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AOL Real Estate - Blog http://realestate.aol.com/blog AOL Real Estate - Blog http://realestate.aol.com/blog/media/feedlogo.gif AOL Real Estate - Blog http://realestate.aol.com/blog en-us Copyright 2012 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/Foreclosure Review: Fed Promotes Program Via Videohttp://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/05/24/foreclosure-review-fed-promotes-program-via-video/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/05/24/foreclosure-review-fed-promotes-program-via-video/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/05/24/foreclosure-review-fed-promotes-program-via-video/#commentsFiled under: News,Foreclosures

foreclosure review

Marking the latest attempt to boost participation in a somewhat neglected foreclosure review program, the Federal Reserve recently released a video that explains the program.

Announced during settlement negotiations between the government and mortgage servicers over foreclosure abuses, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency rolled out the program last year in order to provide wronged borrowers with an opportunity to seek redress.

The program covers a swath of more than 4 million homeowners who were foreclosed on between 2009 and the end of 2010, but so far participation has lagged. Only 25 percent of borrowers who were mailed questionnaires asking them about their foreclosure experience had responded as of April, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency said.

Acting in response to the weak participation, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Reserve announced in April that they were extending the deadline from April 20 to July 31, 2012, for qualified borrowers to request an investigation of their foreclosure experience. The video below, which spells out eligibility requirements and explains the process of a review, appears to be the Federal Reserve's latest attempt to raise awareness of the program.

Learn more about the program, which is free, by visiting http://independentforeclosurereview.com/, or calling 1-888-952-9105.

See also:
Mortgage Settlement Windfall May Be Diverted in Some States
Netizens Deride Foreclosure Settlement
Terrell Owens Faces 3rd Foreclosure This Year

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]]>federal reservefederal reserve foreclosurefederal reserve videoforeclosureforeclosure abusesforeclosure reviewforeclosure review programindependent foreclosure reviewOffice of the Comptroller of the CurrencyTeke Wiggin2012-05-24T11:50:00 00:00Terrell Owens Faces 3rd Foreclosure This Yearhttp://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/05/23/terrell-owens-faces-foreclosure-for-the-third-time-this-year/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/05/23/terrell-owens-faces-foreclosure-for-the-third-time-this-year/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/05/23/terrell-owens-faces-foreclosure-for-the-third-time-this-year/#commentsFiled under: News,Celebrity Homes

Marking another chapter in the saga of Terrell Owens' real estate woes, the former NFL star reportedly faces foreclosure on a condo that he owns in the Trump International Resort of Sunny Isles Beach, Fla.

Deutsche Bank is attempting to foreclose on the unit, GossipExtra reports. The wide receiver, who raked in over $80 million during his controversial National Football League career, took out a $1.4 million loan in 2006 to buy the unit, then priced at $1.75 million. But he stopped making his mortgage payments in the fall of 2011, GossipExtra says. See our gallery of another Trump International Resort unit to get a sense of just how swanky Owens' unit is:

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Owens, who was released from the Dallas Cowboys following his repeated clashes with teammates, is no stranger to mortgage trouble. In the past two years the mercurial athlete has had to swallow four disappointing real estate hand-offs. Two of the football star's Dallas properties succumbed to foreclosure early this year. While one of the units sold at a sheriff's sale, Owens managed to offload another just before its auction date, The Dallas Morning News reports.

Prior to those transactions, Owens sold another Dallas condo in a short sale for close to a $1 million loss, and in 2010, he reportedly cut loose a Moorestown, N.J., property for less than half of the $3.9 million he paid for it.

As of February, his Atlanta home is still sitting on the market, GQ reported.

Owens' Florida unit has seen its value nosedive since the housing boom, plummeting from a purchase price of $1.75 million to $960,000 in assessed value, according to a recent appraisal of the property, GossipExtra reports. The home's severe decline in value is typical of real estate in Florida, a state which perhaps has suffered more in lost property value than any other in recent years.

Florida now appears to be leading a market resurgence, as can be seen in the gallery below.

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Care to sample other football star homes?

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See also:
Senator's Mortgage Trouble Highlights Positive Housing Trend
Mortgage Settlement Windfall May Be Diverted in Some States

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Find homes for sale in your area.
Find foreclosures in your area.
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]]>owens florida foreclosureowens foreclosureSunny Isles Beach foreclosureSunny Isles Beach real estateterrel+owensterrell owens foreclosureterrell+owensterrellowensterrelowensTeke Wiggin2012-05-23T16:45:00 00:00Housing Prices and Existing-Home Sales Rise in Aprilhttp://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/05/22/home-prices-and-existing-home-sales-rise-in-april/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/05/22/home-prices-and-existing-home-sales-rise-in-april/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/05/22/home-prices-and-existing-home-sales-rise-in-april/#commentsFiled under: News

In another positive sign for the housing market, existing-home sales and home prices posted increases in April, the National Association of Realtors says.

Existing home sales rose 3.4 percent month-over-month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.62 million in April, which is 10 percent above last year's April estimate, the NAR says. And for the second month in a row, the national median existing-home price -- which was $177,400 in April -- posted an annual increase of 10.1 percent in April.

NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun said in a statement that a contracting supply of bank-owned homes, homes in a state of foreclosure, homes at risk of foreclosure and shrinking foreclosure sales were helping to spur a recovery. The analytics firm CoreLogic recently released data showing that the foreclosure supply had fallen from 1.5 million to 1.4 million in March 2012.

Due to government scrutiny and the mounting costs of foreclosures, lenders are gravitating toward foreclosure alternatives such as short sales, helping homeowners avoid foreclosure or lifting them out of it. And against the backdrop of rising employment, record-low mortgage interest rates and rock-bottom prices are coaxing buyers into the market. The rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage sat at 3.79 percent last week.

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"This is the first time we've had back-to-back price increases from a year earlier since June and July of 2010 when the gains were less than 1 percent," Yun said of median existing-home prices, which exclude foreclosure prices and new home prices. "For the year, we're looking for a modest overall price gain of 1.0 to 2.0 percent, with stronger improvement in 2013."

The bullish report comes on the heels of other positive data releases for the housing market: homebuilder confidence jumped to a five-year high in May, and housing starts were 23.7 percent above the April 2011 estimate.

Despite green shoots sprouting in the real estate market, experts say banks' unwillingness to loosen their grip on credit continues to prohibit many homebuyers from capitalizing on once-in-a-lifetime buying conditions.

See also:
Senator's Mortgage Trouble Highlights Positive Housing Trend
States Tighten Foreclosure Regulations
Mortgage Points: When It's Smart to Pay More Upfront

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]]>existing home sales uphome priceshome prices uphome saleshome sales upnar home pricesnar home salesNational Association of Realtorspositive marketTeke Wiggin2012-05-22T13:40:00 00:00Senator's Mortgage Trouble Highlights Positive Housing Trendhttp://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/05/22/senators-mortgage-trouble-highlights-positive-housing-trend/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/05/22/senators-mortgage-trouble-highlights-positive-housing-trend/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/05/22/senators-mortgage-trouble-highlights-positive-housing-trend/#commentsFiled under: News

While presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney may be in the process of quadrupling the size of the La Jolla mansion (one of six homes in his real estate portfolio) that he purchased for $12 million in 2008, not all of our politicians appear insulated from the impact of the housing meltdown.

