According to the New York Times, states have finally negotiated a settlement with large lenders over alleged foreclosure abuses: After months of painstaking talks, government authorities and five of the nation’s biggest banks have agreed to a $26 billion settlement that could provide relief to nearly two million current and former American homeowners harmed by the bursting of the housing bubble, state and federal officials said. It is part of a broad national settlement aimed at halting the housing market’s downward slide and holding the banks accountable for foreclosure abuses. So what does this settlement look like?  From the Wall…
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Unpaid mortgages aren’t the only reason homes are foreclosed on, they can also be foreclosed on for unpaid taxes.  West Allis, Wisconsin was in no hurry to foreclose on a vacant home, leaving a deceased man undiscovered for four years. [Thanks L!] The body of a Wisconsin man was discovered inside his home more than four years after he reportedly killed himself with a handgun. The “nearly skeletonized body” of David Carter was discovered inside his home in January by a real estate agent sent to deliver foreclosure papers to the house. But his actual death is estimated to have…
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Here’s a great CNBC interview with Sam Zell on CNBC on what government “assistance” has done for the housing market. [Thanks L!] As sales languish and prices continue to fall, the head of Equity Group Investments and numerous other ventures pinned the blame on policies that refused to allow market forces to take hold. “Rather than let the elements of the business world take care of the problems, we basically stopped the process of creating market clearing,” Zell said in a CNBC interview. “Had we allowed the market to clear without trying to stop reality…we would have a healthy housing…
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Poor L gets all kinds of real estate related spam, but he graciously sorts through it and sends the more interesting stuff.  I did think that the following chart on “When Can I Buy A House”, sent out by an Arizona mortgage broker, might be interesting to some of our readers:   If you go to the webpage, there’s info on how long after Chapter 13 as well.  Of course, if you aren’t buying a house because you are still waiting for that job to come through (and don’t feel bad, you’ve got a lot of company.) it will be…
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I confess that I didn’t watch the State of the Union address last night. I don’t even like baloney in my sandwiches– I can’t take it in large quantities. I did however, read the summaries this morning, particularly the housing proposals. This is the one that stood out to me: Obama proposed that “every responsible homeowner” be able to refinance. The existing refinancing program (HARP) lets borrowers who are current on their mortgages refinance even if they’re way underwater — but only if their loans are guaranteed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. Obama’s proposal would extend refinancing to borrowers…
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Worried about losing your home to foreclosure?  There are a number of companies out there that are willing to help you, or rather, help themselves to your money. [Thanks L!] If you want to try and modify your loan, pick up the phone and call your lender.  You might be an amateur, but at least the price is right, and you can be confident that you have your best interests at heart.

To all of our friends here- If you are: Buying or selling a house Looking for the perfect rental Trying to negotiate a short sale Searching for a good investment property Trying to negotiate the best possible deal for your clients Working to keep sales up in a slow market Searching for good investments Or just trying to survive in a tough economy Here’s hoping that 2012 will bring you all the best.

Bank in 2008, Bank of America purchased the ailing Countrywide Financial.  This acquisition has turned out to be poisoned pill for BofA, in spite of former CEO Ken Lewis’ optimistic comment at the time of the purchase: “Countrywide presents a rare opportunity for Bank of America to add what we believe is the best domestic mortgage platform at an attractive price and to affirm our position as the nation’s premier lender to consumers,” Lewis said in a statement. MSNBC said at the time: It also places Lewis in the position of a market savior. By buying Countrywide, he’s keeping the…
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The National Association of Realtors (NAR)  has released their pending home sales number, and indicates that pending sales are at an 19month high.  Pending home sales measures how many homes the NAR will be closing in the near future.  They did, however, admit earlier this month that they had “miscalculated” home sales for the past few years.  It does make one wonder if they can count pendings any better than they can count sales.  Chief economist for the NAR, Lawrence Yun, did admit that there might be one factor throwing off the accuracy of pending home sales:  [Thanks L!] The…
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More Americans are trading in their mortgage for a lease.  For some, the change is mandatory, as foreclosure or financial circumstances force them to sell or walk away.  Others would like a mortgage, but just can’t seem to qualify. Then there’s the crowd that is finding the “dream of homeownership” just a little too risky for their taste.  Whatever their reasons though, homeownership rates are dropping as rental rates rise: With U.S. unemployment at a lofty 8.6%, home foreclosures rising and property prices under pressure, more and more Americans have given up the dream of owning, opting instead to rent,…
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It’s a holiday weekend, so I don’t feel guilty indulging in a little off-topic humor.  I was forwarded this photo by a friend: Apparently Santa should have registered with Air Traffic Control.

In the wake of “Occupy Wall Street” we are seeing another movement– Reoccupy Foreclosures.  I wasn’t completely comfortable with this case though.  One woman says she was targeted by predatory lenders to take out loans against her childhood home.  She found herself in foreclosure.  It doesn’t appear that she was forced, just temped.  That raises the question, is “The devil made me do it,” a reasonable defense? (Thanks L!)

I had to take a break from vacation to post on this one.  This story is too vindicating to pass up.  As we always suspected, the National Association of Realtors has been releasing less than accurate data. (Hat tip to L and Mike C!) L has been warning us for years about the data from the National Association of Realtors. They have not released their methodology, so it was difficult to call them on it.  After CoreLogic discovered from its own studies, however, that the NAR’s numbers could be off by as much as 20%, [Picky, picky, right?] the NAR…
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No Doomers, I haven’t given up on Doom.  Family and holiday obligation though, have me stretched really thin this month.  I’ll post when I can, but don’t look for regular activity until after the first of the year. All the best, Twist

If you stop paying your mortgage, chances are, you’ve got nearly two years before you’re forced to find other lodgings.  With an average of 631 days in limbo, the “shadow inventory” has reached new heights: Increasingly in some states, foreclosure is like a Roach Motel: Houses come in, but they don’t get out. This has led to an egregious statistic in the new issue of Mortgage Monitor, a report from data-tracker LPS Applied Analytics, which shows that the average loan in foreclosure has been delinquent for 631 days. That’s nearly 21 months, a new record. Much of the lag has…
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