Florida and other places in America wrecked by foreclosures are facing the problem of treating abandoned pools left behind in vacant foreclosed houses. The pools have become stagnant choked with algae. It is resulting in breeding of mosquitoes and other disease spreading insects.

The code enforcement officials in Wellington were one of the first to experiment with a certain type of fish named pleco. In appearance they look like catfish. They are adept at feasting on algae and in the process clearing pools. This has led to booming business for Bartow fish farmer David Hoy. He has teamed with the aquaculture department of University of Florida to make a success of the project of cleaning pools with these janitor fish.
Initially a limited number of fish of a certain size are used. Hoy explained, “You don’t want to get too many fish in there, because when they purge, they’ll just create another mess. We don’t want that. With just 15, the waste will dissipate in the water. It eventually breaks down in a natural bacterial process and goes away.”

It takes a minimum of 6 weeks for the fish to clear the first lot of algae. The success has led officials in Wellington to phase out projects that used chemicals to clean the pools. It had other harmful side effects apart from being less effective. Rose Taliau of Wellington’s code enforcement department said, “It’s evident to us that these fish will control the algae and make the odor go away. And once we put the fish in, that’s it. We just periodically check on them to make sure everything is going well, but we’re not out there putting chemicals in every other week.”

The fish are kept in the pools until the property changes hands. It does not require any regular maintenance cost. Hoy charges an initial fee ranging from $500 to $1,000 depending on the number of pools he has to tackle at one time. The fee is inclusive of time spent in commuting and expenses of staying in Palm Beach County. The fees would be less for destinations nearer to his base. Talking about his work Hoy said, “I just take the fish down there, let them loose, and they do the rest.”

The word about Hoy’s project is spreading and has reached the ears of Polk County’s officials. Here the numbers of abandoned swimming pools have doubled in the previous two years.

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! Catfish Dive in to Save Communities from Foul Fetid Foreclosed Pools

The staggering number of foreclosures has led to a virtual paralysis of the judicial system. Florida is one of the worst affected areas and the courts here are choked with foreclosure cases. This prompted Miami University’s Michael Froomkin to craft The Foreclosure Defense Program. It helps to engage young attorneys with the backlog of foreclosure cases. Over 50,000 filings have been posted only in Miami-Dade alone.

Many of the borrowers do not know where legal help is available. This assistance somewhat reduces the pain and lessens the expenses even if it cannot completely do away with foreclosure. Froomkin said, “Potentially, one of the most significant [defenses] is that the lender, because so many home loans were securitized during the housing boom, often doesn’t even know who owns the mortgage anymore.” One of the biggest tools being recently used is challenging the very right of the plaintiff to initiate the foreclosure process.

The senior lawyer of Legal Services of Greater Miami, Carolina Lombardi, is in charge of instructing some of the fledgling lawyers of Miami University. She said that the defendants in these foreclosure cases also should have attorneys to protect them from unjust escrow demands. He said, “Homeowners who have lawyers are usually prevailing in those cases.” But she observes that unless the borrowers are below the federally stipulated federal line of poverty ($22,000 for a family comprising of four members) they are not eligible for free legal assistance that her agency and others like her provide. This is a big hurdle for many of the foreclosure defendants who are not technically impoverished but due to unemployment and other related matters are at risk of losing their homes and cannot afford to hire a lawyer.

Another big hurdle is the foreclosure law. One young lawyer who has jumped into the fray to help indigent litigants, Yolanda Paschal, said, “It’s a labor-intensive area of practice. It involves a ton of paperwork.”

The pay offered to attorneys taking up foreclosure cases is relatively low said Melanca Clark of Brennan Center. She suggests that Congress and the legislators of the state should offer incentives to those defending the defendants. It should be at par with what the plaintiffs offer their representatives. Only then will the playing field be level. For instance there is the unfair practice of not allowing winning defendants in foreclosure cases to collect attorney fees. The restrictions on federal funding for legal services should be immediately removed. Structural reforms are badly needed.

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! The Foreclosure Defense Program

Florida courts are drowning in foreclosure cases causing a massive backlog. A task force was set up to recommend suggestions for improving the system and adding more speed to it.

The most attention is likely to be given to compulsory mediation for residential foreclosures. It is being implemented in three judicial courts in Florida. By mandatory mediation conditions the lenders have to meet the borrowers to try and thrash out matters before the judge will entertain the case. In the three circuits where mediation is compulsory the plan has met with 76% success. It has a led to a good number of settlements. Till 12th October out of 1,401 cases, settlements have been reached in 1.072 instances. Ned Pope the director of the programme named CHAMP said “It’s been one of the most successful models.”