Utah Sen. Mike Lee recently sold his Alpine, Utah, home in a short sale, offloading the luxury residence for a price less than the amount of his mortgage, The Salt Lake Tribune recently reported. The transaction likely caused his lender, JPMorgan Chase, to swallow a loss, and, presumably, hammered his credit score.

The Republican lawmaker sold his his home for $720,000, close to $400,000 less than the $1.1 million that he paid for it in January 2008.

"It certainly is something that is painful to go through and I know a lot of people are going through it, and I feel for those who have had to go through it," Lee told The Salt Lake Tribune.

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That may be true, but there's another way to look at the resolution of his mortgage woes, too.

While Lee's case is a grim reminder of the housing meltdown's devastating impact on lenders and borrowers, it also calls attention to a positive trend in the housing market, highlighting the increasing popularity of a loss-mitigation tactic that lenders are turning to as an alternative to foreclosure.

Short Sales Gain Favor

Data shows that short sales, which are better for lenders and borrowers than foreclosures, have spiked recently, rising 33 percent year-over-year in January, the online foreclosure marketplace RealtyTrac reported this month. In Sen. Lee's state of Utah, they rose 70 percent, RealtyTrac vice president Daren Blomquist says.

The industry shift from short sales to foreclosures is moving at such a fast pace, "it's likely that sometime this year we'll actually see short sales outnumbering" sales of bank-owned properties, Blomquist says.

Experts say the increase is a symptom of negotiations between banks and the government over illegal foreclosures, which caused banks to put many foreclosures on hold, but that it also reflects banks' recognition that short sales are more effective at reining in losses when compared to foreclosures, which present a tangle of legal risks as well as lingering costs after repossession.

A short sale "allows a lender to avoid all that potential litigation that might come with a foreclosure, and in addition you see more and more city ordinances that fine lenders for not keeping up their foreclosure property properly," Blomquist says.

Industry Shift Poised to Accelerate

In addition, some relief programs, after much tweaking by the government, have finally reached a point where they are beginning to prompt lenders to approve more short sales, Blomquist says. The Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives program offers lenders thousands of dollars to approve a short sale, and up to $3,000 to homeowners who agree to one.

Among the requirements needed to qualify for HAFA, a homeowner must have a documented financial hardship, have a mortgage less than $729,750 and have obtained the mortgage on or before Jan. 1, 2009. Visit makinghomeaffordable.com to learn more about the program.

The rise in short sales only seems poised to accelerate: Twin mortgage guarantors Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac announced timelines in April that require servicers of their mortgages to respond to short sale inquiries from homeowners within a month or otherwise face penalties. And Bank of America recently said that it now intends to approve or reject short sales within 20 days, and offer up to $30,000 in relocation costs to homeowners who agree to them.

Both timelines, if adopted, would streamline a process that has been known to drag on for many months, often only to end in rejection.

Good News for Borrowers and the Housing Market

The market trend is good news for beleaguered homeowners: While a homeowner's credit score takes a significant hit, a short sale causes less damage to it than a foreclosure.

"In many ways this is the lesser of two evils," Blomquist says. "For homeowners, they are still losing the home. However, they're able to walk away, often with some type of monetary reward for agreeing to a short sale, and they also are just allowed to get a fresh start."

A movement toward short sales away from foreclosures also spells less stress for the housing market in general, Blomquist says. Homes that sell in short sales, unlike foreclosed homes, remain occupied, generally protecting them from dragging down nearby property values due to blight. What's more, they only sell for 21 percent less than non-distressed homes, on average, Blomquist says. For bank-owned homes, the discount is 34 percent.

Like many Americans who have suffered hardship from the housing crisis, Sen. Lee is reportedly now renting.

"It's not fun. It's not something any of us would have chosen," he told the The Salt Lake Tribune about going through a short sale. "But you do what you have to do when income doesn't match your outlays."

No doubt, going through the ordeal of a short sale is a challenging experience with lasting negative effects, as Lee observed. But like a growing number of other homeowners, Lee was able to steer clear of foreclosure. And for Lee and other homeowners -- and the housing market in general -- that points toward an improvement.

Also see:
States Tighten Foreclosure Regulations
Housing Crisis Over for Many Homebuilders
6 Cities Where Rents Are Skyrocketing

Follow Teke Wiggin on Twitter (@tkwiggin), follow @AOLRealEstate, or connect with AOL Real Estate on Facebook.

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]]>HAFAHome Affordable Foreclosure Alternativeslee short salemike lee short saleRealtyTrac Daren Blomquistsenator lee short saleshort salesutah senator short saleTeke Wiggin2012-05-22T11:45:00 00:00Pair Living in $1.2 Million House Plead Guilty in Welfare Fraudhttp://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/05/18/pair-living-in-1-2-million-house-faces-10-years-for-collecting/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/05/18/pair-living-in-1-2-million-house-faces-10-years-for-collecting/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/05/18/pair-living-in-1-2-million-house-faces-10-years-for-collecting/#commentsFiled under: News

One couple that had been collecting welfare while living in a luxurious waterfront home would appear to have just learned an important lesson: Don't mess with Uncle Sam.

The two Seattle residents drew widespread media attention last year after reports emerged that they had been collecting housing vouchers, food stamps and monthly cash stipends while living in a $1.2 million house.

Now they may pay a hefty price for lining their pockets with taxpayers' money: David Silverstein and Lyudmila Shimonova face up to 10 years in prison and must pay at least $500,000 in fines, after pleading guilty Thursday to theft of government funds, Seattle news outlets are reporting.

In November of last year, federal agents raided the waterfront Lake Washington home where the two were living, to put a stop to their scheme. KING-TV in Seattle reported that the woman had been receiving a staggering amount of aid for someone living in a luxury home: more than $1,200 a month in housing vouchers, food stamps and cash from federal and state governments for a disability.

The pair had managed to qualify for the money by lying on applications at least seven times over the years, The Seattle Times reports. They reportedly accepted more than $135,000-worth of housing aid, in addition to other assistance.

One reason that the pair was able to avoid detection is that the welfare programs that they exploited do not review the financial implications of a person's address, which Shimonova accurately recorded on her applications.

