Foreclosures

Washington, D.C. - August 11, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced today that Oregon will receive nearly $50 million in additional funding to assist homeowners struggling to make their mortgage payments due to the loss of a job.

Washington, DC. - August 12, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- “For eight years, I have been actively pursuing legislation on behalf of America’s unemployed to help stave off foreclosure. Now, thanks to the Administration, House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank and Committee members Representatives Maxine Waters and Paul Kanjorski more of the nation’s unemployed will be getting help.

Columbus, OH - August 11, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Obama Administration today announced that the Ohio Housing Finance Agency will receive an additional $148 million through the U.S. Treasury's Hardest-Hit Fund to help Ohio homeowners prevent foreclosure.

CHICAGO, IL - August 12, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Governor Pat Quinn today issued a statement praising the Obama Administration’s announcement of additional support to “Hardest Hit” states with high unemployment to assist in foreclosure prevention. The U.S. Department of the Treasury will make $2 billion of additional assistance available to unemployed homeowners struggling to make mortgage payments. Illinois is eligible to receive more than $166 million in federal funding to help unemployed homeowners having trouble making mortgage payments

LANSING, MI - August 12, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Michigan State Housing Development Authority (MSHDA) is joining with community partners across metro Detroit when the Fifth Third Bank Homeownership Mobile (aka the "eBus") rolls into Livonia Thursday, August 12 as part of a kick-off to highlight the state's $154.5 million Hardest Hit Fund home foreclosure prevention initiative

IRVINE, CA - August 12, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- RealtyTrac, the leading online marketplace for foreclosure properties, today released its U.S. Foreclosure Market Report™ for July 2010, which shows that foreclosure filings — default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions — were reported on 325,229 properties in July, a nearly 4 percent increase from the previous month but a nearly 10 percent decrease from July 2009. One in every 397 U.S. housing units received a foreclosure filing during the month.

Washington, D.C. - August 12, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Today NeighborWorks America announced that more than 1,000,000 homeowners facing foreclosure have received much-needed counseling thanks to the Congressionally-funded National Foreclosure Mitigation Counseling (NFMC) Program.

NEW YORK, NY - August 11, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Moody’s Analytics, a leading independent provider of economic forecasting and credit risk services, today announced the immediate availability of RealtyTrac Foreclosure Data, a service drawing on the extensive foreclosure, property, loan and home sales data from RealtyTrac, the leading online marketplace of foreclosure information.

WASHINGTON, DC - August 11, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Today, the Obama Administration announced a plan to expand its Housing Finance Agency (HFA) Innovation Fund for the Hardest-Hit Housing Markets (the Hardest-Hit Fund) by providing $2 billion to HFAs in 18 jurisdictions that have experienced sustained unemployment rates at or above the national average over the last 12 months, through June 2010. The HFAs receiving the new funding include nine of those already participating in the Hardest-Hit Fund (California, Florida, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Rhode Island, and South Carolina), as well as the HFAs of Alabama, DC, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Mississippi, New Jersey, and Tennessee.

BETHEL, CT - August 11, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Countdown To Buy, a next generation online real estate marketplace that offers fair and effective solutions to buy and sell properties, today provided a progress update and strategic commentary on its online marketplace that removes uncertainty and restores confidence in the real estate transaction model for foreclosure and distressed properties.

TALLAHASSEE, FL - August 10, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Attorney General Bill McCollum today announced his office has launched three new investigations into allegations of unfair and deceptive actions by Florida law firms handling foreclosure cases. The Attorney General’s Economic Crimes Division is investigating whether improper documentation may have been created and filed with Florida courts to speed up foreclosure processes, potentially without the knowledge or consent of the homeowners involved

Long Beach, CA - August 10, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco (FHLBank San Francisco) joined with financial institutions and community organizations on Saturday, August 7, 2010, to host a foreclosure prevention workshop and homebuyer education fair in Long Beach

BOSTON, MA - August 10, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Patrick-Murray Administration's Division of Banks today announced the issuance of 43 temporary cease-and-desist orders against licensed mortgage loan originators in Massachusetts for failing to meet requirements for licensure under state law. The mortgage loan originators did not meet the standards set in a 2009 law, an Act Adopting the Federal Secure and Fair Enforcement for Mortgage Licensing Act of 2008, also known as the SAFE Act.A significant provision of the 2007 foreclosure prevention legislation filed and signed by Governor Deval Patrick was the extension of licensing requirements to individual mortgage loan originators employed by licensed non-bank mortgage lenders and mortgage brokers. This law was updated in 2009 by Chapter 44 to ensure compliance with the federal SAFE Act which was largely patterned after the existing Massachusetts law

WASHINGTON, DC - August 9, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Department of the Treasury today released the second edition of the Administration's Housing Scorecard (www.hud.gov/scorecard) showing that, thanks in part to interest rates continuing at all-time lows, home affordability in the U.S. remains near the most attractive levels in 10 years. In addition, for the first time, the report now tracks the impact of HUD's Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP), which has spurred local investment and is beginning to make affordably-priced homes available to consumers. The Housing Scorecard is the Administration's comprehensive report on the nation's housing market.

LEMOYNE, PA - August 4, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) — Job loss and unexpected medical bills are among the top factors contributing to home foreclosures in Pennsylvania, according to a survey commissioned by the Pennsylvania Association of REALTORS® (PAR).

