December 2010

Two Daytona Beach agencies were among 500 nationally to get part of $73 million in housing counseling grants. The counseling effort is targeted at helping people find homes or keep the homes they have, according to U.S. Housing and Urban [...]

(Source: By Will Jason, The Marin Independent Journal, Novato, Calif.) – When Reyna and Jose Gonzalez moved to Terra Linda six years ago, it was a welcome change from their former home in San Pablo. Their new three-bedroom, two-bathroom house [...]

(Source: Star Telegram) – Housing: Taxpayers who went through a foreclosure, short sale or loan modification on a primary residence do not have to pay federal income taxes on forgiven debt resulting from the transaction. For more details and limitations, [...]

(Source: By Greta Guest, Detroit Free Press) – State officials are hoping that a new Web site will help get money to more Michigan homeowners struggling in the housing crisis. Nearly a year after President Barack Obama announced the lifeline [...]

In the midst of the holiday season, no one wanted to be here. Yet hundreds of people — homeowners, tenants, landlords — mobbed the fifth floor of Boston Housing Court on a recent Thursday, shuffling into courtrooms on what is [...]

LA HABRA – Amer Haddadin, who is responsible for the loan payment on Nadya Suleman’s La Habra home, said Sunday that he has given the octuplets’ mom until Dec. 31 to pay $450,000 or face eviction from her home. On [...]

New Jersey Chief Justice Stuart Rabner is holding the feet of mortgage lenders to the fire: Prove your foreclosure process is done right or it will be suspended. It’s the only way to hold lenders accountable and protect homeowners from [...]

Bank of America’s refusal to participate in foreclosure prevention programs even though it accepted $25 billion in TARP (Troubled Asset Relief Program) money has plaintiffs in St. Louis, Connecticut, claiming that the beleaguered lender broke faith with the U.S. Treasury [...]

Imagine returning from a visit to grandma over the holiday weekend to find your house padlocked and your furniture and possessions cleaned out. Then imagine your shock at finding out, after you called 911, the perpetrator was not some low-life [...]

(Source: TampaBay.com) – Why the proliferation of short sales? “There’s just no equity in this market,” said Clarence Hasenbeck, a ReMax agent in St. Petersburg.

(Source: AZ Republic By Barry Davis, Apache Junction ) – Question: My daughter executed a “short sale” of her home in 2010. What are the tax ramifications?

(Source: By Paul Owers, Sun Sentinel, Fort Lauderdale, Fla.)- As South Florida’s housing crisis enters its sixth year, steep price declines have leveled off, helping to lift the gloom that once gripped the market. Still, experts envision more angst for [...]

TWO and a half years ago, Robert and Amy Ahleman, a construction contractor and a financial services employee, were mired in a mortgage nightmare. After missing just one loan payment on their modest, well-kept bungalow in Bensalem, Pa., the couple [...]

Hard times are generating a growing number of financial scams in which victims are tempted to invest money on the false promise of big returns, often from supposed caches of overseas money.

The housing market has remained at the center of the nation’s economic troubles throughout 2010. The housing market started the year flat on its back, and it’s ending the year in nearly the same condition.

(Source: Associated Press/AP Online )  NEW YORK – Rates on fixed mortgages dipped after rising for five weeks in a row. Freddie Mac says the average rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage slipped to 4.81 percent from 4.83 percent in [...]

(Source: By Robert Lewis, The Sacramento Bee, Calif.) – Home sales in Sacramento and statewide improved in November from the previous month, although a year-over-year comparison shows the sluggish housing market is persisting. That’s according to new figures the California [...]