According to the mediation programme the borrowers are expected to disclose details of their finances before sitting down to meet the authorized representative of the lender and also another neutral person involved in this mediation. The fee of $750 for this mediation has to be paid by the lender.

Pope said each month the number of foreclosure cases has been growing. It spiked from 261 in May to 1,300 last June. It was over 2,200 in August. The mediators at the centre are responsible for contacting the borrower. But if the underwater borrowers walk away from the property this becomes difficult.

Many of the banks are not happy with this compulsory mediation said Barb Godin of Regions Bank. She said, “It’s rather sad that someone thinks we need this in the industry.” In Florida Regions Bank has on its portfolio $5.5 billion tied up in mortgages. It initiated a programme to assist defaulting borrowers in 2007 October. The plan was operated by 10 persons aiming to help clients in the 16 States where the bank functions. Today it has a staff of 60 running the programme. Godin said that they have assisted 5,356 borrowers in Florida.

Region Bank in Florida is facing defaults on 3.3% of its mortgages in this region. It is 17% across the states. The mortgages it has modified have a default rate of 12%.

Most of the mortgages in Florida are not for primary houses but for secondary ones. As such these are not eligible for compulsory mediation.

Ed Wilburn of Great Florida Bank opined that many lenders have been shy to proceed with loan modification because “it’s a losing proposition.” But lately the lenders are waking up to the advantages of engaging staff and money to help prevent foreclosures and have the houses occupied.

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! Task Force in Florida Giving Prime Importance to Mandatory Mediation to Stop Foreclosures

The housing advocates and homeowners battling foreclosure crowded before the State House recently to show their support for many bills that are aimed at slowing the pace of foreclosures and ensuring more equitable treatment towards the house owners and the tenants

There was a strong crowd at the hearing before the Joint Committee comprising of law makers, house owners, renters and community groups. There were also present lawyers dealing with real estate, owners of small properties and representatives from the lending industry.

Sen. Harriette Chandler (Democrat/Chandler) said “Under current state law, tenants can be evicted without just cause—leaving our most vulnerable residents on perilous ground.” Chandler was one of the main initiators of the bills trying to give protection to the tenants staying in foreclosed houses. They were being thrown out without any proper reason.

Gladys Vega of Chelsea who is community campaigner blaming the predators for this situation said, “You have to do something to help the tenants in foreclosed properties. I was proud that we were staying stable. Things were better for tenants. But it has gone downhill because tenants have to leave the properties.”

Proposals in the bills are being made for putting into operation foreclosure mediation by which the owners would have the right to talk directly with the lenders. Further there would be six months hold on foreclosures for the allowing of time to discuss and put into effect modification. Another proposal was the passing of an act that would necessitate the sanction of the court before proceeding with the foreclosure process.

Those speaking on behalf of the bill for judicial foreclosure quoted the recent ruling given by Justice Long in Massachusetts Land Court that had led to the invalidation of two foreclosures in Springfield. The judge had said that it was not clear at the time of filing the foreclosure who was the owner of the loan. This decision has the potential to put thousan

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! Pro-Foreclosure Bill Supporters Gather Before the State House in Bay State

Despite incentives offered to servicers regarding modification, foreclosures that could have been avoided continue. According to recent reports the banks are not extending relief to the harassed borrowers.

According to National Consumer Law Center of NCLC, servicers of the mortgages comprising of many big banks, are opting for foreclosures because it is more profitable than going for loan modification. The latter however would benefit the investors and the house owners.

The report (Why Servicers Foreclose, When They Should Modify, and Other Puzzles of Servicer Behavior) exposes that unlike the investors and the house owners the servicers do not lose any money by opting for foreclosure. On the other hand they actually gain from doing so.

Diane E. Thompson an attorney o NCLC said, “The country is in the midst of a foreclosure crisis of unprecedented proportions. Millions of families have lost their homes and millions more are expected to lose their homes in the next few years. With home values plummeting and layoffs common, homeowners are crumbling under the weight of mortgages that were at best only marginally affordable when made. One common sense solution to the foreclosure crisis is to modify the loan terms in more instances. Foreclosures are a costly ordeal for the homeowner, the lender, and the community. Yet they continue to outstrip loan modifications because servicers have no incentive to help borrowers stay in their homes.”

