Last summer, a home in the Palmer Woods section of Detroit became vacant when the homeowner walked away on the mortgage. Not long after, a moving van pulled up and a new neighbor moved himself in. Thing is, he wasn’t the new owner — and there wasn’t much the neighbors could do about getting him out. [More]
foreclosures
Woman Buys, Rehabs Wrong House; Can't Get Anyone To Care About It
By 5.15.12
A woman in Mississippi says she spent thousands buying and rehabbing a foreclosed-upon home, only to find out after the fact that oops, she actually bought the smaller, cruddier house next door. Making matters worse, no one seems to be willing to take the blame or help her out. [More]
Report: Forced-Place Insurance Pushing Homeowners Into Foreclosure
By 5.7.12
If you’ve got a mortgage on your home, it needs to be insured. So if you stop paying that insurance premium, the bank will often go out and get insurance for you. Problem is, according to Bloomberg News, those policies cover less, cost more and will likely just end up putting you into foreclosure anyway. [More]
Bank Of America Tells Family It Won't Foreclose, Tries To Foreclose Anyway
By 5.4.12
For two years, a family in Washington state has been waiting for Bank of America to get its act together and finally figure out whether it’s evicting them or whether it’s going to adjust their mortgage. [More]
Lawsuit: HOA Guards Threatened Tenants With Tasers, Stole Naked Pictures Over Foreclosure Miscommunication
By 5.2.12
Renters of a California condo say they got a rude awakening when a group of guards hired by their homeowners association allegedly used Taser guns to evict them from a house they didn’t know had been foreclosed on. [More]
Average Foreclosure In NYC Area Now Takes Longer Than 3 Years
By 4.27.12
Aside from being the title of a totally rad Olsen Twins movie, the phrase “New York minute” implies that things move rapidly in the Big Apple. One exception is the home foreclosure process, which can drag out to more than 1,100 days in the NYC metro area. [More]
Report: Banks Treat Foreclosed Homes Better In Mostly White Neighborhoods
By 4.4.12
While Americans of every possible ethnic and racial group were hit by the massive foreclosures when the economy went KABOOM! a few years back, a new report claims that banks are often giving short shrift to the upkeep and marketing of foreclosed properties in areas with predominantly non-white residents. [More]
Fed Orders Review Of Thousands Of Morgan Stanley Foreclosures
By 4.3.12
Yesterday, Morgan Stanley finally finished selling off its one remaining unit involved in servicing subprime mortgages. Today, the Federal Reserve gave Morgan Stanley some unwelcome news: It must review thousands of foreclosures processed by that now-former subsidiary. [More]
Bank Of America Tests Converting Delinquent Homeowners Into Renters
By 3.23.12
Because there’s more money in being a landlord than there is in going through the lengthy foreclosure/auction/short sale process, Bank of America is testing a program that will let homeowners with delinquent BofA mortgages stay in their homes as renters. [More]
FTC Cracks Down On Bogus Mortgage Relief Lawsuits
By 3.22.12
If you live in an area hit hard by the collapse of the housing market, you might have received a letter from a company promising that if you join other struggling homeowners in filing lawsuits against your lender, you can get mortgage relief, a cash reward and maybe even the title to your home. What it doesn’t mention is that you could end up being scammed out of thousands of dollars. [More]
Couple Spends Five Years In $1.2 Mansion Without Ever Making Mortgage Payment
By 3.5.12
It now takes an average of 634 to foreclose on a home in Maryland, but one couple has managed to live large in their 4,900 square-foot abode on the Potomac River for nearly three times as long — all without ever having made a single mortgage payment. [More]
City Fines Man For Not Cutting Grass At House He Lost Through Foreclosure
By 3.2.12
A man in Arlington, Texas, recently found out that even though the bank foreclosed on his house two years ago, the city thinks he should be held responsible for maintaining the property. [More]
NY To Require That Banks Send Decision-Makers, Not Mouthpieces, To Foreclosure Proceedings
By 2.22.12
Like many states that are trying to both expedite judicial review of foreclosures and keep as many people in their homes as possible, New York has enacted new measures, like requiring that bank lawyers verify foreclosure paperwork and that all homeowners receive legal assistance. But a big problem keeps coming up that continues to cause delays — no one in the room actually has the authority to change a loan agreement. [More]
Claiming Adverse Possession Is Not Going To Get You A Mansion For Pennies
By 2.8.12
Many of you are already aware of the Texas man who bragged he had taken possession of an abandoned $300,000 home for $16, only to be given the boot by Bank of America. This man is part of a growing trend of people across the country trying to use “adverse possession” laws to scoop up homes left vacant. [More]
12-Year-Old Raises $10,500 To Save Grandma From Foreclosure
By 2.8.12
It’s such stuff as uplifting after-school specials are made on. A plucky Wisconsin tween recently managed to raise enough money to save his grandmother from losing a house that had been in the family for three generations. [More]
California City Thinking Of Closing Wells Fargo Account Over Foreclosure Debacle
By 2.2.12
It’s not just individuals and small businesses that are peeved about the way big banks have mishandled the massive amount of foreclosures during the last half-decade. The city government of Berkeley, CA, is looking to pull several hundred million dollars out of its Wells Fargo accounts and plunk the pile down at a more consumer-friendly financial institution. [More]
Feds Announce Program To Turn Foreclosures Into Rentals
By 2.1.12
In an effort to put living, paying bodies into homes left vacant following foreclosure, the Federal Housing Finance Agency has announced the beginnings of a program to sell off pools of foreclosed properties to investors who would then rent them out. [More]
World's Worst Dad Candidate Thought It Was A Good Idea To Leave Son Behind In Foreclosed House
By 1.26.12
Over the course of the last half-decade, we’ve written plenty of stories about homeowners who, facing foreclosure, just walked away from their doomed homes. But a man in Minnesota decided to go one step beyond, choosing to leave his 11-year-old son behind in the house he could no longer afford. [More]