See also:
After 37 Years, 'Neighbors From Hell' May Finally Face Eviction
Neighbor Nabs 'Contractors' Breaking Into Vacant House
Former NYPD Officer Accused in $4.7 Million Real Estate Scam

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]]>collected welfare million houseDavid SilversteinLyudmila Shimonovawaterfront home welfare fraudwelfarewelfare housewelfare million dollar houseTeke Wiggin2012-05-18T16:00:00 00:00After 37 Years, 'Neighbors From Hell' May Finally Face Evictionhttp://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/05/17/after-37-years-neighbors-from-hell-may-finally-face-eviction/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/05/17/after-37-years-neighbors-from-hell-may-finally-face-eviction/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/05/17/after-37-years-neighbors-from-hell-may-finally-face-eviction/#commentsFiled under: News

We've seen plenty of cases of homeowners displaying brazen disregard for their neighbors.

There was a resident who tried to sabotage the sale of a home next door by trumpeting all the reasons why he'd be an awful neighbor, for example, as well as a man in Australia who erected an outdoor sculpture of a hand with an upraised middle finger to remind his neighbors of his feelings toward them.

But a group of people sharing a house (pictured above) in Berkeley, Calif., who have exasperated and intimidated their neighbors with nuisance and even criminal behavior for nearly 40 years, may rank as the worst neighbors ever. But maybe not for much longer.

"For 37 years, we've lived next to the neighbors from hell," Beebo Turman told the Contra Costa Times. "We want to live next door to a civilized family. Please do something about this."

Fifteen people with criminal histories list the home as their residence and have produced over 40 "criminally related reports" in the last 18 months, continuing a trend of illicit and disorderly behavior that has endured for decades, the Contra Costa Times says. What's perhaps most alarming, six of the residents reportedly have ties to the notorious Nuestra Familia prison gang.

The newspaper reports that since 2009 authorities have visited the home five times in response to reports of fighting, three times to reports of fireworks, and seven times to reports of screaming and yelling. The house has also been the source of three gun- and drug-related arrests since 2009.

The property's owners, Roberto and Ramona Alcala, have been told to tear down several unpermitted additions to the home or bring them up to building code.

Several of their neighbors finally mustered the courage to testify against them recently. That's spurred the Berkeley City Council to take measures that could evict the group from the home and close the house for a year. On May 29, the council is set to formalize a resolution that declares the house a nuisance and lists 11 conditions that must be met for the owners to avoid having to vacate the property.

See also:
Neighbor Nabs 'Contractors' Breaking Into Vacant House

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]]>bad neighborsBerkeley City Councilberkeley neighborsBerkeley neighbors from hellcriminal neighborsneighborsneighbors from hellNuestra FamiliaRoberto and Ramona AlcalaTeke Wiggin2012-05-17T14:00:00 00:00Housing Crisis Over for Many Homebuildershttp://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/05/17/fresh-market-signals-paint-rosier-picture-for-builders/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/05/17/fresh-market-signals-paint-rosier-picture-for-builders/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/05/17/fresh-market-signals-paint-rosier-picture-for-builders/#commentsFiled under: News

Rick Judson, owner of Evergreen Development Group, recalls the bottom of the housing crisis when home construction had plunged by more than 80 percent in some states, and many builders had either lost their jobs or were barely hanging onto them.

Well, good news, he says: For many builders, those days are over.

"The life support has been taken off now, and you're allowed to live again," Judson says.

In the past 60 days his company has sold two or three plots a month; previously it needed an entire quarter to sell that many, he says.

Judson, who is first vice chairman of the National Home Builders Association, is one of many builders across the country who is noticing increased business as more Americans finally dip a toe into the real estate market. While North Carolina builders have fared better than in many states, his industry, in general, is now on the upswing, he says.

Indeed, the housing market has just recently shown signs that suggest that many of his once-glum colleagues have reason to be hopeful. Coming after a survey that shows builder confidence surged this month, this week brought news that housing starts rose 2.6 percent month-over-month in April to a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 717,000, continuing a relatively consistent rise over the past year.

And while builder permits, which predict future housing starts, declined 7 percent to a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 715,000, they still rose 23.7 percent above the April 2011 estimate.

"New construction is a vote of confidence by builders that demand is strengthening," says Jed Kolko, chief economist of listing service Trulia. "Asking prices have stabilized since last September, and construction starts followed, leaping up in November and keeping those gains."

The National Association of Home Builders' Housing Market Index would appear to reflect that confidence, having surged month-over-month from 25 to 29 points in May.

"That's been a real shot in the arm," Judson says of the four-point rise, "And it becomes self-perpetuating when the consumer ... feels it's a good time to buy. They'll go out and buy, and that is now happening again."

NAHB economist David Crowe said the rate of housing production is still half of what his organization would expect in a fully healthy market but that in April "it was very solid for this point of the recovery."

The jump in confidence and rise in housing starts suggest that the housing market could be traveling on an encouraging trajectory, but Kolko notes that housing starts still remain far below pre-housing-bust levels, and cautions against a Pollyannaish outlook.

Judson agrees that his industry is still struggling against tight credit conditions and what he says is a distorted appraisal process that unfairly compares borrower-owned homes to foreclosed homes.

But he adds that a "trickle-up effect" has started, with increased buyer demand beginning to spark more building activity.

"Builders to whom I sell lots," he says, "would not be buying lots if they didn't have customers interested in those lots."

See also:
Mortgage Points: When It's Smart to Pay More
Buying a Home Won't Get Much Cheaper
6 Cities Where Rents Are Skyrocketing

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More on AOL Real Estate:
Find out how to calculate mortgage payments.
Find homes for sale in your area.
Find foreclosures in your area.
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]]>building markethome buildinghome building markethome building risinghousing outlookNAHBNAHB economist David CroweNational Home Builders AssociationRick Judson Evergreen Development GroupTeke Wiggin2012-05-17T11:30:00 00:00Mortgage Points: When It's Smart to Pay More Upfronthttp://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/05/16/mortgage-points-pay-more-upfront-to-lower-your-interest-rate/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/05/16/mortgage-points-pay-more-upfront-to-lower-your-interest-rate/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/05/16/mortgage-points-pay-more-upfront-to-lower-your-interest-rate/#commentsFiled under: News,Advice,Financing

Mortgage points

Pay more now for a chance to save much more later? That's the idea behind paying "points" on a mortgage loan. But it doesn't necessarily make sense for every homeowner.

Mortgage points provide an opportunity for borrowers to lower their monthly mortgage payments by paying a lump sum at a loan's closing in exchange for a lower mortgage interest rate over the course of a loan.

Mortgage points are a smart option for borrowers who plan to stay in the same mortgage and not refinance for a relatively long period of time. But points are not recommended for borrowers who are likely to relocate or refinance in the not-so-distant future.

Borrowers pay points in order to lower their mortgage interest rates by a certain amount. The cost of one point is equal to one percent of the mortgage amount. In the case of a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage, paying one point will typically lower your interest rate by somewhere around one eighth of a percent, according to Tim Dwyer, chief executive officer of Entitle Direct, a title insurance company.

So if borrower A paid one point on a $200,000 mortgage with what would have been a 4 percent interest rate, she would lower her interest rate to 3.875 percent (4 percent -- 1/8th percent) for the cost of $2,000.