The servicers are none other than important banks or financial firms that collect the mortgage payments and administer the loans. They played a vital role in the prevailing foreclosure mayhem since the original lenders resorted to selling the loans to various investors. The latter rely on the servicers to function with the day to day business of collecting dues and related matters.

The house owners who are trying to modify their unmanageable loans generally deal with these servicers. It is next to impossible to find out the last holder of the mortgage as the loans have been parceled and sliced before being sold to global investors. The servicers play hard to get because it goes against their financial interests to modify the loans.

These financial incentives tend to make the servicers overlook the interests of the house owner. For example the servicers do not want to reduce either the principal or the interest rate. For them repayment plans and forbearance settlements are more profitable. The net result of following such a line is disastrous for the house owners as well as the nation.

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! Despite Incentives Offered to Servicers Foreclosures Continue

There are no signs of the foreclosure problem fading. Across the country about 940,000 houses are in some stage of foreclosure during the third quarter of 2009. Either it is a default or auction notification or the house is taken over by the lender. In New York State the filings shot up by 11% in the third quarter compared to the previous quarter.

Inside this crisis there is another crisis about which few are aware of. Right across USA those with low income are in trouble because they cannot avail of legal help. This is leaving them to be exposed to be victimized once more.

If action is taken now, this can be avoided. A recent report from Brennan Center for Justice shows that in New York State as many as 84% of the defendants from Queens who had contracted sub-prime mortgages and are now facing foreclosure, are going ahead without legal help. In Staten Island and Nassau the proportion is 91% and 92% respectively.

The financial collapse did not take place because of lack of legal help for the needy but it has magnified it. Many foreclosures could have been avoided if the poor had been given legal assistance. In fact their ignorance was one of the main reasons why they were easily made to swallow the toxic loans initially.

The law of economics cannot be blamed for this problem. People are unaware about the restrictions placed on Legal Services Corp., by the federal government, during the middle of the 90’s. Availability of federal funds came to be restricted and a ban was placed on class action suit. Consequently the lawyers funded federally lacked the right to challenge rampant illegal operations except on a very tardy basis taking up each case one by one.

These limitations are telling on the counseling for the poor who are already hampered by lack of funds to meet the increasing demand for help. The inequality that this has created is galling. The lawyers representing the lenders are armed with a full arsenal of tools to chase the house owners while the latter have no other alternative but to brave it out alone. Even if the poor manage to put up a lawyer the latter’s hands are tied by federal restrictions.

The panacea is simple – allotment of more funds for legal help to start with to be followed by the Congress stepping in to remove legal restrictions.

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 Victims Deserve to be Heard in Court

When the foreclosure crisis made its debut experts in personal finance put pressure on the homeowners to open communications with their lender if they defaulted. The house owners were made to believe that the lenders would do their best to skirt foreclosure. But now the experts are not sure and singing a different tune.

The borrowers who have gone through a maze of formalities to try and modify their loans are not sure that this line of thinking was correct. Jason of San Diego was one of them. He bemoaned to ConsumerAffairs.com, “I have gone through the modification process but have been denied, although no clear explanation was provided. I have been seeking assistance and guidance from quite a few bank representatives and have only received rude, misguided information.”

In 2008 hundreds of complaints have been received by ConsumerAffairs.com. The general complaint was that those who had opted for loan modification and adhered to all the instructions found that their papers disappeared into a black hole. Maria of Sussex (New Jersey) said, “I faxed papers repeated times and was told that I need to fax more or that they never received them so they can start a modification. I made payments and they never credited my account. Now they calls in October 2009 and they tell me that they stopped the modification because I never faxed out the papers. Is this a joke?”

The story is a repeat everywhere irrespective of who the servicer is. Consumers start walking down the road hopeful of modification but they come up against a blank wall of inefficiency combined with total indifference erected at the end by the mortgage firm. Another sufferer is Regina of Whitefish Bay (Wisconsin). She said, “We sent all information requested by certified mail. As the others have described, we have had to make contact. They do not respond. The usual answer is ‘Whoever told you that is wrong.’ I actually have a tape of one of their agents stating ‘I can’t be responsible for what someone else told you.’ Should not they be required to respond in writing? Is this not a government funded program?”

In March 2009 the Treasury under the Obama government started a loan modification programme to give incentives to the servicers so that they modify the loans in trouble so as to prevent foreclosure. But the speed was so slow and frustrating that it has not had any noticeable impact. Foreclosures are continuing apace as before.

