Real Estate News – June 20, 2012

A real estate appraiser who once held an appointed position in West Virginia state government faces up to 30 years in federal prison for falsifying appraisal records in North Carolina (via LoanSafe.org): http://ow.ly/bHcof

Despite a drop in housing starts in the United States, the real estate market is still recovering (via MarketWatch.com): http://ow.ly/bHcuO

The Federal Housing Finance Agency, the regulator of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, plans to help banks avoid being forced to buy back mortgages as it becomes concerned that lenders are tightening standards even for the most creditworthy home buyers (via Bloomberg.com): http://ow.ly/bHcBO

Octomom Nadya Suleman has just hosed the owner of the house she’s living in, because the house officially went back to the bank after a disastrous foreclosure auction (via tmz.com): http://ow.ly/bHcKV

A nonprofit urges Coon Rapids to press banks for administration and maintenance investment in vacant and foreclosed houses (via startribune.com): http://ow.ly/bHcQw

The Federal Housing Administration has decided to rescind a rule that would have made it tougher for borrowers with credit disputes on their records to qualify for an FHA-backed mortgage. The rule had been widely criticized by the lending and real estate industry as shutting out too many potential borrowers from qualifying for a mortgage (via REALTORMag): http://ow.ly/bHcVo

Housing Market in Wright County, State Rebounding (via stmichael.patch.com): http://ow.ly/bHd3B

Georgia Supreme Court says homeowners’ association not at fault in fatal gator attack (via Jacksonville.com): http://ow.ly/bHdcz

The judge overseeing Residential Capital LLC’s bankruptcy ordered a probe of the mortgage company’s proposal to settle legal claims against its parent Ally Financial Inc. that may be worth billions of dollars (via Bloomberg.com): http://ow.ly/bHdlQ

Shadow inventory dropped nearly 15 percent year-over-year in April and is at about a four-month supply—reaching its lowest level in nearly three years, real estate data provider CoreLogic reports (via REALTORMag): http://ow.ly/bHdyM

Americans are digging themselves out of mortgage debt (via WashingtonPost.com): http://ow.ly/bHdGI

Four more Southern Nevada homeowners associations have been sued over allegations they’ve been requiring purchasers of foreclosed homes to pay off inflated liens (via vegasinc.com): http://ow.ly/bHdKj

In one Long Island, N.Y., village, residents are finding there are stiff penalties for not keeping up with your yardwork: You might end up in jail (via REALTORMag): http://ow.ly/bHdV5