Housing Crises through 2012

JPMorgan Suspends Certain Foreclosures As Doubts Grow Over Legality

Even as August saw more Americans lose their homes to foreclosure than in any other month on record, there are growing concerns over the legality of many of those proceedings.

JPMorgan Chase has suspended legal proceedings on 50,000 foreclosures, due to concerns about the validity of the foreclosure documents, a spokesman for the bank toldCNBC Wednesday (hat tip to Zero Hedge).

JPMorgan spokesman Tom Kelly confirmed to the AP Wednesday that "employees signed some affidavits about loan documents without personally verifying the files."

The decision is the latest signal of a potentially massive stall in the nation's foreclosure process. Last week, after GMAC Mortgage halted its foreclosures in 23 states, the Washington Postreported that one of GMAC's employees hadn't read the roughly 10,000 foreclosure documents he approved each month (and now Coloradowants to be added to that list of states). It then turned out that the "robo signer" might not have been alone.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/09/29/jpmorgan-suspends-foreclosures_n_744289.html

It's your credit score dummy

le't take a look

Huge Gap in Mortgage Availability: 1/3 of Americans Highly Unlikely to Qualify for a Mortgage Today, While Less Than Half Qualify for the Best Rates

.........................- Nearly one-third of Americans are unlikely to qualify for a mortgage because their credit scores are too low, making homeownership out of reach for many. This is according to an analysis of more than 25,000 loan quotes and purchase requests onZillow Mortgage Marketplace during the first half of September.................

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/huge-gap-in-mortgage-availability-13-of-americans-highly-unlikely-to-qualify-for-a-mortgage-today-while-less-than-half-qualify-for-the-best-rates-103849853.html

Texas Credit Union Fails

let's take a look

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Credit Unions Bailed Out

U.S. Backs $30 Billion in Bonds to Stabilize Key Institutions; Subprime Legacy

By MARK MAREMONT And VICTORIA MCGRANE

Two years after the peak of the financial crisis, the federal government swooped in to stabilize a crucial part of the credit-union sector battered by losses on subprime mortgages.

Regulators announced Friday a rescue and revamping of the nation's wholesale credit union system, underpinned by a federal guarantee valued at $30 billion or more. Wholesale credit unions don't deal with the general public but provide essential back-office services to thousands of other credit unions across the U.S. The majority of retail credit unions are sound, but they will have to shoulder the losses through special assessments over the next decade.

Friday's moves include the seizure of three wholesale credit unions, plus an unusual plan by government officials to manage $50 billion of troubled assets inherited from failed institutions. To help fund the rescue, the National Credit Union Administration plans to issue $30 billion to $35 billion in government-guaranteed bonds, backed by the shaky mortgage-related assets. More at the link:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703499604575512254063682236.html?mod=djemalertNEWS#articleTabs%3Darticle

If you are in Texas and didn't get a piece of the billions in bailout you might need to take it upon yourself to improve your credit. Credit Repair Texas offers a free credit repair review of your credit report and credit score. You can visit them at Credit Repair Houston.

foreclosures will continue unabated

let's take a look

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Obama Homeowner Program Hits 10-Month Low As Prices Drop And Foreclosures Surge

The number of homeowners receiving permanent relief under the Obama administration's primary foreclosure-prevention initiative hit a 10-month low as home prices dropped and repossessions jumped, threatening more homeowners just as the administration's aid program winds down.

Just over 33,000 homeowners had their monthly mortgage payments reduced in August for the next five years as part of the administration's Home Affordable Modification Program, Treasury Department data released Wednesday show. Obama promised in 2009 that some 3 to 4 million homeowners would be helped. About 449,000 borrowers have thus far received mortgage modifications.

The program, sold as a $50-billion effort, is unlikely to spend that much helping delinquent homeowners keep their homes. Nearly one and a half years into the program, only 1 percent of that money has been spent.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/09/22/hamp-obama-homeowner-program-hits-low_n_735720.html

Bank gets caught lying in court filing.

let's take a look

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Saving Americans Requires Sticking It to Them: Jonathan Weil

The banks were saved by the American people. Now who will save the people from the banks?

Last week, in a rare and possibly fleeting victory for the little guy, Ally Financial Inc.’s mortgage-servicing unit temporarily halted evictions tied to foreclosures in 23 states. This came after some attorneys for homeowners caught the company saying things that weren’t true in its court filings.

There’s no sense complaining to the federal government about Ally’s conduct, though. That’s because the Treasury Department is the company’s majority shareholder, after spending $17.2 billion of bailout money on Ally under the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-09-23/saving-americans-requires-sticking-it-to-them-jonathan-weil.html

Fort Worth Pension "trending toward Insolvency"

We are all California. let's take a look

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Fort Worth pension bubble will blow up in our faces

By MITCHELL SCHNURMAN

You don't have to be an actuary to know that this pension plan will end badly. The technical phrase is "trending toward insolvency."

Except that the city is on the hook for all the promised benefits. Taxpayers will have to pony up hefty contributions for years, even generations, and the city may have to cut services to afford it. The pension for city employees is currently projected to pay out $432 million more than it brings in over the next 30 years.

And that's the optimistic scenario. If investment returns average 7 percent, rather than the dreamy 8.5 percent in the assumptions, the unfunded liability could approach $1 billion.

The pension will require $60 million in city funds next year, and it's already a drag on a strapped city budget that has to close swimming pools and libraries and impose furloughs. Every year, the pension hole grows, because the benefits keep piling up.

"This is the elephant in the room," Mayor Mike Moncrief told the council in late July. "Not only for this budget, but for all the budgets to come."

http://www.star-telegram.com/2010/09/04/v-print/2445012/fort-worth-pension-bubble-will.html

Shadow Housing Inventory Weighs on Market

let's take a look

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U.S. Home Prices Face 3-Year Drop as Inventory Surge Looms

The slide in U.S. home prices may have another three years to go as sellers add as many as 12 million more properties to the market.

Shadow inventory -- the supply of homes in default or foreclosure that may be offered for sale -- is preventing prices from bottoming after a 28 percent plunge from 2006, according to analysts from Moody’s Analytics Inc., Fannie Mae, Morgan Stanley and Barclays Plc. Those properties are in addition to houses that are vacant or that may soon be put on the market by owners.

“Whether it’s the sidelined, shadow or current inventory, the issue is there’s more supply than demand,” said Oliver Chang, a U.S. housing strategist with Morgan Stanley in San Francisco. “Once you reach a bottom, it will take three or four years for prices to begin to rise 1 or 2 percent a year.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-09-15/u-s-home-prices-face-three-year-drop-as-inventory-surge-looms.html