Foreclosure

FHFA issued a notice Wednesday to warn of the controversial use of eminent domain proposed in San Bernardino County. In the notice, which was sent to the Federal Register, FHFA stated it had 'significant concerns"" about the use of eminent domain to revise existing contracts and alter the value of GSE or Federal Home Loan Bank securities holdings. FHFA said that in relation to the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the use of an eminent domain program could result in a cost to taxpayers.

When including distressed sales, CoreLogic reported a 2.5 percent yearly increase in home prices in June, and a 1.3 percent increase month-over-month from May. The rise in home prices is the fourth consecutive increase on a yearly and monthly basis, and CoreLogic's Pending HPI is forecasting at least a 0.4 percent monthly increase in July. In response to CoreLogic's report, Capital Economics said that while the gain in June is strong, ""the latest rise was marginally weaker than we would expect in a typical June, meaning that seasonally-adjusted house prices actually eased a touch.""

For $4.8 million, a former yacht dealer snagged each and every foreclosed property available for sale at a Michigan county auction. To the dismay of eager investors, Bill McMachen bought all 645 foreclosed properties at a tax foreclosure auction in Macomb County, the Detroit News reported. Among the properties bought, 403 were residential, 235 vacant land, and seven were commercial. The Detroit News also reported some 300 other investors were at the auction hoping to get a chance to bid.

Shrinking inventory and shifts in sales composition have provided a foothold for housing prices to start climbing, according to Fiserv, Inc. The company released its Case-Shiller Home Price Insights Monday, showing that after six years of decline, home prices are finally starting to stabilize. Prices increased in 40 percent of the surveyed 384 metro areas in the first quarter of 2012, and the report showed that it's actually cheaper to buy than rent in many U.S. markets.

In Hargrow v. Wells Fargo Bank N.A., a three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit rejected the plaintiffs' claims that Wells Fargo-an assignee of Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc. (MERS)-was not entitled to foreclose because it did not own an interest in the indebtedness.

Court of Appeals Upholds Dismissal in MERS Case MERSCORP Holdings, Inc., announced that a three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed the dismissal of a complaint against Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc., (MERS) and two other defendants.

Governor Deval Patrick of Massachusetts signed into law a bill Friday that will require lenders to first determine the value of modifying a loan before foreclosing on a home. If a modification will bring in a greater financial advantage, then lenders must opt for a modification over a foreclosure.

HUD and Treasury Department released the latest scorecard Friday, providing a look at a market in recovery but threatened by an expected increase in foreclosure activity. According to the report, foreclosure starts and completions both declined in June, painting a picture of continued recovery. However, officials expect foreclosure activity to pick up in coming months as firms lift delays in foreclosure processing.

National Association of Real Estate Brokers (NAREB) is hosting a State of Housing in Black America (SHIBA) forum in Cleveland to discuss how the foreclosure crises, neighborhood blight, and natural disasters have continued to disproportionately impact minorities.

The nation added a surprising 163,000 jobs in July but the unemployment rate ticked up to 8.3 percent as the number of people working actually declined, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday. At the same time, June's paltry job gains originally reported at 80,000 were reduced to 64,000 while May's job numbers edged up to 87,000 from 77,000.