Foreclosure Listings Articles

Foreclosure Recap – Week #46

Kevin Simpson — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:51:00 +0000

It seems that once again the large real estate ventures are getting into trouble and are facing the foreclosure gavel. The Twin Lakes Mall in Wichita Kansas is in dire straits and is in the process of being foreclosed on by the bank. However it looks like it should remain business as usual for the tenants of the mall and the stores should remain open and unaffected by the change. It seems that the owners are in arrears to the tune of $8.6 million dollars in back payments and interests and other fees. What seems odd is that for the most part the rough spots looked like they were over and there appears to be little in the way of explanation as to why the foreclosure happened.

Not that this will come as a surprise and not that it is something that you want to hear, but this article, which is very well written I might add, tells us about a very long and tedious recovery from the current crisis that we are in. The combination of the loss in financial wealth to the people in the country and the meteoric rise in unemployment to levels unprecedented in modern times or recorded history for both the United States of America and Great Britain are going to make the ultimate recovery slow and quite painful for both countries. The story is written from a Jamaican point of view and offers some rather interesting views from that of an outsider looking in.

With the holidays nearly upon us, much of the country is concentrating on having a festive Thanksgiving and readying for the coming celebration of Christmas. But people often forget to think that at this time of year, especially in the crisis situation that we are in, there are many families that won’t have any holiday. While most of the country suffers and you might even be one of those suffering this year. There are still plenty of people in worse shape than even you are. This story goes into some more details about how people are doing what they can to help donate food and other items this year for the people that are in dire financial straits. Many families can’t afford the basic food needs this year much less the extras that are typically associated with a holiday season. If you read this story and are untouched by the content, perhaps you should check your pulse and make sure that you are still alive.

This item comes from the Wisconsin Law Journal. It is about an attorney who has noticed a sharp decline in cases. As one might expect, if there are less cases then there is less revenue coming into the lawyers business so cash flow changes fairly substantially. What this attorney has done is to modify his practice form handling primarily civil suits to those that are more in line with the current state of the world and dealing with foreclosures and landlord – tenant issues. It is merely a case of having to adapt to make the business fit the needs of the recession and to stay viable in the mix of things. The story tells how he and other attorneys who are sole partners in their practices have had to go into areas outside of their traditional comfort zones in order to generate income to stay solvent.

This article is one that most of us need to read. It asks questions about repossession of a second home and just how safe is the money that you might have in the bank after a foreclosure. There are a lot of variables to take into account but there is some very good food for thought in this article. It certainly is a situation that a lot of people are in having to let a rental property fall into foreclosure to save the main residence they are living in but the questions that it raises are some that are of universal importance to every homeowner who is either in foreclosure or in a situation where they could fall into foreclosure. It is a must read and it will give peace of mid to some and reason to think of new avenues for other. But it is something you should see.

This story is a little ray of sunshine this week from the city of Chicago. It shows the positive aspects behind the restructuring loans program offered by president Obama. One person who is discussed in the story say his mortgage payment go from $1,800 down to $800 a month under the “Making Homes Affordable” loan Modification Plan. The article goes over several options ranging from the mortgage restructuring to foreclosure and then renting in lieu of actual home ownership and the pros and cons of both of those scenarios. The article also lists ways to help you spot a possible fraud trying to help you in these trying times.

The folks at PR web tell us about thee unveiling a new website that is going to offer folks free help, information and advice on the subject of foreclosures. This information will be available to people whom are web surfing at no charge so you can go there and become enlightened about the issues and get information that could make it easier to salvage a foreclosed property and not have to shell out your hard earned cash for that information. A lot of what is there is fairly basic but it is going to consolidate all of the needed things into one easy to locate area on the web so you aren’t running all around trying to find scattered data. It will give detailed instructions on any of the guidelines that are out there so you can review all of the options at a glance and then dig into the semantics of the offer without going anywhere else, which will be a time saver and as a result, will be a help of its own.

