Among the many things that Republican congressmen and women have thrown on the chopping block in their efforts to bring down the national budget and get a handle on the national debt is the Obama administration’s much-maligned Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP). The program was intended to help “as many as three to four million financially struggling homeowners avoid foreclosure by modifying loans,”[1] but in reality the program has led to only 521,630 permanent loan modifications, with many of these “permanent” modifications lapsing back into default[2]. Despite all this, however, …

If you are thinking that email negotiations on real estate deals do not count until you put pen to paper, then think again. Last week a New York state court ruled that “handwriting and email should now basically be considered one and the same”[1]. The ruling comes from the Appellate Division, First Department of State Supreme Court in Manhattan and has been appealed to New York’s Court of Appeals.
The Naldi v. Grunberg case is based around a commercial real estate transaction, but the court ruling also applies to residential transactions. …

In an effort to “clarify and streamline” the foreclosure mediation process in Nevada, the Nevada Supreme Court has updated the rules of the Nevada Foreclosure Mediation Progam (FMP)[1]. Chief Justice Michael L. Douglas emphasized that “periodic revisions…have always been anticipated…to ensure that the program works for those who need it and use it – both homeowners and lenders.” The rules changes include clarification on forms to be provided, deal with how temporary modifications are handled and require that homeowners be given a date to vacate the premises when they agree …

According to LPS Applied Analytics, the average borrower in foreclosure spends 17 months in the foreclosure process, up six months from 2009’s 11 months. Furthermore, this is probably not the end of the extension process, said Herb Blecher, senior vice president of LPS, citing “huge volumes of defaulted mortgages,” “time-consuming reviews for loan modifications and additional delays that followed revelations late last year about improperly filed foreclosure documents”[1]. Before the housing crash and subsequent foreclosure crisis, the average foreclosure took about 250 days. Now, says Blecher, “loans are spending longer …

While it is problematic enough that Chicago’s 60621 zip code has been rated the most at-risk for mortgage fraud in the country for three straight quarters, what is perhaps more disturbing out Interthinx Mortgage Fraud Risk Report numbers are the way that the risk appears to spread. According to the data-tracking firm’s analysis, Chicago as a whole has increased when it comes to risk of mortgage fraud from “moderate” in second-quarter 2010 to “very high risk” by the end of 2010, indicating that “ ‘very high’ risk at the zip …

In an effort to make up for mistakes on military foreclosures, JP Morgan Chase announced yesterday that it is going to “significantly enhance its programs to help military and veteran customers”[1]. In a statement from Jamie Dimon, the company’s chairman and chief executive, the lender expressed regret for “the mistakes we made on military foreclosures,” calling the incidents a “painful aberration on [our] track record [of honoring military and veterans].” The lender admitted before a congressional committee last week that they foreclosed on homes of active-duty personnel who should have …

While “hardest hit” areas like Phoenix and Las Vegas still dominate media coverage of the housing market doldrums, around the country markets previously considered to be “stable” despite the crash are starting to cave. This “new wave of distress” is probably not surprising to residents of these areas who may have been experiencing low prices, high foreclosure inventories and difficulties selling for some time, but many “outside” analysts who believed that “economically diversified cities” would emerge relatively unscathed are finding themselves to be painfully incorrect[1]. According to a report from …

Quicken Loan, one of the nation’s largest mortgage lenders that has “survived and thrived” in today’s difficult market due to avoiding subprime loans and dicey practices, boasts the number one spot in surveys for customer satisfaction and has been rated as “one of America’s best places to work.” However, the Center for Public Integrity (CPI) is not buying[1]. According to reports by CPI, Quicken Loans has mislead homeowners about the details of their loans, charged excessive fees, utilized fraudulent appraisals and even forced employees to falsify borrowers’ incomes on loan …

According to an article in the Florida Bar Journal, the Florida Bar Association considers it an attorney’s responsibility to notify judges of potential foreclosure fraud when working on foreclosure cases – even if the property has already been foreclosed upon and even been sold at auction[1]. The types of fraud particularly noted are “robo-signed affidavits and forged notary stamps.” Given that in the 1.2 million foreclosures filed in Florida since the beginning of 2007, “tens of thousands of forged signatures, backdated documents and other problem paperwork” have been detected already, …

Thanks to “slower-than-expected job and population growth and a bigger glut of home foreclosures than expected,” experts at the Urban Land Institute Arizona conference last week pushed metropolitan Phoenix’s housing recovery out another year. Now, the latest forecasts indicate that “the Phoenix area won’t recover to pre-boom levels until 2015[1]. In 2009, the group predicted a recovery by 2012, and in 2010 the forecast was for 2014.
The analysts determined that the housing recovery will remain slow until “enough new jobs are created to attract tens of thousands of new …