"Obama may ban foreclosures without review" by Dawn Kopecki, Bloomberg News | February 26, 2010
NEW YORK - Foreclosures may reach as many as 7 million mortgages, and an additional 5 million are at risk of default because borrowers owe more than the property is worth, Laurie Goodman, senior managing director at Amherst Securities Group LP in New York, said in a Feb. 17 interview.
Where is their bailout with their own tax dollars, government?
“This is a problem of mammoth proportions,’’ Goodman said. “You can’t throw 12 million people out of their homes.....’’
But yes, we can, yes, we can!
Just WATCH THEM!!!
First a SPOONFUL of PROPAGANDA!!!
"The housing market is coming back from the winter doldrums.
--more--"
Related: New Home of the Nation
Mass. Housing Market Collapses
That's a "comeback?"
I would hate to see what falling farther behind would look like to the MSM.
"Sales of previously owned homes fall" by Bloomberg News | March 5, 2010
WASHINGTON - Fewer Americans than expected signed contracts to purchase previously owned homes in January, indicating the extension of a tax credit is doing little to lure buyers....
Then I was JUST BEING TOLD LIES BELOW, huh?
The drop in contract signings adds to evidence the housing market at the center of the worst recession since the 1930s is struggling to rebound after reports last week showed unexpected declines in purchases of new and existing homes.
How many time you guys going to get it wrong, and why should we ever believe you looting liars again?
The market may get another blow this month when the Federal Reserve ends planned purchases of mortgage-backed securities....
The National Association of Realtors said February figures may be depressed, as well, following snowstorms in some areas.
Happens every day after spending two hours reading my copy of the Boston Globe.
And Obama's "help?"
"US mortgage plan aiding only 12 percent of borrowers, Treasury says" by Alan Zibel, Associated Press | February 18, 2010
WASHINGTON - The government’s mortgage relief plan has helped only about 12 percent of borrowers who signed up since President Obama unveiled the program a year ago.
The Treasury Department said yesterday that as of last month, about 116,000 homeowners had completed the application process and had their loan payments reduced permanently. That compares with more than 1 million homeowners who started the process.
More than 61,000 homeowners have dropped out, either because they failed to make payments or did not return the necessary paperwork. And hundreds of thousands more will probably fall out soon, predicts Alan White, a law professor at Valparaiso University.
“I would say it’s a complete failure at this point,’’ White said.
Why not just pay off everyone's mortgage?
Certainly would be less than the trillions the government has laid out for banks and corporations.
Oh, right, then there would be no more debt or interest to collect for profitable banks and we could not have that.
Treasury officials, however, say the program is on track.
WTF are they smoking down there, anyway? They ought to share.
The plan “is doing the job it was designed to do,’’ Phyllis Caldwell, chief of the Treasury’s homeownership preservation office, said in a statement. “Struggling families are receiving payment relief, and the housing market is showing signs of stabilization.’’
Sigh. What do you do when someone keeps lying to you?
Large banks continue to struggle with a huge volume of borrowers needing help....
Aww, I feel so sowwy for the heawtwess and helpwess banks!
There have been calls in recent weeks for a major overhaul of the program, particularly for the government to do more to encourage banks to cut borrowers’ principal balances on their primary loans. Nearly one in three homeowners with a mortgage owes more to the bank than the property is worth, according to Moody’s Economy.com. But administration officials are wary of subsidizing such reductions with taxpayer money. Such a move could spark a backlash from critics who say it’s unfair to people who are still paying their mortgages on time.
What a s*** excuse for failure!
They don't care, and why are you trying to put us at each others' throats?
Oh, I see; takes the eye of the banker in the suit over there.
Supporters, however, say the administration should get credit for trying to light a fire under an industry that was not accustomed to assisting defaulted borrowers in huge numbers and resisted change.
Then GO to a BANK that YOU SERVE, don't come looking for credit here.
The administration “had a Herculean task,’’ said Sheila Bair, chairwoman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. “People need to give it time.’’
Yeah, patience, patience, patience -- unless it comes to starting more wars or boosting bank profits.
Then it is URGENT!
