- HUD: Can’t deny mortgage based on pregnancy
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WASHINGTON – April 11, 2012 – The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) reached settlement agreements with Magna Bank in Nashville, Tenn., and Home Loan Center, Inc., in Irvine, Calif., resolving allegations that the lenders denied mortgage loans to women because they were pregnant and on temporary maternity leave. HUD announced the discrimination settlements as part of the annual Fair Housing Month.
The Fair Housing Act prohibits housing discrimination in lending, sales and rental transactions based on a person’s sex or family status. The Fair Housing Act also prohibits housing discrimination based on race, color, national origin, religion and disability.
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- Principal forgiveness gains traction as a money saver
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WASHINGTON – April 11, 2012 – Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac could save $1.7 billion if they forgave principal on some distressed mortgages, a new analysis shows.
The Federal Housing Finance Agency – which regulates the mortgage giants – may decide in the next few weeks about whether to use principal forgiveness as a foreclosure prevention tactic, said Edward DeMarco, acting director of the FHFA while speaking Tuesday at the Brookings Institution.
The FHFA, and DeMarco, have come under pressure to allow Freddie and Fannie, which own or guarantee 60 percent of all home loans, to do principal forgiveness.
FHFA’s previous analysis has shown that forgiving mortgage debt is no more effective than other loan modification efforts at reducing home loan defaults – and could cost taxpayers more money since Freddie and Fannie were placed under government control in 2008.
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- Mortgage foreclosure scams up nearly 60%
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WASHINGTON – April 12, 2012 – The Homeownership Preservation Foundation (HPF), an independent national nonprofit, says that reported mortgage foreclosure scams have surged nearly 60 percent this year in the wake of newly launched federal programs.
In addition to free foreclosure counseling, HPF operates a national hotline for troubled homeowners who want to report suspected fraud. About half of the reported scams involve attorneys or individuals claiming to offer specialized “legal services.” HPF refers the information to a national database accessed by the regulators and law enforcement agencies that have oversight in the homeowner’s area.
“Regretfully, every new government initiative spawns a slew of foreclosure avoidance scams, often from the same cast of characters doing business under various names to avoid easy detection and identification,” says Colleen Hernandez, CEO of HPF. “Most of these scams involve individuals supposedly offering mortgage foreclosure avoidance assistance that trained HPF counselors provide at no cost. Sadly, with most scams, no meaningful services are ever provided.”
Distressed homeowners should avoid any company or individual demanding upfront payments for assistance in avoiding foreclosure on their homes.
According to Hernandez, some scammers have even used HPF’s logo and brand in their promotional materials to create the impression that they’re affiliated with the organization.
To learn about the six main warning signs of loan scams, visit HPF’s “Avoid Mortgage Scams” web page – – or call them at (888) 995-HOPE.
- Bulk condo rule extended for 3 years
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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – April 12, 2012 – In most cases, people who purchase condominium units from bulk buyers won’t be able to sue them if there are construction defects or other problems.
Florida Gov. Rick Scott last week signed a bill that extended the protections for investment groups that have bought multiple units in a building. That means the investors don’t have any more responsibility than other buyers in the building.
The measure went into effect July 1, 2010, and Scott extended it for three more years until July 2015.
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- March U.S. foreclosure activity down near 5-year low
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LOS ANGELES (AP) – April 12, 2012 – More U.S. homes are entering the foreclosure process, setting the stage for a surge in properties repossessed by lenders this year.
The number of homes that received first-time foreclosure notices rose 7 percent in March from the previous month, foreclosure listing firm RealtyTrac Inc. said Thursday.
That marks the third consecutive monthly increase this year and reflects stepped-up efforts by banks to take action against homeowners who fail to keep up with mortgage payments.
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- Foreclosure refinancing plan doesn’t go far enough for some
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PHILADELPHIA – Jan. 27, 2012 – The housing industry has been appealing for a coherent policy that will end the market’s five-year-old downturn and get real estate moving.
What President Barack Obama offered Tuesday night in his State of the Union address, though welcomed by many, does not appear to be all the industry had in mind.
The president proposed to allow up to 4 million homeowners to refinance into loans guaranteed by the Federal Housing Administration, an action Obama said would save individuals an average of $3,000 annually.
Eligible mortgages would not be held by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, but by other companies. In October, the administration added an FHA-guaranteed refinancing program for a potential 1 million Fannie and Freddie borrowers who owe more on their mortgages than the value of their houses.
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- Condo buyers frustrated in hunt for FHA mortgages
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CHICAGO – Jan. 27, 2012 – Buying a condominium is getting trickier for anyone who wants to put down only 3.5 percent and have the government insure their mortgage.
The issue isn’t just the borrower’s financial wherewithal. It’s the building’s, and plenty of condos no longer get a thumbs-up from the Federal Housing Administration.
Since Feb. 1, 2010, condo buyers haven’t been able to secure unit-by-unit “spot” approval for FHA-backed mortgages if an entire building was not certified. Instead, the federal government set criteria to determine the financial viability of an entire building before deeming the project as FHA-approved, even if it had previously been certified. An approval lasts two years.
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- Rate on 30-year fixed mortgage rises to 3.98%
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WASHINGTON – Jan. 27, 2012 – The average rate on the 30-year fixed mortgage rose this week for the first time this month, though it remained below 4 percent for the eighth straight week.
The low rates may be contributing to a slow turnaround in the depressed housing market. Still, many who can afford to buy or refinance a home have already done so.
Freddie Mac said Thursday the average rate on the 30-year fixed mortgage rose to 3.98 percent this week. That’s up from 3.88 percent the previous week, which was the lowest level on record.
