Housing Doom

This article from today’s Arizona Republic really speaks for itself: [Hat tip to our source!  You are always appreciated!]

Big lenders and Wall Street investors are going after Arizona mortgage brokers, appraisers, real estate agents, title firms and home buyers for fraud.

Dozens of civil lawsuits alleging the gamut of mortgage fraud, from cash-back deals to lying about income on loan documents, have been filed against Valley firms and individuals during the past few months.

Fraud experts and regulators say the lawsuits are only the beginning as the fallout from mortgage fraud starts to hit the Valley. Cash-back scams involve getting a mortgage for more than a home is worth and pocketing the extra money. The deals inflate home values and leave lenders with losses from loans worth far more than the house itself.

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Back in October I did a post on the Bohall Family- a family in Mesa, AZ trying to sell their house so they could move into the new home they had built. If you missed that story, or need a refresher, the East Valley Tribune said:

Craig and Shannon Bohall bought an existing home in Mesa three years ago, and now they have an opportunity to move up to their first brand new home. Their house, near Baseline Road and Val Vista Drive, has five bedrooms, 3 1 /2 bathrooms and lots of amenities. They put their house on the market more than a month ago in hopes of a quick sale so they can close on their new home by mid-November.

However, the house hasn’t budged. It’s just sitting on the market day after day without drawing any buyer interest. The couple already has cut their asking price from $564,995 to $559,995.

The Bohalls have sweetened the deal by offering a free trip to Hawaii, a free big-screen TV and $10,000 cash to whoever steps forward and buys their house.

“We’re in a bit of a time crunch, and that’s why I thought instead of just giving an incentive like everybody does, like we’ll pay $3,000 worth of your closing costs, I said no, let’s make the incentive big,” Craig Bohall said.

That wasn’t all the Bohalls tried. They also managed to have their story told on Channel 5 and Channel 15, in addition to the newspaper coverage.  It wasn’t working though.  In January the price had been cut to $525,000- still no takers. [For what it is worth, Zillow estimates their property value at $518K]
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