A good way of looking at points is to view them as an investment that "yields a return for the longer you stay in your house," mortgage expert Jack Guttentag writes.

If Borrower A stays in the same mortgage for only a few years before selling her home or refinancing, she may end up not saving enough in monthly payments to justify paying the $2,000 upfront. But if she stays in the mortgage for a longer period of time, she eventually breaks even on her investment and enjoys saving money every month from there on out.

"If the points are reasonable, I want to pay that upfront and enjoy the interest rate savings over 10 years because I know I'm not going to refinance," Dwyer says. But if "you're a young couple" and "you know you're going to have more babies, you know you're going to be moving out," then you should avoid paying points.

Banks may offer 10 or more point combinations on any given loan, Guttentag writes, and borrowers often don't end up selecting the option that aligns most with their interests, simply out of ignorance. You can use a point calculator to find out how long it would take to break even using different point combinations.

In a perfect world, borrowers would pay points only if it benefited them in the long run. But, in fact, many borrowers pay points out of necessity. Why?

Lenders will only allow borrowers' monthly mortgage payments to equal up to a certain percentage of their monthly income. Often they will only approve loans for borrowers whose monthly mortgage payments would not exceed 28 percent of a borrower's monthly income.

Paying points allows a borrower who otherwise wouldn't qualify for a loan because of income limitations to lower his or her monthly payment to the extent that the bank is willing to make the loan.

Some banks offer "negative points," a rebate paid by lenders toward a borrower's closing costs. "Negative points" lower closing costs for a mortgage, but raise its monthly interest rate. They can be a good option for borrowers who are hard-pressed to cover closing costs with zero points or who intend on moving or refinancing in a few years.

Follow Teke Wiggin on Twitter (@tkwiggin), follow @AOLRealEstate, or connect with AOL Real Estate on Facebook.

See also:
Mortgage Jargon in Simple Terms
Real Estate Terms and What They Mean
Don't Be Surprised by Expenses of Homeownship

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Find out how to calculate mortgage payments.
Find homes for sale in your area.
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]]>closing costsmortgage pointsmortgage points closing costsnegative mortgage pointsnegative pointspointswhat are mortgage pointsTeke Wiggin2012-05-16T13:30:00 00:00Mortgage Settlement Windfall May Be Diverted in Some Stateshttp://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/05/16/mortgage-settlement-windfall-may-be-diverted-in-some-states/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/05/16/mortgage-settlement-windfall-may-be-diverted-in-some-states/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/05/16/mortgage-settlement-windfall-may-be-diverted-in-some-states/#commentsFiled under: News

Homeowners who welcomed the recent "robosigning" settlement while thinking that it might offer them some relief on their "underwater" mortgages may see those funds diverted for other purposes in nearly half of the states involved.

The $25 billion settlement over illegal foreclosures that was reached between state attorneys general, federal agencies and the nation's five largest banks was trumpeted as an agreement that would bring significant relief to many of the nation's beleaguered homeowners, who have watched their home equity vanish during the housing downturn.

But while the majority of that money will flow to homeowners in the form of mortgage modifications paid for by banks, some of a $2.5 billion cash penalty allocated to states may not be used for housing relief, The New York Times reports.

Twenty-two of the 49 states that are part of the settlement are exploiting the windfall to use at least some of the money to mend soft spots in their economies and budgets, a report by the Enterprise Community Partners suggests. In Georgia, for example, the state will use its $99 million to draw business to the state, while in California, Gov. Jerry Brown has proposed using most of the money to pay down the state's debt, The New York Times says.

Mark Calabria, director of Financial Regulation Studies at the Cato Institute, a conservative think tank, says the possibility of states using the funds for purposes other than housing relief "was absolutely predictable," since "no strings were attached" to the settlement. He compares the mortgage deal to the historic 1998 tobacco settlement.

All the money of that settlement, he says, "was promised money to go to health care" but "the states just did whatever they wanted." In the case of the foreclosure settlement, he points out that just 6 percent of the penalty on banks is reserved for compensating homeowners who lost their homes to foreclosure.

"This reinforces in my mind that this was just a shakedown [of the banks] by the states without actually guaranteeing that anyone who was harmed would actually be compensated," he says.

In most states, attorneys general exercise full control over their state's allocation, making it likelier that they, as former stakeholders in the settlement, will invest their share of the fine in the housing market. But some state constitutions put control of the money in the hands of state legislators and/or governors, the report says.

Though unanticipated use of the funds is sure to draw fire from fair housing advocates, the report notes that most of the money still should percolate down through the real estate market. What's more, the report says that only 10 states have finalized their decisions on how to allocate the money.

That would seem to give Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan time to use his clout to pressure states to invest the money in housing relief, and scrap plans to use it elsewhere.

See also:
Trifecta of Good News Boosts Real Estate Market
Buying a Home Won't Get Much Cheaper
6 Cities Where Rents Are Skyrocketing

More on AOL Real Estate:
Find out how to calculate mortgage payments.
Find homes for sale in your area.
Find foreclosures in your area.
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]]>2 billion settlement2.5 billion settlementforeclosure settlementforeclosure settlement fundsforeclosure settlement principal reductionmortgage settlementmortgage settlement principal reductionTeke Wiggin2012-05-16T09:30:00 00:00Trifecta of Good News Boosts Real Estate Markethttp://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/05/15/trifecta-of-good-news-boosts-real-estate-market/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/05/15/trifecta-of-good-news-boosts-real-estate-market/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/05/15/trifecta-of-good-news-boosts-real-estate-market/#commentsFiled under: News

In what may go down as a banner day for the housing market, three pieces of good news out today point to the possibility of a recovery on multiple fronts.

Homebuilder confidence hit a five-year high, while housing affordability -- an index based on the relationship between median home prices, median family incomes, and average mortgage interest rates -- has never been better. And, for the first time in nine years, Realtors reported an increase in year-over-year earnings.

"[The data] shows us that buyers are in a position to buy. As job markets improve, they have more to spend, and they're able to take advantage of today's housing affordability," said Jed Kolko, chief economist of listing service Trulia. "We're seeing a recovery on all fronts."

What's more, Kolko said, an uptick in price indexes like Trulia's Price Monitor both reflect and should spur more activity. "We see that asking prices are already up year-over-year nationally, and quarter-over-quarter, almost in every metro in the country."

Builder confidence, as measured by the National Association of Home Builders' Housing Market Index, surged four points from a slight slump in April, to 29 on a scale of 100, the NAHB reported today. The jump is based on improved buyer traffic and increased home sales, as noted by builders.

"While home building still has quite a way to go toward a fully healthy market, the fact that the HMI has returned to trend is an excellent sign that firming home values, improving employment and low mortgage rates are drawing consumers back," said NAHB chief economist David Crowe.

Crowe added that a nascent recovery would pick up pace if it weren't for banks' reluctance to ease lending standards. Indeed, many experts point to the the tight credit environment as the chief thing keeping homebuyers from capitalizing on otherwise perfect-storm buying conditions that are a result of record low mortgage interest rates and rock-bottom home prices.