And he has been there for over 15 months; how much longer are we supposed to wait for "change?"
--more--"
"US to pay some debtors to quit homes" by New York Times | March 8, 2010
NEW YORK - In an effort to end the foreclosure crisis, the Obama administration has been trying to keep defaulting owners in their homes. Now it will take a new approach: paying some of them to leave.
Why not PAY THEM to STAY?
Don't you like your home, Obama?
Maybe we can give you a change of address in a few more years.
More than 5 million households are behind on their mortgages and risk foreclosure. The government’s $75 billion mortgage modification plan has helped only a few of them.
It's called failure.
Consumer advocates, economists, and even some in banking say much more needs to be done.
Open up that wallet again, taxpayers. Just keep it open.
Taking effect April 5, the program could encourage hundreds of thousands of delinquent borrowers to shed their houses through a process known as a short sale, in which property is sold for less than the mortgage balance. Lenders will be compelled to go along....
Yeah, right.
The servicing bank, as with all modifications, will get $1,000.
I knew they were getting something.
What else are they getting?
Another $1,000 can go toward a second loan, if there is one. And for the first time the government would give money to the distressed homeowners themselves. They will get $1,500 in “relocation assistance.’’
THAT'S IT?
That is SPITTING in your TAXPAYER PALM, dear Americans!
And I DO NOT LIKE the TERM "relocation," do you?
Brings up memories of Katrina, Communists and Nazis.
For the investment pools that own many home loans, there is the prospect of getting more money with a sale than with a foreclosure.
Yes, THAT is WHY this is BEING DONE -- for INVESTORS, as always!
For the borrowers, there is the likelihood of suffering less damage to credit ratings. And as part of the transaction, they will get the lender’s assurance that they will not later be sued for an unpaid mortgage balance.
Oh, ISN'T THAT JUST SO NICE of THEM, huh?
WHY was SUING EVEN a consideration after ALL THAT TAX LOOT WE GAVE THEM!?
I thought -- or have been raised to believe -- that the BANK was a GOOD THING that KEPT YOUR MONEY SAFE and WORKED WITH YOU to BETTER YOUR LIFE!!
Wow, was I EVER MISINFORMED!
The program was announced Nov. 30; details are still being fine-tuned.
Yup, SIX MONTHS LATER and "details" are still being "fine-tuned."
Banks got there $$$ in DAYS, no problems!
--more--"
You do get NEVER-ENDING MSM AGENDA-PUSHING though, America.
"Foreclosure filings slow in February" by Dan Levy, Bloomberg News | March 12, 2010
US foreclosure filings rose at the slowest pace in four years in February as the government sought to reduce record bank seizures, RealtyTrac Inc. said yesterday....
Filings rose 6 percent from a year earlier, the smallest increase since RealtyTrac began tracking annual changes in January 2006. They declined 2 percent from January.
Yeah, there is STILL a WHOLE LOT of WATER GUSHING into the HOUSEBOAT but it looks like it is slowing down. And the MSM band played on.
The Obama administration’s main effort to keep people in their homes resulted in more than 830,000 trial loan modifications for delinquent borrowers through January, according to the Treasury Department. Still, filings were up for the 50th straight month....
Have YOU HAD ENOUGH of this s*** journalism, readers?
“This leveling of the foreclosure trend is not necessarily evidence that fewer homeowners are in distress and at risk for foreclosure, but rather that foreclosure prevention programs, legislation and other processing delays are in effect capping monthly foreclosure activity,’’ RealtyTrac chief executive James Saccacio said.
Translation: GOVERNMENT and INDUSTRY are JIGGERING the NUMBERS!!!
About 116,000 mortgages have been permanently modified under the government’s program, compared with up to 4 million targeted by December 2012.
That is FAILURE under the cover of incompetence.
New data will be released Monday, Meg Reilly, a Treasury spokeswoman, said in an e-mail.
Like we are going to put stock in anything they say.
Winter storms may also have delayed the processing of foreclosure notices in the nation’s northeast and mid-Atlantic, RealtyTrac said.
There they go again, blaming the weather.
Related: Mail Call!
