Real Estate News – January 9, 2012
A marijuana growing operation discovered when the locks on a house were changed during foreclosure led to charges Friday for a 43-year-old Sheboygan Falls man (via SheboyganPress.com):
Federal Reserve Governor Sarah Bloom Raskin on Saturday said the Fed must impose monetary penalties on banks who entered into an April agreement with regulators over how to fix problems in their mortgage servicing businesses (via Reuters.com): http://reut.rs/wQRB6y
The foreclosure crisis that has spread across the country is producing another epidemic: mortgage modification scams that have cost desperate borrowers thousands of dollars — even their homes (via TucsonCitizen.com): http://bit.ly/xhOkVd
Despite record low mortgage rates and rising affordability in most U.S. housing markets, rent is the new reality for former home owners and new households alike (via USAToday.com): http://usat.ly/xATHVE
New rules allow more holders of underwater mortgages to refinance (via LATimes.com): http://lat.ms/zzjaVi
Unemployed home owners who have mortgages backed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac may be eligible for up to a 12-month reprieve from paying their mortgage or paying reduced payments for that time period (via REALTORMag): http://bit.ly/yaCQgq
The Obama administration, in conjunction with federal regulators and led by the overseer of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, is very close to announcing a pilot program to sell government-owned foreclosures in bulk to investors as rentals, according to administration officials (via CNBC.com): http://bit.ly/yKh3B3