Real Estate News – December 23, 2011
The “shadow inventory” — properties that are in foreclosure limbo and have not yet come to light on banks’ balance sheets — has fallen slightly over the last year (via REALTORMag):
California’s attorney general filed lawsuits against mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac on Tuesday, demanding that the companies that own some 60 percent of the state’s mortgages respond to questions in a state investigation (via WashingtonPost.com): http://wapo.st/smCHwl
Lender Processing Services Inc., the company targeted by Nevada’s attorney general in a foreclosure robosigning investigation, has been hit with a class-action lawsuit filed by Las Vegas and Henderson homeowners (via vegasinc.com): http://bit.ly/uOt3fv
Homeowners whose mortgage payments were changed under a program aimed at reducing foreclosures redefaulted at a slower rate after lenders gave more generous modifications, the U.S. Comptroller of the Currency said (via BusinessWeek.com): http://buswk.co/uB48rL
Bank of America has agreed to pay a record $335 million in a settlement over charges that its Countrywide Financial unit discriminated against Hispanic- and African-American borrowers from 2004 to 2008. The settlement marks the largest residential fair-lending settlement on record, the Justice Department said (via REALTORMag): http://bit.ly/svh88F
Retired Lawyer’s Menorah Suit Against Homeowners Association Settles in Time for the Holiday (via ABAJournal.com): http://bit.ly/vhVDdz
New NJ state law will regulate foreclosure rescue fraud scams (via nj.com): http://bit.ly/tObdhD