We’ve had a few debates here on how ethical it is for a homeowner to walk away from their home and mortgage.  Homeowners, however, are not the only ones who sometimes find it to their advantage to walk away.  In south Florida, there have been thousands of cases where a lender starts to foreclose– then backs out rather than get stuck with property maintenance: A months-long Sun Sentinel investigation of property code violations involving abandoned homes uncovered case after case in which banks launched foreclosure lawsuits but then stalled or avoided taking ownership. In effect, the banks legally sidestepped responsibility…
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Foreclosure-gate has slowed down foreclosure rates as lenders go back to straighten out their paperwork. This has hurt the budget of Florida’s courts: TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Gov. Rick Scott on Tuesday approved part of a plan to keep Florida’s courts operating in the face of a $72.3 million deficit expected in the current budget year due to a drop in mortgage foreclosure filing fees. Scott’s budget director, Jerry McDaniel, notified Supreme Court Chief Justice Charles Canady that the governor has agreed to his request to temporarily shift $14 million earmarked for mediation arbitration and court education within the system’s budget to…
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If you are looking for a house that you can move into tomorrow and want a lot to choose from, you might want to consider Florida.  According to the U.S. Census Bureau, almost one in five homes in Florida is vacant: [Thanks L!] On Thursday, the Census Bureau revealed that 18% — or 1.6 million — of the Sunshine State’s homes are sitting vacant. That’s a rise of more than 63% over the past 10 years. Having this amount of oversupply on the market will keep home prices depressed and slow any recovery. . . . The vacancy problem is…
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Being in foreclosure or having economic problems does not seem to be a prerequisite to be elected, but apparently, it’s not the problem for candidates that it’s been in times past: [Candidates] around the country are facing personal financial troubles. Their money woes are more than abstractions to be addressed with policy prescriptions and high-flying rhetoric — they are personal dramas that figure into their campaign stories. In some cases, adversaries point to these problems as examples of poor judgment and highlight perceived ethical lapses. But experts say they would be wise to tread carefully in a time of widespread…
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Hot off the press this morning- the results of Fannie and Freddie’s Foreclosure prevention efforts: Washington, DC – Federal Housing Finance Agency Director James B. Lockhart today released FHFA’s latest Foreclosure Prevention Report detailing actions taken by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to prevent unnecessary foreclosures and keep people in their homes. The report includes loan modification data under FHFA’s Streamlined Modification Program, which was initiated in November 2008 but ended in April 2009. This report does not include data on refinancings or modifications from the Administration’s Making Home Affordable Program announced in March 2009. Here were the most interesting…
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  It’s no surprise to most of us when we see misleading claims about mortgages in advertisements- but how about misleading claims on the FHA’s own website? I’ve complained in previous posts that reverse mortgages are not the risk-free products that their marketers often claim.  It’s bad enough to have lenders make misleading claims.  When the FHA does it though, it’s inexcusable. Here’s one example: Reverse mortgages are becoming extremely popular for America’s seniors. FHA’s reverse mortgage is a federally-insured private loan, and it’s a safe plan that can give older Americans greater financial security. Many seniors use it to…
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Politicians have been promising to save the housing market and reduce foreclosures.  A number of programs have been launched to great fanfare, but none have been a rousing success.  Is it possible that there are still folks out there who live under a rock and haven’t heard about these programs?  The Obama administration thinks so:  [Thanks M.R.!] MIAMI – The Obama Administration today kicks off a nationwide campaign to promote the Making Home Affordable Program, a plan to stabilize our housing market and help millions of Americans reduce their monthly mortgage payments to more affordable levels. The campaign starts today…
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Housing Doom is pleased to present the third installment of our unauthorized annotated transcript of the American Enterprise Institute’s March 17, 2009 seminar "The Deflating Bubble, Part V: Forecast and Policy Recommendations for the Next Six Months." [1] This is the presentation by Tom Zimmerman [scroll down]. The event site has several resources, including both an audio and a video recording of the 2 hour proceedings. There is a brief summary, but as yet no official transcript. Zimmerman’s presentation makes use of a slide deck.[2] Highlights   … Because this does not get better as each time you turn around,…
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There’s a whole bunch of vacant REOs out there, and an ever growing number of homeless people.  There are advocacy groups out there now who are helping the homeless become squatters: [Thanks L!] MIAMI — When the woman who calls herself Queen Omega moved into a three-bedroom house here last December, she introduced herself to the neighbors, signed contracts for electricity and water and ordered an Internet connection. What she did not tell anyone was that she had no legal right to be in the home. Ms. Omega, 48, is one of the beneficiaries of the foreclosure crisis. Through a…
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Is it fraud, or is it the economy?  Whatever it is, more borrowers are defaulting, many without making a single payment.  Notice however, that the problem does not seem to be a lack of modified mortgages: Troubled borrowers continue to default at high rates even on home loans that have been modified by lenders, according to a government report issued today. The report also found that an increasing number of borrowers default on their loans before making a single payment. The report by the Office of Thrift Supervision and the Comptroller of the Currency, which regulate mortgage lenders, focuses on…
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It’s Friday, and it sounds like mortgage fraud has not been reduced by tighter standards- it has merely shifted to a different venue: WASHINGTON — As the Federal Housing Administration has stepped in to help stabilize the housing market by underwriting more mortgages, the Depression-era agency is seeing growing default rates that could undermine its health, the Department of Housing and Urban Development inspector general testified Thursday. Kenneth Donohue also told the Senate Appropriations housing subcommittee that unscrupulous lenders who helped precipitate the housing crisis with subprime loans are moving into the FHA loan system, and the number of fraud…
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For the first time since the Thirties, the moment of truth is arriving for the wealthy in America. [1] Author and Kennedy family expert Laurence Leamer seems to be a bit over his head. Not since Michael Crichton unleashed "State of Fear" on December 7, 2004, just 19 days ahead of the event that made a mockery of his literary conceit, has a theme blown up in an author’s face like this one has.

Madoff counted several large hedge fund investment firms as clients, along with some European banks, so if his firm has lost more than $50 billion, the impact could be widespread. [1] The article that gave us today’s letters-of-fire still doesn’t feel quite right.  A Ponzi scheme with just a handful of clients?  I’m remembering many, many years ago to a perfectly ordinary scandal with a volunteer church treasurer.  Accounting rules, auditors and regulators are there to protect such folk, and in that I’d be inclined to include Madoff.  Just picking at random from the bottom of the stack of hundreds…
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More "delaying the inevitable" legislation: Los Angeles home foreclosures fell sharply in October from September as a new California law came into effect, while the number of foreclosures in Miami continued to grow at a slower rate, real estate research website PropertyShark.com said Tuesday. The number of newly scheduled auctions on foreclosed properties in Los Angeles county fell 51 percent, the greatest monthly decline in two years. The law, passed July 8, requires lenders to contact homeowners and explore options to avoid foreclosure before initiating the process. Some sections of the law became effective Sept 8. Its implementation accounted for…
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Hat tip to our Admin, a long time "Fark" reader.  Posters on Fark were discussing this Sun Sentinel article entitiled "What does $700 billion actually buy?"  today. You might want to check out this Fark thread- there are some funny comments.  Here’s some of the things the Sun Sentinel says $700 billion will get you: You could buy 21 new Marlin’s stadiums for EACH COUNTY in Florida You could buy braces for everyone in Great Britain…..and France! You could buy all 32 NFL teams – 27 times 2 cups of Starbucks everyday for everyone in Brazil for a year Gasoline…
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