Real Estate News – March 12 & 13, 2011


Just last week the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced a plan to help homeowners who have corrosive Chinese Drywall in their home with tax breaks on items that have been destroyed as a result of the Drywall (via EcoBuilderToday.com): http://bit.ly/g2nKri


Insurance giant American International Group Inc. said Thursday it has offered to pay $15.7 billion in cash to repurchase a portfolio of mortgage backed securities from a Federal Reserve rescue fund. The securities were acquired by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York or FRBNY as part of AIG’s bailout in 2008 (via RTTNews.com): http://bit.ly/hNUKcI


A Garrison Investment Group fund that took control of a group of Virginia office buildings is liable for paying the mortgage loan on the property after guaranteeing the debt, a judge ruled (via Bloomberg.com): http://bloom.bg/ezlsoc


Daniel Mudd, the former chief executive of Fannie Mae, said he has received a Wells notice from the Securities and Exchange Commission, the latest clue that federal investigators have expanded their years-long probe into the troubled mortgage finance giant (via WSJ.com): http://on.wsj.com/h9rxz4


The Justice Department is investigating allegations that a mortgage subsidiary of Morgan Stanley foreclosed on almost two dozen military families from 2006 to 2008 in violation of a longstanding law aimed at preventing such action (via NYTimes.com): http://nyti.ms/eIMbLi


The demise of Florida’s “foreclosure king” and the free-fall in foreclosure filings could turn the state’s court system into a pauper (via Bradenton.com): http://bit.ly/h1CnM4


Maryland lawmakers are tired of swaths of neglected homes in neighborhoods hard hit by foreclosures — and they want lenders to pay. A bill introduced last week by delegates from Prince George’s and Charles counties would require banks and investment companies that repossess or foreclose on a home to pay for maintaining and securing the property, a measure just as much about safety as it is appearance, supporters said (via WashingtonExaminer.com): http://bit.ly/h1CnM4