Some reports are suggesting that despite the incentives the servicers gain more from foreclosures than from modification. Servicers, unlike lenders do not have money at stake in the mortgage loans.

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! Do the Servicers of Mortgage Give Preference to Foreclosures?

The foreclosure crisis for a lot of people actually started when they, as borrowers, were willing to take a risk on sub-prime loans. Today that crisis, as outlined in this story is reaching farther down the line to people who quite simply can’t find work. People who were at one time living well within their means making $60,000 dollars a year or more and living in homes valued at around $250,000. There is nothing out of the ordinary there. However when that worker loses his or her income by virtue of being laid off it doesn’t take long for the bills to far outweigh the available cash and with no income coming into the family economy it is only a matter of time before the cash reserves, if there actually were any, have been used up and another family is then on the risk of certain foreclosure.

One might wonder, with all the recent foreclosures and financial issues, what condition are the lending institutions in. We all recall earlier when several large banks like Wachovia experienced issues. Well according to this article the number is currently sitting at 106 bank closures this year and a staggeringly large number of others are teetering on the brink as we write this. According to sources dozens if not hundreds more are in similar shape. The regulators are not rushing to take them over for fear of triggering a chain reaction that could have devastating effects on the lending arena for decades to come. When a bank fails, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. swoops in, usually on a Friday afternoon. It tries to sell off the bank’s assets to buyers and cover its liabilities, primarily customer deposits. It then will tap into the insurance fund to cover the rest.

One of the largest real estate deals in the history of the United States now sits ready to fall to pieces. According to the Associate Press, at the height of the real estate bubble in 2006, an investment group led by New York City real estate firm Tishman Speyer Properties and Black Rock Realty Advisors paid $5.4 billion for a pair of gigantic Manhattan apartment complexes known as Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village. While the price was outrageous it had a winning strategy: It would aggressively convert thousands of rent-regulated apartments occupied by middle-class families into luxury units that would fetch top dollar. Now three years later, to the glee of many New York renters, the tactic has been a bust. The tenants fought back, conversions happened much slower than expected and a state court ruled Thursday that about $200 million in the company’s new rent increases were improper.

What if you gave an auction and nobody came? That is almost exactly what happened at an auction in Wayne County, which houses Detroit. The city is being called an Urban Wasteland and this past weekend less than one-fifth of 9,000 properties sold this weekend at Wayne County’s annual tax foreclosure auction, according to Reuters, despite a minimum bid of only $500. As the experts predicted, the auction was dominated by speculators — may from California and New York — who routinely outbid would-be residents for the few properties deemed habitable. "Why am I competing against a bank?" Ross Wallace, a lieutenant in the U.S. Army, asked Reuters. "It would be common sense to have a separate process for people who want to move back to the city or it’s going to stay empty."

These people are taking the call to fight back a little too seriously. Foreclosed on couple, Daniel Weston and Mary Ann Parmelee, charged with torturing loan modifiers. The couple and three other people allegedly sought loan modification assistance from the victims but believed that nothing was being done and wanted their money back," a statement from the district attorney’s office said. The couple, according to investigators, believed they had been swindled. Weston and another man, who previously served time for assault, are accused of carrying out the beatings in front of their three co-defendants, who prosecutors say had prior business ties with the two victims by having funneled loan-modification referrals to them.

According to the Associated Press, Sales of new homes dropped unexpectedly last month as the effects of a soon-to-expire tax credit for first-time owners started to wane. The Commerce Department says sales fell 3.6 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 402,000 from a downwardly revised 417,000 in August. Economists surveyed by Thomson Reuters had expected a pace of 440,000. It was the first decline since March. Sales in September were down 7.8 percent from a year ago. The median sales price of $204,800 was off 9.1 percent from $225,200 a year earlier, but up 2.5 percent from August’s level of $199,900. First-time buyers are taking advantage of low mortgage rates, discounted prices and a tax credit of up to $8,000 if the deal is completed by the end of November. That’s provided a big lift to the market, with home re-sales climbing more than 9 percent in September, the largest amount in more than 26 years.

