Fannie Mae made an announcement last week that borrowers who walk away from their mortgages – the strategic defaulters – will be unable to secure a Fannie Mae mortgage for seven years following the foreclosure. And in the states that allow deficiency judgments, Fannie said they’d be taking legal action against those borrowers in an… CONTINUE
California to Play Catch-Up
The latest quarterly report from the UCLA Anderson Forecast says that the California economic recovery is expected to lag the nation in 2010 but will ramp up in 2011 and beyond. From the report: UCLA Anderson Senior Economist Jerry Nickelsburg says the state “will grow slower than the U.S. and a slow recovery in jobs… CONTINUE
75% of Mortgage Mods to Fail?
A credit rating agency says that between 65%-75% of HAMP loans are likely to go bad as borrowers continue to struggle with increasing debt. The Fitch Ratings report said that on average, HAMP-modified borrowers have 64% of their monthly pretax income already committed to existing debt, and have no cash reserves to deal with an… CONTINUE
Fed Mortgage Fraud Busts
Attorney General Eric Holder, FBI Director Robert Mueller and HUD Inspector General Kenneth Donohue held a news conference on June 17 to announce that the agencies’ three-month “Operation Stolen Dreams” sting has already netted 485 arrests for mortgage fraud nationwide. They also said that mortgage fraud has resulted in losses of about $2.3 billion to… CONTINUE
Pimco CRE Forecast: Damp
Pacific Investment Management Co. (Pimco) released their analysis of the commercial real estate market this week, saying that unemployment and property price uncertainty will continue to put a damper on recovery. A Wall Street Journal article outlined the key findings: –Capital has returned to commercial real estate. “But optimism should be tempered, because national price… CONTINUE
California CRE Looking Up?
An article last week in the LATimes noted that while prices are not exactly climbing, investors are “on the prowl again” and bidding is brisk for desirable commercial properties. The report noted that there is a lot of commercial real estate investment money on the sidelines awaiting bargains that just haven’t materialized because lenders have… CONTINUE
Home Buyer Tax Credit Extension?
The real estate lobby has been petitioning Congress to extend the homebuyer tax credit closing deadline past June 30 because the program worked too well. The last-minute rush of homebuyers in April caused a log jam at lenders and real estate service companies that is still not unclogged. The concern is that many of those… CONTINUE
SB 1178 Approved by Senate
Last week the California Senate approved SB 1178, extending anti-deficiency protection to homeowners who refinanced their original mortgage loans and are now facing foreclosure. SB 1178 now moves to the Assembly for approval. From the C.A.R. press release: “Currently, if a homeowner defaults on a mortgage used to purchase his or her home — known… CONTINUE
May Foreclosure Report
Things are looking a bit sunnier in sunny California these days according to RealtyTrac’s May foreclosure report. Foreclosure filings in the Sacramento area were down almost 13 percent in May compared with the same month one year ago, although May filings were up slightly (2.25%) from the prior month. For California as a whole, foreclosure… CONTINUE
Short Seller Beware
The Sacramento Bee reports that as the number of short sales in the area rise, so do the imaginative ways some people can come up with to exploit them. The SacBee article warns of these schemes: • Unlicensed short sale “negotiators” are approaching homeowners, asking for thousands of dollars up front to negotiate with lenders,… CONTINUE
Flip Flops
A short sale fraud scheme known as “flopping” is on the rise across the U.S. and two Connecticut real estate agents may be on their way to prison for their involvement in this illegal activity. Flopping is when an investor or homebuyer hires a broker to assess a property for less than its market value… CONTINUE
Housing Market Bipolar
Real estate experts are calling the current housing market “bipolar”, citing the rise in sales and prices on one hand and the hike in interest rates and repossessions on the other. The final diagnosis: negative in the short term, but turning positive by the end of the year. According to a CNNMoney article: One of… CONTINUE
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