Archive for the ‘Foreclosure Homes’ Category

Portland foreclosure rescue scams are on the rise. Detective Liz Cruthers of Portland Police Bureau introduced fraud specialist Richard Hagar to the participants of a meeting held in East Portland.
In localities as well as across the nation mortgage fraud is making its presence felt, according to Hagar who is a renowned expert in the field. He explained that the crime is not just about individuals and family units but it is affecting the entire local economy. While introducing Hagar, Cruthers said that real estate agents are indulging in fraud and this is in turn is leading to more foreclosures and fueling the meltdown from the sub-prime. Hagar presented in clear terms the nefarious activities related to real estate deals. It included foreclosure rescue scams. Hagar bluntly said “People who run ‘foreclosure rescue’ operations are the lowest of the low.” They offer false help to those in dire straits and then push them overboard.
Hagar went on to explain the procedure. When a borrower falls behind in mortgage payments he is sniffed out by a so-called helpful friend who suddenly arrives on the scene with a basket full of promises to tide over the foreclosure crisis. Understandably the foreclosure victim is in a traumatized state and does not understand the consequences of being persuaded to sign a “Quit Claim Deed.” The sham rescuer then gives the house owner $5,000 and offers to let the victim continue to stay on as a tenant. He says that at a convenient time in the future the house will be sold back to him. In reality if they miss even a single month’s rent they are thrown out. The situation is grim. The scammer has the title deed.
Hagar cited the instance of a local widow who was mourning for her husband when foreclosure threatened her. She had fallen behind in her payments due to the tragedy. One of the vultures smelt the rot and honed in with rotten promises. He offered refinancing but never did it. He offered to sell the house on her behalf but never did it. He said he would himself see to the stopping of the foreclosure process but did not do it. What he did was to buy the house in the court auction for peanuts - $10,000, because of the “kindness of his heart.” His kind heart made him give the widow $5,000 for moving out. It took him only two months to sell the property for $300,000!

Search Foreclosure Listings

• Ohio Foreclosure Listings
• Cincinnati Foreclosure Listings
• Cleveland Foreclosure Listings
• Columbus Foreclosure Listings
• Portland Foreclosure Listings

Search Images

The foreclosure crisis worsens but the victims are fighting it and struggling to continue to stay in the houses that are their homes. The Government together with the mortgage industry is going all out to address the problem that has gone beyond the boundaries of the playing fields of the lenders and borrowers. All are adversely affected. Recently two initiatives have been taken that will help the foreclosure victims.

A plan was launched in Detroit by the HUD (Housing and Urban Development) meant for borrowers with loans that have been insured with FHA (Federal Housing Administration). It is meant for those who have bought a house for the first time. It will permit the lender to submit an insurance claim on the mortgage when it arrears, but before it starts to fail. HUD has the task of overseeing the work of FHA. It now transfers the mortgage to be serviced by another company. The borrower then comes into the picture and the loan is restructured to affordable levels.

Steven Preston of HUD said that the plan would serve a double purpose of helping the borrower as well as the neighbourhood. One foreclosure alone has the power to depress the entire locality by bringing down the value of the houses not in foreclosure. Buyers are attracted to the foreclosed houses as theseare sold at a heavy discount. Moreover empty houses attract crime and disease causing damage to the law and order of the area.

In New Jersey another kind of step is being taken with the lead being given by the Federal Home Loan Bank of New York. It lends money to about 300 local banks in places like New York, New Jersey, United States Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico for the purpose of financing mortgages. This programme is termed Housing Assistance and Recovery Programme (HARP). The Magyar Bank of New Brunswick (New Jersey) was lent $6 million. Magyar Bank works in tandem with the First Baptist Church of Lincoln Gardens in Somerset, New Jersey. The latter has a network of counseling services and locates the house owners who are at risk from foreclosures. Then negotiations start with the lender to pull off foreclosures in place of a viable affordable solution. The lender is asked to buy out the loan. Magyar bank pumps in 70% on the assumption that the lender will write off the remaining 30%.

Search Foreclosure Listings

• Georgia Foreclosure Listings
• North Carolina Foreclosure Listings
• New York Foreclosure Listings
• South Dakota Foreclosure Listings
• Texas Foreclosure Listings

Search Images

The foreclosure mess mires as $25 billion might be required to save Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. The Congress is putting its best foot forward to stabilize these two mortgage giants. The federal rescue efforts will ultimately come out of the pockets of the taxpayers. The lawmakers argue that by saving them, the foreclosure victims under threat from eviction will also be saved.

