Mortgage giants GSEs in limbo: In housing, a dangerous policy vacuum grows.
Feb. 7, 2010 — The Washington Post

THERE IS NO END in sight to the federal bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. President Obama's fiscal 2011 budget proposal said as much in a few phrases that promised nothing more definitive than continued "monitoring" of the two mortgage giants, which have been operating since mid-2008 in the legal and organizational limbo known as government "conservatorship." The administration had said its plans for definitive reform could be expected "at the time of the budget," not in the budget itself, so technically this doesn't count as a broken promise or a blown deadline. Still, as the two agencies' chief regulator, Edward J. DeMarco, gently reminded congressional leaders on Tuesday, conservatorship was intended as a "timeout" during which policymakers could reinvent the entities. With an election year upon us, that timeout is looking more and more like a cop-out.

Short sales on homes rise in Marion County
Feb. 7, 2010 — Ocala.com

Tom and Lori Bennett thought they had found their dream house. But now they are a statistic, among the thousands of Floridians who got behind on a mortgage and sold their home "short" - for just pennies on the dollar.

HAMP Permanent Modifications Picking Up: BarCap
Feb. 8, 2010 — Housing Wire

Modification rates picked up over December and January as servicers converted more trials into permanent modifications under the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP), according to a report from Barclays Capital.

Geithner Claims Mortgage Modifications a Success Despite House Probe
Feb. 8, 2010 — FOX News

Millions more Americans are facing financial security as a result of stabilizing home prices, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner said Sunday, even though only about 66,000 people have benefited from permanent mortgage loan modifications aimed to prevent foreclosure, a figure that has resulted in a House panel investigation.

Builders Start to Look Up
Feb. 8, 2010 — The Wall Street Journal

Fewer write-downs and new-home order cancellations along with improved order rates are some of the most positive signs from home builders since the housing market began to roll over four years ago.

Get a ‘mulligan’ after foreclosure?
Feb. 1, 2010 — OC Register

What do you think of Christopher Thornberg’s “mulligan rule?”
The California economist brought it up Saturday at a foreclosure summit in Anaheim hosted by longtime real estate brokers Tom Moon of Huntington Beach and Hugh Elder of Corona. The event drew real estate agents from around the country who either deal with bank-owned properties and short sales or want to.

AG Orders Banks, Attorneys to Stop Evictions Violating Federal Tenant Law
Feb. 3, 2010 — DSNews

Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal sent cease-and-desist letters to a host of default servicing practitioners this week ordering them to stop “abrupt and illegal evictions” of tenants of foreclosed properties.

How Banks Can Win From Being Second

Feb. 4, 2010 — The Wall Street Journal

If you thought all the bank bailouts were over, take a look at what is happening with lenders' holdings of junior, or "second-lien," mortgages.

No New Loan Products or Interest Rate Initiatives for GSEs: FHFA
Feb. 3, 2010 — DSNews

The federal supervisor charged with overseeing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac said Tuesday that the two mortgage financiers will not be allowed to introduce new loan products into the market or take on additional responsibilities to lower interest rates once the Federal Reserve’s mortgage purchase program expires next month.

More consumers pay credit card before mortgage: study
Feb. 3, 2010 — Reuters

NEW YORK — More and more consumers are giving greater priority to paying credit card debt than making a mortgage payment, showing increased financial duress, according to a report released on Wednesday.

A plot of land containing a parking lot and a former Robinsons-May department store is scheduled for foreclosure auction after the British developers who purchased it in April 2007 for $500 million failed to deliver on the luxury condominiums that were slated to be built there. The original plan for the development called for 252 luxury condos along with 19,856 square feet or commercial space, all designed by Richard Meier, architect of the Getty Center. A Notice of Default was filed on the property in October 2008, and a few months later in March 2009, developers Candy & Candy tried to sweeten the development by suggesting a luxury hotel would be added to the mix "If the default is remedied by the owners’ of the site, Project Lotus LLC (CPC Group and Richard Caring)," according to Curbed LA.

But the revised plan does not seem to have panned out based on the Notice of Trustee's Sale scheduled for Feb. 19. According to the posting on RealtyTrac, the first loan amount on the property is $356,500,000. Given that buyers at the trustee's sale are required to pay in cash, you'll be able to spot prospective buyers by looking for anyone dumping truckloads of cash on the courthouse steps. What's more likely is that the sale will be postponed.

