Help The Middle ClassNews and Information For The Heart Of America
BANK WORLD UPDATE: Citigroup Gives Distressed Homeowners’ A New Alternative. “Turn Over Your Deed and We’ll Give You 6 Months To Leave” (Yahoo!/AP)
Citigroup Inc. plans to let homeowners on the verge of foreclosure stay in their homes for six months — if they turn over the deed to their property.
Citi said Thursday it is launching the pilot program, dubbed “Foreclosure Alternatives,” this week in Texas, Florida, Illinois, Michigan, New Jersey and Ohio. Initially, about 1,000 homeowners are [...]
HOME BUYING: The Best Foreclosure Bargins In America (CNBC)
The turmoil in the US housing market has been punctuated with a wave of residential foreclosures. With sellers looking to offload foreclosed properties, often at a loss, the discounted prices have been identified as potentially profitable investments by speculators betting on a housing rebound. But across the country, where are the best opportunities?
According [...]
Federal Housing Administration Has Mounting Finanicial Woes. A Crush Of Foreclosures Is Possible (Washington Post)
The share of borrowers who are falling seriously behind on loans backed by the Federal Housing Administration jumped by more than a third in the past year, foreshadowing a crush of foreclosures that could further buffet an agency vital to the housing market’s recovery.
About 9.1 percent of FHA borrowers had missed at least three payments [...]
The Hidden Costs Of The American Dream. Owning A Home May Now Not Make Sense (Yahoo! Finance)
The past few years have certainly challenged the idea that real estate prices only go in one direction. But the downside of the “American Dream” is even more pronounced, says James Altucher of Formula Capital.
Owning a home has “never been a great investment,” Altucher says, noting housing went up a dismal 0.4% annually vs. 8% [...]
Walking Away From Your Mortgage (The New York Times)
John Courson, president and C.E.O. of the Mortgage Bankers Association, recently told The Wall Street Journal that homeowners who default on their mortgages should think about the “message” they will send to “their family and their kids and their friends.” Courson was implying that homeowners — record numbers of whom continue to default — have [...]
Obama Foreclosure Plan Falling Far Short On Goals (Washington Post)
The Obama administration disclosed on Friday that it has made little progress in helping struggling homeowners attain long-term relief under its signature foreclosure-prevention effort, reaching only 18 percent of the target announced just six weeks ago.
On Nov. 30, the administration kicked off a “Mortgage Modification Conversion Drive” to help distressed borrowers in the trial phase [...]
THE STORY THE WHITE HOUSE DOESN’T WANT YOU TO READ: Foreclosures Jump in December As Obama Loan Modifications Fail To Work (USA TODAY)
Foreclosure filings increased 14% in December from November, the first monthly increase since foreclosure activity peaked in July, according to a RealtyTrac report out Thursday.
Foreclosure filings were reported on 349,519 properties in December, which were also 15% higher than in December 2008, RealtyTrac said.
“It’s somewhat startling to see these kind of numbers,” says Brian Bethune [...]
2010 Will Be A Record Year For Foreclosures As Unemployment Rises (Yahoo! News)
A record 2.8 million households were threatened with foreclosure last year, and that number is expected to rise this year as more unemployed and cash-strapped homeowners fall behind on their mortgages.
The number of households that received a foreclosure-related notice rose 21 percent from 2008, RealtyTrac Inc. reported Thursday. One in 45 homes were sent a [...]
Tough Year For Real Estate Predicted (The Wall Street Journal)
Real estate, which sparked the global economic downturn in 2008, struggled to recover in 2009. But the path to a full return to health is littered with land mines that could send the sector spiraling downward again, possibly upending the nascent economic revival.
The past year’s progress in the housing market has relied on government programs [...]
Foreclosures Lowering The Value Of Your Home (USA Today / AP)
LOS ANGELES (AP) — It wasn’t the first time that Katherine Scheri ruined a real estate agent’s day with a low property appraisal.
Scheri, a real estate appraiser, had sized up a three-bedroom, two-bath house in Santa Ana, Calif., for $30,000 less than what the buyers offered to pay. A typical deal-killer for a seller.
The agent [...]
