If you are frustrated because taxpayer money is bailing out the GSEs due to mortgages losses, how do you feel about taxpayer money defending former Fannie/Freddie execs? [Thanks L!] A watchdog agency said Wednesday that the legal tab for former leaders of mortgage finance giantsFannie Mae and Freddie Mac is at least $110 million. And taxpayers have paid at least $47 million of it, according to an Office of Inspector General of theFederal Housing Finance Agency report.  And the total bill could be even higher since the inspector general report focused on only one particular legal case against Fannie Mae, and isn’t an exhaustive…
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Earlier this month the Obama administration released their latest plan to speed the housing recovery by allowing underwater borrowers to refinance.  While this will undoubtedly help a few people, in the long run, it will do nothing more than make it look like the administration is doing “something”. After all the schemes we see coming out of Washington, I thought it interesting that the best housing economic theory I’ve seen in print recently comes from a cartoon that was published in the Deseret News in 1935: [Hat tip to Mr. Twist]   It’s too bad that the artist who drew…
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With a bad economy and sinking home values, there are folks desperate to pay the mortgage.  Desperate enough, in fact, to turn their home into a billboard:  In return for allowing the front of their four-bedroom house to become a garish advertisement, the Hostetlers are getting their nearly $2,000 monthly mortgage paid by the marketing company behind the project, Brainiacs From Mars. In a residential neighborhood without heavy traffic, cars passing by the house slowed and drivers gawked at the vivid colors and a giant Brainiacs From Mars billboard. Romeo Mendoza, the company’s founder and CEO, told Reuters that his ultimate…
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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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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.

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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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!)

Will the real San Francisco real estate market please stand up? Looking at the past week’s headlines, you wouldn’t think that these were the same market. For example, we read in the San Francisco Chronicle that real estate investors have become a potent force in a moribund real estate market: OAKLAND, Calif. — Real-estate investors have become a potent force in a moribund housing market, accounting for more than one-fifth of transactions in the San Francisco Bay Area over the past 12 months, according to real-estate data. Despite record low interest rates, many consumers simply don’t have enough confidence in…
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Yesterday Edward DeMarco, acting director for the Federal Housing Finance Agency Issued a statement to the House of Representatives entitled HR- Private Mortgage Investment Act. In this discussion, DeMarco reviews some recent changes to HAMP (Home Affordable Refinance Program). Changes to the program include: eliminating or reducing certain risk-based fees; removing the current 125 percent LTV 5 ceiling; waiving certain representations and warranties; eliminating the need for certain property appraisals; carrying over mortgage insurance coverage; and extending the end date for HARP until December 31, 2013. These changes were made to the program because so few homeowners were able to…
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I’ve had occasion to drive by Occupy Austin a time or two, as well as seeing the Occupy Wall Street protests on TV.  For the most part, I haven’t been impressed much by the signs I’ve seen. [I don't think signs that say, for example, tax the rich or corporations are evil are clever, informative, or very useful.] I saw one online today though that I really liked:

Feeling tired and rundown because you have an out of shape mortgage?  The FHFA is working on a plan for you to shed those excess dollars on your mortgage: WASHINGTON, Oct 26 (Reuters) – The regulator for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac was reviewing a proposal to help troubled homeowners by forgiving a portion of their outstanding mortgage debt, Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives said on Wednesday. The head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), which oversees the mortgage-financing companies, met with 19 Democrats and discussed a proposal that would allow bankruptcy judges to reduce principal amounts…
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From the website of PMI Mortgage Insurance: [Hat tip L!] To all policyholders, insureds, and servicers: On August 19, 2011, PMI informed you of regulatory decisions that impacted our ability to write new commitments of insurance. Specifically, PMI Mortgage Insurance Co. (“PMI”) was required to cease writing new commitments. Today, we are informing all policyholders, insureds, and servicers of loans insured by PMI that the Director of the Arizona Department of Insurance obtained an “Order Directing Full and Exclusive Possession and Control of Insurer” (the “Order”) with respect to PMI. Under the Order, the Arizona Department of Insurance now has…
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