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The latest Housing Affordability Index corroborates the view that market conditions are possibly as friendly to buyers as they've ever been. The index, which measures affordability based on the relationship between median home price, median family income and average mortgage interest rates, broke the 200 mark for the first time since record keeping began in 1970, NAR announced today.

According to the NAR, the index shows that a median-income family, earning just under $61,000, could afford a home costing $325,500 in the first quarter, which is more than double the national median existing single-family home price of $158,100. The median monthly mortgage principal and interest payment for a median-priced home would take only 13.5 percent of gross income.

All this activity has Realtors breathing a sigh of relief. For the first time since 2002, agents saw their income increase, rising 2.3 percent to $34,900 in 2011.

"Many Realtors have persevered through very difficult market conditions and understand the cyclical nature of the business, but have never had to endure a cycle like the one that is presently waning," said Paul Bishop, NAR's vice president of research. "The good news is home sales are rising, overall activity is expected to be notably better this year and individual prospects are much brighter given there are fewer Realtors than several years ago."

See also:
Buying a Home Won't Get Much Cheaper
'Facebook Effect': Palo Alto Home Prices Up, Inventory Down
6 Cities Where Rents Are Skyrocketing

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]]>builder confidencebuyers markethmihome affordabilityHousing Affordability Indexhousing market recoverynarnational association of home builersprospective home buyersrealtor incomeTeke Wiggin2012-05-15T13:35:00 00:00Housing Discrimination: Disability-Related Complaints Soarhttp://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/05/09/americans-with-disabilities-battle-housing-discrimination/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/05/09/americans-with-disabilities-battle-housing-discrimination/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/05/09/americans-with-disabilities-battle-housing-discrimination/#commentsFiled under: Other

Eleanor Smith vividly recalls the first time she experienced housing discrimination.

Then in her 30s, Smith and a friend had been driving around neighborhoods in Decatur, Ga., attempting to hunt down a home with an accessible entrance for Smith, who has polio and has used a wheelchair all her life.

After responding to a series of ads, the pair finally pulled up to an apartment that appeared to fit the bill.

"It would have been very appropriate. They just had one little step to get in," Smith recalled.

But the landlord, though receptive at first, pulled an about-face after Smith's friend disclosed the fact that Smith (pictured above) would need a ramp to access the entrance.

"The woman just flat out said, 'No, I don't believe I want to do that. I don't want to rent to someone who has a disability,' " Smith said. "And at that time it was perfectly legal."

That was more than 30 years ago. Today, such a stance is illegal, and Americans with disabilities are more conscious of their housing rights -- and prepared to fight for them -- than ever.

More Discrimination Than Any Other Group

More than twice as many complaints of housing discrimination now come from Americans with disabilities than from any other group (as the chart below illustrates). Continuing a trend that began two decades ago, complaints of housing discrimination against Americans with disabilities increased again in 2011, accounting for the lion's share of all discrimination complaints, according to a new report from the National Fair Housing Alliance. (The NFHA is a consortium of nonprofit fair housing and civil rights groups, state and local agencies, and some individuals.)

The report, "Fair Housing in a Changing Nation," reviewed investigations of discrimination complaints filed in 2011 and found that 44 percent of the complaints that NFHA members investigated had involved discrimination against people with disabilities. That's about 6 percent more than the previous year, an increase that largely reflects growing awareness of housing rights among those Americans who have disabilities, say advocates for them and fair housing.

"I think it took quite a while for people with disabilities to realize that they had these rights," says Smith, 69, who has run the housing rights group, Concrete Change, for the last 25 years. But now, she says, "the awareness is really, really going up."

Recognition of housing rights granted to Americans with disabilities has needed time to percolate over the last 20 years, fair housing advocates like Smith say. Provisions to the Fair Housing Act that protect the group were only added in 1988, and it wasn't until 1991 that buildings were required to provide accessibility to those with disabilities.

Moving Beyond Accessibility

The Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination in the real estate market on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, gender, disability or familial status. But for Americans with disabilities, unlike for other groups, the Fair Housing Act extends affirmative action protections, which involve providing "reasonable accommodations to people with disabilities," says Ken Walden, managing attorney at a Chicago-based disability advocacy organization, Access Living.

The majority of discrimination complaints, Walden says, stem from affirmative action protections that those with disabilities perceive as being denied them.

Common examples of affirmative action include: Waiving no-pets policies for the visually impaired who use guide dogs; providing reserved parking spaces; and allowing those with disabilities to modify barriers that impede accessibility, like steep steps.

Increased outreach over the last 20 years has allowed many more Americans with disabilities to learn about these rights and act on them, Walden says. He adds that growth in the number of complaints is partly a result of "a trend throughout the country to eliminate institutions in favor of more community-based living options."

The report itself names three reasons that disability complaints overshadow other categories of discrimination complaints: apartment owners often "make direct comments refusing to make reasonable accommodations"; builders and architects ignore Fair Housing Act standards; and a robust government and nonprofit support network provides strong protections.

Against the backdrop of these conditions, the proportion of disability-related discrimination cases has nearly doubled in the last nine years, a comparison of NFHA reports over that span shows.

Kelly Buckland, executive director of the National Council on Independent Living, says the housing crisis also has played a role in contributing to the spike in discrimination complaints, as some Americans with disabilities who lost their homes to foreclosure encounter discrimination in rental environments.

And on top of that, he says, the number of Americans with disabilities is swelling as baby boomers age. "People are living through things that previously would have killed them," he says.

A Willingness to Fight Back

When the right railing on the steps leading up to the front entrance of her apartment building came loose, Atlanta resident Willette Foster found herself in a perilous position. Foster, who has a neurological disease that causes her to drag her left foot and limits use of her left hand, relied on the railing to safely negotiate the stairs.

So in July 2010 she asked her landlord to fix it, and when the management changed a month later and it was still unrepaired, she asked the new landlord. She was told to walk around the building to a side door, a route that presented its own hazards.

The ground was usually damp and had roots protruding from it, she says. "I was not going to try to walk through mud when my left leg doesn't lift properly." Foster (pictured at right) fell in September while trying to use the broken railing, and then broke her lease in order to move somewhere else where she could safely access her home. But her landlord refused to return her deposit.

Foster had nearly resigned herself to losing the money, until by happenstance she made contact with a representative of Metro Fair Housing Services who visited a potluck dinner held by a local disability advocacy group that Foster had joined. The representative told Foster that she had been wronged and, at the very least, deserved her deposit back.

"That's when I found out that I had a lot of rights," Foster says. Acting on the representative's advice, she filed a complaint with Metro Fair Housing against her landlord. After the landlord failed to respond, Metro Fair Housing forwarded the complaint to the Department of Housing and Urban Development. "That's when we got a response," says Foster.

Since then, she says, she has informed at least 10 of her peers of their housing rights, and some of them have taken action based on her advice.

