Real Estate News – January 26, 2012






Foreclosures are getting faster at JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo. The two big banks trimmed their foreclosure timelines by as much as 100 days in the third quarter of 2011, helping to work through major backlogs of foreclosed loans, according to a Moody’s Investors Service report (via REALTORMag):
http://bit.ly/zq30Zc


Fighting foreclosures, one home at a time: New group helps Duluth woman keep her home (via duluthnewstribune.com): http://bit.ly/zXb0kh


Federal prosecutors have filed charges against six Charlotte-area defendants over mortgage fraud-related offenses and a “builder kickback” scheme, the latest fallout from the housing market bust (via LoanSafe.org): http://bit.ly/Ami7EN


Many in the real estate industry were concerned that a change announced last year to the maximum seller contributions allowed for Federal Housing Administration-insured loans could cause more deals to fall apart. The FHA announced last year that it would cut seller contributions from 6 percent to 3 percent for purchases using FHA-insured loans. Seller concessions, such as seller assistance to buyers in closing costs, can play a big part in FHA-financed home sales and in closing deals, real estate agents say (via REALTORMag): http://bit.ly/yID9bI


A pair of Nevada Supreme Court rulings requiring mortgage lenders to produce all required foreclosure documents before repossessing a house won’t establish a new legal standard because they rely on state high court opinions issued last July, a court official and a lawyer involved in the case said Tuesday (via cbsnews.com): http://bit.ly/xepNYt


President Obama announced in his State of the Union address Tuesday the creation of a new task force that will investigate abusive and risky lending that led to the housing crisis. But the new task force may threaten to derail a settlement deal among the nation’s largest banks and government and state officials over alleged foreclosure abuses (via REALTORMag): http://bit.ly/ySp4H5