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NEWS ABOUT: foreclosures

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Foreclosures Inch Downward ... a Whole 0.1%

Some very small signs of progress

(Newser) - Banks initiated the fewest number of foreclosures since 2007 last quarter, according to new figures from the Mortgage Bankers Associations. But don't be too quick to don the rose-colored glasses: The number of loans in foreclosure remains stubbornly high at 4.4%—down only a hair from last year'... More »

States Grab Robosigning Settlement—to Pay Own Bills

California, Georgia, others use settlement as slush fund

(Newser) - When banks agreed to hand the states billions of dollars to resolve the robosigning scandal earlier this year, the money was supposed to go to help struggling homeowners. Instead, more than a dozen states have used it to plug holes in their budgets, the New York Times reports. The latest... More »

Pot Growers Head for the ... 'Burbs?

Housing crisis creating bargains for growers

(Newser) - America's green, leafy suburbs are becoming home to an increasing number of people growing a green, leafy product. The housing crisis has caused an influx of marijuana growers from rural areas and commercial zones to the suburbs, the New York Times finds. The growers are snapping up spacious homes... More »

Couple Booted From $1M House After Foreclosure

Bought Maryland home in 2006; made no payments

(Newser) - After buying their million-dollar house in 2006, a Maryland couple never made a single mortgage payment; now they've been evicted after a long struggle, reports the Washington Post . Keith and Janet Ritter made a fortune, temporarily, buying and flipping homes during the housing bubble, and they bought their $1.... More »

Protesters Crash Wells Fargo Meeting

Shareholding activists demand end to foreclosures

(Newser) - Some 15 shareholders were arrested for disrupting Wells Fargo's annual shareholder meeting in San Francisco yesterday. The protesters—allowed in because they own Wells Fargo shares—were ejected after shouting over CEO John Stumpf's presentation about the bank's $15.9 billion profit in 2011, reports the San ... More »

Facing Foreclosure? BofA to Let You Rent Your Home

New 'mortgage to lease' program kicks off in test markets

(Newser) - Falling behind on your Bank of America mortgage? Well, what would you say if the bank offered to take your house, but let you rent it for a while? That's the idea behind a new "Mortgage to Lease" pilot program that BofA is rolling out in select markets... More »

SF Audit Finds Massive Flaws in Foreclosures

SF study of 400 foreclosures could point to huge violations nationwide

(Newser) - Pervasive problems have been uncovered in home foreclosures in a detailed audit in San Francisco that could indicate similar wide-scale national issues. Almost every one of the recent 400 foreclosures studied involved either violations or suspicious documentation, according to officials. Some 84% of the foreclosures involved what appeared to be... More »

'Squatter' Who Claimed McMansion Gets the Boot

Texan's 'adverse possession' argument rejected

(Newser) - The Texas man who claimed the law of "adverse possession" allowed him to get an abandoned $340,000 home by paying $16 to file a claim is now looking for somewhere else to live. A judge decided that the current lien holder, Bank of America, had the right to... More »

$26B Mortgage Settlement a 'Modest' Help: Experts

Many struggling homeowners not covered in deal

(Newser) - The $26 billion mortgage settlement announced yesterday will be a boon for some—but the terms of the deal leave many homeowners out in the cold. Recipients of loans owned by the Federal Housing Administration, for instance, won't directly benefit from the settlement; nor will those with mortgages held... More »

Banks Ink $26B Deal to Help 2M Homeowners

49 states sign on to deal with nation's top 5 banks

(Newser) - America's five biggest banks have hammered out a $26 billion settlement for their role in causing the mortgage meltdown, reports the Wall Street Journal . The deal—the biggest of its kind since 1998's $206 billion settlement with the tobacco industry—was hammered out during almost a year of... More »

Bank Grabs OJ Simpson's Miami Home

JPMorgan Chase forecloses on 4 bedroom, 4 bath house

(Newser) - It may be a good thing OJ Simpson currently has a (court-ordered) place to lay his head each night in Nevada: JPMorgan Chase is foreclosing on the incarcerated former football star's Miami home, reports TMZ . The AP notes that the bank filed for foreclosure in September on the four... More »

70 Arrested in Occupy SF Raid

San Francisco encampment cleared out

(Newser) - Another Occupy encampment was cleared out early today, as police raided Occupy SF and arrested 70 people who had been camping at Justin Herman Plaza. Protesters at the 2-month-old encampment were given five minutes to leave shortly after 1am; most did, but 30 who did not were arrested. The other... More »

Occupy Oakland Tussles Over Vacant Lot

But police kick them out again

(Newser) - Occupy Oakland protesters are having trouble staying in one place. Kicked out of their original encampment , they moved to a vacant lot that's in foreclosure this week. Now police have driven most of the Occupiers off that space, too, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Some 200 protesters took over... More »

Foreclosures Shoot Up 7%

RealtyTrac calls it the end of the robosigning 'rain delay'

(Newser) - Banks let loose a flurry of foreclosures in October, filing foreclosure actions on 230,678 homes in total—a 7% jump from September, according to new figures from RealtyTrac. First notices of default were sent out on 77,733 houses, a 10% jump from the month before. The numbers “... More »

Confessions of a Home Repo Man

Despair and danger often await the thankless job

(Newser) - Americans continue to lose their homes in catastrophic numbers, but while that tragedy is plain to see, Albert Clawson gives an all-too-human perspective—from the forecloser's side. "I've seen it all," explains the property manager, whose job is to provide "boots-on-the-ground" info on the condition... More »

Rubble Raisers: Banks Demolishing Scores of Homes

Communities urge demolition and land donation to reuse property

(Newser) - The economic crunch is sprouting vacant lots across the nation—and some communities think that's a good thing. Banks, encouraged by government officials, are changing the US landscape by bulldozing scores of foreclosed homes—at a cost of some $7,500 a pop—and donating the cleared land to... More »

Feds: Do-Nothing Fannie Mae Knew of Foreclosure Abuses in '03

But oversight will be 'tightened' by end of next year

(Newser) - Mortgage officials at Fannie Mae knew eight years ago of possibly illegal foreclosures by law firms they employed—but did nothing to stop them, according to a federal report. Fannie Mae's own investigation concluded that Florida attorneys were "routinely filing false pleadings and affidavits" to improperly foreclose on... More »

Housing Market Will Stink Through 2015

Economists, builders, mortgage analysts fear 'lost decade'

(Newser) - Even more bad economic news from a report released today: Housing prices will remain depressed for years, dropping by an expected 2.5% this year and rising only 1.1% each year through 2015, according to the survey of more than 100 economists. Since the 2005 peak, housing prices have... More »

Detroit Woman, 101, Gets Her House Back

Feds will pay her taxes and allow her to return

(Newser) - A happy ending in Detroit: 101-year-old Texana Hollis is getting her house back. HUD foreclosed on the home Monday and evicted the bewildered woman , who was unaware that her son had failed to pay property taxes to keep a reverse mortgage afloat. After the story made national headlines, HUD officials... More »

Detroit Woman, 101, Evicted From Home of 58 Years

Texana Hollis' son admits he stopped making payments

(Newser) - A particularly sad foreclosure story out of Detroit: Texana Hollis has been evicted from her home of the past 58 years ... at the age of 101. As if that's not depressing enough, Hollis and her late husband owned the home outright—but in 2003, Hollis' son persuaded her to... More »

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