Real Estate News – June 30, 2011

New Hawaii Foreclosure Law Controversial in Industry (via hawaiireporter.com): http://bit.ly/lAIfiO

A Columbia County judge has blocked U.S. Bank from evicting a Vernonia woman whose home it purchased in foreclosure, concluding in a case with far-reaching implications that her lenders had not properly recorded mortgage documents (via OregonLive.com): http://bit.ly/keYOYt

U.S. banks that have not already started reviews of how they handle foreclosures must now do so and compensate any homeowners who have been harmed, a federal regulator said Thursday (via NASDAQ.com): http://bit.ly/iOP9fH

Real Estate data firm CoreLogic reports that home prices in May rose for the second straight month, up .8% in May on the heels of a 1.3% rise in April. More importantly, excluding distressed sales (short sales and sales of foreclosed homes) prices were up 1.3% for the month, an encouraging sign for a housing market that many believe has been skipping along its bottom for some time (via wallstcheatsheet.com): http://bit.ly/jJPzew

The collapse of the housing market has led to an uptick in professional liability insurance claims filed against real estate attorneys, which has contributed to an overall rise in the number of claims filed, according to a survey from insurance broker Ames & Gough (via propertycasualty360.com): http://bit.ly/kNf2Hq

Although the government’s efforts to stop foreclosures have had lackluster results, another new program hopes to do better. The Department of Housing and Urban Development’s new Emergency Homeowners Loan Program offers interest-free loans of up to $50,000 that can be forgiven entirely in certain circumstances. Is this the principal reduction effort mortgage modification advocates have been waiting for? (via theatlantic.com): http://bit.ly/iBGFTD