Massachusetts Foreclosed Homes

U.S. Senate Bill Would Bring $211 Million To MA

A housing relief bill being considered in the United States Senate would provide Massachusetts with $211 million to boost home ownership and help homeowners avoid foreclosure, the Boston Herald reported April 3, 2008.

"The money is part of a $10 billion mortgage revenue bond program for state and local housing agencies that Sens. John Kerry, D-Mass., and Gordon Smith, R-Ore., pushed to include in the bill."

Kerry, who is running for re-election in November, said the Federal Reserve recently moved quickly to assist investment bank Bear Stearns as it stood on the brink of bankruptcy. He said the same urgency was needed to help families struggling with the foreclosure crisis.

"The new bond program could mean 1,110 new and refinanced home loans in Massachusetts, and up to 80,000 new loans nationwide, Kerry said."

Read The Boston Herald Article

National Foreclosures Reach All-time High In Q4

Foreclosures in the United States reached an all-time high in the fourth quarter of 2007, the Boston Herald reported March 6, 2008.

"The Mortgage Bankers Association, in a quarterly snapshot of the mortgage market released today, said the proportion of all mortgages nationwide that fell into foreclosure shot up to a record high of 0.83 percent in the October-to-December quarter. That surpassed the previous high of 0.78 percent set in the prior quarter."

At the same time, more homeowners fell behind on their monthly mortgage payments.

Read The Boston Herald Article

U.S. Foreclosure Activity Rises 57 Percent

U.S. foreclosure activity increased 8 percent in January 2008 compared to December and shot up 57 percent compared to January 2007, RealtyTrac, a publisher of foreclosure data, reported February 26, 2008.

Nevada leads the U.S. in foreclosure activity.

"Despite a month-over-month drop in foreclosure activity, Nevada continued to document the highest foreclosure rate among the 50 states. Foreclosure filings were reported on a total of 6,087 Nevada properties during the month, a 45 percent decrease from the previous month but still a 95 percent increase from January 2007."

For January, California's foreclosure rate ranked second highest, and  Florida ranked third. Other states with foreclosure rates ranking among the top 10 were Arizona, Colorado, Massachusetts, Georgia, Connecticut, Ohio and Michigan.

Read The RealtyTrac Press Release

U.S. Congressman Barney Frank Has A Plan For States To Buy Foreclosed Homes

U.S. Representative Barney Frank, a Massachusetts Democrat, wants the federal government to loan states $5 billion to buy foreclosed homes on the cheap and turn those properties into affordable housing, the Boston Herald reported February 26, 2008.

“'It’s a good time to do some socially responsible bottom feeding,' Frank, a Newton Democrat who chairs the House Financial Services Committee, told the Herald. 'Having (abandoned) property sit unsold on the market is just awful. We think states can buy it up - hopefully at reduced prices.'”

The idea is part of proposed legislation that would cost more than $7 billion to combat the foreclosure crisis.

Meanwhile, in the U.S. Senate, Massachusetts Democrat John Kerry has proposed, with Republican Senator Gordon Smith, using $10 billion in tax-free bonds to give distressed homeowners affordable loans.

Read The Boston Herald Article

Georgia Bank Robber Angry Over Foreclosure

Angry after a foreclosure, a man wielding a gun robbed an Athens, Georgia bank on February 21, 2008, United Press International (UPI) reported February 22, 2008.

"'You took my house, now I'm going to take your money,' the robber told the teller as he pointed a gun at her, Police Capt. Clarence Holeman said"

Read The UPI Article

U.S. Senate Will Debate Foreclosure Bill

Debate will begin in the Democrat-lead United States Senate next week on a foreclosure bill that will allow bankruptcy judges to erase mortgage debt and provide billions to rehabilitate abandoned properties, Reuters reported February 22, 2008.

The bill, known as the "Foreclosure Prevention Act of 2008" and sponsored by Democrat leader Harry Reid of Nevada, likely will have bipartisan support for some aspects of the legislation and fierce Republican opposition to other aspects.

