‘Flopping’ scam enables fraudulent flipping in housing market

Although reports of mortgage fraud nationally fell 41 percent in 2010 from 2009, the continuing downturn in the housing market has fostered new ways of perpetrating it, experts say. Consider “flopping” — the intentional misrepresentation of housing value for purposes of illegal flipping. Here’s how it works: A real-estate agent or broker identifies properties with [...]

Foreclosures for sale: Big supply, low prices

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — There’s a three-year inventory of homes in foreclosure for sale, and that’s devastating home prices. Las Vegas has so many foreclosures that 53% of all the homes sold in Nevada are in some stage of foreclosure, according to a report from RealtyTrac, the online marketer of foreclosed properties. Foreclosures represent 45% [...]

Mortgages, foreclosures top agenda at BofA meeting

Foreclosures and home-mortgage modifications took center stage at Bank of America annual meeting last week. Outside the headquarters of the nation’s largest bank, protesters held signs and gave testimonials about their own foreclosure experiences. At the meeting, which was held inside the bank’s new 32-story building adjacent to its headquarters, shareholders confronted CEO Brian Moynihan [...]

Gov’t Looks to Reduce Real Estate Inventory

The Obama administration is looking to get rid of 14,000 surplus properties that the federal government owns around the country and is costing taxpayers money to maintain. The surplus properties include everything from unused roads and empty lots to warehouses and office buildings. “The government can no longer foot the bill for vacant buildings,” says [...]

Banks Rush to Revamp Foreclosure Rules

The rush is on for banks to meet a mid-June deadline in offering up plans on how they plan to meet a set of guidelines by U.S. regulators to clean up their foreclosure procedures. The banks will have another 60 days after that deadline to implement the changes. As part of the rules set by [...]

Analysts Say Housing Is on the Way Up

Analysts at both Standard & Poor’s and Barclays Capital agree that the uptick in home resales last month is a favorable sign of things to come. Because pending home sales — an indicator of future activity — were up in February, S&P believes transaction volume will rise for April. Barclays, meanwhile, says March’s 3.7 percent [...]

WA State Bank Owned Foreclosure List

WA State Bank Owned Foreclosure List

Washington State HomePath® INFO

Washington State HomePath® INFO

Lawsuit reveals how a middleman is blocking mortgage modifications for homeowners

Pamela Jeter, of Atlanta, Ga., has been trying to get a mortgage modification for more than two years. She seems like an ideal candidate. She has shown she can stay current with a reduction in her monthly mortgage payments. Everybody would seem to win. Even the investors who ultimately own her loan think she should [...]

Foreclosed? The tax man may want his cut

Did you lose your house to foreclosure this year? Did your lender forgive some of your mortgage debt because the house sold for less than it the mortgage balance? If so, you could be facing a big tax hit. It is IRS policy to tax forgiven debt you are personally responsible for as if it [...]