Maybe you should blame them next time; that weather looks like it has been whipped to death.
Bank seizures are increasing the number of homes for sale. Lenders took back 78,683 properties last month, up 6 percent from February 2009 and down 15 percent from a peak in December, RealtyTrac said. More than 2 million empty homes were on the market in the fourth quarter, according to the Census Bureau.
“Government programs are helping to keep more supply from coming out,’’ Brian Bethune, chief financial economist at IHS Global Insight in Lexington, Mass., said in an interview. “We’ve got a disjointed market where most of the housing supply is coming from foreclosures rather than building new homes.’’
That's what happens when it is based on looting, lying, and fraud.
--more--"
And you, poor American?
"Many still waiting on mortgage aid program" by Associated Press | March 13, 2010
WASHINGTON — Hundreds of thousands of homeowners are in limbo waiting to find out if they will be accepted for the Obama administration’s foreclosure prevention program.
Banks, wars, and Israel are never left in "limbo," notice that?
Nearly 1.1 million borrowers have enrolled in the program since it started a year ago, but so far only about 170,000 homeowners have completed the application process, the government said yesterday.
What is that for a batting average?
Not very good, is it?
At that rate, just 16 percent, the program will have a minimal effect on the foreclosure crisis.
It is actually under at 15.5 percent, but who cares about precision.
I mean, we are talking an AmeriKan newspaper here.
And many analysts have warned that the majority of borrowers will never complete the process — or fall behind again....
To entice mortgage companies to participate, the government has set aside $75 billion in subsidies, though less than 1 percent has been spent.
Just sitting on the money, 'eh, government. Sob. So sad for America and Americans.
Housing counselors complain that many homeowners are forced to wait many months for a decision.
Yes, neglect is a response.
And now there are more questions still?
"Numbers dispute casts pall over US mortgage aid program" by Alan Zibel, Associated Press | March 18, 2010
WASHINGTON — Last year, the message was clear. Now it is murky.
When President Obama first announced a sweeping effort to combat foreclosures in February 2009, he said the program would “enable as many as 3 to 4 million homeowners to modify the terms of their mortgages.’’
Shaun Donovan, the administration’s housing secretary, echoed with the claim the plan “does a number of things to make sure that up to 3 to 4 million families can stay in their homes and have affordable mortgages.’’
Now, with only 170,000 successful cases a year later, administration officials are backpedaling. They say the plan is on track to offer — note the word “offer’’ — help to those millions. By that measure, the program has already reached 1.3 million of them.
Ever feel like you are being jerked around?
Thought we got rid of this s*** with the last guy.
But the new spin is drawing ire from some on Capitol Hill. Republican representatives Darrell Issa and Jim Jordan sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner yesterday accusing Obama officials of distorting the numbers.
Noooooo! They wouldn't do that!
“If Treasury is to regain the confidence of the American people, it must become more candid about the success or failure of its policies,’’ they wrote....
TOO LATE!
They will NEVER REGAIN the TRUST unless they OPEN UP COMPLETELY and begin TELLING the TRUTH!
And even then that might not be enough; we would all be better off without them.
But
There is one of those words that litter the paper on a daily basis. That's why I have to watch where I walk.
getting banks and homeowners to complete the process has been far more difficult than administration officials anticipated.
I'm SICK of EXCUSES and APOLOGIES, 'kay?!!!
The GOVERNMENT has had YEARS to "solve" the problem!
That TELLS YOU SOMETHING about their INTENTIONS right there!
About 90,000 homeowners have fallen out already, and hundreds of thousands more are likely to be disqualified this year. Officials actually made a quiet tweak to Obama’s message weeks after his initial speech. The word “offer’’ made its first appearance on March 4, 2009, when the Treasury Department released details of the program....
Yeah, that'll fool 'em!
Didn't we get rid of such disingenuousness with the last guy?
Michael Barr, an assistant Treasury secretary, says he has consistently used this language in interviews with reporters for the past year. “When we said we would reach 3 to 4 million people, we didn’t say all of them were going to succeed,’’ he said in an interview last month.
