Foreclosures

San Diego Foreclosures up 34% in January (DataQuick)

by admin on February 23, 2011

San Diego Foreclosures Rise Steeply in January 2011

A report today in the Union-Tribune / Data quick estimates that foreclosures have risen fast in San Diego. You can stay in control and not be foreclosed on by short selling your home.

[button_round color="blue" url="http://troubledpropertysolutions.com/short-sale-your-home/"] Stay in Control – Short Sale Your Home (Click Here) [/button_round]

Foreclosures and mortgage defaults in San Diego County both increased in January, after three consecutive months of drops, Wednesday’s DataQuick Information Systems numbers show. The upticks could signal an incoming wave of distressed properties coming onto the market in coming months, experts said.

Foreclosures rose to 959 in January from 715 in December, a 34 percent increase, the largest monthly jump since December 2009. Year-over-year, foreclosures fell from 986 in January 2010, or 2.7 percent.

There were 1,548 mortgage defaults in January, up slightly from 1522 in December, or 1.7 percent. Year-over-year, that number is down from 1,741 in January 2010, or 11.1 percent.

DataQuick spokesman Andrew LePage said the monthly jump in foreclosures could partly be due to “a little catch-up” after some banks froze foreclosure activity following discoveries of robo-signing, the practice of approving loan paperwork without proper review.

LePage added that monthly fluctuations in both data sets are normal given factors such as the role of government mortgage programs, lender log-jams and new housing laws, he said.

“We don’t expect any smooth trend lines going forward,” LePage said. But there’s “more catch-up to come,” he said.

Bob Kevane, president of the San Diego Association of Realtors, agrees more foreclosures are in the pipeline.

He’s heard local lenders saying they plan to stop delays in foreclosure processes and complete more of them this year, leading him to believe foreclosures will increase at the rate seen last month.

In DataQuick’s previous report in December, foreclosures and default notices in the county fell to their lowest levels in three years. However, industry experts warned not to read too much into that, given the expectations of a shadow inventory of distressed homes and an increase in short sales.

[button_round color="blue" url="http://troubledpropertysolutions.com/short-sale-your-home/"] Stay in Control – Short Sale Your Home (Click Here) [/button_round]

California Foreclosures – 2010 into 2011

by Fred on January 14, 2011

California is one of 5 states which half of the country’s foreclosure activity tooke place in 2010.  These five foreclosure states are: California, Florida, Arizona, Illinois and Michigan. One in 45 households received a foreclosure notice last year.   All together almost 1.5 million households receiving a foreclosure notice and more is expected in 2011 with the Pay Option Arm Mortgage Resets to occur.

Pay Option Arm Mortgage Resets will be a big problem for homeowners in 2011, since many loans will re-cast and mortgage payments will jump, making many of the ARM Mortgages unaffordable.  California was a leading state for the Pay Option Arm Mortgages – Mortage Reset Central. 

With the origination of the Option arm mortgages lender fraud was rampant.  Most of these loan have serious violations in them, including RESPA and TILA violations that homeowners can use to their advantage when dealing with the lenders and servicers.  With a forensic loan audit, the homeowner may use this to negotiate with the bank, or use as evidence in a class action lawsuit against the lender.  Our clients find the forensic loan audit a great investment to fight back against the foreclosure.

Banks repossess 1 million U.S. homes in 2010
By Associated Press
Banks repossessed more than 1 million homes in 2010, marked the highest annual tally of properties lost to foreclosure on records dating back to 2005, RealtyTrac said.  And this year is expected to be even bleaker. “2011 is going to be the peak,” said Rick Sharga, a senior vice president at foreclosure tracker RealtyTrac Inc. Lenders are poised to take back more homes this year than any other since the U.S. housing meltdown began in 2006. About 5 million borrowers are at least two months behind on their mortgages and more will miss payments as they struggle with job losses and loans worth more than their home’s value, industry analysts forecast. For December, 257,747 U.S. homes received at least one foreclosure-related notice. That was the lowest monthly total in 30 months. The number of notices fell 1.8 percent from November and 26.3 percent from December 2009, RealtyTrac said.

