REO

In a move to increase vendor communication and provide higher quality services to customers, Field Asset Services, whose business is tailored to the REO industry, has announced several organizational changes. The company says the restructuring will allow FAS to bring greater efficiencies and savings to its clients, while increasing scalability, reducing turn-times, and solidifying long-term relationships with its vendor network.

With all the news of still-declining home prices, most buyers are keeping their feet firmly planted on the sidelines unless they're sure they're getting a bargain. At the same time agents and banks are battling (mis)perceptions in their local markets, where property values may not be on such a slippery slope. Add to the equation a distressed property, and finding an agreeable short sale price while still covering enough of the mortgage debt to win over the lender can be a challenge. It's a nasty tug-of-war, with neither buyers or sellers feeling like they're gaining any ground.

The nation's ongoing foreclosure crisis has ushered in a new era of lending, volumes of new regulations, even a new federal agency...and now, a new way of looking at architecture and the suburban culture. New York's Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) has announced the launch of a 14-month initiative to examine new architectural possibilities for American cities and suburbs in the context of the foreclosure crisis in the United States.

Denver-based RE/MAX, LLC recently promoted company executive Mike Ryan to EVP of global communications and branding. Ryan will lead the company's expansion into distressed property projects, oversee government relations efforts, and continue to supervise brand marketing, RE/MAX University, event management, and corporate communications.

An industry study released Monday shows that nearly half of home sales activity last month involved distressed properties, a trend that is likely to continue as the backlog of foreclosures and mortgage defaults make their way through the pipeline. Within this distressed property segment, the market analysis shows a boom in short sales during the month of March to a record-high 19.6 percent, and a drop in the proportion of damaged REO, which the report says should be a positive for home values in future months.

Vendor Resource Management (VRM), a nationwide REO asset disposition firm headquartered in Carrollton, Texas, recently announced several staff promotions and appointments for senior executive positions. Altogether, the company has filled seven roles across various departments, including strategic development, human resources, federal practices, operations, training, and accounting.

The National REO Brokers Association announced this week that it has chosen a new board of directors for the organization. This new leadership team consists of three executive board members and twelve directors, which will provide direct regional leadership and support for the Nevada-based organization’s members nationwide.

With foreclosures expected to rise through 2012, Realis Real Estate Software recently offered tips for REO agents to avoid legal trouble when working with multiple foreclosure properties. The Denver-based workflow management software firm says foreclosure fraud is also increasing, which means potential damaging litigation. Realis says for agents, it all boils down to integrity, organization of all key data, and documentation.

While the share of distressed sales - REOs and short sales - is on the rise when tallying numbers nationwide, it's falling in California. The California Association of Realtors reports that the total ratio of all distressed property types sold statewide declined in March to 51 percent, down from 56 percent in February. REOs sold last month went for 88 percent less than non-distressed properties, while short sales had a median discount of 41 percent.

Foreclosures in Florida dropped by 12 percent from March to April, according to ForeclosureDataOnline.com. Since the fourth quarter of last year, the state's foreclosure activity is down 47 percent. The site attributes this slowdown to the recent robo-signing foreclosure documentation problems exposed last fall, which resulted in temporary moratoriums and court delays where foreclosures require approval by a judge. However, March data suggest foreclosures will soon rise again as banks continue to work through their backlog of cases.