Yeah, why you making such a big deal out of another shovel full of horse shit from this government?
This kind of hairsplitting irks Thomas Lawler, an independent housing economist.
Merely offering help, he said, is “not what the president meant,’’ he said. Obama officials would be better off acknowledging the program’s flaws and moving on, he said.Yeah, RIGHT OUT OF TOWN and INTO the OCEAN!
Plus, he argued, offers of help are a poor way to measure results.
Yeah, ACTIONS speak LOUDER than WORDS (although I'm doing my best)!!!
--more--"
And it JUST GETS WORSE whenever GOVERNMENT tries to "help."
"Foreclosure program may prolong crisis, study says" by Dawn Kopecki, Bloomberg News | March 25, 2010
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration’s main foreclosure-prevention program risks helping few borrowers and may do more harm than good by “merely spreading out the foreclosure crisis’’ over several years, investigators said.
THAT is GOVERNMENT ALL OVER the PLACE!
“A year into the program, although more than a million trial modifications have been initiated, the number of permanent modifications thus far, 168,708, has been, even according to Treasury, disappointing,’’ according to a report by a government watchdog. “The program will not be a long-term success if large amounts of borrowers simply re-default and end up facing foreclosure anyway.’’
Yeah, but as with the STIMULOOT, government can CLAIM VICTORY via the NUMBERS!!
While Treasury officials still publicly proclaim the Home Affordable Modification Program will help 3 million to 4 million borrowers, internally they project that about half that number will receive permanent alterations to their loan terms, the special inspector general for the Troubled Asset Relief Program wrote in the report. The findings are scheduled to be released at a hearing today before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
The report echoes criticisms in a March 16 letter to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner from Republican committee members Darrell Issa of California and Jim Jordan of Ohio. They said the administration was “glossing over disappointing results’’ by counting temporary changes toward the goal of permanent relief. Treasury’s focus on trial modifications “raises issues for how the program was justified and how Treasury is not measuring progress,’’ the report reads.
Assistant Treasury Secretary Herb Allison said in a response attached to the report that “Treasury’s own statements have not always been precise.’’ Still, he said he disagreed with many of the findings, including the criticism that using trial modifications as a measure of success was misleading....
Somebody say something?
Thought I heard an irritating buzz.
So when are they FINALLY going to FIX the PROBLEM, 'eh, America?
"US to order lenders to cut mortgage payments for the jobless; Goal is to limit more foreclosures" by Renae Merle and Dina Elboghdady, Washington Post | March 26, 2010
WASHINGTON — While the initial mortgage crisis resulted from millions of risky home loans that went bad, more recent defaults reflect the country’s economic downturn and the inability of jobless borrowers to keep paying.
But don't worry; all the foreclosures and joblessness are not standing in the way of a robust recovery.
The administration’s newest push also seeks to more aggressively help borrowers who owe more on their mortgages than their properties are worth, by encouraging lenders to cut the loan balances of millions of these distressed homeowners and possibly refinance into loans backed by the Federal Housing Administration. The problem of so-called underwater borrowers has bedeviled earlier administration efforts to address the mortgage crisis as home prices plunged.
What is taking them so long, readers?
Of cour$e, we KNOW WHY!
This is JUST a SHOW to make the public think they are doing something and looking out for you when the truth is nothing of the sort.
For the first time, the government will offer financial incentives to lenders that cut the principal these homeowners owe on primary mortgages. The new initiatives are expected to take effect over the next six months and will be funded out of money remaining in the $700 billion bailout program for the financial sector, administration officials said....
In the meantime, there is a growing backlog of distressed borrowers awaiting help from their lender and threatening to hamper efforts to stabilize the housing market....
They they will be waiting for the rest of eternity.
The program features several other elements, including several steps to address the growing population of borrowers who owe significantly more than their home is worth. Underwater borrowers make up about a quarter of all households, according to First American CoreLogic. Economists consider these homeowners at higher risk of default because they cannot sell or refinance their home if they run into financial troubles.
Yeah, government is great and doing a real bang-up job, huh?
For one, the government will for the first time provide financial incentives to lenders that cut the balance of a borrower’s mortgage....