The costly rescue operations have not been inked as yet – it is just a point of worry at this juncture. Peter Orzag of the Budget Office of the Congress said in a written letter to the lawmakers that there are chances that the government will not have to intervene directly to prop up the duo by lending dollars or by buying up stock.

But the Congress has to vote early to allow the treasury authority to temporarily haul the duo on to a lifeboat. It will enable thousands of house owners cowering under the foreclosure cloud to refinance into more easy loans that will be backed by the government. It will halt evictions and put a hold on neighbourhoods being dotted with dangerous empty houses.

Against the wishes of President Bush the bill will pump in $4 billion in to those regions that have been worst hit by the foreclosure crisis. It is this that has made Bush threaten to veto the bill.

The Democrats are scenting blood in this election year when economic blues are uppermost in the minds of the voters. The leaders of the party are planning to include an independent measure that will increase the compulsory limit on the national debt grants from $800 billion to $10.6 trillion.

By setting up a new regulator, new restrictions will be imposed upon Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. These two own and or guarantee $5 trillion mortgages in USA –nearly half the total mortgages of the country.

An affordable housing fund will be created from the profits of the firm. It will cover losses incurred because of the foreclosure rescue plan. Henry Paulson, the treasury secretary has been anxious for the government to get temporary powers to offer huge sums to prop up Freddie and Fannie so as to calm the investors and thus bring about stability in the financial market. Rumours about their financial instability led to the falling of their stocks.

Search Foreclosure Listings

• California Foreclosure Listings
• Texas Foreclosure Listings
• Florida Foreclosure Listings
• Michigan Foreclosure Listings
• Arizona Foreclosure Listings

Search Images

Sub-primes are no longer the main reasons for foreclosures. Today the main culprit is the rapid decline in real estate prices.

The foreclosure epidemic of North County is rapidly spreading not because of sub-prime so much as because of many other factors that have led to a fall in the real estate market.

Oceanside and east Escondido were two of the worst affected regions. During the past three months the numbers have gone down. But foreclosures have marched into the adjacent areas of San Marcos and Carlsbad where the numbers are growing. Experts say that today the problem is not so much the risk factor as the decline in property prices that is triggering off foreclosures. It has become a vicious circle – price decline is leading to more foreclosures and more foreclosures are leading to further price decline. Sean O’Toole of ForeclosureRadar that tracks foreclosures commented’ “It’s like a toilet bowl effect.”

According to the findings of a study conducted by the Boston Federal Reserve, house owners who lost over 20% of the value of their houses are 14 times more susceptible to be cursed by foreclosure, than a typical borrower. In sharp contract sub-prime borrowers are six times more likely to succumb to foreclosures than prime borrowers.

According to ForeclosureRadar north Oceanside saw a drop in foreclosures during the last three months, but San Marcos foreclosures increased by 28% during the same three months. The problem is also growing in Vista and Carlsbad affecting the higher priced houses.

Ward Hanigan of Innovest, an investment firm of San Diego opines that this trend will continue till 2010. His company is biding its time for the foreclosure weather to change. The signal will be when banks will be selling properties in a wholesale manner with two or three being sold at one go. As yet that liquidation mind set has not begun, he commented.

New default numbers are declining. The default notice is the first step in the judicial process of foreclosure. In North County foreclosure proceedings have been finalized on 30% of the foreclosed units. Bank owned properties make up above 40% of the foreclosed units. It indicates that sub-prime lenders have been successfully been able to work out many loans satisfactorily without going into foreclosure. Another pointer to the domination of price being the main factor in foreclosures is the negative equity of the properties in question.

Search Foreclosure Listings

• California Foreclosure Listings
• Los Angeles Foreclosure Listings
• Pasadena Foreclosure Listings
• San Diego Foreclosure Listings
• San Francisco Foreclosure Listings

via

Search Images

In the Tri-Cities foreclosures are increasing and this is leading to a rise in the activities of rental agents. In 2007 there were 1,098 foreclosure postings in Saginaw marking a jump of 23%. In Bay County there were 403 evictions showing an increase of 9%. In Midland the tally of foreclosures was 207 – 6% more than the 2006.