Shifting the Focus From Race to Disability

Outreach by organizations such as the one that helped Foster has contributed to a shift in the focus of fair housing groups from minorities to Americans with disabilities. As recently as 2003, race-related complaints outnumbered disability cases in the NFHA's fair housing report. Last year, race-related cases ranked second, with 19 percent of total complaints, an 8 percent drop from 2003.

In the past, Smith observes, fair housing watchdogs "would press for race, but they would not press for disability. But I think that they have increasingly tested for disability."

That increased focus, coupled with the general public's changing perceptions and Americans with disabilities' growing recognition of their housing rights, probably will continue to push up complaints for years to come, Smith says.

The thinking among Americans with disabilities increasingly runs along these lines, Smith says: 'Yes, I might have been 40 years old and very strong.... but now I'm 85, and by golly, I need to be able to find a place to live, and I need to be able to park my car in the right place."

Americans who believe that they've had their housing rights violated may seek redress by filing complaints with either the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, a human rights organization in their state (such as a housing advocacy group) or a federal court. HUD may impose sanctions of up to $65,000 for violations, while the Justice Department may impose penalties of up to $100,000.

See also:
As Rental Market Tightens, 6 Tips To Get the Home You Want
Foreclosure: What It Means for Renters
Foreclosure Rehab: Ramping Up the Battle Against Blight

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]]>american disabilities housingdisability discrimination complaintsdisabled american housingdiscrimination complaintsFair Housing in a Changing Nationhousing biashousing discriminationhousing discrimination complaintsHUDNational Fair Housing AllianceNFHATeke Wiggin2012-05-09T12:01:00 00:00Avoiding Foreclosure: More and Better Options Available Nowhttp://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/05/03/avoiding-foreclosure-more-and-better-options-available-now/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/05/03/avoiding-foreclosure-more-and-better-options-available-now/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/05/03/avoiding-foreclosure-more-and-better-options-available-now/#commentsFiled under: News,Foreclosures

If you're teetering on the edge of foreclosure, you may have a much better chance of finding your footing than in years past. Servicers of delinquent or at-risk mortgages appear poised to ramp up their use of alternatives to foreclosure this year, an industry shift that could enable many more homeowners to hold onto their homes through "home retention actions."

Failing that, if mortgage borrowers have to give up their homes, they might at least find an option that's preferable to foreclosure.

The analytics firm CoreLogic recently reported that completed foreclosures and the foreclosure inventory in March 2012 have dropped from last year; that indicates banks increasing use of alternatives to foreclosure, a CoreLogic analyst says. The data release showed that the foreclosure inventory had fallen from 1.5 million in March 2011 to 1.4 million in March 2012. The drop came even as foreclosures have stalled in the last year. (Stalled foreclosures would normally increase inventory if everything else were equal.) Completed foreclosures in first quarter of 2012 numbered 198,000, down from 232,000 in first quarter 2011, according to the CoreLogic news release.

"Compared to a year ago, the number of completed foreclosures has slowed," Anand Nallathambi, chief executive officer of CoreLogic, said in a statement. "Since the foreclosure inventory is also coming down, this suggests that loan modifications, short sales, deeds-in-lieu are increasingly being used as an alternative to foreclosures to clear distressed assets in our communities."

Short Sales Are Heating Up

The short sale is one tactic that banks are using more often to resolve at-risk and delinquent mortgages. In short sales, homeowners sell their homes for less than their mortgages are worth, resulting in losses for banks.

But a short sale is preferable to a foreclosure for both a mortgage-owner and a borrower: It enables a borrower to mitigate damage to his or her credit score, and allows a bank to limit the loss it might incur from a foreclosure. (For more details see AOL Real Estate's short sale guide.)

"Banks have put many foreclosures on hold over the past year and a half while waiting for the robo-signing settlement," says chief economist of listing service Trulia Jed Kolko, referring to the settlement over foreclosure abuses that was finally reached between major mortgage servicers and 49 states in February. And short sales have been increasing, relative to foreclosures, for months now, he says.

Short sales grew at a rapid annual pace last year, according to foreclosure marketplace RealtyTrac. Pre-foreclosure sales, which encompass short sales, rose 33 percent from January 2011 to January 2012. In fact, Bloomberg reports that short sales actually surpassed foreclosure sales in January 2012, citing data from Lender Processing Services (which works with major banks and others in the mortgage industry).

Word on the street corroborates the finding, Zillow chief economist Stan Humphries says: "Anecdotally, we do hear that they're stepping up short sales quite aggressively."

The trend seems likely to accelerate: Twin mortgage guarantors Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac announced timelines in April that require servicers of their mortgages, to respond to short sale inquiries from homeowners within a month, or otherwise face penalties.

And Bank of America recently said that it now intends to approve or reject short sales within 20 days. Both timelines, if adopted, would streamline a process that has been known to drag on for many months, often only to end in rejection.

The timelines may spur an increase in short sales by, Humphries says, reducing "a lot of the uncertainty that has occurred here before, where your experience in heading down that path is highly variable."

Loan Modifications Set to Soar

"Home retention actions," also have ticked up recently, rising slightly in the last two quarters of 2011, according to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. Like short sales, retention actions are used to stave off foreclosure. And they also seem poised to increase in coming months.

One home retention action, the loan modification, is a method that market observers are watching closely: Possible industry developments may precipitate a wave of them.

For one, the Obama administration recently tripled the subsidies that are offered under the Home Affordable Modification Program, which provides loan modifications to delinquent or distressed homeowners. Experts say that may incentivize banks, private investors and even mortgage guarantors Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (all of whom have put up some resistance to HAMP modifications in the past) to participate in the program.

Among other qualifications: To be eligible for HAMP, you must prove a financial hardship, be at-risk or delinquent on your loan, and have enough monthly income to support a modified payment. (See the rest of the requirements by visiting makinghomeaffordable.gov.)

Then there's the mammoth sum of principal reductions, which often are a part of loan modifications, that the nation's five biggest servicers are compelled to perform in the next three years: The banks may forgive well over $30 billion in mortgage debt in order to satisfy credits that they agreed to pay -- in the form of principal reduction -- as part of the robo-signing settlement.

We should see "an uptick in principal reductions and loan modifications there" for mortgages backed by the five banks involved in the settlement, Humphries says.

Bank of America, one of the banks that agreed to the settlement, has said it will reduce about 200,000 mortgages by an average of $100,000 each.

If you think you may qualify for a loan modification under the settlement, contact your lender or visit nationalmortgagesettlement.com for more information. But keep in mind: Mortgages guaranteed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (which underwrite about 60 percent of U.S. mortgages, as well as mortgages insured by the FHA) are not eligible for modifications under the settlement.

Another possible development could also boost the number of loan modifications in 2012. The Federal Housing Finance Agency may approve principal reduction as a home retention action for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac-backed loans. Increasing pressure from policymakers, and a recent study that found that this strategy would save the mortgage giants money, may pressure the FHFA to finally give permission to the twin mortgage guarantors to allow servicers of its mortgages, typically banks, to reduce principal on mortgages.

