November 2009

“If the government did not provide these bailouts or guarantees, then the market itself would ensure such organizations did not grow beyond their ability to attract capital,” he said. “It is only when fear is overcome by government guarantees that [...]

Nearly half of all owners of single-family homes in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale metropolitan area were underwater at the end of the third quarter, meaning their homes were valued at less than the mortgages owed against them. Forty-six percent of South [...]

November 9, 2009 (CHICAGO) (WLS) — Foreclosure is an emotional and financial shock. Once the shock wears off life does go on. It is possible to recover from foreclosure. A DuPage County split level has been home for the McCarthys [...]

NEW YORK — Four New York City homeowners have filed a lawsuit charging they were denied access to a federal home-refinancing program. The plaintiffs are homeowners in Brooklyn and Queens who have mortgages serviced by Aurora Loan Services. They are [...]

It usually goes like this: At a dinner or party or funeral (seriously), someone learns that I’m in real estate and walks over to chew the fat about the market. They go on and on about “all those ‘slime bag’ [...]

Housing analysts say they have to raise their forecasts on mortgage delinquencies and foreclosures as unemployment creeps up. Despite a rising number of home sales and other positive data, the broad housing market won’t really recover until employment picks up. [...]

The federal Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act, which was adopted in May, “was a complete game changer for renters,” Marx said. Before this, a foreclosure discontinued the lease and tenants lost the right to stay in their homes. Marx said [...]

Jason Rodriguez, accused of killing one and injuring five, ‘is a compilation of the front page of the entire year — unemployment, foreclosure, bankruptcy, divorce,’ his lawyer says. When people loose everything, sometimes they loose their minds and will do [...]

But a St. Petersburg Times analysis of thousands of foreclosures in Hillsborough County, which has one of the highest default rates in Florida, shows individual homeowners are getting too much of the blame. The truth is that real estate speculators [...]

“The mediation insures a stopgap measure,” Castrataro said. “It insures that the bank will have to listen.” Castrataro said he’s seen mediation assist clients in obtaining loan modifications, reductions in their principal owed and, in cases where foreclosure cannot be [...]

Given losses like these, White said he was “perplexed that lenders and their representatives were resisting reducing principal when they modify loans.” His data shows how rare it is for lenders to reduce principal. The foreclosure paradox: Foreclosures breed foreclosures. [...]

WASHINGTON, DC — Fannie Mae (FNM/NYSE) is implementing the Deed for Lease™ Program under which qualifying homeowners facing foreclosure will be able to remain in their homes by signing a lease in connection with the voluntary transfer of the property [...]

Submitted by a Homeowner Via Email to Me: I will take further action as necessary to keep my home. If they want my home they will get it over my dead body. Dear Mr. Marks and Mr. Bedard, Please feel [...]

Submitted by a Ripped Off Homeowner Dear Moe, My advice to all who read this would be to beware of anyone claiming that they can do better then you at negotiating with your lender. I paid $3,000 to “Help Modify [...]

American cities are on the verge of a rat invasion, warns small-mammal biologist and self-described “rat pack” member Dale Kaukeinen (in college “all the good animals were taken,” he says) in a new study. And redemption, it turns out, is [...]

Detroit — Tens of thousands of Wayne County foreclosures — and potentially hundreds of thousands across the state — are unlawful because sheriffs did not follow state law when they conducted foreclosure auctions, an attorney said Wednesday. On Tuesday, Bloomfield [...]

A majority on the high court’s Task Force on Residential Mortgage Foreclosures recommended trying mediation on owner-occupied homes before cases go to court, with lenders picking up the tab. Borrowers would be contacted by phone and mail and asked to [...]

Home equity lenders faced with losses from the U.S. property slump are holding out for more money in distressed sales, slowing transactions needed to support a recovery, real estate agents and analysts say. These secondary lenders are gaining power in [...]

“These people were taking advantage of people at the end of their ropes,” said Davi, speaking at the O.C. Coastal Chapter of the Women’s Council of Realtors. “And they are so prevalent.” Many scam artists see the issuance of a [...]

Financially stressed homeowners can get help at a free foreclosure prevention workshop from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at the Dallas Convention Center, 650 S. Griffin St. The workshop is being held by the Hope Now Alliance, the Obama [...]

Despite federal loan modification programs to help struggling homeowners, many lenders are refusing to play ball and are proceeding with foreclosures. But some of those same lenders are quietly paying people to move out and find another place to live. [...]

Realty Trac is Accused of Bait and Switch With Monthly Foreclosure Service Maria Casanova, an assistant professor of economics at UCLA, toyed with the idea earlier this year of buying a foreclosed property near the Westwood campus. She signed up [...]

This isn’t Wells Fargo, this is Hells Fargo!   NEW YORK (Dow Jones)–Wells Fargo & Co.’s (WFC) strategy for modifying its billions in troubled Pick-A-Pay mortgages looks a lot like a game of kick-the-can-down-the-road.