Tag Archives: Foreclosure Prevention

Foreclosure activity in May was marked by lenders being impacted by local market conditions rather than any national trend, according to ForeclosureRadar's May 2012 Foreclosure Report. The report examined all foreclosure activity - sales, starts, and timelines - for Arizona, California, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington in the month of May. While foreclosure starts and sales rose overall between the five states, individual activity widely varied.

Through National Foreclosure Mitigation Counseling (NFMC), more than 1.3 million homeowners have received foreclosure prevention counseling by local nonprofits and state housing finance agencies since March 2008, NeighborWorks America announced Monday. So far, the NFMC has also received six appropriations from Congress totaling $619.87 million. According to a report, NFMC clients who had their payments modified saved an average of $176 more per month, and those who received help were nearly twice as likely to obtain a modification.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is reopening a comment period regarding proposed ability-to-pay rules. The bureau reopened the comment period until July 9, 2012 to receive feedback on new data and information it received. The original comment period to the proposed rule closed on July 22, 2011.

Despite reporting 43,000 proprietary loans in April, 8 percent lower than the previous month, Hope Now continues to reach out and stay in contact with at-risk borrowers. Foreclosure sales also declined in April to approximately 60,000 completed compared from 66,000 in March. Delinquencies of 60 days or more remained relatively flat for the month at 2.52 million. Delinquency data is extrapolated from data received by the Mortgage Bankers Association for the first quarter of 2012.

Through a state foreclosure prevention effort known as the Mortgage Payment Program (MPP), the State Employees' Credit Union (SECU) announced it has helped nearly 500 members receive program benefits. MPP was formed through the N.C. Foreclosure Prevention Fund and helps struggling homeowners who are falling behind on payments due to no-fault job loss or other hardships such as divorce, illness, or death of a co-signer. As part of the program, homeowners are offered zero-interest loans for a maximum of $36,000 to cover mortgage and related expenses up to 36 months.

Connecticut attorney general George Jepsen announced Friday that programs of benefits resulting from a $25 billion mortgage foreclosure servicing settlement are moving forward in the state. Out of Connecticut's $190 million share of the settlement funds, an estimated $119 million is going into loan modifications. The banks have also agreed to provide $36 million in refinancing to Connecticut borrowers whose homes are worth less than their mortgages. Furthermore, they agreed to provide cash payments of about $1,500 to an estimated 7,500 borrowers in the state who experienced loan servicing abuses and lost their homes to foreclosure between the start of 2008 and the end of 2011.

Just days after Bank of America officially announced its nationwide program offering up to $30,000 in relocation assistance for short sales, a Massachusetts-based real estate company revealed in a blog that one of its clients was approved to receive $10,000. In order to be eligible for the relocation assistance, BofA stated that the short sale must be initiated by the end of this year and close by September 26, 2013. Also, the amount offered is determined on a case-by-case basis, with variables such as the value of the home and amount owed factored into the equation.

While the housing market is starting to show signs that it is strengthening, for some states, recovery still seems to be in the very distant future. According to a report from Capital Economics, one factor that will determine the speed of recovery for individual states is the type of foreclosure procedure. Paul Diggle, author of the report, said that many of the judicial states, which are struggling to clear their backlog of foreclosures, will lag behind during recovery. However, Rob Pitingolo, research assistant with the Urban Institute, noted that it's not the judicial process itself that is the problem, but a lack of resources.

Freddie Mac said Thursday that its board of directors has selected Donald H. Layton to serve as the company's new CEO. Layton will join the GSE on May 21, and will also have a seat on the board of directors. In October 2011, the Federal Housing Finance Agency announced that Charles E. Haldeman, Jr. had informed Freddie Mac's board of his desire to step down within the year. Haldeman served as the GSE's CEO since August 2009. Layton has had a long career in the private banking and financial services sectors. He worked for nearly 30 years at JPMorgan Chase and its predecessors and more recently, served as chairman and CEO of E*Trade Financial.

Fannie Mae said Wednesday that it brought in $2.7 billion dollars in net income during the first quarter of this year, and for the first time since it was seized by the government in September of 2008, the company does not need a draw of taxpayer funds from Treasury to get out of the red. Fannie Mae says its improving numbers can be traced to lower credit-related expenses as the decline in home prices slowed and the company shed some of its REO holdings.