More on AOL Real Estate:
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]]>alternatives to foreclosureavoiding foreclosureforeclosure alternativeshome retention actionsloan modificationsmortgage modificationsprincipal reductionsshort salesTeke Wiggin2012-05-03T13:45:00 00:00As Rental Market Tightens, 6 Tips To Get the Home You Wanthttp://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/04/30/as-rental-market-tightens-6-tips-to-get-the-home-you-want/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/04/30/as-rental-market-tightens-6-tips-to-get-the-home-you-want/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/04/30/as-rental-market-tightens-6-tips-to-get-the-home-you-want/#commentsFiled under: News,Renting

Today's rental market continues to grow more competitive, with national vacancy rates for rental housing hitting their lowest point in 10 years in the first quarter of this year, U.S. Census Bureau data says.

"A shift from owners to renters has caused rental vacancies to keep going down even more," says Jed Kolko, chief economist of listing service Trulia, of the new shape of the market.

The rental vacancy rate dropped from 9.7 percent in first quarter 2011 to 8.8 percent in first quarter 2012, Census Bureau data shows. The drop was accompanied by a decline in the homeownership vacancy rate -- which measures the segment of the housing inventory which is vacant and for sale. It fell from 2.6 percent in first quarter of 2011 to 2.2 percent in first quarter 2012.

The fall in the rental vacancy rate highlights a continuing shift in Americans' living habits from homeownership to renting, and follows in the wake of a housing crisis that has put around 4 million Americans out of their homes, and trapped more than 10 million people under the weight of mortgages that exceed the values of their properties. Speaking to the fallout from the bursting of the real estate bubble, the new U.S. Census Bureau data also showed that the homeownership rate reached its lowest level since 1997 in the first quarter of 2012.

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The inflated demand for rentals also has driven up rental rates. In fact, buying was more affordable than renting in 98 of the nation's 100 largest metro areas as of February, Trulia's rent vs. buy index said.

The "renting process will get more stressful as people are chasing after a smaller number of available units," Kolko says. 'As vacancy rates get lower, rents rise because you have people competing for fewer available units"

The rising rental demand won't reverse course anytime soon, Kolko says, since many people who could save money by buying rather than renting are still unable to qualify for mortgages due to strict lending standards.

Steve Halpern, a senior associate Realtor at New York brokerage CitiHabitats is witnessing the frenzy of rental activity firsthand, and he says that pressure on renters to act fast and pay high rates isn't likely to ease up anytime this year: Landlords will continue to capitalize on growing demand by jacking up rates, by the Realtor's estimation.

"They're going and hitting people with raises, but those people realize the raises are happening everywhere, so they're staying put," Halpern says.

With particular attention to the unique challenges posed by the current market, Halpern offers some tips that may give you a leg up in today's rental hustle.

1. Be flexible about location.

Naturally, the places where people want to live most are going to be the toughest areas to get a deal, so try to be open to living in neighborhoods that aren't as mainstream as you might like. "Most people come in and say, 'I need to be in a particular area, and those areas are generally the tightest," Halpern says.

2. Allow more time for your search, but be prepared to pounce.

Since you're competing with so many other apartment hunters, be prepared to give yourself a little more time to hone in on a rental that meets your needs. Find a Realtor whom you trust to help you identify windows of opportunity, Halpern says.

When they arrive, seize them immediately. "You gotta catch an apartment as it comes up," Halpern says. "You have to be prepared to move quickly."

3. Have your paperwork on hand (or maybe we should say "in hand").

That means proof of income (often in the form of a letter from your employer), your last two years of tax returns and a recent pay stub, for starters, Halpern says. If you're at an open house with 20 visitors, acting fast could mean the difference between winning and losing. Having your paperwork on hand will enable you to increase your odds of success when you know you've found a good deal.

4. Know your credit, be ready to explain blemishes.

"Knowing where you stand credit-wise can really make a difference," Halpern says. If you have credit blemishes, offering an honest and upfront explanation may help you stand out from the crowd. After all, in today's market, chances are that landlords will find out if you're hiding anything and won't appreciate uncovering information that suggests you misrepresented yourself to them, Halpern says. "They prefer you being honest and upfront," Halpern says, "so you can justify to them what has happened."

5. Consider moving in earlier than planned.

If you're willing to sign a lease that goes into effect even just a week earlier than you'd planned, you may significantly increase your appeal to a landlord. Landlords want to fill vacancies quickly, so they're looking for renters who are willing to begin paying sooner than later. "They're going to want you in there as soon as possible," Halpern says.

6. Be willing to pay a higher rate than advertised.

If you really think you've found a place that's right for you, offering to pay a slightly higher rate, even just $25 or $50 a month more, Halpern says, could work in your favor. The draw to landlords is pretty straightforward: "They're in business; they want to make as much money as possible."

See also:
Tips for Finding a Rental Apartment
First-Time Renting Tips
Neighborhood Hunting Made Easy

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]]>rental markettips for rentersTeke Wiggin2012-04-30T16:52:00 00:00Home Sales See Best 1st Quarter in 5 Years, Realtors Report Sayshttp://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/04/26/nar-pending-home-sales-index-of-march-2012-rises-4-1-percent/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/04/26/nar-pending-home-sales-index-of-march-2012-rises-4-1-percent/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/04/26/nar-pending-home-sales-index-of-march-2012-rises-4-1-percent/#commentsFiled under: News

Supporting the view that the housing market is on a positive trajectory, a new report shows that the number of homes that are in the process of being sold is at its highest in two years. Meanwhile, the number of home sales that closed reached its best first quarter in 2012 since the dawn of the housing crisis, a National Association of Realtors economist says.

The NAR's Pending Home Sales Index which measures home-purchase contract signings and predicts home sale closings, ticked up 4.1 percent to 101.4 in March 2012 from an upwardly revised 97.4 in February 2012. That's also 12.8 percent above the March 2011 level. That index, compiled by the Realtors group, puts pending sales at the highest they've been since April 2010, and its encouraging measurement drove up the U.S. stock market Thursday, Bloomberg said.

National Association of Realtors Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said in a statement that 2012 has seen the best-performing first quarter in five years for home sale closings, and that the Pending Home Sales Index -- since it measures contract signings, which come before contract closings -- predicts an equally improved second quarter.

"The housing market has clearly turned the corner," Yun said. "Rising sales are bringing down inventory and creating much more balanced conditions around the country, which means home prices will be rising in more areas as the year progresses."

If Yun is right, that means a five-year downward spiral fueled by fast-and-loose lending and the price-crushing foreclosures that followed has finally come to end, leaving a humbled housing market in its wake. Around 4 million people lost their homes to foreclosure during the crisis, a number that experts say will rise by millions more, while home prices plunged by more than a third. As a result, at least 1 in 5 homeowners owe more on their mortgages than their homes are worth.