For 2010, one in 45 U.S. households received a foreclosure filing last year, or a record high of 2.9 million homes. That’s up 1.67 percent from 2009. The pace slowed in the final two months of 2010 as banks reviewed their foreclosure processes after allegations surfaced in September that evictions were handled improperly. Under increased scrutiny by the government, lenders temporarily halted taking actions against borrowers severely behind on their payments. However, most banks have since resumed their eviction processes, and the first quarter will likely show a rebound in foreclosure activity, Sharga said.

Foreclosures are expected to remain elevated through the year as homeowners contend with stubbornly high unemployment, tougher credit standards for refinancing and falling home values. Sharga said he expects prices to dip another 5 percent nationally before finally bottoming out. The decline will push more borrowers underwater on their mortgages. Already, about one in five homeowners with a mortgage owe more than their home is worth.

The pain likely will be the most acute in states that have already been hit hard. That includes former housing boom states Nevada, Arizona, Florida and California, along with states that are suffering most from the economic downturn, including Michigan and Illinois.

Nevada posted the highest foreclosure rate in 2010 for the fourth straight year, despite a 5 percent decline in activity from the year before. One in every 11 households received a foreclosure filing last year in the state. In December, foreclosure activity increased 18 percent from November with a 71 percent spike in bank repossessions. Arizona and California also showed sharp December increases in the number of homes banks took back, at 52 percent and 47 percent, respectively. Arizona, along with Florida, finished the year at No. 2 and No. 3 for the highest foreclosure rates. One in every 17 Arizona households got a foreclosure filing last year, while one in 18 received a notice in Florida. California, Utah, Georgia, Michigan, Idaho, Illinois and Colorado rounded out the top ten states with the highest foreclosure rates. More than half of the country’s foreclosure activity came out of five states in 2010: California, Florida, Arizona, Illinois and Michigan. Together, these states recorded almost 1.5 million households receiving a filing, despite year-over-year decreases in California, Florida and Arizona.

RealtyTrac tracks notices for defaults, scheduled home auctions and home repossessions — warnings that can lead up to a home eventually being lost to foreclosure.

San Diego Homes Worth Less – Nationwide Home Inventory Up

by julie on December 28, 2010

 San Diego Home prices continue to fall as a double dip recession is predicted. San Diego Short Sales on the Rise.

Unfortunately 2011 may not look any more promising for San Diego homeowners looking to sell their home.  Seeing you equity drop to a point where there is negative equity means that you will need to short sale your home if you are in San Diego, or in other parts of California. For those having to move, or lost their income a San Diego short sale may be a good move for many.  It allows the homeowner to get out from the debt, partcularly as home prices continue to fall, and move on with you life. 

For those that have discovered that the lender/servicer has not been playing fair purusing legal means may be a good solution.  Many homeowners are turning toward a class action lawsuit against their lender to save their home.   A forensic loan audit may reveal fraud in your loan.   Call (619) 631-4546 today.

By Les Christie, staff writerDecember 28, 2010: 11:24 AM ET

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Home prices took a shockingly steep plunge on a monthly basis, an indication that the housing market could be on the verge of — if it’s not already in — a double-dip slump.

Prices in 20 key cities fell 1.3% in October from a month earlier, an annualized decline of 15%, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller index released Tuesday. Prices were down 0.8% from 12 months earlier.

Month-over-month prices dropped in all 20 metro areas covered by the index. Six markets reached their lowest levels since the housing bust first began in 2006 and 2007. They were Atlanta, Charlotte, N.C., Miami, Portland, Ore., Seattle and Tampa, Fla.

“The double-dip is almost here,” said David Blitzer, chairman of the Index Committee at Standard & Poor’s. “There is no good news in October’s report. Home prices across the country continue to fall.”

The report was far more dire than anticipated by industry experts, who had forecast an almost flat market in October. It followed weak September numbers.

“It was a bit of a surprise,” said real estate analyst Pat Newport of IHS Global Research. “I wasn’t expecting it to lag so badly in all 20 cities.”

He, along with many other experts, has been forecasting further price erosion over the next few months of 5% to 7%, but didn’t expect the price drop to hit so fast and so hard. It’s mostly attributable to the end of the tax credit for homebuyers, the effects of which started to vanish beginning in June.

“The trends we have seen over the past few months have not changed,” said Blitzer. “The tax incentives are over and the national economy remained lackluster in October, the month covered by these data.”