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- Interest rates will stay low, low, low
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WASHINGTON – Jan. 26, 2011 – Consumers and businesses can brace for another two years of exceptionally low interest rates after the Federal Reserve said Wednesday it is likely to keep its rates below 1 percent until late 2014 because of the economy’s continued weakness.
The decision means the era of historically low rates on loans – and savings – that the Fed kicked off at the peak of the financial crisis in late 2008 will run longer unless the economy improves faster than Fed policymakers predict.
The Fed said unemployment would stay near its 8.5 percent level through the end of this year and could still be in the range of 6.7 percent to 7.6 percent at the end of 2014. Housing remains depressed while growth in business investment has slowed, it said.
Meanwhile, inflation is staying below 2 percent.
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- December new-home purchases fall
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WASHINGTON (AP) – Jan. 26, 2012 – Fewer Americans bought new homes in December, making 2011 the worst sales year on record.
The Commerce Department said Thursday new-home sales fell last month to a seasonally adjusted annual pace of 307,000. The pace is less than half the 700,000 that economists say must be sold in a healthy economy.
About 302,000 new homes were sold last year. That’s less than the 323,000 sold in 2010, making 2011 the worst year on records dating back to 1963.
The median sales prices for new homes dropped in December, as builders continued to slash prices. It fell 2.5 percent to $210,300.
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- 2011’s foreclosures lowest in four years
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IRVINE, Calif. – Jan. 26, 2012 – RealtyTrac released its Year-End 2011 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report today. It shows a total of 2,698,967 foreclosure filing actions – default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions – reported on 1,887,777 U.S. properties in 2011, a decrease of 34 percent in total properties from 2010. Foreclosure activity in 2011 was 33 percent below the 2009 total and 19 percent below the 2008 total.
In 2011, 1.45 percent of U.S. housing units (one in 69) had at least one foreclosure filing during the year, down from 2.23 percent in 2010, 2.21 percent in 2009, and 1.84 percent in 2008.
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- Florida No. 5 nationally as ‘best for business’
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WASHINGTON – Jan. 26, 2012 – Wyoming, Florida and Texas rank among the 10 best states for taxes on business, while companies in states like New York, New Jersey and California have a far less pleasant tax climate, according to the Tax Foundation’s State Business Tax Climate Index, now in its 8th edition. The Tax Foundation says it looks at dozens of state tax provisions to create the ranking –a single easy-to-use score that measures each state’s tax climate against every other state. While some similar studies focus on residents’ tax burden they pay each year, the Index focuses on how a tax system enhances or harms a state’s businesses.
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- Housing inventory down 22% nationwide
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WASHINGTON – Jan. 24, 2012 – Housing inventory slid to 1.89 million homes in December – down 6 percent from the previous month and 22.3 percent from the prior year, according to Realtor.com.
In the 145 markets tracked by Realtor.com, only Springfield, Ill., registered a year-over-year increase. Inventories plunged 49.7 percent in Miami, 49.1 percent in Phoenix, and 46.6 percent in Bakersfield, Calif.
Meanwhile, the national median price edged up 5 percent year-over-year.
Asking prices – the amount sellers include on a Realtor.com listing – climbed 32.5 percent in Miami, 21.7 percent in Naples, 21.5 percent in Fort Myers-Cape Coral, and 19.4 percent in Punta Gorda, according to Realtor.com.
However, asking prices were down 11 percent in Detroit, 10 percent in Chicago, 7.6 percent in Las Vegas, and 7 percent in Sacramento.
Source: “Housing Inventory Ends Year Down 22 Percent,” Wall Street Journal (01/19/12)
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- Mortgage giants to alter practices in settlement
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WASHINGTON – Jan. 24, 2012 – The nation’s five largest mortgage lenders have agreed to overhaul their industry after deceptive foreclosure practices unfairly evicted homeowners, government officials said Monday.
A draft settlement between the banks and U.S. states has been sent to state officials for review. It would be the biggest settlement with a single industry since the 1998 multistate tobacco deal.
Those who lost their homes to foreclosure are unlikely to get their homes back or benefit much financially from the settlement, even though the banks may have to pay as much as $25 billion in total to settle with the government.
About 750,000 Americans – about half the households who might be eligible for assistance under the deal – would likely receive checks for about $1,800 each.
The agreement also could reshape longstanding mortgage-lending guidelines and make it easier for those at risk of foreclosure to restructure their loans. Roughly 1 million homeowners could see the size of their mortgages reduced.
Five major banks – Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Citibank and Ally Financial – and U.S. state attorneys general could adopt the agreement within weeks, according to two officials briefed on the discussions. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to discuss the agreement publicly.
The settlement would only apply to privately held mortgages issued from 2008 to 2011, not those held by government-controlled Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. They own about half of all U.S. mortgages, roughly about 31 million U.S. home loans.
© Copyright 2012 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.
- Economic survey: Growth will ebb
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McLEAN, Va. – Jan. 23, 2012 – The U.S. economy will slow this year after a flurry of stronger growth in late 2011, leaving the 8.5 percent unemployment rate about where it is now on Election Day, according to USA TODAY’s quarterly survey of economists.
The economy will slow to 2.2 percent annual growth in the first half of 2012 after an estimated 3.1 percent gain in fourth-quarter gross domestic product, according to the median forecast of the 48 economists surveyed.
The biggest reason for slower growth is that a late-2011 bounce back from the effects of the Japanese earthquake last March won’t last, according to Diane Swonk, chief economist at Mesirow Financial. Slower growth will help keep unemployment at 8.4 percent or higher through year’s end, economists predict.
“The little improvement we saw was partly catch-up; the retail recovery at Christmas was more hype than reality,” Swonk says. “Consumer confidence is still at recession levels, just not at depression levels.”
The good news:
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