A new state run pilot program which is aimed at helping those who are out of work avoid foreclosure will start up next week. Because the criteria used to qualify those needing assistance appear extreme, it seems more likely than not that many homeowners will be left without any assistance.
Read more at: Foreclosure aid out of reach for many.
Snowmass Village, the posh Colorado ski village which neighbors Aspen, refinanced in 2007 to use a $520 million for completion of a $1 billion year-round resort. The Snowmass Ski Resort foreclosure shows that the foreclosure problems hitting the rest of the United States are also hitting the well to do.
Government watchdogs told a Senate panel yesterday that the Obama administration’s effort to help homeowners avoid foreclosure isn’t working. Special inspector general Neil Barofsky said the program has not “put an appreciable dent in foreclosure filings.” So what’s next? Another program.
Read more about the report from the NY post article detailing the report to the Senate panel:
Foreclosure aid ‘failing’
Homeless Pets: Foreclosure's Forgotten Victims. As the number of displaced pets from foreclosures increases due to the foreclosure crisis, more pets are unable to be placed in suitable homes. With 5 million displaced pets lost to homes prior to the foreclosure crisis, the numbers have gone up dramatically, at least an additional 550,000 to 1 million pets have needed placement.
Read more about the staggering problem with displaced pets here:
Homeless Pets: Foreclosure’s Forgotten Victims – Housing Watch
Foreclosed Dreams – In These Times: The Hernandez family is one example of the new face of the deepening home mortgage foreclosure crisis. A crisis that has not been subdued it seems, only delayed. It has also been an ongoing crisis that has been increasingly affecting suburban and upper class homeowners whom bought their homes in last few years.
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Foreclosed Dreams – In These Times
Two months after losing her mobile home to foreclosure, Willie Turner still mows the right of way in front of it as well as a three-acre tract she owns next door. In the distance, you can see the foreclosure notice on the window. Turner is hoping to sell the tract to help with some of her debt.
Read the full story at:
Temple woman’s home foreclosed after husband dies
As the foreclosure crisis continues to inflict pain across the nation and many other countries, new statistics show that in many cities it's bound to get worse before it gets better. These are the
riskiest cities for homeowners according to Forbes online.
Nevada has seen a decline in foreclosures compared to last year, but the state kept its No. 1 national ranking in the first half of 2010. Foreclosure filings fell 13 percent from the second half of 2009 and 6 percent from the first half of 2009. The foreclosure rate has dropped in the state, but Nevada still ranks No. 1 according to this Las Vegas Sun article. Even so, this story reiterates that Nevada still ranks No. 1 in the nation.
Another mid-level home is at risk for foreclosure and since furloughed from her job two years ago, its owner has depleted her savings to make her house payments. This situation is becoming more common, even with jobs still in hand. Read the rest at Foreclosure crisis phase 2: the negative equity dilemma
The Florida attorney general’s office is investigating allegations of misconduct by one of the largest foreclosure law firms in the state as foreclosure lawyers face new heat in the State of Florida.
Joan Jensen, president and CEO of The Central Credit Union of Illinois, offers some valuable tips on buying a house that is in foreclosure. According to Joan, you should first determine the differences between making a good buy or saying good-bye to any particular foreclosure property.
More homeowners are getting help avoiding foreclosure through loan modifications and other efforts — but “more” doesn’t necessarily mean “very many” homeowners. The data so far from the mortgage modifications that have been granted by banks are not very inspiring.
The Spokane Journal of Business reports now that researchers have found that borrowers of home loans have caused our own 2007-2008 foreclosure crisis (and why not the entire great recession you might ask? ) Yes, these researchers did find that the home loan crisis triggered a much deeper and more serious financial crisis and ultimately the latest and greatest economic recession the world has ever seen. Hopefully, these researchers can now look to solving the problem that they now blame on home loan borrowers since the problem, which started in 2007, is not over.
With mortgage delinquencies at an all-time high, there are lots of desperate homeowners seeking to avoid foreclosure — and tons of scam artists trying to take advantage of that. Here are 3 tips for avoiding foreclosure prevention scams from CNN.
A record number of U.S. homes were lost to foreclosure in the first three months of this year, a sign banks are starting to wade through the backlog of troubled home loans at a faster pace, according to a new report. The first three months of the year saw more than 7000 homes and condos across a single state either get scheduled for a foreclosure auction or bought back by the banks. In another state, Illinois bank-owned foreclosures have doubled in first quarter.
Even with new rules, the same troubles for homeowners in despair. The new rules really have done little to alleviate the foreclosure crisis , and some rules have helped open the doors to fraud and created a slew of new headaches for potential home buyers.
Read more at: foreclosure rates surge, biggest jump in 5 years
The foreclosure crisis appears to be leveling off as May foreclosure rates hold steady and banks hold back from large numbers of foreclosures.
A recent news update about is the latest news of the housing problems that continue to affect the United States leading to “a bad situation that is not getting worse” but ” is still bad.”
New statewide approaches are being considered to ease a backlog of foreclosure cases as massive numbers of foreclosure cases are overwhelming the court system.
As Americans continue to struggle with foreclosure, foreclosure scams preying on the innocent are spreading like wildfire.
At home with his son, Matt Zabiega plays Monopoly, the worlds most famous real estate game, where one roll of the dice can make you a millionaire. But in the real world, it’s not the same game when you may lose your house. Here is one article with suggested steps to help you fight foreclosure.
An estimated 34,000 Californians who lost homes to foreclosure or sold them at a loss are in line for an April 15th tax break, the Los Angeles Times reports, as tax help has been OK’d for Californians who lost their homes to foreclosure or sold their homes short this past year. The previous tax law in California did not give this tax break which led to a large disparity between California and Federal tax liability when seller’s lost homes or sold short.
WATSONVILLE — At her cozy hilltop home, which sits at the end of a long dirt road, Vonda McCray-Hodges can see red-tailed hawks and green fields. The Santa Cruz County grandmother, 67, let everyone know how she escaped foreclosure and how you too may have options you didn’t know about.
One question many have been asking: do I have the wrong home or the wrong mortgage?
ABC’s ‘Extreme Makeover: Home Edition is a popular reality show but the producers of the show are scaling back new home renovations because many of the homes have faced foreclosure.
As federal aid is forestalling only a small fraction of foreclosures and with many homeowners still behind on their mortgage, some are fighting back. After staving off her own foreclosure , one foreclosure fighter is using a little-known law to help homeowners stay in their houses even after those houses have been auctioned off.
Although news organizations such as USAtoday.com are reporting that more homeowners are keeping up with their mortgages which “portends a peaking of the foreclosure crisis” there are still many delinquencies in almost all categories such as 30-, 90- and 120-day delinquencies on single-family properties. Obama’s foreclosure aid program is saving few homowners lagging behind the foreclosure crisis and this is leaving millions out accoring to a watchdog organization.
More homeowners get help though many are disqualified from obtaining help under the Obama plan.
Mediation will be required between borrowers facing foreclosure and mortgage lenders if borrowers choose under a Foreclosure Mediation Bill which was finalized by lawmakers this past Monday.
As large numbers of people continue to struggle selling their homes and as the housing bailout nears 2 Trillion US dollars, there’s a new program designed to help these struggling homeowners avoid foreclosure.