productivity, and communications between servicers and counselors.
* The alliance will work to expand the capacity of an existing national network to receive, assess, counsel, refer, and connect borrowers to servicers.
* The American Securitization Forum, which represents servicers, investors, and other secondary market participants, has announced that counseling fees can be reimbursed from securitization transactions in appropriate circumstances.
* The alliance will develop common communications guidelines that will be used to respond to at-risk borrowers in order to offer them the best possible solutions, customized for each borrower.
* The servicers have agreed to work toward cross-industry technology solutions to more effectively connect servicers and counselors together in order to better serve the homeowner.
* The alliance will develop a common set of metrics to measure the initiative's progress.

Are you having trouble paying your mortgage? Nothing is worse than doing nothing. Call the Homeowner’s HOPE™ Free Hotline: