Archive for the 'Foreclosure Help' Category

A new strategy will be adopted by officials of the city of Richmond in California as part of their proactive stance in preventing bank owned foreclosures from becoming blights in neighborhoods.

City officials have decided to purchase foreclosed homes, rehabilitate and sell them to interested homebuyers. They will establish the nonprofit Richmond Neighborhood Stabilization Corporation that will use about $3 million from federal funding to purchase repossessed houses at a discount.

However, officials know that the allocated $3 million is not enough to solve the bank owned foreclosures crisis in the city which is one of the cities in Bay Area severely affected by foreclosures. They hope to purchase and rehabilitate several homes, but it will be just a small portion of the estimated 2,300 distressed properties in the city.

City Councilman Jeff Ritterman remains optimistic about the program but admits that the effort will barely scrape the surface of the foreclosure problem.

Redevelopment housing director Patrick Lynch said that the city is the first in the Northern California region to launch this kind of program. He said that several neighboring cities have already contacted Richmond to see if they can participate in its campaign to purchase abandoned, vacant and bank owned foreclosures in their areas at bargain prices.

Richmond would follow the framework establish by the Housing and Recovery Act. It would link into national organizations that have formed partnerships with almost 90 percent of lenders and banks, according to Lynch.

This network of organizations will provide the city with listings of bank owned foreclosures. Richmond officials will visit these foreclosed properties and negotiate for their sale price. Properties that are on top of the city’s purchase list are those abandoned and vacant houses near parks, schools and new infrastructure.

According to Lynch, some properties are escrowed at about $50,000, while others are pegged at $100,000.

City officials have option to renovate and sell the houses to families or redeveloped, placed them in land banks or demolish them.

Meanwhile, the Richmond chapter of the Association for Community Organizations for Reform Now believes that establishing a nonprofit is an important component for a community land trust, which involves the city purchasing bank owned foreclosures, selling them to families while retaining control of the property.

Volusia County and several cities, including Palm Coast, Daytona Beach and Deltona are given 18 months to spend the funds they received in March to purchase bank foreclosure properties.

In Volusia, the program to purchase and sell foreclosure properties are in place and operational. A telephone line is made available for people who want to call to refer bank foreclosure properties that may qualify for the federal funds under the Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP).

The federal program is designed to buy and sell abandoned, vacant and foreclosed homes in neighborhoods hardest hit by the foreclosure crisis.

However, the program is a bit slow in taking off in cities of Palm Coast in Flagler County, Daytona Beach and Deltona.

Officials in Palm Coast and Deltona are hoping that the program will start to show some movement by July. Deltona aims to kick start the program after July 20. The city has 24 percent of the total foreclosure properties in Volusia.

The City Commission of Deltona plans to meet on July 20 to try to approve a streamlined list of consultants, from general contractors to appraisers.

Planning and development services director of Deltona Chris Bowley said that the city has a large volume of bank foreclosure properties and already, it has sent out requests for proposals. He added that the city is also working on a short list of potential consultants and after the meeting, it will advertise and the wheels of the program will start turning then.

The funding for Volusia County and Deltona came from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) NSP which is one of the programs approved under the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008.

In September last year, the HUD awarded about $450 million to 48 cities and counties in Florida. Deltona received $6.6 million while $5.2 million were earmarked for Volusia. The amount that a city or county may receive depends on the number of mortgage defaults and foreclosures in the area.

Under the program, all funds received should be used to buy, rehabilitate and sell foreclosure houses and to provide deposit and closing cost. Furthermore, a portion of the fund is allotted for rental housing for low-income families.

Currently, Volusia County has 9.728 preforelcosure and Bank Foreclosure Properties, 2,375 in Daytona Beach and 1.870 in Palm Coast.

Distressed homeowners in Washington who are facing the possibility of losing their homes to foreclosures may now have more access to lawyers who can help them protect their properties from bank foreclosure list for free.

The Washington State Bar Association’s Northwest Justice Project offers free legal service to distressed homeowners to help them avoid foreclosures and fraudulent bank foreclosure list rescue services.

Mark Johnson, president of the Washington State Bar Association, said that home foreclosures in the state are widespread, adding that repossession almost increased twice from 3,400 units in 2007 to last year’s 6,800 and the numbers continue to rise this year.

As part of the project, the bar association will spend about $150,000 on a legal team that will focus on foreclosure-related cases and $10,000 for electronic training materials. It will also donate staff time for the program.

So far, it recruited around 270 volunteer attorneys which are halfway from its target of 500 volunteer lawyers.

Meanwhile, in Seattle, a free bank foreclosure list prevention workshop will be held at the Cleveland High School on July 24.

Seattle Urban League chief executive officer and president James Kelly said that the help provided by the bar association is much welcome since more and more homeowners in the area are losing their properties to foreclosures daily. He said that every volunteer lawyer in the project can help preserve not only homes but also neighborhoods.

The Seattle Urban League provides U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)-approved housing counseling services. Washington State Housing Finance Commission Chairwoman Karen Miller said that HUD-certified housing counselors were able to help about 2,681 distressed homeowners since 2008, with only 37 properties failing to avoid foreclosure.

Miller pointed out that the data only prove that housing counseling services are effective in helping homeowners remain in their properties.

On the other hand, Johnson pointed out that the need for foreclosure prevention assistance surpasses the services that can be offered. He added that majority of foreclosure prevention programs helped only homeowners who earn more than 200 percent of the nationwide poverty guidelines. Under the bar association’s program, only distressed homeowners who are earning not less than 200 and not more than 400 percent of the state’s poverty guidelines can avail of the free bank foreclosure list prevention program.

Fifth Third Bank and Kevin Azzouz, developer of the Veranda Park building located in Orlando, Florida, was ordered by U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Karen Jenneman to find solutions to save the 55-unit property from bank forclosure listings.

Preliminary results of a market study showed that a growing number of troubled homeowners have saved their properties from bank foreclosure listings through short sale.

A meeting to address the effects of bank owned foreclosures were attended by distressed homeowners and renters in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The Foreclosure Response meeting provided information on the foreclosure mediation law and its benefits to renters and homeowners who are fighting foreclosures.

Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin has criticized President Barack Obama and his administration for failing to contain the flood of Bank Foreclosure Properties. He expressed his skepticism that the voluntary approach to loan modification would be able to save the country from the foreclosure crisis.

A public hearing will be held at the Legislative Office Building in Stamford, Connecticut to discuss the plan to release and distribute about $3.6 million federal economic stimulus block grants to several cities and towns to help them purchase and rehabilitate properties on listings of bank owned homes.

In an effort to reduce government foreclosures, the Federal Housing Administration has tightened its screening process for mortgage brokers who are allowed to originate FHA loans.

The Arends couple, Barb and Larry, have three adopted children who have disabilities. In 2007, when they learned that they won a handicapped-accessible house in a contest, they were very ecstatic. They regarded the house as a fulfillment of their dream for their three handicapped children not knowing that it is on bank foreclosure list.