What, the trillions in bailouts not enough?
--more--"
Where did all that money go?
Not to you, homeowners:
"Homeowners need more, some say; Mortgage relief plan aids those out of work" by Jenifer B. McKim, Globe Staff | March 27, 2010
Local housing advocates who have long been pushing for more government assistance for unemployed homeowners said a new Obama administration plan to give out-of-work homeowners three to six months of mortgage assistance is not adequate.
Others were thrilled that more borrowers in trouble will see their mortgage principal reduced through the new US proposal unveiled yesterday that is meant to fix flaws in a year-old national effort to reduce foreclosures....
Still can't get it right, huh?
And we are supposed to TRUST THEM with everything from our security, health, and environment?
I'd rather not, thanks, before things get even worse because that is what happens every time the state seems to get involved.
Nationwide yesterday, housing advocates and economists voiced praise and skepticism about the detailed federal plan that expands on an effort to help millions of at-risk homeowners through loan modifications and refinancing. The original plan, launched last year, has largely been seen as unsuccessful....
Get the feeling after a while it is on purpose.
The new proposals will be financed with some of the $50 billion in federal bailout money already allocated to housing programs....
Lewis Finfer, executive director of the Massachusetts Communities Action Network, a faith-based community organization in Dorchester, said unemployed workers need more time. For months, the group has been calling on the federal government to do more to help the jobless. “Three months forbearance is not going to be sufficient for an unemployed person to save their home,’’ Finfer said.
Thanks, gummint!
Those three months sure cost a pile.
Representative Barney Frank, House Financial Services Committee chairman, said the enhancements in the federal program will at least provide some relief to many homeowners. “While clearly there are some people in trouble on their mortgages who bear some of the responsibility for their plight, this is not true of the unemployed who are fully deserving of this help,’’ the Massachusetts Democrat said.
I don't even want to respond to that disgusting and duplicitous gas bag anymore.
The new proposal will also help distressed homeowners whose properties are “underwater’’ — meaning the mortgage exceeds the value of the house....
When they surface and get to stay in their homes I'll believe it; as for now, I see foreclosures are still rising.
The Obama administration is launching a program for homeowners with underwater mortgages who are up-to-date on payments but whose loans are not insured by the Federal Housing Administration. Lenders can allow them to refinance into FHA-backed loans if the financial institution reduces the mortgage at least 10 percent. The intent is to allow lenders to unload risky loans at a modest loss, instead of foreclosing. The Mortgage Bankers Association, based in Washington, D.C., approved the plan.
Then I am NOT LIKING IT AT ALL!!!!
But
Another one of those words.
What are they teaching for journalism these days?
Nothing like when I went to college.
association president John A. Courson said lenders must consider whether writing down a loan makes financial sense.
But they are workin' with you to resolve your problem!
“Each servicer will need to determine whether this is the best approach to help the individual borrower, keeping in mind any contractual restrictions or requirements from the mortgage investor,’’ Courson said.
Yeah, if you are an auto worker the agreement can be ripped open; however, if you are a banker getting a bonus or a pilfering "public servant," nope. Just have to live with it, taxpayers.
Julia Gordon, senior policy counsel for the nonprofit Center for Responsible Lending in North Carolina, also addressed concerns that the financial assistance rewards people who made bad financial choices, such as by purchasing a house they could not afford.
Yeah, try turning us against each other so we take our yes off the real criminals and thieves.
“We are all on a ship together,’’ she said. “You might not have made the hole on the bottom of the ship, but if we don’t plug it up, we all go down together.’’
And GUESS WHO GETS AWAY in the LIFEBOATS and who is STUCK ON BOARD?!!!!
--more--"
Besides, never mind that water gushing in because it looks like it is slowing down.
"More states get mortgage-aid money" by Associated Press | March 30, 2010
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration yesterday offered $600 million in financial support to five more states with high unemployment slammed by the housing bust.
Ohio got the most, $172 million, followed by North Carolina at $159 million and South Carolina at $138 million. Oregon and Rhode Island are due to receive $88 million and $43 million, respectively.
The states’ housing finance agencies will design mortgage assistance programs that meet federal criteria.
“The purpose of this is to foster innovation in dealing with what is a highly localized problem around the country,’’ said Herbert Allison, an assistant Treasury secretary. “We want to learn from the innovations.’’
Pfft!
TOSSING MORE MONEY at a FAILURE is NOT LEARNING or INNOVATING a DAMN THING!
F***ing sick of the EXCUSES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Last month, the Obama administration said it would give $1.5 billion to state housing agencies in Arizona, California, Florida, Michigan, and Nevada. The administration is under pressure to do more to tackle the foreclosure crisis. On Friday, it launched a plan to reduce the amount some homeowners owe on mortgages.
--more--"
Yup, and still nothing works!
"Foreclosure program rules eased; Government found communities had trouble spending federal funds" by Tamara Lush, Associated Press | April 3, 2010
More f***ing excuses!
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The federal government announced yesterday that it is relaxing some rules to make it easier for communities to spend funds on redeveloping abandoned and foreclosed properties.
The changes, effective immediately, will allow cities, counties, and states to buy properties in mortgage default and uninhabitable homes with lingering code violations through the $4 billion Neighborhood Stabilization Program. The program was started in the midst of the nation’s foreclosure crisis, but a year later about a third of more than 300 local governments that got grants have barely made a dent in them, according to a recent report from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Some city, state, and county officials say they have had trouble spending the grant money because federal rules are confusing and cash investors have often outbid them for residential properties....
James Miller, spokesman for the Florida Department of Community Affairs, which got $91 million to distribute to 24 cities and counties, called yesterday’s announcement wonderful news....
HUD also expanded the definition of an abandoned property to include homes where no mortgage or tax payments have been made for at least 90 days or a code enforcement inspection has determined that the property is not habitable and the owner has taken no corrective action.
So the government can do what, just take it?
WASHINGTON — The government launched a new effort yesterday to speed up the time-consuming, often-frustrating process of selling your home if you owe more than it’s worth.
The Obama administration will give $3,000 for moving expenses to homeowners who complete such a sale — known as a short sale — or agree to turn over the deed of the property to the lender. The effort is designed for homeowners who are in financial trouble but don’t qualify for the administration’s $75 billion mortgage modification program.
Why not just pay the f***ing things off for people?
Oh right, interest, debt, and who government serves.
Owners will still lose their homes, but a short sale or deed in lieu of foreclosure doesn’t hurt a borrower’s credit score for as much time as a foreclosure.
I'm sure they are NOT REALLY GIVING a SHIT about THAT RIGHT NOW!
For lenders, a home usually fetches more money in a short sale than a foreclosure.
Yeah, it is FOR THEM, not you, Americans -- otherwise, YOUR GOVERNMENT would not be PAYING YOU to LEAVE YOUR HOME! They would be PAYING YOU to STAY!!
Related:
And the bank avoids expensive legal bills, cleanup fees, and maintenance costs that follow a foreclosure.
Oh, well that is good.
“It’s very traumatic and embarrassing and frustrating to go through a foreclosure,’’ said Laurie Maggiano, policy director of the Treasury Department’s homeownership preservation office. With a short sale, she said, “your financial issues are your own problem and not neighborhood conversation.’’
Just make sure you say goodbye to the neighbors.
Falling home prices and lost jobs have forced many sellers into this position....
But we got recovery, blah, blah.
--more--"
"US aims to get foreclosure prevention plan on track" by Alan Zibel, Associated Press | April 15, 2010
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is working to get its flagship foreclosure prevention effort on track after a slow and problem-plagued start, a Treasury Department official told lawmakers yesterday....
--more--"The MSM record skipping or what, readers?
Could it GET ANY WORSE?
Yup!!
"Mortgage aid plan labeled a fraud risk" by Christopher S. Rugaber, Associated Press | April 20, 2010
WASHINGTON — Recent changes to the Obama administration’s mortgage assistance program may make it more vulnerable to fraud, a government watchdog says.
