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RealtyTrac, a foreclosure data resource, and SmartZip, an investment analytics company, are teaming up to offer HomeScore ratings for foreclosure properties.

The HomeScores allow buyers a different to size up bank-owned properties by providing information on the foreclosed home’s potential for above average price appreciation and below average costs. For example, properties that receive scores of 35 or above are considered good-to-excellent investments.

“This enables shoppers to get an independent assessment of the long-term value of foreclosures,” says Avi Gupta, SmartZip’s vice president of research and marketing. “Shoppers can also easily compare properties against each other, since HomeScore is a relative rating on a scale of 1 to 100.”

The scores will appear in the listing search results at RealtyTrac, and site visitors will also have the option of even sorting foreclosed property results based on HomeScore ranges.

Source: “RealtyTrac Teams Up With SmartZip,” Inman News (April 25, 2011) 

Other articles relating to the Sacramento and Placerville, California regions at: www.sierraproperties.com

Banks who spend the extra cash to rehab a foreclosed or REO property stand to sell the property much faster than a non-rehabbed REO, according to a new study by Field Asset Services Inc., a property preservation and REO asset management company.

For the last two years, the company has analyzed the number of days on market for remodeled foreclosure or REO properties versus those that are not remodeled.

In reviewing 17,252 properties across 13 states, researchers found that the average days on the market for REO properties that were not rehabbed was 222.8 days. On the other hand, properties that were rehabbed sold, on average, in 69.8 days.

“When a home looks better, it sells faster,” Javier Zuluaga, director of sales and marketing for Home Repairs and Remodeling (HR&R) LLC in Tempe, Ariz., told Inman News.  

Full article at: “Rehabbed REOs Spend Less Time on Market,” Inman News (April 22, 2011) 

Our comment: Lenders might consider this in the Sacramento and Placerville, California regions. This is what may cash buyers are doing.   

Banks continue to receive backlash for their handling of a flood of foreclosures across the country. A new report released this week by federal regulators finds that banks failed to do a good job in handling foreclosures and sometimes evicted home owners when they clearly should not have.

The problems were “significant and pervasive” and added up to “a pattern of misconduct and negligence,” according to the Federal Reserve. The Fed says it soon plans to announce monetary penalties against mortgage servicers.

The report revealed several cases “in which foreclosures should not have proceeded due to an intervening event or condition,” such as families in bankruptcy or home owners who were eligible for a loan modification or even in the process of doing a loan modification.

Source: “Report Criticizes Banks for Handling of Mortgages,” The New York Times (April 14, 2011) 

Other articles relating to the Sacramento and Placerville, California regions at:  www.sierraproperties.com

The nation’s largest banks reached a settlement with federal regulators, agreeing to compensate home owners who were wrongly foreclosed upon and to overhaul their operations.

The settlement also directed financial firms to hire auditors to determine if they improperly foreclosed on home owners in 2009 and 2010.

However, the settlement reached with federal regulators on Wednesday is hardly the end of punishment and investigation into banks’ shoddy lending practices and wrongful foreclosures, officials say. Officials warn fines will be determined later for the lenders and banking companies, which include Bank of America, Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Chase, and Citigroup.

Wednesday’s settlement with banks was reached with three federal banking regulators: the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Reserve, and the Office of Thrift Supervision.

Full details at source: “14 Lenders and 2 Servicers to Reimburse Home Owners who Were Incorrectly Foreclosed Upon,” Associated Press (April 13, 2011) and “Mortgage Lenders Settle but Still Face Probe,” MSNBC.com (April 13, 2011) 

Other articles relating to the Sacramento and Placerville, California regions at: www.sierraproperties.com

New rules for the nation’s largest mortgage servicers haven’t yet gone into effect, but critics are already speaking out, saying the new rules fall short of really addressing foreclosure problems and helping home owners.

In a settlement with federal banking regulators, new rules for mortgage servicers include requirements that servicers stop foreclosing while negotiating a loan modification, improve their processing systems, provide defaulting borrowers a single point of contact, and bring in a consultant to investigate complaints by home owners who were foreclosed on because of foreclosure processing errors in 2009 and 2010.

However, Alys Cohen of the National Consumer Law Center says the agreements “do not in any way require the servicers to stop avoidable foreclosures, and that is what we need.”