Scammers are beginning to get some of what is coming to them. This article from the Pennsylvania area of the country where one scammer got convicted of theft by deception for promising to work with a persons’ mortgage company to resolve the issues that were going to cause foreclosure. The woman then took the money and ran and did nothing other than a few preliminary phone calls to the other parties lending institution. As a result of the investigation from the complaint that was field the woman got arrested and convicted of Theft by Deception. What makes it worse is that she had been convicted twice before on similar charges several years ago.

Looking Foreclosures?
ForeclosureListings.com has a comprehensive, searchable database of foreclosures in California, Florida, Texas, Michigan and all US States. Try to search foreclosures by state today! Foreclosure Recap – Week #46

Investors, Lenders and Politicians all had a Hand in Creating the Foreclosure Crisis

Julie Parker — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 13:39:24 +0000

At the core of the Great Recession is the foreclosure crisis. The usual line of thinking is to blame the banks for giving the nod to risky loans and for the borrowers who overreached themselves and started living in houses they could ill afford from the very beginning. An article in Vanity Fair refers to such homeowners are “infantile”. Financial experts have criticized them for living in ritzy houses with swimming pools and three-car garages. Even a Treasury secretary does not hesitate to have a swipe at such home owners for contracting mortgages well beyond their means.

A survey conducted by St. Petersburg Times notes that in Hillsborough County there are thousands of foreclosures. Here individual borrowers are being too much blamed for this mayhem. The reality is that those speculating in real estate and revenue-strapped local government are as much responsible for this crisis – the crumbling of the real estate market.

Investors together with flippers are responsible for nearly half the foreclosures in Hillsborough that have been posted during 2007 to 2009. Their dealing led to the massive inflation of prices of residential houses and this laid the foundation for the crash that was to follow. They were helped in every possible way at each step by the local officials.

The commissioners of Hillsborough permitted jumbo housing plans in the rural regions while overlooking impact fees from the developers. Leaders in Tampa gave the green signal to development of country clubs in distant New Tampa, closing their eyes to the obvious dangers of over construction.

In the over built real estate markets of Arizona, California and Nevada the investors purchased houses for the sole purpose of speculating – never lived in it even for a single night. But when the prices swooped down they could no longer afford to cling on to these.

Benjamin and Elizabeth Padilla purchased a four bed roomed dream in rural Hillsborough paying $200,000 for it. They are continuing to live and are current on their mortgage dues. But they are surrounded by empty units – mostly purchased by the speculating investors. The worth of their own house has rocketed down to $119,000. To make matters worse crime in the locality has increased. In her late fifties Elizabeth said, “We can’t do anything to get out of here. If we sell, we have to come up with the difference between what we bought and what it’s worth now, and we can’t afford that. We’re stuck.”

The Foreclosure Triggered Recession has Hit the Afro-Americans Worst

Julie Parker — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 12:41:41 +0000

The recession, triggered by the foreclosure crisis has hit the Afro-Americans worst. Unprecedented unemployment has totally erased the wealth of an entire generation of the Black middle-class.

The vigorous job market during the 90’s had made life somewhat easy for thousands and thousands of Afro-Americans who had moved up to join the ranks of the middle class.
Barbara Mitchell was one of these. She got employed in a customer related job with a telecommunications firms. For a good number of years she prospered on a comfortable salary that peaked to $51,000. But when her firm was shut down she had to take up another lower paying job in Wisconsin. Ultimately she could not fit into the changed circumstances and opted for retirement apprehending job termination.

Mitchell was under the impression that she had the requisites to obtain another similar customer related position but at the age of 57 and after a year of floundering about she found herself without any job, any medical insurance and practically no retirement funds for her twilight years. All that she could do is to pray for a part time job but she has realized that the recession would never take her back to the position she held only few years ago.
The harsh reality is that the recession is hitting the Afro-Americans more than others. The unemployment figures of this section of the population speak for themselves. The total unemployment is poised to touch 10%. Amongst the Afro-Americans it is 15.5%. In Illinois it is 18.6% during the third quarter according to Economic Policy Institute. For the teenagers among the Blacks the rate was 40.8% during September.

Employment rate among the minorities have always been high but the recession has increased this gap because of unemployment primarily in the manufacturing and auto group. This unemployment has joined up with predatory lending that was most prominent in black dominated localities. This lead to staggering increases in foreclosures that sent the real estate market reeling downwards. It can be read as a silent depression for the Afro-Americans.