The changes, disclosed last month, are intended to make it easier for struggling homeowners to avoid foreclosure. But the administration hasn’t done enough to warn the public about fraud and hasn’t included sufficient safeguards to prevent abuse, the special inspector general for the Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP, said.
How completely discouraging.
“Criminals feed on borrower confusion, and frequent changes to the programs provide opportunities for experienced criminal elements to prey on desperate homeowners,’’ inspector general Neil Barofsky wrote in a quarterly report to be issued today.
They are the ones sitting across from you at the bank.
Last month, the Treasury Department revised the $75 billion mortgage assistance program it first rolled out last year. It is intended to prevent 3 million to 4 million home foreclosures by encouraging mortgage lenders to lower monthly payments.
Nothing on the percentages, huh?
Mortgage lenders will receive incentive payments if they reduce the amount borrowers owe....
That is the only way a banker will do anything, isn't it?
And HOW MUCH is that going to COST TAPPED-OUT TAXPAYERS fro THEIR SLOPPY INCOMPETENCE?!!
Un-flipping-real!
--more--"
But it worked, right?
"Mortgage applications on the rise" by Bloomberg News | April 22, 2010
WASHINGTON — Mortgage applications in the United States rose by the most in seven weeks as the looming end of the home buyer tax credit helped spark the biggest rise in purchases since January.
What did it say up above? Tax credit doing little?
The Mortgage Bankers Association’s index increased 13.6 percent in the week ended April 16. The gauge of purchases climbed 10.1 percent, and a drop in mortgage rates boosted the refinancing measure by 15.8 percent, the first gain since the end of February.
The tax credit, which requires contracts to be signed by the end of the month, is bringing buyers back to the market.
Sales have dropped, but.... sigh.
Reports this week on March sales of new and previously owned homes may add to evidence that housing has stabilized, even as 9.7 percent unemployment and mounting foreclosures limit gains.
Like a newspaper was ever interested in evidence.
“We expect the improvement in sales to continue through the spring, peaking in June when the tax credit expires for closed contracts,’’ Michelle Meyer, a senior economist at Barclays Capital Inc., said in a note to clients. The average rate on a 30-year fixed loan dropped to 5.04 percent from 5.17 percent the prior week, the group said. Sales of previously owned homes rose 5.3 percent in March from the prior month, according to the median forecast of economists in a Bloomberg News survey ahead of a National Association of Realtors report today.
--more--"
Of course, once you start filling out the paperwork:
"New paperwork rules meant to protect home buyers are creating new headaches" by Adrian Sainz, Associated Press | April 23, 2010
Thanks, government.
And I already have one.
For anyone buying a home, beware: There could be some kinks with the paperwork.
Why must we BEWARE in the GREATEST ECONOMY EVER DEVISED that is supposed to be SERVING ME?
In January, the Department of Housing and Urban Development rolled out sweeping changes to the Good Faith Estimate, a key consumer protection document. The real estate industry has four months to change over to the new form; questions and complaints are widespread.
“Borrowers are looking at this form and saying, ‘This doesn’t make any sense for us, why can’t we have something that’s more simple?’ ’’ said Pava Leyrer, president of Heritage National Mortgage in Grandville, Mich....
Well, no, because then.... sigh!
HUD says consumers can more easily compare lenders as they shop for a mortgage.
Sick of SHOPPING from THIEVES!
But
That word comes up a lot.
the form is just one document in a thick stack. “The [good faith estimate] is not an all-purpose document,’’ said HUD’s Vicki Bott. The form is not intended to be “the comprehensive, cash-to-close document.’’
Yeah, that would be too much like real help.
Brokers and title companies have struggled to understand the form and explain it to clients. Deals have been delayed. Big banks have spent millions to change their computer systems. And lenders have created forms of their own to better explain exactly what is reflected in the estimate. A main issue for lenders is knowing which fees belong in which block. Each block has, in government-speak....
Oh, everyone loves that!
Violations rules can bring civil or criminal penalties....
And not understand the unintelligible is no excuse.
So this is JUST ANOTHER GOVERNMENT MONEY GRAB, 'eh?
--more--"
Yeah, WHAT a MESS, Obama -- and you have done nothing but make it worse.