We all know that there is potentially nothing scarier than the foreclosure. But if you step back a moment and look at the impact that the foreclosure is having on the neighborhoods. I think you can see that the sum of the parts is far worse than just the individual issues. As I walk my neighborhood this Halloween. Abandoned homes are the undead of the mortgage crisis, and they’re haunting peoples neighborhoods more than ever. It used to be that when a homeowner defaulted, the lender foreclosed and sold the home. Selling these homes has become a difficult task, though, and so some lenders don’t want the homes. Once a lender takes possession, it is responsible for taxes and fees, such as homeowner’s association dues. Real estate experts expect these vacant homes will eventually be gobbled up by investors – some of the same ones that got us into this mess. But the price has to be pretty low to make it worthwhile for an investor to improve the homes and sell them again. But in the mean time there are literally thousands of homes in almost every city across the country sitting vacant and though they look bad on the outside, the inside is often far worse. These homes will most likely all end up being sold although some of the ones in the worst condition might be better of to be bulldozed and sold as vacant land. People just don’t care. Once they are foreclosed upon, the houses often get trashed before they leave.

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 #43

The US is in the grip of a deep recession. As unemployment reaches its zenith, people are faltering on mortgage payments. Hence, foreclosures are common. Now there is a demand for low-end foreclosed properties in St. Paul. In August, there were a total of 1,811 vacant spaces in the area. This means a decline of 12 per cent vacant homes from the corresponding period of last year. It may be noted that in August 2008 there were 2,047 vacant spaces.

The empty properties are both residential and commercial spaces. The decrease in their numbers is a reflection of the real estate scenario. This was revealed by director of the Department of Safety and Inspections, Bob Kessler. The demand for homes has received a boost because of several factors. First, the price of foreclosed homes has seen a decline making it attractive for ordinary buyers. Second, the government has announced a federal tax credit for those who buy homes for the first time.

The number of foreclosures has decreased because the lenders are delaying legal proceedings. As Kessler observes the buildings are being struck off the list in greater numbers than they are being added. Also home owners are willing to palm off the properties at very low rates – as low as $15,000 to $20,000. Hence, buyers are grabbing the properties, revamping them and again selling them off, thereby making a small margin.

One such renovated property has been put on display by an investor. This house at Lawson Avenue will be viewed by buyers. The St. Paul Area Association of Realtors and Wells Fargo have organized the tour for the home buyers of the region. The tours are important because there are many vacant properties in the region. Even three years ago, there were 900 vacant buildings in the area. A building is usually labeled as vacant if it is unoccupied and meets any of the seven criteria like being not safe.

It’s not possible for anyone to know how many vacant buildings are there in the city. Registration is not compulsory and done only under certain circumstances. However, real estate developers want to believe that their numbers are fewer than before. Whatever be the case, experts say, that the real estate scenario will not improve until and unless, more jobs are created. Unless people have the purchasing power and are able to make the mortgage payments, foreclosures will continue to plague the American market.

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! Demand for Low-End Foreclosed Homes in St. Paul Spurts

Wall Street is agog with rumours that Goldman might dole out even more dollars to its charitable funds – perhaps nearly $1 billion while trying to appease the critical public. The chairman and chief executive of Goldman, Lloyd Blankfein has gone to the length of urging bankers to keep a low profile and not become conspicuous by ostentatious spending.

Goldman is also mulling over bringing changes to few of its compensation related operations. The executives get a large amount of their compensation in the form of stocks. But similar to the thinking being adopted by other banks it is now weighing the options of increasing the share of all the employees, allowing for deferred payments and including clauses that would allow the bank to snatch back some bonus if business goes awry. Blankfein sketched these plans while delivering a talk in Germany in September. Wall Street sat up to this speech.

The chief financial officer of Goldman, David A. Viniar however was on the defensive against such criticism. He said it was unfair considering that in another period this same country and its media would have hailed the firm with laurels for its outstanding success story. He argued, “We are very focused on what is going on in the world. We are focused on the economic climate. We are focused on what is going on with other people.” He reiterated that the company had fulfilled its duties towards the staff and to retain them the employees have to be kept happy. He felt Goldman was unfairly targeted on the bonus issued. He explained, “Yes, I think that is too big a focus.I would prefer people to be focused on the success of our business, how well we’re doing, and how well our people are performing.”

Doubts are being raised as whether the tarnished image of Goldman will clear up after this incident. Goldman however is toeing the usual Wall Street line of rewarding bankers and traders who have been able to mint money – there is nothing new in what it has done by giving out these huge bonuses.

Professor Michael Useem of University of Pennsylvania said, “They do it because they can. But strategic thinking requires that you think not only about trading but also about reputation and where the bank stands in the court of public opinion.”

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! Goldman is an Oasis of Success in the Middle of the Foreclosure Desert