The vacancy sign is blazing over house divisions across the US. About 1 in 10 houses in America have no one living inside them, according to new data from the Census, CNBC reports. (Update: while technically correct, this number includes other kinds of properties like abandoned farm house. The more typically used number, the home-vacancy rate, is 2.7%, up from 2.5% the previous quarter). [More]
foreclosures
Ally Bank Withdraws Maryland Robosigner Foreclosures
By 1.20.11
If you’re one of 250 Maryland homeowners with a foreclosure order signed by Ally Bank’s Jeffrey Stephan, you’ve just been granted a reprieve. The bank is withdrawing all Maryland foreclosures authorized by Stephan, who admitted that he casually signed off on thousands of foreclosures each month. But homeowners aren’t completely off the hook. Ally plans to restart the foreclosure process with new filings. [More]
Now Banks Are Also Walking Away From Foreclosures, Just Leaving Them To Rot
By 1.14.11
It’s not just underwater homeowners just flat out walking away from their houses. Now some mortgage servicers, having decided certain properties would be too expensive to try to foreclose, secure, maintain and market, are just abandoning the properties entirely, to let nature, and whatever else, take its course. [More]
Guy Recreates Steve Carell Bit To Save House From Foreclosure, Fails
By 1.14.11
All he wanted was to delay things just a little bit more so that his dad would have some more time to try to work out a deal between the lender to get that holiest of holies, a loan modification. So, in a desperate attempt to save his dad’s house, a guy shows up at the foreclosure auction and tries out two classic comedy bits. [More]
5 States Accounted For 51% Of Foreclosures In 2010
By 1.13.11
2010 was a record-setting year for foreclosure filings in the U.S., with almost 2.9 million properties being forecloses on nationwide. But more than half of those filings happened in California, Florida, Arizona, Illinois, or Michigan. [More]
Banks Lose Foreclosure Case Over Bad Docs, More Could Come
By 1.11.11
In a potential foreshadowing of things to come, Massachusetts’s Supreme Court upheld the voiding of two home seizures this week because the banks couldn’t prove they owned the mortgages at the time they foreclosed. [More]
FTC Wants To Ban Mortgage Mod Services From Charging Up-Front Fees
By 12.30.10
To combat mortgage relief fraud, the FTC would like to make a new rule that would ban mortgage modification services from charging up-front fees. “Homeowners facing foreclosure or struggling to make mortgage payments shouldn’t have to contend with fraudulent ‘companies’ that don’t provide what they promise,” FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz said in a statement. “The proposed rule would outlaw up-front fees so companies can’t take the money and run.” Indeed, there are some shady operators in this area and consumers need to beware. [More]
BofA Tries To Foreclose On Couple That Never Missed A Payment
By 12.28.10
Bank of America told this couple that their house would go into foreclosure on Christmas Eve, which came as something of an anti-Christmas Miracle to them considering they had never missed a single mortgage payment. [More]
Here Is Why Bank Of America Is Being Sued
By 12.23.10
Last week, the attorney general in Arizona filed suit against Bank of America, alleging that it hadn’t made good on its promise to implement a functioning loan modification program. And while Christine doesn’t live in Arizona, her story should give her state’s attorney general reason to consider joining the legal fray. [More]
In Foreclosure Bungle, Banks Accused Of Illegally Breaking Into Homes, Stealing All Your Stuff
By 12.22.10
A new batch of lawsuits are accusing banks of essentially burglarizing people’s homes, reports the NYT. Before a foreclosure has been properly filed and processed, people behind on their payments have come home to find their locks changed and some or all of their possessions gone, taken by contractors working for the bank. [More]
Scams: Do You Know About Mortgage "Flopping?"
By 12.21.10
You’ve heard of “flipping” houses, well now there’s “flopping.” While the first was speculative, this one is outright fraud. [More]
Arizona Sues Bank Of America Over Home Loan Modifications
By 12.17.10
The attorney general for Arizona is none too pleased with Bank of America. Earlier today, he filed a lawsuit against BofA, alleging the bank misled customers about its home loan modifications. [More]
Man Dares Bank To Foreclose Unless They Reverse Bad Fees, Wins
By 12.15.10
About a month ago we brought you the story of a man who was willing to risk his house going into foreclosure unless the bank refunded a $25 fee it had wrongfully charged. He crossed his arms and stopped paying his mortgage. Fees mounted. The bank ignored his letters. His house was scheduled for foreclosure. It was the ultimate in real estate brinkmanship. Now, four days before the auction, the bank has blinked. [More]
CitiMortgage Launches "Call-A-Thon" To Answer Distressed Homeowner Questions
By 12.14.10
Tomorrow CitiMortgage is kicking off a special 1-day “call-a-thon” where people in trouble with or confused about their mortgages with Citi can call in and talk to foreclosure prevention staff. In addition, “senior managers and increased numbers of supervisors will be on hand to provide additional support,” says Citi. [More]
Next Big Thing In Mortgage Fraud: Fake Attorney Signatures
By 12.14.10
The next big wave in disgusting mortgage fraud revelations could be faked signatures from foreclosure attorneys. And homeowners fighting foreclosure are using it to hold onto their house. [More]
Find Foreclosures Using Google Maps
By 12.13.10
You can check out foreclosures all over the US just by drilling down in Google Maps. [More]
Bank of America Thaws Foreclosure Freeze
By 12.10.10
If you’re an under-the-gun homeowner with a Bank of America mortgage and you’ve been keeping your fingers crossed that the bank’s temporary suspension of foreclosures would continue indefinitely, you can uncross them. The bank announced today that it would resume foreclosures this month. [More]
Woman Fights Foreclosure For 25 Years
By 12.7.10
This lady has been successfully fighting off foreclosure for twenty-five years, pulling out every trick in the book along the way. But her winning streak may be drawing to a close. [More]
