Many homeowners have experienced difficulties and frustration getting through to their loan servicer when trying to obtain a loan modification.  To help alleviate some of the stress associated with this task, the National Consumer Law Center in Boston is offering the following tips:

• Consumers should keep detailed written records of every contact they have with their servicer, including logs of phone calls and copies of written correspondence.
• If the servicer makes a promise, such as crediting a payment, modifying the loan, or stopping a foreclosure sale, for example, the homeowner must get it in writing.
• When seeking a loan modification, consumers should send a request in writing asking the servicer who owns the mortgage loan.  Some banks and investors have policies on which loans they will modify.
• Consumers should beware of servicers advising them to stop making payments because they have applied for a loan modification.  Instead, homeowners should continue making payments for as long as possible, even if they cannot make the payment in full.  Otherwise, the loan will accrue more interest, and will cost more in the long run.
• Borrowers who feel they cannot resolve their problem or those who think their servicer may be violating their rights are advised to contact a non-profit housing counselor or seek legal help. Housing counselors can help negotiate a loan modification for free.
• Consumers can visit the Treasury’s homeowners Web site www.makinghomeaffordable.gov to find out if they qualify for a loan modification under the Obama administration’s program Making Home Affordable.

On average, inventories of California homes priced less than $300,000—the most-popular price point for foreclosure buyers—have shrunk from a nearly 10-month supply a year ago, to less than a three and a half-month supply in July, according to the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (C.A.R.) Because inventory levels of homes priced in the lower end of the market are low, some buyers are finding that sellers are not willing to negotiate on the price. In many instances, sellers expect the first offer to be the best and highest possible for the buyer.  Instead of holding onto REOs for the best prices—and paying the property taxes and maintenance –many banks are selling the homes as quickly as possible, according to Foreclosure.com.  Despite efforts by lenders and the government to prevent foreclosures, many economists and housing analysts predict there will be another wave of forecloosures by year’s end, and many of those properties will be offered for sale.  According to the U.S. Comptroller of the Currency, 53 percent of loans that were modified in the first half of 2008 fell back into arrears.

The California Department of Real Estate (DRE) has deployed its new Electronic Examination System in the Oakland District Office, enabling examinees to take the real estate salesperson and broker examinations using an electronic method.  The system allows for examination results to be provided as soon as applicants complete their examination.  In addition, qualified candidates who pass their examination can be issued a temporary license which allows them to commence conducting licensed activities immediately.  The electronic examination system will be deployed at all DRE District Offices on a phased schedule.  Current plans call for the system to be deployed in the Fresno District Office next.

The Obama Administration recently released its first monthly Servicer Performance Report detailing the progress to date of the Making Home Affordable (MHA) loan modification program.  The purpose of the report is to document the number of struggling homeowners already helped under the program, provide information on servicer performance, and expand transparency around the initiative.  More than 400,000 modification offers have been extended and more than 230,000 trial modifications have begun, according to the report.  At the current pace, the program is on track to offer assistance to up to 3 to 4 million homeowners over the next three years.  The report also shows that although servicers covering more than 85 percent of loans in the country are already modifying loans under the program, servicer performance has been uneven.  The Administration has asked servicers to ramp up implementation to a cumulative 500,000 trial modifications started by November 1, 2009.  This would more than double in three months the number of trial modifications started in the first five months of the program.

California’s popularity as a destination for immigrants has declined significantly, according to a study recently released by the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC).  In a shift that began in the late 1990s and has accelerated this decade, new arrivals to the U.S. have increasingly chosen to live in states with little history of immigration.  California’s immigrant population is still the largest in the nation and continues to increase, but that growth has slowed.  The percentage of immigrants choosing to live in the state declined by seven points between 1990 and 2007, from 33 percent of the nation’s immigrants in 1990 to 26 percent in 2007, according to the U.S. Census data analyzed in the study.  This trend is mirrored within the state, with immigrants increasingly likely to settle outside traditional immigrant enclaves.  Although Los Angeles is home to far more immigrants than any other county in California, its immigrant population grew by just 1.8 percent per year between 1990 and 2007, compared with 11.9 percent growth per year in Riverside County and 9.9 percent in Kern County.