Sales volume continues to lag, off 25% even from last October, when markets could hardly be described as robust.

Why the housing bulls are wrong

The inventory of homes on the market is up about 50% compared with last year at this time, and there are millions of potential homes for sale waiting on the sideline for markets to improve.

Much of that “shadow inventory” is held as repossessed properties by banks, who will eventually have to release them back on the market.

Most (and least) affordable cities

Prices in Atlanta, down 2.9%, and Detroit, off 2.5%, took a particular beating in October. Las Vegas and Washington came out of the month only slightly bruised, down just 0.2%.

The report ran counter to what have been generally positive signs of economic recovery, according to Richard DeKaser, an independent housing market analyst and founder of Woodley Park Research.

“The market is not showing much improvement after the summer slump,” he said. “Housing is acting as a drag on recovery.”

The coming of the second of the double dip is icing on the cake for homebuyers, who already have benefited from prices not seen in years in most markets.

“Prices have already adjusted, and are probably undervalued in most cities,” said Newport. “This will make them even more undervalued.”

Home price plunge is widespread

Record plunge in foreclosures, thanks to robo-signers

Obama’s mortgage mod plan is still lacking

Bank of America to resume foreclosures

State Foreclosure Mediation Programs are Not Helping Homeowners

by julie on September 30, 2009

Foreclosure Mediation Programs Are Not Helping Homeowners Stop Foreclosure – according to a recent report

According to the National Consumer Law Center (NCLC) state foreclosure mediation programs are not showing evidence of helping or facilitating loan modifications for homeowners to stop foreclosure.  The NCLC has reviewed 25 foreclosure mediation programs in 14 states and reported that the programs are failing to be effective with foreclosing lenders or imposing any obligations on mortgage servicers. “Without the imposition of these obligations, it is unlikely that mediations will lead to fewer foreclosures,” the report said.

The lack of mandatory rules and the failure of imposing sanction for non-compliance on the bank’s part has led to the failure of these foreclosure mediation programs.  Procedural flaws has also been noted including the lack of mandatory analysis of loan modification alternatives.

 The report entitled, “State and Local Foreclosure Media Programs: Can They Save Homes?” reviewed the California foreclosure mediation programs  as well as in 13 other states.  The NCLC staff attorney Geoffrey Walsh warned that the foreclosure mediation programs may never be effective to stop foreclosure and make homes more affordable if corrective measures are not taken. “If the programs continue to demand little or no accountability from servicers, they will likely go the way of federal efforts to control foreclosures that have failed as a result of relying on voluntary compliance by the lending industry,” said Walsh.

Are Loan Modifications an Effective Way to Stop Foreclosure?

by julie on September 29, 2009

Loan Modifications: An Effective Way to Stop Foreclosure?

We often get the question on whether a loan modification will stop foreclosure. 

Unfortunately the answer to that question is: It Depends.

It depends upon the following information on whether a bank will stop foreclosure on a property that is in default:

1. It depend upon the bank. Different lenders have different rules.

2. It depends upon the financial situation of the homeowners. Banks have specific formulas on how they determine if a homeowner is qualified for a loan modification

3. It depends upon when the forcloure sale date it.  If the foreclosure is less than a week away, many times the bank may not postpone the forclosure.

4. It depends upon whether the house has equity or not.

5. It depends upon the neighborhood the house is located in. Are there other foreclosures in the same neighborhood?  Are homes selling fast or slow?

6. It depend upon who actually owns the loan. If it is a direct lender such as Wells Fargo, then a loan modification may be easier and a postponment easier as well.

7. It depends upon whether all the loan modification paperwork is in their hands compared to the foreclosure sale date.

8. It depends upon whether the house is your primary residence or a rental or secondary home.

For example, if you have an Indymac loan and it is a rental, then postponing the foreclosure using a loan modification most likely will not happen. Indymac does not do loan modifications for rental.  If you have a Countrywide loan, their loss mitigation department encourages loan modifications. Same for Bank of America loan modifications.

So the real answer to the question whether a loan modification will stop foreclosure is that it depends upon your particular circumstance. 

A decent loan modification professional and a 15 minute interview may determine if a loan modification is an effective tool to stop foreclosure.

← Previous Entries