In a letter to the regulators, dozens of groups — including the Consumer Federation of America and the Center for Responsible Lending — are calling for the withdrawal of the agreement in favor of “specific and protective measures regarding loss mitigation, account management, and documentation.”

Full article at : “New Rules for Top Mortgage Servicers Face Early Criticism,” The New York Times (April 11, 2011) 

Other articles relating to the Sacramento and Placerville, California regions at: www.sierraproperties.com

The country’s top mortgage servicers have reportedly reached an agreement on changes to their foreclosure procedures.

The consent agreement has not yet been made public, but The New York Times was able to get a preview of what the agreement contains from individuals who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Among the proposed changes include:

• Greater oversight of foreclosures. The oversight will happen from third party groups that include law firms, who mostly will be charged with doing the actual work of eviction, The New York Times reports.
• Improved training of foreclosure staff.
• A single point of contact for every defaulting home owner with the servicers. Mortgage servicers will no longer be able to foreclose while borrowers are pursuing loan modifications.
• Servicers will hire independent consultants to review foreclosures that have been completed in the past two years. Mortgage servicers have agreed to compensate any owner who is found to have been improperly foreclosed on or made to pay excessive fees. 

Source: “Servicers Said to Agree to Revamped Foreclosures,” The New York Times (April 5, 2011) 

Other articles relating to the Sacramento and Placerville, California regions at: www.sierraproperties.com

Freddie Mac this week launched a series of videos aimed at helping consumers separate foreclosure fact from fiction.  Each 90- to 120-second video, which can be viewed on Freddie Mac’s YouTube Channel dispels one of five common myths that may prevent homeowners from keeping their homes if they face foreclosure. The video series is based on content from Freddie Mac’s “Get the Facts on Homeownership” education and outreach materials.

The five myths the video series focuses on are:

Myth 1: If my house is foreclosed, I can never buy a house again — the foreclosure will stay on my record forever.

Myth 2: I should stop paying my mortgage so I can get assistance with my mortgage payments.

Myth 3: If I’m late on my monthly payments, I’ll lose my house.

Myth 4: I am getting many offers for help from a variety of people. They are probably all scams.

Myth 5: My lender is not responding to my inquiries, so I should just give up and face foreclosure.

More information at: ttp://freddiemac.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=12329&item=30554

Other articles relating to the Sacramento and Placerville, California regions at: www.sierraproperties.com

A bill proposed in California, if approved, would charge banks $20,000 every time they foreclose on a home in the state.

Bob Blumenfield, a San Fernando Valley-based assemblyman, introduced the bill Wednesday in an effort to curb property tax losses from skyrocketing foreclosures in the state.

The bill calls for money collected from the banks to be funneled back into school districts, police and fire departments, small-business loans, among other state and city services and programs, the Associated Press reports.

Source: “California Lawmaker Proposes Bill That Would Charge Banks $20,000 Fee Per Foreclosure,” Associated Press (March 16, 2011) 

Other articles relating to the Sacramento and Placerville, California regions at: www.sierraproperties.com

The number of U.S. homes in some stage of foreclosure fell drastically last month, reaching a 36-month low, RealtyTrac reports.

Source: “Foreclosures Plunge 27%-Biggest Drop on Record,” CNNMoney.com (March 10, 2011) and“Foreclosure Activity Slows Sharply in February,” Associated Press (March 10, 2011) 

Other articles relating to the Sacramento and Placerville, California regions at: www.sierraproperties.com

 

California Association of Realtors is sponsoring SB 458 (Corbett), a re-introduction of SB 1178 (Corbett) from 2010, which proposes to extend anti-deficiency protections to cover the refinance of purchase money mortgages that include debt incurred to acquire, construct or improve the home for homeowners facing foreclosure.

A loophole in the law has allowed California homeowners, already facing the possibility of foreclosure, to be sued by their lender for the difference between the value of the foreclosed property and the outstanding balance on the mortgage loan.  SB 1178 would have closed that loophole and expanded anti-deficiency protections to consumers who have refinanced their original mortgage loans and now are facing foreclosure.

During the 2010 legislative session, C.A.R. sponsored SB 1178 and urged REALTORS® and their clients to call their senator to vote “yes” on SB 1178.  Although this bill was approved by Congress, it was ultimately vetoed by Gov. Schwarzenegger. 

Other articles about real estate in the Sacramento and Placerville, California regions at: www.sierraproperties.com