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Click Picture for Map to Honolulu Office We will come to you if you are unable to come to the office for
any reason. We also travel to Kauai once a week for appointments.
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HAWAII REAL ESTATE AND ESTATE PLANNING
At Zahaby Law Offices we handle simple through
complex and sophisticated real estate, estate and business matters in Honolulu and on Kauai, Maui and the Big Island.
We are dedicated to being accessible, efficient, responsive, professional and always acting with caring and aloha. We
offer our services to start-up businesses, families and established developers, real estate brokerages and local business
institutions. REAL ESTATE: Acquisitions and Sales of Real Property, Real
Estate and Corporate Litigation Analysis, Arbitration and Expert Testimony, Brokerage Agreements, Condominium Development,
including formation of projects and obtaining Public Reports, Conveyancing, Development (Residential and Resort Communities,
primarily), Easements and Licenses, Encroachments and Party Walls, Escrow, Finance (Documentation, Commercial Real Estate
Loans), Land Use and Zoning, Leased Fee Conversions and, Sales Contracts, Leasing - commercial and office, Standard Form documents,Title
Matters. ESTATE PLANNING: Basic Tax Preparation, Living Trusts and Wills, Irrevocable Trusts,
Charitable Trusts, Special Needs Trusts, Medicaid Planning, Retirement Trusts, Self-Directed IRAs, Health Care Directives
and Final Wishes, Family Limited Partnerships, Limited Liability Companies, Business Succession Planning, Asset Protection,
Insurance Trusts, etc. BUSINESS
PLANNING: Creation and Maintenance of LLCs, C-Corporations & S-Corporations, Hawaii Registered Agent
Services, Asset Protection Planning, Compensation Planning, and Tax and Business Planning for Physicians, Business Owners,
Professionals, and Low/High Net Worth Individuals, Basic Tax Preparation. ADVERSARIAL PRACTICE & DISPUTE RESOLUTION: This firm strongly believes in a
collaborative law process for resolution of all disputes. We encourage mediation or Ho'oponopono and we no longer agree
with the judicial process for resolution of civil disputes. Civil litigation is not effective, is costly and may even
be physically harmful to the average civil litigant. We offer services as mediator, arbitrator or counselor pursuant
to a collaborative law agreement. All court filing inquiries other than uncontested divorce or stipulated settlements
will be referred to other law firms. 
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Thursday, March 25, 2010
Bank of America to reduce mortgage principal for some homeownersBank of America, the nation's largest mortgage lender, on Wednesday announced a program
to offer homeowners who owe significantly ... By Renae Merle The Washington Post Bank of America, the nation's largest mortgage lender,
on Wednesday announced a program to offer homeowners who owe significantly more than their homes are worth the opportunity
to have their loan balances reduced. The program, which starts in May, would potentially help about 45,000 homeowners
nationwide. In launching the effort, Bank of America is jumping into the debate about how to address the millions of homeowners
whose mortgages exceed the value of their homes and who have complicated industry and government efforts to prevent foreclosures. Lenders
have traditionally resisted reducing borrowers' loan balances, arguing that doing so would encourage homeowners to miss mortgage
payments to qualify. But as foreclosure-prevention efforts have struggled, the industry has started to relent. Bank of America
is hoping that by reducing principal balances it will give borrowers an incentive to keep up with their payments and potentially
create an industry model. The company "has found that many homeowners who owe considerably more on their mortgages
than their homes are worth are reluctant to accept a solution that addresses only the amount of the payment without an accompanying
reduction in the balance due on the loan," said Barbara Desoer, president of Bank of America Home Loans. The Bank
of America plan is limited in scope. Borrowers must have missed at least two mortgage payments and be severely underwater
to qualify, owing 20 percent more than their homes are worth. It is also limited to borrowers with certain types of risky
loans, including subprime mortgages or other loans with a two-year adjustable rate. Bank of America expects to forgive
about $3 billion in principal on loans as part of the program. The effort expands a settlement agreement that the bank made
with several state attorneys general in 2008 to modify thousands of mortgages and settles a Massachusetts investigation of
lending practices by Countrywide Financial, which Bank of America acquired in 2008. Treasury officials have said they
were considering proposals to address negative equity, but have not given a timeline for announcing a plan. Under the federal
foreclosure-relief program known as Making Home Affordable, borrowers can receive up to $5,000 to lower their loan balances
if they keep up their payments. But that amount would make only a small dent in the problem facing millions of homeowners,
housing advocates have said. Economists consider underwater borrowers among the most vulnerable to foreclosure, even
