POINT OF SALE STALLS

Sadly yet again an important bill to stimulate commerce in our state has stalled. Below I have posted an update from Cashion Drolet, VP of Goverment Affiars for the South Carolina Realtor organization.

Unfortunately, the Senate did not debate or vote on H.3272 prior to adjourning Thursday evening. They never got to it because of a filibuster on an unrelated bill that was one slot ahead of H.3272 on the Special Order calendar. This means that it will be January until the Senate can address point of sale assessment.

However, I beg you not to get discouraged. We must stay focused and united on this issue. The good news is that we retain our place on the Senate calendar, and will not have to start over from the beginning when the General Assembly convenes the 2010 legislative session.

Between now and then, SC REALTORS® will be working on the six Senators who have objections to H.3272. Senators Yancey McGill, Kent Williams, John Matthews, Phil Leventis, Brad Hutto, and Floyd Nicholson retain their objections to H.3272 on the Senate calendar going in to January. The biggest opponents to addressing point of sale remain county and municipal government. They worked very hard against us and will continue to do so. Therefore, we will also commence a statewide point of sale campaign to put the necessary pressure on Senators that this issue cannot be ignored, and SC REALTORS® will not relent!

The bill we support, H.3272, caps point of sale reassessment at 15% and uses that value as the baseline for the next countywide reassessment cycle. The legislation is sunset to five years and applies to transactions from January 1, 2009 forward.

Also I have posted what SCBIZ had to say on the issue in its Friday, May 22 report:

Point-of-sale reassessment bill stymied for this year

Friday, 22 May 2009
By Mike Fitts

mfitts@scbiznews.com

COLUMBIA -- A change to point-of-sale reassessment of real estate has apparently stalled for the year in the Legislature.

S.C. Realtors Association CEO Nick Kremydas said the bill, which has passed the House, got caught up in the Senate’s fights over unrelated matters and opposition, especially from Senate Democrats.

Kremydas said leadership in both parties has committed to debate the bill early next year, but he fears that South Carolina’s commercial real estate market will take a pounding in the coming months. “This legislation could have helped buffer that fall,” he said.

The bill would put off reassessments until the county’s regular five-year cycle. Real estate experts have complained that the immediate reassessments to sale price have brought a huge jolt, because the actual price has often been far higher than the most recent assessment on the books. Top executives in the real estate industry have complained that the changes created huge inequities and disincentives to buy.

Kremydas called the delay “very disappointing” for Realtors, who rallied at the Statehouse earlier this week to show support for the measure.

Advocates for local governments have opposed the bill. The Municipal Association of South Carolina argues that the measure hurts local tax revenues by artificially capping at 15% the amount that a home’s assessed value can increase, no matter the new sale price, and by shifting more of the cost of government onto owners of property that appreciates more slowly.

The 15% cap was put in place to protect current homeowners, not buyers, the association said in a statement.
Kremydas and municipal association deputy executive director Reba Campbell both said, however, that the layoff could provide time for differing sides on the issue to work out a compromise that would satisfy local government and real estate business concerns.

If you have questions on who you can contact at the state lever to ensure they are aware property tax reform is important to all property owners in South Carolina please do not hesitate to Owen at 843.224.5398 or e-mail him directly at Owen@OwenTyler.com. And should you have questions about real estate Owen is always available to help.

Obama administration to expand housing plan

By ALAN ZIBEL, AP Real Estate Writer Alan Zibel, Ap Real Estate Writer – Thu May 14, 6:33 am ET

WASHINGTON – The Obama administration is expected to expand its mortgage aid program on Thursday, announcing new measures that would help homeowners avoid a blemished credit record even if they don't qualify for other assistance.

The new initiatives are expected to include ways to allow borrowers to avoid foreclosure by selling their properties or giving them back to lenders, according to people briefed on the plan who declined to be identified because it has yet to be announced.

One way would be to encourage a "short sale," in which the home is sold for less than the amount owed on the mortgage but the lender considers the debt paid off. Another option is a deed-in-lieu of foreclosure — in which the borrower gives the property to the lender to satisfy a delinquent loan and to avoid foreclosure proceedings.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan are scheduled to appear Thursday morning with some borrowers who have benefited from the government's housing aid program launched in March. An administration official said more than 55,000 offers have been made to modify borrowers' loans in its first two months.