The Landlord Association of Saginaw has taken note of the pressure on rental units. Butch Burden the president of the association said that this is but natural because “people have to have some place to live.”

The renters are becoming very choosy about the place where they want to stay. Most want to stay in the Midland on the west side of Saginaw and the suburban areas. Mike Haman of Haman Property Management says he has rental units in Saginaw Township, Vassar, Carrollton Township and Thomas Township. He comments that rental market has picked up and in the forthcoming years it will become more intense. Things are picking up but it will be about a year before the effects can be really gauged.

RealtyTrac reported that in Michigan there was an increase of foreclosures by 25% in comparison to May. This has made Michigan rank fifth in the national foreclosure race. In May it had ranked 9th. In Michigan the May foreclosure rate was 1:353.

RealtyTrac shows that across the country there were 261,255 foreclosure postings during May marking a 7% rise from April and a huge jump of 48% from May of the previous year. The national foreclosure rate is 1:483 in May – the highest monthly noting since RealtyTrac started collecting data from 2005. May was the third consecutive month that saw a month-by-month increase according to James Saccacio CEO of RealtyTrac. In May default notices increased by 1% and the auction sales were down by 3%. But during this month bank takeover of properties surged ahead marking double digit increases. It is more than double the numbers of May 2007. This calculated to a total number of 700,000 properties owned by the banks.

It also shows the number of families thrown out of their houses by foreclosures. They are rushing to seek rented accommodation. Many investors are finding it profitable to buy discount houses and convert it into rented units. But with so many houses crowding into the real estate market prices are tumbling. This is leading to apprehensions that prices might further fall.

Search Foreclosure Listings

• Michigan Foreclosure Listings
• Detroit Foreclosure Listings
• Eastepoint Foreclosure Listings
• Hamtramck Foreclosure Listings
• Jackson Foreclosure Listings

Search Images

The expectation in Inland California is that the Green Lien bill will help foreclosure blights. Foreclosures are leading to a chain of abandoned properties that have been repossessed by the banks.

The Elsinore Valley Municipal Water District has proposed a programme that is known as “Green Lien”. It is hoped that this will go a long way in solving this particular foreclosure related problem. The lenders or the owners of the vacant houses will have to accept a tax lien on the houses to keep water meters running. Property owners will then be able to continue with the watering of the gardens and lawns until the houses are sold.

However the lien would be of a voluntary nature. The cost incurred by the district would be recovered before the house changes hands. The proposal will be discussed at the next meeting. The water officials of the region opine that the plan is the first one of its kind. Greg Morrison speaking on behalf of Elsinore Valley said, “We understand the impact of the foreclosure crisis.” That is why the city together with the water district and the lenders are trying to solve the problem in this unique way.

Other ways of addressing the problem of empty foreclosed houses are being mulled over by different area agencies. Ordinances are in force in Lake Elsinor, Temecula and Murrieta that make it compulsory for lenders to register the empty properties they have repossessed.

Lake Elsinore authorities are also thinking of using water trucks to wet the brown gardens within the limits of the city. The plan is that Elsinore Valley will supply recycled water to the city.

The steps being thought of couldn’t have been at a more appropriate time. Over 1,000 properties in the district are in foreclosure according to RealtyTrac. Hundreds are lying vacant with the typical symptoms of an abandoned unit – dying dry lawns. A cluster of these barren lawns could easily bring down the price of adjacent houses. Vacant properties are magnets for crime and disease making it difficult for houses to be sold in the real estate market. The locality gets a bad name. Gene Wunderlich of Southwest Riverside County Association of Realtors say that the dry parched lawns seem to say, “Nobody’s here, do what you want!” Wunderlich feels that although nobody has heard of the Green Lien before it has the potential to interest realtors and neighbours.