if they can afford their mortgages, and some industry officials worry that more of them will simply walk away from their mortgages,
or "strategically default," rather than spend a decade or more trying to regain positive equity. First American
CoreLogic has estimated that more than 11.3 million homeowners are underwater on their mortgages. During the third quarter
of 2009, 13 percent of loan modifications included a reduction in the borrower's principal, up from 10 percent during the
second quarter, according to a report by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. Wells Fargo, for example, says it
has increasingly used principal reductions for homeowners with "pay option arm" loans. The bank says it forgave
$2.6 billion in borrowers' principal balances for these types of mortgages last year.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
From Plunkett Clooney RE: Condos -- FHA ends most condominium project ’spot approvals,’ costlyDavid S. Keast Plunkett Cooney In response to the current residential housing loan debacle, lender beware, most condominium
mortgage lending have been dramatically altered, effective Feb. 1, when new Federal Housing Administration
(FHA)-insured mortgage loan requirements were implemented. Plunkett Cooney anticipates
additional changes to, or perhaps delays in the implementation of, these requirements in response to growing
housing industry consternation that implementation will further constrict the availability of mortgage financing to a significant component of the housing market. FHA-insured mortgages constitute
30 percent of all condominium financing. Unless a condominium project is a fully-detached “site”
condominium, in which case FHA has agreed that the new requirements will not apply, mortgage lenders will
no longer be able to obtain FHA “spot approval” of condominium projects based upon a certification by the condominium property manager or association officer. A “preapproval” of
the entire condominium project will now be required. FHA announced that “pre-approvals” are
valid for a two-year period and “re-approval” requirements have not been announced. The new FHA “pre-approval” requirements differ in important respects from those previously announced by the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie
Mae) and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie
Mac), but address the same issues and adopt many of the
same standards. Criminal penalties, including incarceration and
fines up to $1 million may now be imposed for the knowing submission of any false, fictitious or fraudulent statements in connection with a “pre-approval” application. FHA
(as had Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac) imposes separate requirements for “new projects” (generally,
those which are not both 100 percent complete and 90 percent conveyed), for which additional unit sale,
certificate of occupancy and association turnover requirements, and “existing projects” exist.
Common requirements include, but are not limited to: • Aggregate limitation upon FHA-insured mortgages
in any project: A maximum of 30 percent of
the project’s units may be secured by an FHA-insured mortgage (50
percent or 100 percent, if certain additional requirements are met in 2010); • Association
restrictions:(A) Assessments: Not more than 15
percent of total units aredelinquent in
assessment payment for more than 30 days.
(B) Insurance: Hazard – Replacement cost; Liability – minimum $1 million Fidelity (if 20 units or more) – minimum times the aggregate amounts of monthly assessments
plus reserve amounts Flood (if applicable) – minimum $250,000 Co-owner HO6 in
amount equal to 20 percent of appraised value (unless Association master policy “all-in” coverage,
including improvements and betterments) (C) Budget: Adequate
or meets minimum reserve funding requirements • Occupancy restrictions:
50 percent of units owner-occupied (vacant and real estate owned properties may be excluded from numerator and denominator). • Commercial limitation:
Non-residential uses in a mixed-use project restricted to 25 percent of the project area. • Legal compliance: The project representative
must certify that the “project was declared and exists in
full compliance with applicable state law requirements of the jurisdiction
in which the project is located and with all other applicable laws and regulations.” Issued
Nov. 6, 2009, The FHA’s new requirements are embodied in FHA Mortgagee Letters 2009-46 B (permanent
baseline guidance for condominium project eligibility) and 2009-46 A (temporary exceptions designed to
address current housing market conditions). Previously, Fannie Mae announced comparable
requirements in Announcement 08-34 and introduced its Project Eligibility Review Service (PERS), a fee-based
projectacceptance service for Fannie Mae sellers and servicers. This fee-based service requires lenders
to submit the complete project package to Fannie Mae by e-mail. The FHA and Fannie Mae “pre-approval”
processes are document-intensive and detailoriented. Although not required by the agencies, in view of
the potential criminal penalties, a lender seeking pre-approval should consider obtaining the assistance
of legal counsel.
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Lawyers
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