Archive for the 'cities' Category

Los Angeles bank foreclosures continue to defy local, state and federal government prevention efforts. Recent market data showed that 73 percent of the total homes on the market for sale are foreclosure houses.

The figures showed that out of the 17,000 properties on the market for sale, over 12,500 were distressed properties. Industry experts said that these figures only showed that the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) of the federal government worked only as a stop gap, delaying what is inevitable.

The federal program is designed to help homeowners who are struggling to pay their monthly mortgage. It aims to reduce monthly loan payments for as many as 4 million borrowers nationwide by modifying loans to make them affordable but industry analysts said that the program only postponed foreclosures, prompting them to predict another flood of Los Angeles bank foreclosures in the coming months.

In August, cancellation of repossession sales declined by almost 7.5 percent to 9,976 compared with July figures. Industry analysts pointed out that there was no sign that foreclosures delayed under HAMP were cancelled after a 3-month trial period.

The federal program involves a trial period of 3 months during which repossession activity is postponed to give a chance to homeowners to fulfill the reduced payment agreed upon under the loan modification program.

Market data showed that the number of impending foreclosures that were postponed upon request of lenders increased twice since the program was launched. Last month, the number of foreclosure properties scheduled for sale totaled 131,300, higher than the 64,177 posted by the end of February 2006.

According to industry analysts, if the federal program succeeds, the cancellation rate of foreclosures would be dramatic. However, if the program fails, the number of foreclosure sales would increase.

Industry analysts said that the current housing market is still in a limbo. Many government programs designed to prevent foreclosures have yet to prove their mettle. In the county of Los Angeles, the number of homeowners who are behind on their mortgage payments remains at a high percentage of 10, with one in every 10 in default by 90 days or more.

Market data showed that the number of Orlando bank foreclosures was among the top 10 highest in the country last month. The Orlando-Kissimmee area earned the number 8 position in the ranking of metropolitan areas across the country with the highest foreclosure rate. This means that one out of 87 homeowners received at least one foreclosure filing last month.

Industry experts believed that aside from foreclosure prevention programs, another way to help distressed homeowners save their homes from foreclosures is to educate them about the process in order for them to know what will happen next and find ways to remain in their houses.

They said that foreclosure proceedings in Florida are mostly filed in the state court. Under Florida’s law, there are two foreclosure methods. One method is similar to a lawsuit and the other is an expedited process implemented in 1993.

Under the expedited process, the lenders file verified complaints which include all information necessary to prove that they are entitled to foreclose on a distressed property. Following the filing of a complaint, the state court will issue an order to borrowers who are required to show proof why financial judgments should not be made. The show cause order carries the proposed final judgment. A judgment will be entered if borrowers failed to file a defense.

According to court records, few Orlando bank foreclosures were completed through the expedited procedure, with most complainants going through the normal civil suit process.

Under the standard foreclosure lawsuit, the lenders file a legal complaint against borrowers who defaulted on their mortgage payments. Lenders will ask the court to determine the total mortgage owed by the borrower and for the distressed property to be sold as payment for the debts.

Lenders must show proof before the court that all prerequisites for the filing of a foreclosure lawsuit have been met. The prerequisites will depend on the terms and type of the mortgage involve. They may include notices of default and debt assistance offered to borrowers which is required under federal programs.

Under the Florida law, lenders are not required to specify the prerequisites, but they must state that they have met these requirements.

The law allows borrowers an opportunity to provide defense in every stage in the foreclosure proceeding. Defenses may include legal technicalities and equitable principals.

The Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund of the U.S. Department of Treasury has awarded $576,000 grant to ShoreBank as part of its effort to prevent bank foreclosures in Chicago.

ShoreBank has been serving Chicago, Illinois’ neighborhoods severely affected by the economic and foreclosure crisis. The bank is among the 55 depository Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.-insured financial companies from across the county and Northeast Illinois that have been recognized under the Bank Enterprise Award (BEA) Program.

The award recipients are being recognized for their responsible mortgages, quality financial services provided to economically distressed communities last year and offering affordable credit.

The grant money will be used by ShoreBank to boost its loan provisions and to continue to provide loans to community development financial groups in Chicago. The low-cost financing greatly help small business owners and neighborhood developers who may have difficulty obtaining loans at market rate.

ShoreBank provided ACCION Chicago a loan amounting to $100,000. The community development financial institution provides business and credit services to help small businesses in low and moderate income communities that have no access to traditional financing sources.

On its part, ACCION Chicago provided a $12,000 loan to businessman Anthony Waller. The Catering Out of the Box owner used the loan to expand his small business which now employs a dozen employees.

ShoreBank executive vice president Fran Grossman said that the award will augment ShoreBank’s lending services for community development financial institutions. The award also helps CDFI partners in developing economic opportunities to prevent Chicago bank foreclosures, grow sustainable businesses and create good jobs, Grossman added.

ACCION Chicago’s vice president of resource development Mary Fran Riley said that the CDFI funds will provide much needed relief from increasing demands for investment capital and loans that have been difficult to shore up or disappeared in many neighborhoods across Illinois.

She added that financial institutions like ShoreBank have provided access to more low-cost financing which allowed the organization to support existing and new businesses and create job opportunities.

The CDFI’s BEA Program was launched to provide incentives to financial institutions to increase their support to community development financial institutions, loan provisions and financial and investment services in economically distressed neighborhoods.

The Obama Administration’s $8,000 federal tax credit has made buying Houston bank foreclosures become easy for some first-time buyers in Texas.

Investors and first-time buyers should buy Brooklyn bank foreclosures right away to take advantage of the wide range of cheap properties on the market, suggested by industry experts.

A Miami bank foreclosures lawsuit has been filed against Fortune International and its president Edgardo Defortuna. The $67 million lawsuit against the Miami, Florida-based residential developer involves a hotel property which Defortuna plans to redevelop.

Dayton, Ohio has approved an agreement with Citywide Development Corporation to launch a program to purchase and rehabilitate vacant and foreclosed for sale homes. Under the agreement, CityWide will find vacant and newly foreclosed properties in stable neighborhoods to purchase, renovate and place on the market for sale.

Some families in Franklin, Virginia could soon be owners of affordable houses if the city’s application for a federal grant would be awarded under the Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP).

The Federal Reserve and Massachusetts Housing Partnership said that Brockton is the city with the highest number of bank foreclosed homes for sale in the state last month.

The city of Kenosha in Wisconsin is planning to use the almost $1.7 million in federal funds to buy properties on foreclosed home listings. Recently, members of the Kenosha council approved the collaboration between the city and the Wisconsin Department of Commerce for a federal neighborhood stabilization program.