The Washington Post
With home prices at historic lows and rental rates on the rise, a growing number of investors with cash to spare are seeking lucrative returns by gobbling up foreclosures in distressed markets across the country and turning them into rentals.
Read the full story
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/housing-downturn-spurs-a-boom-in-foreclosure-to-rental-conversions/2012/04/24/gIQAFWUZeT_story.html?hpid=z2
Fraudulent foreclosure prevention providers are coming out of the woodwork to take advantage of today’s loss mitigation culture, according to the Homeownership Preservation Foundation (HPF).
The nonprofit group, which helps distressed homeowners through the group’s HOPE hotline, says the number of mortgage foreclosure scams grew nearly 60 percent in 2012. The scammers, they say, are able to capitalize on the hype surrounding homeownership preservation as federal programs are being modified to help more and more borrowers.
HPF said it’s unknown whether all of the reported instances were truly fraudulent, but the agency still forwarded all of the complaints to the appropriate regulators and law enforcement agencies.
About half of the scams involve an attorney or individual claiming they can offer special legal services to distressed borrowers. HPF says, in fact, the services they offered are already provided by nonprofits for free.
HPF put out a warning nationwide, saying no one searching for a home-saving remedy should pay upfront fees to a firm offering assistance.
CalHFA has announced it will end its School Facility Fee Down Payment Assistance Program, which has been responsible for providing more than 14,000 grants totaling more than $61 million. Associated with this down payment assistance was more than $3.3 billion in first mortgage loans for people purchasing newly constructed homes throughout California. The program currently has approximately $700,000 left in funds, and CalHFA anticipates the final funds being expended by the end of April.
CalHFA will continue to accept applications for SFF until funds are exhausted. Applications will be accepted on a first come, first served basis.
Housing appears to be rated a “buy” these days, especially among investors, who see a ripe and rising rental market and big potential for income.
Read the full story:
http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/housing/story/2012-03-04/cnbc-real-estate-is-it-time-to-buy/53338660/1
The New York Times
Fewer homeowners have been falling behind on their mortgage payments over the last two years, yet even with the improvement, a significant number still are delinquent or in foreclosure.
Read the full story
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/11/realestate/mortgages-paying-on-time.html?_r=1&ref=realestate
