February 2010

Real estate prices have dropped about 30 percent since their peak in 2006. As a result, something like ten million American homeowners owe the bank more than their houses are now worth. More than half of them are stuck with [...]

Randall Guerra, a veteran of the housing industry, was executive director of the Community Housing Council in Fresno, which uses the federal Making Home Affordable program to try to help struggling homeowners avoid foreclosure. But “Making Home Affordable is not [...]

“People like me are beginning to feel like suckers,” Mr. Koellmann said. “Why not let it go in default and rent a better place for less?” After three years of plunging real estate values, after the bailouts of the bankers [...]

Cordray Sues two California Rescue Operations for Scamming Ohioans Facing Foreclosure – 2/3/2010 (COLUMBUS, Ohio) – Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray this week named United Law Group, Inc. (ULG), a California law firm founded by California attorney Sean Alan Rutledge, [...]

Former homeowners may still be on the hook if there’s a difference between what they owed on their mortgage and what the bank could sell it for at auction. And these “deficiency judgments” are ticking time bombs that can explode [...]

If you thought all the bank bailouts were over, take a look at what is happening with lenders’ holdings of junior, or “second-lien,” mortgages. These loans stand behind the first mortgage and, in theory, should take a loss before first [...]

The CEO of another Orange County, California loan modification firm in Irvine pleaded not guilty last week to defrauding 165 homeowners out of thousands of dollars.  He is currently facing 113 years in prison if he is convicted on all the current pending charges.

Master Builders for Christ and Vision Builders Christian Center, along with three of its principals, have been charged in a 21-count indictment in Delaware, on charges of running a massive mortgage rescue scam. Warrants have been issued for the arrest [...]

Housing advocates warn homeowners to beware of groups guaranteeing reductions in their mortgage payments through loan modifications. No one, including non-profit housing counselors, can promise a mortgage modification. The legislation would allow Arizona prosecutors to charge foreclosure consultants “who engage [...]

The Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services reported Tuesday it has issued a cease-and-desist order and assessed $250,000 in fines against Anthony “Tony” Schwartz and two businesses he controlled for selling interests in foreclosed homes he seized in a [...]

Starting today home “Flippers” are now welcome at the FHA. That’s right, with a glut of foreclosures plaguing the nation’s neighborhoods, the FHA is temporarily removing restrictions on investors who buy and sell homes within 90 days.

“What happened to all that money?” we asked. “It was put into operations, it’s actually a pretty lengthy and expensive process to do these loan modifications,” Jordan said.

The housing report card is ugly. In the past two years, the housing market has lost an estimated $4.9 trillion dollars, as 59 million homes have declined in value. Nearly 1 in 4 homeowners — 10.7 million households nationwide — [...]

Day points to two changes that need to be made to the program in order to see greater success: It must be mandatory for lenders rather than voluntary, and it must attack the principal of the loans rather than just [...]

RIVERSIDE – The former president of Mortgage One Corporation in Hesperia was sentenced Monday to 13 years in federal prison for defrauding the Department of Housing and Urban Development and private lenders. John Varner, 56, fraudulently obtained hundreds of federally [...]

Homeowners who are behind on their home loans and who want to avoid foreclosure can get free help with loan modifications at one of the Freddie Mac homeowner help centers located across the nation. Freddie Mac has partnered with nonprofits [...]

Unfortunately, Davis says unemployment alone *may not* be enough because loan modification is temporary. The homeowner must be able to afford the original payment when the modification ends. “if they have no income at all, they lost their job entirely, [...]

Gov. Martin O’Malley wants to make mediation a part of the foreclosure process in Maryland, offering it as one way to head off more avoidable trips to the auction block. Mediation has popped up in other states, but not in [...]

ATTORNEY GENERAL ANNOUNCES GUILTY PLEA IN FORECLOSURE RESCUE SCAM OPERATED FROM THE PHILIPPINES Las Vegas, NV— Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto announced today that defendant Michael Sinclair has pled guilty to one (1) Category B felony count of Mortgage [...]

California is cracking down on licensed brokers involved in alleged foreclosure modification scams. To date, the California Department of Real Estate reports over 775 licensees had their license revoked or simply surrendered their licenses while facing accusations. The downturn in [...]

Borrowers who feel that they have been unfairly denied a modification or received an improper one under the Home Affordable Modification Program can call the Homeowner’s Hope hotline, 1-888-995-HOPE (4673). Ask for “MHA Help” for assistance. For FAQs and forms, [...]

Already weary from a year spent fighting to stay in her home of more than two decades, Garcia was terrified at the thought of being kicked out. “When I got the notice this morning, I just felt like I hit [...]