I took three different calls this past week from homeowners who have sought the assistance of Bank of America’s servicing subsidiary, BAC Home Loans Solutions, for a loan modification. What most unsuspecting homeowners do not realize is that BAC simply has no vested interest in actually making good on the false promises it continues to … [Read more…]
A great article by Don Lee – Tribune Washington Bureau – highlights how underwater mortgages are a serious contributor to the dismal performance of the national economy. It is estimated that there are 15 million homeowners who are undewater on their mortgages, many of whom can and continue to pay on their mortgage, but have … [Read more…]
A San Diego police officer and his wife recently pleaded not guilty to accusations that they trashed their foreclosed home in Riverside County, taking $44,000 in appliances and fixtures with them when they moved out. Both have been charged with one felony count of damaging or carrying away items from a foreclosed property. Damage was … [Read more…]
On October 20, 2010, the White House issued the following Fact Sheet: FACT SHEET: Federal Government Efforts to Support Accountability, Stability and Clarity in the Housing Market Today the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Department of the Treasury, the Department of Justice, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Office … [Read more…]
The Federal Housing Finance Agency, which has served as the conservator of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac since 2008, is looking to recoup on serious losses that the government sponsored entities have suffered as a result of their heavy purchases of mortgage-backed securities during the hey days of the real estate bubble. The FHFA has … [Read more…]
MERS or the Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, little known before the foreclosure tsunami struck, was developed in the early 1990’s by a number of financial entities, including Bank of America, Countrywide, Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac, allegedly to allow consumers to pay less for mortgage loans, streamline the mortgage process through electronic commerce, and eliminate … [Read more…]
In an effort to curb the predatory practices of certain "loan modification" companies, claiming to offer loan modification services for an upfront fee, the Arizona Legislature recently passed several laws with some good sized teeth – codified at A.R.S. Sections 44-1378-1378.08. A.R.S. Section 44-1378.02, for example, prevents a "foreclosure consultant," as defined in A.R.S. Section 44-1378, … [Read more…]
Let’s start out with this – I’m incensed today. The newest cottage industry to crop up in the wake of the foreclosure tsunami are the loan modifiers. Many of the most notorious loan modification companies were headed by the same individuals that were all to happy to originate loans that never should have been considered … [Read more…]
In one of my prior blog posts (April 6, 2010 – "Tax Lien Foreclosure: Ready, Willing, and Able to Redeem"), I wrote about an unpublished Memorandum Decision from the Arizona Court of Appeals, Division 2 – Leveraged Land, Montgomery, v. Hodges, 2 CA-CV 2009-0057. In that Decision, the Court overturned a default judgment that a tax … [Read more…]
It never ceases to amaze me how astute and opportunistic people can be when it comes to making money. In the Arizona tax lien foreclosure realm, there exists a group of opportunistic investors that derisively have been called "bottom feeders" or "title raiders." What these people do is comb public records to find pending tax … [Read more…]