Search Foreclosure Listings

• California Foreclosure Listings
• Bakersfield Foreclosure Listings
• San Bernardino Foreclosure Listings
• San Diego Foreclosure Listings
• Los Angeles Foreclosure Listings

Search Images

The volcanic island of Hawaii is in the Pacific Ocean and is the largest island in USA. Its administration is under the control of County of Hawaii having its county seat in Hilo.
In the national foreclosure race Hawaii ranks 45th. Hawaii foreclosures are comparatively less than the other states. In Nevada, California, Arizona, Florida and Michigan the increase was by approximately 85%, 77%, 127%, 92% and 19% respectively. The foreclosure ratio in Hawaii was 1:3,732 as against 1:122 in Nevada, 1:192 in California, 1:201 in Arizona and 1:375 in Michigan. Nevertheless the number of local foreclosures jumped by 19% in June (year-over-year). June this year saw a fall by 17% in foreclosures as compared to May. This improved its ranking from 42 in May to 45 in June. In June of 2007 Hawaii had ranked 40th.
Foreclosures in Hawaii are relatively on a low key because of the limitations of land area. This puts an automatic check on the real estate market falling out of control. Thus there is no doubt that the foreclosure weather is much better here in Hawaii than elsewhere, said spokesperson Daren Blomquist.
In June 134 foreclosure postings were posted calculating to a foreclosure rate of 1:3,732. There were 12 NOD or notices of default, 103 trustee sales notices and the banks repossessed 19 houses.
In the nation altogether there were 252,363 foreclosures in June counting to a foreclosure rate of 1:501. By foreclosure is meant all the stages of the judicial process of foreclosure including default and auction notice as well as repossession by the bank. There was a 3.4% fall from May but an increase of 53% from June of the previous year. The highest foreclosure offenders continue to be Nevada, California and Arizona. Nevada recorded 8,713 foreclosure filings showing an 85% increase from June 2007. It measured to a foreclosure rate of 1:122 – this being four times greater than the national median.
Foreclosures have shown a tendency to increase in Hawaii from 2005 and 2006. During this time there were less than 100 postings per month. But since 2007 it has gone up to more than 100 each month. In April Hawaii came to rank 36th in the national foreclosure rankings marking a 218% spike from the previous year. Blomquist commented that since the last few years foreclosures have been slowly but steadily picking up speed. But still it is not a major threat to the real estate market.

Search Foreclosure Listings

• Hawaii Foreclosure Listings
• Captain Cook Foreclosure Listings
• Haiku Foreclosure Listings
• Hakalau Foreclosure Listings
• Hawi Foreclosure Listings

Search Images

Michigan has been especially badly battered by foreclosures, according to Mortgage Bankers Association. Across the country about 2 million houses were in foreclosure during the first three months of the current year, 2008. Foreclosure of houses increased from 42% to 54% nationally. Michigan has been one of the worst hit pockets. In January there were 11,554 foreclosures in Michigan. It calculated to a foreclosure rate of 1:366 in the whole state.

Dennis Nabors based in Keller Williams is a realtor having 25 years of experience. He comments that one of the main reasons for this foreclosure crisis is that many bought houses without making any down payment or “place no equity in the property”. Soon after followed the economic slump in Michigan. This caused many to lose either one or both their houses. With the houses having no equity they could not approach the banks for loan refinancing and modification to tide over the crisis. Foreclosures became inevitable.

The month of January saw Wayne County reporting a foreclosure rate of 1:124. In the Detroit region more than half the houses listed in the real estate market are coming from the foreclosure zone. The affluent localities of Macomb and Oakland too have not been spared. Here the foreclosure numbers increased by 108% in Macomb and 338% in Oakland. The market is far from hot. It is a buyer’s paradise. This is the opportune time to purchase and move into a better home in an upgraded locality. Recently one family bought a house to move into an area having better schools. Till now they did not have the chance to move into a house bigger than the one they were occupying. But the opportunity came with the seller paying all the closing costs. Finally they found themselves with a house loan with an interest of 5.75%. They sold their previous house for $210,00 and bought the new one for $212,000. The happy owners let out the word that this is the time for renters to move into houses of their own.

Nabors keenly watches the statistics. His reading is that the end is nowhere near in sight. Only when the foreclosure numbers show sign of decline can it be said with confidence that the market is turning. But there are no signs of it as yet. More foreclosed houses rushing into the real estate means supply continues to outpace demand. In fact it keeps on increasing leading to disastrous consequences for the seller.

Search Foreclosure Listings

• Texas Foreclosure Listings
• Dallas Foreclosure Listings
• Fort Worth Foreclosure Listings
• Desoto Foreclosure Listings
• Garland Foreclosure Listings

Search Images