Jean Pogge of ShoreBank that caters to the minority groups in many cities said, “The untold story is that between unemployment, a significant drop in property values, the wave of foreclosures and a lack of credit, there is a whole generation of African-American wealth that is disappearing. The traditional way Americans have acquired wealth and gotten into the middle class is through buying a home and building equity in that home. And a lot of that has been wiped out by the recession.”

Foreclosure Recap – Week #45

Kevin Simpson — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 14:10:35 +0000

Freddie Mac has been in trouble for a long time. For the last three months since Ed Halderman joined the board of trustees he has been working to steady the stability of the struggling company. He is a mere 70 years of age and is the executive director of the board of trustees at Freddie Mac. His main objective here is to boost President Obamas’ image and to make as many home restructurings happen as he can in order to lower the foreclosure rate in our country. His primary focus since arriving there in August has been to get as many of the employees there behind this objective and working towards that end.

Speaking of President Obama. On Friday last week he signed into law a new bill giving a total of $24 million in the form of an economic stimulus bill that is ear marked for prospective homebuyers and the people who have been unemployed for the long haul. The bill also included some tax cuts aimed at stabilizing some businesses out there that are having a rough time. He says that there is more coming and he will not – and I paraphrase him here –going to stop until everyone that wants to be working a job is working a job. The long term unemployed rate is at the largest number that it has been since 1948 and this bill is going to add between 14 and 20 more weeks of benefits to people that have already seen those benefits expire or were due to have them end by years end.

The Michigan website mLive.com brings us the story here that says that today with the economy that more landlords are unlawfully discriminating against families than at any time in history. One woman in Grand Rapids went to rent an apartment for her and her three children and was told that the security deposit would be twice what was originally quoted due to the children and the potential for destruction of the premises. Complaints on this type of problem in the state of Michigan alone are up nearly twice as much already this year over what they were for all of last year. The article goes on and shows blatant examples of discrimination that has actually been placed in ads posted by potential landlords.

The Los Angeles Times Business section brings us this story about the tax credit. There are a lot of people out there that have bought homes in this market and a good portion of them have done so due to the $8,000 tax credit that has been offered to them on that purchase by the Federal Government. This article spells out quite concisely the terms that conditions that you have to meet in order to cash in on this first time homebuyers credit. Especially since it has been modified to include not just the first time buyers. There are a lot of new rules, timelines and a whole new category. The income requirements were changed and there is a lot in the mix not that can and will affect your ability to get that credit or not.

Just when you thought that things couldn’t get worse, ABC News reports to us that even though we all feel bad about the recession and the problems that it has on humans. It is also putting the major cities in the country a risk of being over run by rodents. Rats to be a little more precise. The top two cities in the country when in comes to the invasion of the furry critters is not surprisingly New York City and the number two city, oddly enough is the City of Atlanta. The city as it turns out has a very high poverty rate of over 20 percent and a foreclosure rate that is five times that of the national average. This is a very well written and though provocative article that people should read, even if you happen to not be in one of the top cities.

Many people actually are buried so far into the houses that are the family dwellings that they often are unable to pay both the first and the second mortgages. So what does happen in this situation where you are upside down to the point that if you didn’t pay the second mortgage? Well, while it is still an option for a second mortgage holder to initiate a foreclosure on the property it is unlikely that they would do so because all the profits would go to pay the first mortgage leaving them out in the cold. However, it is going to have a long reaching effect on your credit score and so it would be wise to not follow that route if it can be avoided.

Fannie Mae has announced a new plan that they hope will be successful in many ways. It is known as a deed for lease program. This article walks you through the ins and outs of it all but in a nutshell it allows you to avoid foreclosure by signing a lease that allows you to actually stay in the home rather than to be foreclosed on. It is a case of desperate measures being designed to fit these desperate times that we are living through in this country today. In order for the homeowner to qualify it must be the primary residence and they must not be able to qualify to get the loan restructured. The new lease is good for 12 months and then may be done monthly there after and can not exceed more than 31 percent of the persons income. While it is not the best option, it beats being booted out of your home.

