foreclosures

Lucrative Fees May Deter Efforts to Alter Loans

This week, the Obama administration summoned mortgage company executives to Washington to demand they move faster to lower payments for homeowners sliding toward foreclosure. Treasury officials called on the companies to hire and train more people quickly to field applications for relief.

But industry insiders and legal experts say the limited capacity of mortgage companies is not the primary factor impeding the government’s $75 billion program to prevent foreclosures.

Posted in banks, Economy/Trade, foreclosures

Watchdog to Challenge Foreclosures

A public interest group in St. Paul is filing a class action lawsuit to halt foreclosures until the federal government fixes problems with a mortgage modification program.

The lawsuit, which is expected to be filed in federal district court, challenges an Obama administration program established earlier this year to give mortgage lenders incentives to modify home loans for struggling borrowers.

Posted in foreclosures, housing

How to Solve the Housing Crisis

Winston Churchill supposedly said: "You can always count on the Americans to do the right thing, after they have tried everything else." This may prove to be an accurate description of the response to the foreclosure crisis that has followed the collapse of the housing bubble.

The folks in Washington have developed a series of complex mortgage modification schemes designed to keep people in their homes. George Bush put forward the first plan in the summer of 2007. It was entirely voluntary for lenders and came with no government money.

Posted in financial crisis, foreclosures

Federal Loan Programs Not Stemming Foreclosures

WASHINGTON -- Federal programs aimed at modifying loans to stem foreclosures aren't working, witnesses told a Senate subcommittee, and some lawmakers again called on Congress to pass a bill allowing bankruptcy judges to modify home loans, a procedure known as mortgage cram-downs.

Separately, the Federal Reserve took steps to make lending terms more understandable as part of its efforts to avoid another mortgage meltdown, which triggered the deep recession worldwide.

Posted in Economy/Trade, foreclosures

Foreclosures at Record High in First Half 2009 Despite Aid

NEW YORK - U.S. home foreclosure activity galloped to a record in the first half of the year, overwhelming broad efforts to remedy failing loans while job losses escalated.

Foreclosure filings jumped to a record 1.9 million on more than 1.5 million properties in the first six months of the year, RealtyTrac said on Thursday.

The number of properties drawing filings, which include notices of default and auctions, jumped 9.0 percent from the second half of 2008 and almost 15 percent from the first half of last year.

Posted in Economy/Trade, foreclosures

Study: Lenders Avoid Aiding Distressed Due to Lack of Profit

Mortgage lenders don't try to rework most home loans held by borrowers facing foreclosure because it would probably mean losing money, a study released yesterday by the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston concludes.

The Boston Fed's findings suggest the Obama administration's major effort to solve the foreclosure crisis by giving the lending industry $75 billion to rewrite delinquent loans to more affordable levels is not likely to work.

Posted in banks, Economy/Trade, foreclosures, housing

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 26, 2009
9:18 AM

CONTACT: National Low Income Housing Coalition
Taylor Materio 202-662-1530 x227; taylor@nlihc.org

Foreclosures Lead to Homelessness for Many, Joint Report Finds

WASHINGTON - June 26 - Nearly 80% of homeless service and advocacy agencies report that at least some of their clients became homeless as a result of a foreclosure, and one in five estimate that more than 40% of their clients became homeless because of a foreclosure.

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The National Low Income Housing Coalition is dedicated solely to ending America’s affordable housing crisis. Established in 1974 by Cushing N. Dolbeare, NLIHC educates, organizes and advocates to ensure decent, affordable housing within healthy neighborhoods for everyone. NLIHC provides up-to-date information, formulates policy and educates the public on housing needs and the strategies for solutions.

National Low Income Housing Coalition Links:

Posted in foreclosures, homelessness, housing

Foreclosure Fiasco

It's not working. The Bush-Obama strategy of throwing trillions at the banks to solve the mortgage crisis is a huge bust.

Posted in financial crisis, foreclosures, wall street

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 19, 2009
1:53 PM

CONTACT: National Low Income Housing Coalition
Taylor Materio 202-662-1530 x227; taylor@nlihc.org

Toolkit for Renters Facing Eviction Due to Foreclosure Now Available on NLIHC Website

WASHINGTON - June 19 - The National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC) has collaborated with the National Housing Law Project (NHLP) to create a new online toolkit providing a range of information for renters facing foreclosure-related evictions, their advocates, and others, including members of the media. The components of the toolkit explain the implications of the recently passed Protecting Tenants in Foreclosure Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-22, Division A, Title VII), a bill that offers important new rights to tenants living in properties that have gone into foreclosure.

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National Low Income Housing Coalition Links:

Posted in foreclosures, housing

Homeowners Seeking Gov’t Loan Mods Are Fed Up

Last week, Christina McGrath of Riverside, Calif., got a loan modification. Now she has some advice for the millions of homeowners out there still seeking one: Call 10 to 15 times a day. Ask for the president's office. Get informed. Don't take "no" for an answer.

"The only way I got this was by being a royal bitch," she says.

Posted in Economy/Trade, foreclosures