Tag Archives: Foreclosure Prevention

October marks the 12th consecutive month of monthly home value increases, according to Zillow, which reported a 1.1 percent increase over the month. Home values were up even higher on an annual basis, climbing 4.7 percent over the year and representing the greatest increase since September 2006. Chicago was the only one of the 30 largest metro areas Zillow measures to experience a monthly decline in home values in October.

Since 2011 when Treasury required the largest servicers to develop a single point of contact (SPOC) for all homeowners working through loss mitigation as part of the Making Home Affordable program, servicers have begun to implement the new standard in various ways. The Treasury noted in a recent report the nine largest servicers participating in the program have implemented three different SPOC models. In total, the nine servicers Treasury observed have increased staffing and now have 12,000 SPOCs working to communicate with homeowners.

Five mortgage servicers--Bank of America, Chase, Citi, Wells Fargo, and Ally--have provided over 300,000 borrowers with some form of mortgage relief as part of a settlement agreement, according to a report from settlement monitor Joseph A. Smith, Jr. As of September 30, 2012, the banks reported they have provided $26.1 billion in actual consumer relief. Short sales accounted for $13.13 billion of that amount. Part of the settlement agreement requires the banks to provide $20 billion in relief, but the servicers are not always credited on a dollar-for-dollar basis.

In a letter, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman accused Wells Fargo of using Hurricane Sandy to evade obligations under the national mortgage settlement. According to the AG's letter, a law firm representing Wells Fargo released a letter stating the bank will suspend ""all Home Preservation reviews and decisions"" as a result of Hurricane Sandy. Schneiderman's letter was addressed to the CEO of Wells Fargo and demands that the bank ""immediately rescind"" the policy.

The foreclosure inventory rate fell to 4.07 percent in Q3 to the lowest level since the first quarter of 2009, according to the latest delinquency survey from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA). In addition, the national delinquency declined to 7.40 percent, and the serious delinquency rate fell to 7.03 percent. In a commentary, Capital Economics suggested the combination of fewer homes in foreclosure and seriously delinquent loans points to a decline in shadow inventory.

Bank of America announced it's on track to fulfill consumer relief requirements as part of the national mortgage settlement within the first year of the three-year agreement. So far, the bank has completed or approved $15.8 billion in consumer relief for about 164,000 homeowners as of September 30. One form of consumer relief offered through the settlement is first-lien principal forgiveness, which BofA has offered to 30,000 customers, leading to $4.75 billion in principal reductions.

A specific provision in California's Homeowner Bill of Rights may have led to a surge in foreclosure cancellations, according to a report from ForeclosureRadar. Foreclosure cancellations in California spiked 62.1 percent from September to October and 36.7 percent over a one-year period, data from ForeclosureRadar revealed. The jump from September to October is the largest monthly increase since the data provider began tracking foreclosures in September 2006.

The state of the housing market continues to improve though recovery remains ""fragile,"" according to the October Housing Scorecard released Friday by the Obama administration. Along with the scorecard, the administration released special instructions for those administering the Making Home Affordable Program in areas affected by Hurricane Sandy. In areas directly impacted by Hurricane Sandy, servicers must offer at least three months forbearance to any homeowners eligible for Making Home Affordable who request forbearance.

Even though President Obama and Governor Romney were criticized for evading housing issues when running for president, Clear Capital asserts the ""sprint"" in housing still spoke positively for Obama and assisted him in his recent re-election. But, now that Obama has won a second term, his administration is charged with leading phase two of the housing recovery, and this will happen by collaborating with the industry to reduce regulatory uncertainty, according to a Clear Capital report.

In September, the nation's delinquency rate suddenly spiked 7.7 percent from August, according to data from Lender Processing Services (LPS). The data provider explained the surge in its recent Mortgage Monitor report for September. For one, first time delinquencies increased by about 200,000 from the month before as more borrowers rolled into 30 day delinquency status. Despite the increase, other numbers were still down. Foreclosure starts hit their lowest level since September 2007 and were down 27.9 percent yearly.