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Foreclosures Up 53% In June 2008

July 11th, 2008

The amount of mortgage borrowers stung by the tumult in the U.S. housing marketplace soared last month as foreclosure filings expanded by more than fifty percentage points equated with June a year ago, according to information issued Thursday. Countrywide, 252,363 homes experienced minimally one foreclosure-related acknowledgement in June, up fifty-three percent from the corresponding month last year, but fell three percent from May, RealtyTrac Inc. Announced. One in each 501 United States. Families experienced a foreclosure filing ending June 2008.

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Homeowners Beyond Assistance

July 10th, 2008

Faced with record-high foreclosure rates, the Bush administration has been clambering to restrain people from losing their houses from foreclosure, but numerous homeowners are on the furthermost side of assistance, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said Tuesday. “Loose lending criteria that came with the at one time unrestrained housing marketplace permitted folks to purchase houses they were unable to afford in today’s remarkably high amounts of foreclosures are not preventable,” he said in prepared comments to a mortgage-lending assembly gathering in Arlington, Va. “There is little public policymakers can, or should, do to compensate for untenable financial decisions.”

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Bush May Sit On Housing Crisis Bill

July 9th, 2008

The chance of an election year solution package is growing dimmer as Bush and Congress cannot seem to agree about how to rescue the housing market. Bush, threatening to veto the Barney Frank bill because it would help undeserving people, he may just sit on the whole mess until he leaves the presidency. “We are committed to a good housing bill that will help folks stay in their house, as opposed to a housing bill that will reward speculators and lenders,” Bush said at the White House after meeting with House Republican leaders.

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Subprime Mortgage Crisis Far From Over

July 8th, 2008

The subprime mortgage crisis is still in the early stages of eruption, says money guru John Hussman, the manager of the $3.18 billion Hussman Strategic Growth Fund. Many more foreclosures are just around the bend as the majority of subprime rates are about to reset. It will be a huge surge as only about a quarter of the total resets scheduled to occur. “That places us near the start of the third inning, where we can expect each of the ‘nine innings’ to be about three months in duration,” says Hussman.

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Mortgage Industry Not Waiting for Anyone

July 7th, 2008

Homeowners by the millions are increasingly falling behind on their mortgage payments. The most severe problem is in the states of Nevada, Ohio, Florida, and California with others following a close second after enjoying an ballooning speculative housing economy that has since popped like a birthday party. Gratefully, the mortgage lending industry has instigated its own solutions thanks to the Treasury Department through the program Hope Now, supported by counselors, services, and nonprofit community organizations. They are seeking credit worthy people who are not in financial trouble yet, but may soon be. The motivation of Hope Now is to find ways to help the borrowers stay in their homes.

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African Americans Losing Financial Ground

July 4th, 2008

Today is a free foreclosure-prevention workshop, sponsored by the city of Orlando, received only six people. Orange County foreclosure rate has shot up to 70 homeowners a day. “If they do not have the sense to show up and get out of trouble, something is very wrong,” City Commissioner Daisy Lynum said at the workshop at the Northwest Community Center in Pine Hills. “I get a call every day regarding foreclosure.” While the housing crisis has cut across all incomes and ethnic groups, it has hit the black community especially hard where home ownership is lower and home equity has become the main source of wealth.

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Washington Still Arguing Over Solutions

July 3rd, 2008

A bill that would give authorization to the FHA guaranteeing up to $300 billion in new mortgages from government-approved lenders was approved 42 to 21 on Thursday. The House will consider the measure next week. The program is meant to help over 1.5 million homeowners facing foreclosure. Representative Barney Frank related that the borrowers facing foreclosure due to the housing market and credit crises deserve the help, even though many of them signed for loans that they couldn’t afford. “There are people who made loans that should not have been made; there are some people that were wrong to take the loans out, some wrong to make the loans. If nothing happens and all those loans go under foreclosure, the economy suffers,” he said.

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Military Family Homes Protection Act

July 2nd, 2008

Senator John Kerry introduced the Military Family Homes Protection Act structured to expand the Service Member Civil Relief Act (SCRA) that would provide US soldiers relief for one year from any increase in their mortgage rates. Instead of 90 days to do something about a foreclosure, the bill extends the time to nine months after active duty soldiers return home. The Mortgage Revenue Bond program will be provided an extra $10 billion dollars of tax-exempt bonds that will be used to refinance subprime loans, mortgages for first time borrowers, and multifamily rentals.

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The Psychology Of The Housing Crisis

July 1st, 2008

The reasons the housing market is in such a disarray are obvious when talking about the banking industry – making big bucks fast. But what made so many regular Joe Citizens get into a situation that was doomed from the start? It is important that we understand the human side of the decisions that made the crisis what it is. Hopefully so that we do not walk this life-changing road again. Values in America have changed drastically. Owning a home in the early 20th century was a life long dream that people worked hard for and did not engage in until they were confident they were ready for the responsibility.

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Great Credit Scores Losing Homes

June 30th, 2008

Homeowners that had excellent credit scores of 840 – 850, as of September 2007, were facing foreclosure. This comes as somewhat of a surprise among all the ballyhoo that the foreclosure crisis was caused by banks lending money to borrowers with low credit scores. The default rate last September was equal to that of people with much lower credit scores. Credit scores by themselves are no sure bet that homeowner will be able to make the payments. The loans they did take out were for homes a king could live in – not what they could necessarily could afford.

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