Rendering of proposed project (courtesy of Curbed LA)

Rising FHA default rate foreshadows a crush of foreclosures
Feb. 2, 2010 — The Washington Post

The share of borrowers who are falling seriously behind on loans backed by the Federal Housing Administration jumped by more than a third in the past year, foreshadowing a crush of foreclosures that could further buffet an agency vital to the housing market's recovery.

Cloudy Future for Fannie and Freddie
Feb. 2, 2010 — The New York Times

The Great Bailout is mostly over for the banks. But for those troubled behemoths of the nation’s housing bust, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the lifeline from Washington just keeps getting longer.

No Mortgage, Still Foreclosed? Bank of America Sued for Seizing Wrong Homes
Jan. 25, 2010 — ABC News

Some 2.8 million homeowners faced the threat of foreclosure last year, but it wasn't supposed to happen to Charlie and Maria Cordoso. In 2005, the New Bedford, Mass. couple paid in full -- in cash -- for a house in Springville, Fla., and rented it out with plans eventually to use the home as a retirement getaway.

Move is on for non-court Florida foreclosures
Jan. 31, 2010 — News-Press.com

A proposal by the Florida Bankers Association to allow foreclosures without a court hearing is arousing violent sentiments on both sides of the issue in Southwest Florida.

Pending home sales edge up, vacancies rise
Feb. 2, 2010 — Reuters

But the housing recovery remains slow and painful, with other data showing the percentage of empty privately owned homes rose to 2.7 percent in the final three months of 2009 from 2.6 percent in the third quarter.

U.S. Foreclosure Activity Spreads Beyond Hard-hit Metro Areas
January 28, 2010, NewJersey.com

Cities in the so-called Sand States dominated the foreclosure rankings in 2009, with the 20 worst-hit metro areas residing in Nevada, Florida, California and Arizona.
Las Vegas had the largest number of foreclosure filings of any city last year, with 12% of its households receiving at least one during the year, according to RealtyTrac, the online marketer of foreclosed homes. That was more than five times the national average.

Obama Housing Rescue Threatened by Foreclosures, Unemployment
January 29, 2010, Bloomberg News

President Barack Obama’s efforts to bolster the U.S. housing market, the trigger of the worst recession since the 1930s, may be undone by record unemployment and repossessions by lenders. Foreclosures probably will reach 3 million this year, surpassing the record of 2.82 million in 2009, according to Irvine, California-based RealtyTrac Inc. That would more than offset an estimated 448,000-unit rise in home sales, based on the average forecast of the National Association of Realtors, the Mortgage Bankers Association and Fannie Mae.

Obama's Falling Down on the Job
January 29, 2010, New York Daily-News (OPINION)

It is just over a year since President Obama took office. He inherited the worst economic mess the world has seen since 1929, and his team managed to pull us back from the brink. But the economy is still in sad shape and is not likely to get better anytime soon. The proposals in this week's State of the Union speech, including plans to cut taxes for businesses, help middle-class families and rein in spending, may not go far enough to really make a difference. And in the case of a domestic spending freeze, they may make things worse.

Senate Reappoints Bernanke
January 28, 2010, Wall Street Journal

The Senate voted 70-30 to reappoint Ben Bernanke for a second four-year term as chairman of the Federal Reserve. Earlier, senators voted 77-23 to end debate, clearing the way for a final vote. During more than two hours of debate on the Senate floor, Bernanke backers warned that voting him down risked sparking turmoil in U.S. and foreign markets and thwarting a budding economic recovery. They said the Fed chairman deserved an opportunity to finish what he started.

Still in the Cellar
January 22, 2010, The Economist

When American house prices finally started rising in June last year, ending a three-year decline, homeowners and economists rejoiced. The steep plunge in values — about 33 percent nationally from peak to trough — caused widespread damage in the American economy and abroad. The stabilization of prices turned out to be a precursor to broader economic recovery.

New York Law Offers Homeowners a Welcome Reprieve
January 22, 2010, The Buffalo News

Our State Legislature and governor recently passed the nation’s most progressive foreclosure prevention legislation. It expands previous protections to include all mortgage foreclosures instead of only subprime mortgages. Among other things, the Comprehensive Foreclosure Legislation provides these three protections: (1) Provides 90 days to resolve a mortgage default before foreclosure can begin. (2) Gives all borrowers the right to a settlement conference in court to prevent the foreclosure. (3) Creates a legal duty on the banks to maintain foreclosed properties to prevent neighborhood blight.