Short sales are often seen as preferable to foreclosure because they don't harm a borrowers' credit record as much as a foreclosure, but real estate agents have complained that the process can drag out for months.

"The problem is it's never clear who in a bank has the authority to approve a short sale," said Howard Glaser, a mortgage industry consultant in Washington and a former HUD official. Federal standards "would speed the process for buyers and sellers by making it more efficient."

The administration estimated earlier this year that as many as 9 million borrowers will be helped through its "Making Home Affordable" initiative, including up to 5 million borrowers who are refinancing loans and 4 million who are modifying mortgages at lower monthly payments.

So far, 14 companies representing about three quarters of the mortgage market have signed up and are in line to pocket a portion of $50 billion in incentives to lower borrowers' monthly payments so they can stay in their homes.

"We are confident that banks and servicers will move as quickly as possible to modify these loans to avert additional foreclosures in the coming months," Donovan said earlier this week.

Meanwhile, the pace of the foreclosure crisis continues to accelerate.

The number of U.S. households faced with losing their homes to foreclosure jumped 32 percent in April compared with the same month last year, with Nevada, Florida and California showing the highest rates, foreclosure listing service RealtyTrac Inc. said Wednesday.

More than 342,000 households received at least one foreclosure-related notice in April. That means one in every 374 U.S. housing units received a foreclosure filing last month, the highest monthly rate since Irvine, Calif.-based RealtyTrac began its report in January 2005.

April was the second straight month that more than 300,000 households received a foreclosure filing, as the number of borrowers with mortgage troubles failed to abate.

The April number, however, was less than 1 percent above that posted in March, when more than 340,000 properties were affected.

If you have questions about the real estate market in the greater Charleston, South Carolina area and specific questions about short sales and foreclosures, please feel free to call Owen at 843.224.5398 or e-mail him directly Owen@OwenTyler.com.

RESIDENTIAL REAL ESTATE MARKET CONTINUES TO STABALIZE

If you have questions about the value of your property or are considering making a move to or from the greater Charleston, South Carolina area please feel free to call Owen at 843.224.5398 or e-mail him directly at Owen@OwenTyler.com

FANNIE MAE FREEZES FORECLOSURES

Thursday, 07 May 2009

By Ashley Fletcher Frampton
aframpton@scbiznews.com

Mortgage-backer Fannie Mae said it singled out South Carolina for an unusual court-ordered freeze on home foreclosure sales because the state gives local judges the authority to dismiss delayed cases, which other states do not.

Fannie Mae isn’t seeking a similar temporary freeze in other states, said Brian Faith, spokesman for the mortgage company.

“In South Carolina, judges have the discretion to cancel an ongoing foreclosure process if there is a significant delay between the foreclosure judgment date and the actual foreclosure sale,” Faith said in a statement.

If masters-in-equity — the special county judges that usually handle foreclosures in South Carolina — were to dismiss delayed cases, “the process begins anew, which leads to higher costs and losses,” Faith said.

“The court ruling effectively addresses this situation,” he said.

Fannie Mae suspended its foreclosure proceedings in late 2008 and during the first of quarter of 2009 while it reviewed cases for potential workout strategies, Faith said. In some cases, that created significant delays.

At Fannie Mae’s request, the S.C. Supreme Court issued a temporary restraining order late Monday afternoon on foreclosure sales for some homes. It targets properties that could be eligible for a mortgage modification program that President Barack Obama’s administration is rolling out. The program offers more affordable mortgage payments to homeowners whose loans are backed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac and who meet certain other criteria.

Fannie Mae did not want homeowners potentially eligible for the program to lose their homes in foreclosure before they had a chance to participate. The mortgage company estimates that more than 1,000 homes in South Carolina were headed to foreclosure sales this week. It filed the petition for a temporary restraining order on Friday.

Obama announced the Home Affordable Modification Program in February, but details were not outlined until April 6.

Masters-in-equity say they are still sorting through the implications of the S.C. Supreme Court order, which requires lenders seeking foreclosure to submit affidavits by May 15 stating whether loans in default are eligible for the modification program.

Homes not eligible will continue in the foreclosure process, according to the restraining order.

Published May 7, 2009

If you have questions regarding the real estate market in the greater Charleston, South Carolina area please do not hesitate to call or e-mail Owen at 843.224.5398 or Owen@OwenTyler.com