This story is all about the Home Loan Modification program. You can go here and get some quick information about the people interested in it. The interesting tidbit that jumped out at me is the one that pointed out that every time a home is foreclosed, the rest of the homes in that immediate neighborhood lose an average of 9% of the value that they had.

Finally the folks in Mouseland in Florida, fondly known as the Orlando area, are currently ranked as the ninth highest in foreclosures in the United States of America. While the rest of the Sunshine state has seen a nice decline in the rates, the area around Orlando continues to skyrocket in the numbers.

The Future of Residential Foreclosures

Julie Parker — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 13:04:04 +0000

There are indications that home sales are picking up together with prices but the foreclosure numbers continue to march apace. Rick Sharga of RealtyTrac that tracks foreclosures was interviewed by Barbara Kiviat of Times regarding the future of residential foreclosures.

Taking an analogy from baseball Sharga opined that right now the foreclosure situation in the country is in the middle of 6th inning. It will not peak till 2010 and will not be down to normal till 2013. Already 2.3 million houses in the last one year are in some stage of foreclosure – it being equal to that of the previous year. 7 million families are defaulting or in foreclosure. There is no doubt that trouble is fast brewing.
Under normal circumstances most of the defaulting house owners find some way to cure the loans. But currently the numbers are far from promising. Over 50% of the houses that are entering foreclosure end up being repossessed by the lenders. However a good number are still managing to skip foreclosure either by modification of loans or short sales.

Foreclosure activity has gone up six times since what it was four years previously. The system is not geared to tackle such huge numbers. There are also other complications. The servicers are causing delay. They are seeing to it that the borrowers do not qualify or HAMP (Home Affordable Modification Program). The servicers gain more from foreclosure whereas neither the lenders nor investors apart from borrowers gain from it.

The federally sponsored and financed programme of HAMP has met with initial success. The target of trial modifications has been met with. It is good news. But the programme is not ready to meet the onrush of the next rush of foreclosures that is poised to break. The programme is failing where prevention of foreclosure is concerned.

The current wave of foreclosures is being triggered by unemployment. Without a steady income it is not possible for borrowers to be current on their mortgages and neither do they qualify for relief measures. Inevitably the borrowers succumb to foreclosure. Secondly whole swaths of ARM loans are ready to set. This will kick off more foreclosures. Most the borrowers will become underwater with the value of the property being less than the loan value. The only way these can be saved will be if cuts are made in the principal – something the lenders are not willing to do.

Land Banks Could be the Answer to Foreclosure Woes of Detroit

Julie Parker — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 12:13:14 +0000

The auction of foreclosed units appeared to present an even grimmer scenario than initially noted. In Wayne County 9,000 REOs were put up for auction recently. 80% of these failed to attract any bidder although the minimum bid was allowed to be $500.

It is nothing new that Detroit and Cleveland are cursed for some time with foreclosures. But the incident at the Detroit auction has been an eye opener to the intensity of the problem.

The auction was far from smooth. Speculators from out of the town plucked the cream properties like the ones located in Boston-Edison region. The locals were not allowed to register for these bids. This has led to a scandal.

It is one of the important reasons why local communities are clamouring for land banks. It is a public venture that permits a community to acquire without any hassle foreclosed properties lying vacant and abandoned. These they clean and put into use. This move puts a stop to out of the state speculators from playing around while the local officials remain helpless bystanders.

But the process of getting a land bank in place can be a lengthy and complicated process. Flint and Michigan have given the lead in the movement termed ‘Shrinking Cities’. The abandoned localities of the city are cordoned off and the land is permitted to go back to Mother Nature. The idea is great if the communities can achieve it. But for this the local authorities need the land bank or some other toll by which they can exercise control over the empty foreclosed houses as well as land. If not a situation like the Detroit auction will take place when outsiders with funds and expertise will outbid any member of the locality – whether groups of individual investors who are sincere about bringing back the health of the region by rebuilding it. But the speculators are only interested in real estate games.

Joseph Schilling, an urban planning expert from Virginia Tech said, “We do a pretty good job in this country of recycling cans and plastic bottles. But we do an awful job of recycling and reusing vacant properties.”