"Banking lobbyists say the bankruptcy provision would drive up borrowing costs since lenders will want to charge more as an insurance policy against possible bankruptcy-related losses."

Read The Reuters Article

Presidential Candidates Differ On Foreclosure Fix

Democrat Party presidential hopefuls Hillary Clinton and Barak Obama have been talking about the foreclosure mess recently, with Ohio, a state hit hard by foreclosures, going to the polls on March 4, 2008.

The candidates differ on how they would approach fixing the foreclosure crisis.

Clinton believes that government intervention is necessary. She proposes ceasing foreclosure proceedings for 90 days to allow borrowers and lenders to work on modifications, instituting a five-year interest-rate freeze on adjustable-rate, subprime mortgages for primary residences only, and the use of government-backed mortgages to refinance borrowers who can no longer manage their monthly payments.

On the other hand, Obama believes that government involvement will force lenders to put the brakes on making new loans and modifications. Instead, he is focusing on stricter penalties for predatory lenders, tax credits for mortgage interest and a $10 billion fund dedicated to preventing foreclosure and assisting first-time buyers.

Source: REALTOR® Magazine Online

U.S. Foreclosures Rise 75% In 2007

With mortgage loans becoming increasingly more difficult to refinance and home values declining, the number of U.S. homeowners entering the foreclosure process rose 75 percent in 2007 compared to 2006,  Boston.com reported January 30, 2008.

More than 1 percent of U.S. households were in some stage of foreclosure during the year, up from 0.58 percent in 2006. RealtyTrac, Inc., a foreclosure data company, provided the statistics.

For the year, more than 2.2 million default notices, auction notices, and bank repossessions were reported on about 1.3 million properties.

Read The Boston.com Article

Cleveland Sues 21 Banks Over Foreclosure Mess

With foreclosures adding up, the City of Cleveland has sued 21 banks, claiming that the banks' subprime lending practices created a public nuisance that hurt property values and city tax collections, USA Today reported January 11, 2008.

It sounds like a stretch to me.

The lawsuit seeks to recover hundreds of millions of dollars in damages, including lost taxes from devalued property and money spent demolishing and boarding up thousands of abandoned houses.

Cleveland is not the first city to sue lenders over mortgage troubles. A few days earlier, the City of Baltimore sued Wells Fargo, alleging the bank intentionally sold more high-interest mortgages to blacks than to whites in violation of federal law. The city alleges that Wells Fargo targeted black neighborhoods for high-risk and unfairly priced loans. Wells Fargo denies the claim.

Read The USA Today Article

Minorities Hit Hard By Foreclosures

The Boston Herald reported January 15, 2008 that a new study shows that the subprime-mortgage crisis will cost black and Hispanic homeowners up to $256 billion," the worst financial hit for minorities in modern U.S. history."

“'The dream that Martin Luther King Jr. once spoke of has been foreclosed,' Boston-based United for a Fair Economy wrote in a report set for release to coincide with [the] 79th anniversary of King’s birth."

Based on previously released data on the subprime meltdown, the study projected "blacks" will lose $71.5 billion to $121.6 billion on high-cost mortgages taken out over the past eight years. Hispanics will forfeit another $75.8 billion to $128.9 billion.

"41 percent of blacks and 32.8 percent of Hispanics who bought homes in Boston or five other major cities in recent years used high-cost loans. By contrast, only 6.9 percent of whites used such mortgages.

"Blacks got 54.7 percent of all high-cost mortgages issued nationwide, even though African-Americans represent just 13.4 percent of U.S. population.

"Even among upper-income buyers, 54.4 percent of blacks and 48.9 percent of Hispanics used high-cost loans. By contrast, just 16.4 percent of higher-income white buyers received such loans."

An industry spokesperson told the Herald that she rejects the idea that discrimination is wide spread.

Read The Boston Herald Article