Homeownership Preservation Foundation (HPF) is a helpline for distressed homeowners who are on the verge of losing their homes to foreclosure. This organization has conducted studies and shown that borrowers are still optimistic of not losing their homes, and they have good reason to be so.

Despite the exposure of robo-signing last fall and the following investigations by federal and state agencies and talks of settlement the banks are continuing to play the game of en masse signing of fraudulent documents at an epidemic scale. The registers of deeds of many counties believe they have to receive defective documents pertaining to foreclosure.

Republican senator Michele Reagan of Arizona after experiencing trouble with her servicer for failure on the part of the latter to produce the name of the original owner of the mortgage has initiated a bill in Arizona mandating lenders to provide full details of transfers. The mortgage industry is opposing it.

An elaborate fraud scheme was unearthed in Minnesota. The scammers cheated the banks by setting up straw buyers with false documents to qualify for loans for purchasing foreclosed houses. The loan money was pocketed and the house was allowed to slip into foreclosure.

The listed price of a short sale is set by the homeowner selling the home, and is only approved by the seller’s mortgage lender after a contract has been negotiated and signed. Because of this, the listed price cannot be guaranteed and the buyer is at some risk that the seller’s mortgage company either will not approve the transaction or, more likely, will submit a counter offer at a higher price. These are all important considerations to take into account when looking into a short sale, and because of this, sellers should be careful when attempting to engage a short sale.

The process of buying a short sale involves the following steps:

* Find a house to buy, negotiate and sign a contract – http://www.foreclosurelistings.com/list/FL/MIAMI-DADE/SHORT-SALE/ has a variety of short sales available in Miami-Dade County, Florida.

* Let the seller and their lenders determine if they will accept the transaction – this takes 3 or more months.

* In the meantime, get your financing lined up so that when the approval comes through, you are ready.

* After the deal is approved, go to closing like any other regular purchase.

The real difference between a short sale and a normal one is the wait time while the transaction is being approved and, of course, the potential that the bank will not approve the contract.

There are over 67,000 homes on the market that are New Jersey foreclosures at an average price over $218,000. This is a larger number than either of the neighboring states of New York or Pennsylvania. Several towns have reported increased sale prices of foreclosed homes during the last month. Those include the following results: * [...]

Two judges of the Supreme Court of Texas has sent a letter to the Republican dominated State Legislature to take action so that the depleted funds set aside for giving help to those who cannot afford legal assistance (veterans, abused women and foreclosure victims) can be given due justice.