It is imperative for the national housing policy to be more aggressive towards disallowing outside speculation and encouraging local involvement. If this is not done supported by financial involvement the situation will continue not only to slide but to blow up again into a full crisis. It is a moot question as to why the administration is still tardy about making such moves.

Foreclosures are Not Just Figures and Charts but Something Personal and Real

Julie Parker — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 13:24:04 +0000

Foreclosures are not just cold impersonal figures and charts but something personal and real – the stuff that go to make novels.

One such couple in California in the past few months had lost everything – motorcar, boat, house, their cell phones and even their dogs. Their teenage sons were too traumatized to talk about it. Especially moving is the story of Juan Rodriguez.
Juan Rodriquez was brief and to the point in his sorrow – he said he wanted to die in the place where he was born. Juan with some others had set up camp in a wooded area near Sacramento. The number of residents of the camp had increased in tune with the spike in foreclosures. Now an agitation is taking shape to get space sanctioned by the city where they can survive without being harassed by the authorities. Oprah Winfrey’s television show has focused on their plight.

One could read the hard times of Sacramento looking at the thin stretched face of Juan limping along on a cane fighting terminal cancer without a proper roof above his head. In the dim camp people fought for sandwiches and bread while courts ruled foreclosures. There were beggars everywhere. Many think stealing is a better option than begging. Juan lives in his motor home. All his earnings go to sprucing it up so that he can somehow earn few dollars but then too the problem is who will pay him in this neighbourhood?
All around Juan are people who look more like rats than human. After dusk they slip into the woods. Juan sighed that people are afraid of death but here he and the others are afraid to live. The only thing positive about Juan’s life is that nobody is waiting for him – he has no family. His closest mate is Tiger a Chihuahua.

These people cannot be wished away. Camps without any facilities or cooperation from the authorities are mushrooming along the railway tracks or any open spaces. It is a matter of climbing down the ladder. The upper class and middle class have climbed down niches but those on the lowest rung are out in the open wandering and wandering. America is fast beginning to look like the second world if things are not tackled on a war footing. The housing shelters are full to capacity and funds are at an all time low making future prospects bleak for Juan and his tribe.

Amidst Foreclosures – Fraudsters Have a Gala Time

Julie Parker — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 14:54:48 +0000

Times are tough in the US. As the economy spins out of control, people are losing jobs. As unemployment peaks, people are faltering on mortgage payments. Hence, foreclosures have become common. As homeowners are set to lose properties there is a sense of desperation to cling on to homes – a tricky situation that has spawned fraud. These fraudsters are promising a life out of the misery. They are assuring people of mortgage modification, of course, in exchange for a fee.

Now a father-daughter duo has been sentenced to imprisonment in a fraud case. Forty eight year old Clifford McCall of Maryland and Chandra Jones have been sentenced to prison for a wire fraud. They had promised to help homeowners in modifying mortgage. They had also assured to repair damaged credit.

The IRS-Criminal Investigation has initiated a case against the offenders. In fact the agency has joined hands with the community to weed out corrupt practices from the economy.

The plea agreement of McCall specified that McCall was a senior official of Burroughs & Smythe Financial Services. He is also the director of Fordham & Fordham Investment Group, which is a consulting firm for foreclosures. These companies advised distressed homeowners about how to retain homes in times of trouble.

In 2004, however, McCall started duping the homeowners. They had sufficient equity in their homes but were finding it difficult to make mortgage payments because of job loss. Hence, foreclosure of their homes was imminent. Their credit was also damaged. McCall advised these homeowners to put the title of their homes in third party purchasers’ names. Metropolitan Money Store also assured that it would improve the credit ratings of the homeowners, and help them get more favorable mortgage. The title of homes would be eventually returned to them.

The homeowners got the assurance that the equity drawn out from their homes would go towards paying the mortgage. Money would also be spent on homes and the credit would be repaired. It may be noted that the third party purchasers were paid.

Now the fraudsters prepared loan applications and gave them to the lenders. The fraudsters in this way obtained hugely inflated loans on the properties. The conspirators, therefore, duped people by promising loans to the home owners which they never received. Money was ploughed into escrow accounts. In this way McCall obtained at least $2,462,107.85 for personal use. The fraudsters continued the practice till 2007.

