Real Estate News – April 4, 2012




The Federal Reserve plans to fine Morgan Stanley (MS) over “a pattern of misconduct and negligence” in how the investment bank handles foreclosures. The Fed also ordered the company to review thousands of foreclosures and reimburse homeowners who were improperly forced out of their homes (via cbsnews.com): http://cbsn.ws/HZemEZ


Company Tries Charging House-Hunting Fee to Buyers (via REALTORMag): http://bit.ly/HgmNS1


Man upset at homeowners association smears feces, pours chemicals on law, and more (via Triblocal.com): http://bit.ly/HUypcn


Economists have been warning that a flood of foreclosures will soon be hitting the real estate market, likely this summer. Increases in foreclosures traditionally pull down nearby home prices. So should home owners be worried? (via REALTORMag): http://bit.ly/HfHKdq


A $25 billion foreclosure settlement among the nation’s five largest banks and federal regulators isn’t the end to regulator’s efforts to repair the wrongs from lenders’ foreclosure abuses. Regulators are casting a wider net on the number of banks they’re eyeing to punish for wrongful foreclosure practices (via REALTORMag): http://bit.ly/HfQn7P


Buying single family homes as an investment just might save the housing market, says one of the country’s biggest real estate investment firms in New York (via Forbes.com): http://onforb.es/I1NhkC


HOA to sue residents for a private Facebook group (via AgBeat.com): http://bit.ly/H5h77t