August 6, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Long Beach Housing Development Company (LBHDC), together with Councilmember Dee Andrews, 6th District, The Los Angeles Neighborhood Housing Services (LANHS), and Los Angeles County NeighborWorks Center for Foreclosure Solutions invite the public to the "Help & Hope" Foreclosure Prevention Assistance and Homebuyer Education Fair at Long Beach Polytechnic High School. The free event has the dual purpose to “help” families prevent foreclosure and provide “hope” to families who dream of purchasing a home now that home prices are lower than in previous years. Congresswoman Laura Richardson is expected to attend.

BOSTON, MA - August 6, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Attorney General Martha Coakley’s Office concluded its case against former Brockton attorney Alec G. Sohmer and five other defendants over their roles in a 2006 foreclosure rescue scheme.The judgments entered today by Judge Thomas Connolly against Sohmer in the amount of $620,000 and against the four remaining defendants collectively in the amount of $364,000, together with the judgment obtained last May in the amount of $41,204, resolve allegations that Sohmer, with the assistance of the other defendants, orchestrated an unlawful foreclosure rescue scheme against 26 homeowners

WASHINGTON, DC - August 5, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- State Housing Finance Agencies (HFAs) in North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Rhode Island and South Carolina can begin to use $600 million in foreclosure-prevention assistance from the Housing Finance Agency Innovation Fund for the Hardest Hit Housing Markets ("Hardest Hit Fund") under plans approved today by the Obama Administration. This assistance will support local initiatives to assist struggling homeowners in these five states that have high percentages of their population living in areas of economic distress due to unemployment.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - August 4, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) announced that Ohio will receive $172 million in funding for foreclosure-prevention assistance from the Housing Finance Agency Innovation Fund for the Hardest Hit Housing Markets ("Hardest Hit Fund").

Raleigh, NC - August 4, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The North Carolina Housing Finance Agency announced today that the U.S. Treasury Department has approved the Agency’s plan to use $159 million of federal Hardest Hit Program funds to help North Carolinians who have suffered job loss or other financial hardships to save their homes from foreclosure.

CHICAGO, IL - August 3, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Governor Pat Quinn today signed legislation that will boost affordable housing development across Illinois. Governor Quinn also signed a bill into law that will for the first time create funding to protect Illinois homeowners from foreclosure, and help stabilize communities throughout the state

Destin, FL - August 3, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Close to a majority of those surveyed said they want the federal tax credit for home buyers to be re-established by Congress to re-stimulate the housing market. The finding was determined by a just released Housing Predictor opinion poll.

LANSING, MI - July 30, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Attorney General Mike Cox today announced the filing of 19 criminal complaints and a total of 69 charges against illegal advanced fee "foreclosure rescue" operations accused of defrauding Michigan families of thousands of dollars. Nine Michigan mortgage companies are accused of illegally charging homeowners facing foreclosure upfront fees for mortgage modification assistance. The defendants claimed they would help homeowners by working with their lenders in an attempt to modify the borrower's mortgage. After paying the upfront fee, borrowers found that the companies made no real attempt to secure a modification and were subsequently unable to get their money back. Many of the victims lost their homes to foreclosure.

Nine of Top 10 Most Severely Affected Metros Post Year-Over-Year Declines in Foreclosure Activity, but Rates Remain 3 to 5 Times Higher than National Average IRVINE, Calif. - July 30, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- RealtyTrac® (realtytrac.com), the leading online marketplace for foreclosure properties, today released its Midyear 2010 Metropolitan Foreclosure Market Report, which shows 154 of the 206 U.S. metropolitan areas with a population of 200,000 or more posted year-over-year increases in foreclosure activity even while foreclosure activity decreased in nine of the 10 metros with the highest foreclosure rates.

July 29, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Bureau of Financial Institutions Superintendent Lloyd P. LaFountain, III announced this week that first quarter 2010 data submitted by Maine-chartered banks and credit unions shows a continuing increase in completed home foreclosures in Maine

Las Vegas, NV - July 29, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Richard Ballen, a Las Vegas Realtor specializing in Short Sales in Nevada stops a Nevada Foreclosure. Another successfully closed Wachovia Short Sale in Nevada. TOTAL DAYS 53 LIST TO CLOSE IN ADDITION TO $5000 TO SELLER!

WASHINGTON, DC - July 28, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Sen. Chuck Grassley, ranking member of the Committee on Finance, is urging the Treasury Department to set measurable goals and benchmarks for a housing assistance program that is failing to help struggling homeowners

Washington, DC - July 28, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The office of Nevada Senator Harry Reid will host a home foreclosure prevention workshop in Las Vegas at the Lied Memorial Boys and Girls Club on Saturday, July 31.

NEW YORK, NY - July 28, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Advertising Council, in partnership with the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), announced today the launch of a national public service advertising (PSA) campaign designed to encourage homeowners who are struggling with their monthly mortgage payments to learn about the Making Home Affordable Program. While over one million homeowners have already received assistance from the program, the national campaign encourages other struggling homeowners who may be eligible for assistance to reach out for the help they need through free resources made available by the Federal Government. The PSAs direct homeowners to visit MakingHomeAffordable.gov or call 1-888-995-HOPE (4673) to see if they may be eligible for assistance to make their mortgage payments more affordable and to understand options they may have to avoid foreclosure.

WASHINGTON, DC - July 27, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan today announced HUD will speed federal disaster assistance to Pike County in Kentucky and provide support to homeowners and low-income renters forced from their homes following severe storms, flooding and mudslides