Abandoned Foreclosed Houses Causes Administration to Clamp Down Curfew to Contain Mayhem

Julie Parker — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 12:30:28 +0000

The innumerable abandoned foreclosed houses are attracting criminal activities. The administration has had to clamp down curfew to keep gangs off the streets. It is part of the strategy adopted by the city to stop the houses from being burnt down during the three Halloween nights otherwise known as Angels Night.
The police are determined to keep off the streets the young aged below 18 after 10 p.m. But a more strict emergency measure will take off from 6 p.m. All the steps are targeted to see that the young stay within the safe confines of their residences. Halloween curfew takes off from 10 p.m.

The office of the Mayor Dave Bing sent out a release stating that if any minor was seen on “any public street, sidewalk, alley, park, playground, vacant lot or any other unsupervised outdoor public place, or in any arcade, billiard or pool hall, bowling alley, restaurant, theatre, or place of amusement or entertainment” would be detained and fined by the police.
In previous years the law breakers were kept back by the police until they were collected by the guardians. Gary Brown, former Deputy Police Chief commented “We spend too many resources baby-sitting kids, and if we can limit that, then the police officers can be out doing other things. I thought that was just a waste of valuable resource.”

Eighteen candidates for Detroit City Council including Brown conferred with Bing on Wednesday 28th October to step up anti-arson efforts. The meeting is an annual event. There are five sitting councilors and 13 challengers who are campaigning for 9 open-seats in the general elections to be held the following week.

Bing is being challenged by Tom Barrow. He asked the candidates to put aside all political wrangling and join the volunteers to patrol the neighbourhoods of Detroit on the nights of Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Bing was hopeful of gathering together volunteers numbering 50,000. He said, “We’re asking our angels to come out this weekend to help us prevent anything negative as it relates to fires in our city”

Traditionally 30th October is observed as Devil’s Night – it being marked by fun and pranks laced with mischief. But from the 80’s it has taken an ugly turn with the Halloween revelers using this pretext to set fire to empty houses and properties all through Detroit. In 1984 there were 800 fire outbreaks. Volunteer patrolling has been able to bring down the numbers.

Unless Loans Start Flowing Foreclosures will Not Stop

Julie Parker — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 15:00:17 +0000

There is the possibility that a controversial practice of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac could nip loan applications in the bud. Very few know about it.
Suppose one has a credit score of 800 and good equity on the property that he or she wants to refinance taking advantage of the prevailing low interest rates. Apparently it seems that it should be smooth sailing all the way. But the bank apologizes as the automated underwriting system of Fannie Mae will not accept because there is a disputed account otherwise known as ‘tradeline.’

The applicant then goes on to explain that the dispute related to say a medical bill or charge of credit card was valid and that subsequently the account was closed. At that time the creditor had given the assurance that the dispute mark would be removed but in reality did not do so. But such explanations will not melt the loan officer and the application becomes invalid.
The crux of the issue is that unless loans start flowing foreclosures will not stop.

The consumers are guaranteed under the Fair Credit Reporting Act the right to dispute wrong information on any of their accounts in the credit files. When a consumer challenges the information a note has to be made on this file. So long as this note remains most credit scoring methods will not be affected by this dispute. But by raising an objection Fannie Mae, functioning under the observation of the federal government, denies granting loans only because the consumers had enforced legal rights.

Amy Bonitatibus of Fannie Mae agreed that the computerized underwriting system was being used by nearly all the lenders who are having business dealings with Fannie Mae. Consequently those applications with disputed marking were turned back. She reiterated that her firm does “not prohibit delivery of a loan … where the borrower has disputed information” on the credit report. By manual underwriting she explained, “Our policy requires the lender to determine and document whether or not the disputed information is accurate and underwrite the borrower’s credit accordingly.”

According to some the banks refuse the loans and use a flimsy excuse to pass on the blame to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

One individual brought to notice that applications for purchasing a condo was turned down by a national lender despite the bank acknowledging “all of the accounts have a zero balance, are in good standing, and show no other derogatory information.” But hours spent on the phone talking to creditors and credit agencies proved to be totally futile.