Real Estate News – April 7, 2012
The Obama administration wants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which finance the bulk of U.S. mortgages, to start reducing loan balances for troubled borrowers, but with safeguards to prevent them from purposely defaulting to obtain relief (via cnbc.com):
A leader of the Hells Angels motorcycle gang was sentenced this week to a year in prison and ordered to pay $130,000 in restitution to SunTrust Mortgage for spearheading a mortgage fraud scheme (via cnn.com): http://bit.ly/Hq3WzV
A considerable bustle of leasing and selling activity will occur in the commercial real estate market between 2012 and 2014. More of everything is going to take place. There will be more investing, more securities that are backed by mortgages and the rents will be more. Vacancy rates will decrease and those rents increase (via pptymag.com): http://bit.ly/I5zdrC
A little-noticed mortgage rule change that took effect April 1 could create hassles for significant numbers of homebuyers who plan to use low-down-payment FHA financing this spring (via washingtonpost.com): http://wapo.st/HnPtEy
Pam Marron, a mortgage broker for 27 years in Tampa, Fla., is trying to put an end to one of the dumbest things any financial-services company can do (via marketwatch.com): http://bit.ly/HDE5lc
Sen. Brown Unveils New Plan To Improve The Housing Market By Addressing “Short Sale” Home Sales (via loansafe.org): http://bit.ly/I5zTwZ
A federal judge has approved a $25 billion settlement between government officials and some of the nation’s largest banks over shoddy foreclosure practices (via washingtonpost.com): http://wapo.st/HSBYAP