While there are far fewer distressed properties in the Lake Tahoe, Truckee and Tahoe Donner areas than in other areas, we see it important for the saleability of distressed properties to be occupied.  The Fed  and some lenders are recognizing this fact and have come up with some inovative ideas.  

    With lower property values leaving nearly a quarter of borrowers owing more on their mortgage than the home is worth, some may find it tempting to walk away even if they're financially able to keep making payments. This idea of "strategic default" has become a universal concern within the industry, but one New Jersey company says it has a plan to counter such calculated flights of exodus.  

                     
     According to the Loan Value Group LLC (LVG), it's time to pay current borrowers to stay that way. The company introduced a new program this week that helps lenders and servicers identify borrowers at risk of walking away and implement an incentive program in which the homeowner receives a monetary "reward" if they remain current on their payments without changing the terms of the original mortgage note or reducing principal.
 
    The Responsible Homeowner Reward (RH Reward) program was developed on a foundation of behavioral economics and employs patent-pending technology developed by LVG. The firm evaluates each individual borrower's propensity to strategically default (as distinct from the risk of affordability default) based on a dozen criteria, including negative equity, income, and geography, and then determines the optimal size of each "reward."
 
     This financial compensation is awarded to the homeowner when the terms of the loan are satisfied and the mortgage is paid, although the reward can be applied to pay off the mortgage if the property is sold. If the borrower subsequently defaults after enrolling in the program, the reward is never paid, costing the loan owner nothing, LVG explained.

THINGS GO WRONG daily in real estate transactions.  The Schaller’s specialize in fixing those nasty little critters.  57 collective years selling Tahoe Donner homes. truckeehomefinder.com