The positive pending home sales report follows other data that has offered mixed signals about the condition of the housing market. A recent Census Bureau statistic reported that new home sales fell in March 2012, but also showed that, contrary to what the Census Bureau previously reported, new home sales actually rose significantly in February 2012.

The Case-Shiller Index, meanwhile, recently found that home prices fell in February 2012, but at a lower rate than a year earlier. Indexes that purport to provide a much more current gauge of home prices say that prices are actually rising.

While most economists agree that the housing market is making at least some headway, they often do not paint as rosy a picture as the National Association of Realtors, which calculates the Pending Home Sales Index.

Among their concerns is the looming threat of the "shadow inventory": the overhang of homes in a state of foreclosure that are expected to eventually be repossessed by banks, or homes already repossessed by banks that are being held off the market.

Due to the recent robo-signing settlement between major lenders and 49 state attorneys general, a share of these homes, economists say, may flood the market in the coming months, driving down home prices.

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See also:
Homebuying: 5 Key Steps to Your 1st Real Estate Purchase
Home Sales See Best 1st Quarter in 5 Years, Realtors Report Says
Foreclosure Rehab: Ramping Up the Battle Against Blight

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]]>home closingshome contract signingsnar home closingsnar pending home salesNAR Pending Home Sales march 2012national association of realtorspending home salespending home sales march 2012Teke Wiggin2012-04-26T13:25:00 00:00Foreclosure Rehab: Ramping Up the Battle Against Blighthttp://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/04/26/foreclosure-rehab-ramping-up-the-battle-against-blight/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/04/26/foreclosure-rehab-ramping-up-the-battle-against-blight/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/04/26/foreclosure-rehab-ramping-up-the-battle-against-blight/#commentsFiled under: News

The foreclosure crisis, which has caused around 4 million people to lose their homes, has wreaked havoc on many neighborhoods. Foreclosed homes drag down property values when they swell the housing supply and sell at below-market rates. These bank-owned homes also can erode the character of communities by attracting all manner of blight as they sit unoccupied.

The foreclosure scourge is especially acute in minority neighborhoods, according to a recent report by the National Fair Housing Alliance, which found that banks take much better care of their foreclosed properties in predominantly white neighborhoods than those in minority communities.

Some nonprofits are taking robust measures to combat the epidemic of foreclosures, also known as REO (for "real estate owned") homes. Three of them, Rebuilding Together, NeighborWorks America and the National Community Stabilization Trust, recently announced a new partnership designed to ramp up efforts to revitalize clusters of bank-owned foreclosures, highlighting what appears to be a growing focus on maintenance as a means to mend the housing market.

NeighborWorks America, which coordinates with affiliates that were awarded more than a total of $500 million from the $7 billion Neighborhood Stabilization Program fund in 2010, is teaming up with local affiliates of the nonprofit Rebuilding Together to train the groups to rehabilitate vacant foreclosed homes and sell them to low-income Americans.

The National Community Stabilization Trust, which was created in 2008 to facilitate the transfer of bank-owned homes to nonprofits, will work with the two groups to identify homes that will receive repairs under the program.

"This is a unique effort in that it's focused on transforming vacant and dilapidated properties into safe and affordable homes in the communities they serve," Rebuilding Together spokesperson Janice Walker told AOL Real Estate.

The announcement of the collective nonprofit initiative marks one of the latest attempts to reduce the strain of neglected foreclosed homes on neighborhoods and the housing market. Nonprofits, banks and the government use rehabilitation to combat REO blight, and sometimes provide affordable housing to low-income Americans after the homes' restoration. They've appeared to bolster their efforts in recent months in order "to figure out how to move upstream," says Ascala Sisk, senior manager of Stabilization Strategies at NeighborWorks. And there are "many different structures" to use to accomplish this.

For nonprofits, the Neighborhood Stabilization Program plays a key role in rehabilitation efforts, furnishing them with the necessary funds to invest in mass-scale neighborhood revitalization, which often takes the form of REO rehabilitation.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development administers the fund, which has received $7 billion in appropriations so far, Sisk says. And the National Community Stabilization Trust, one of the three partners of the new nonprofit initiative, helps put these funds into action by "providing the only nationwide platform that gives local housing providers a clear, consistent, and straight path to acquire foreclosed and abandoned properties from financial institutions," the National Community Stabilization Trust's website says.

NeighborWorks America affiliates across the country helped homeowners rehabilitate more than 8,700 homes and 43,000 rental homes in 2011, group spokesperson Douglas Robinson says.

With NeighborWorks guidance, Rebuilding Together, which purportedly completes 10,000 projects that assist low-income homeowners per year, is now beginning its first foray into REO rehabilitation. Rebuilding Together's plan is to rehabilitate REOs and sell them to community members who make between 80 and 120 percent of the local median income, and also provide them with homeownership education, Walker says.

Since the partnership has just formed, Rebuilding Together says that it can't provide an estimate of how many homes the program will impact.

Coinciding with the two nonprofits' newly formed partnership is another program launched in February that takes an alternative approach to combating REO blight. Under the REO Rental Initiative, the Federal Housing Finance Agency will sell Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac-owned REO properties in bulk to private investors, if they agree to rent the properties.

By mandating that the properties be converted into rentals, the program aims to lower rents where foreclosures have hiked up rates and provide the homes with caretakers who are motivated to maintain them, namely, the investors themselves. After a few years of renting (and maintaining) the once-dilapidated properties, investors are expected to push the homes onto the market and sell them.

The program has its critics, including the National Association of Realtors. Detractors say that selling in bulk to investors could chip away at home prices (private investors often buy homes at discounts because they pay banks in cash, not borrowed money) and encourage prospective buyers to rent, instead of buy.

"Over time, servicers have adjusted their models to accommodate selling properties quickly rather than holding onto potentially wasting assets," the 2010 Federal Reserve report on neighborhood stabilization says. "At times this may mean selling to a cash investor immediately, at a slightly lower price, instead of waiting for a prospective owner occupant to receive financing for the purchase."

Bank of America has launched a similar pilot program, called the "Mortgage to Lease Program," that forgives the outstanding debt of some homeowners headed toward foreclosure and offers them the opportunity to rent their homes from Bank of America in exchange for handing over the titles to the bank. If homeowners opt for the program, they may rent for up to three years.

"If this evolves from a pilot into a more broadly based program, we also see potential benefits from helping to stabilize housing prices in the surrounding community and curtailing neighborhood blight by keeping a portion of distressed properties off the market," Ron Sturzenegger, a servicing executive of Bank of America, said in a statement.

For all the two programs' possible shortcomings, they reflect a growing interest across the real estate industry in finding innovative ways of ameliorating the housing crisis by attending to the REO threat, Sisk says.

"And that's great to see," she says.

CORRECTION:

An earlier version of this story misidentified a Rebuilding Together spokesperson. The spokesperson's name is Janice Walker. The story also incorrectly stated that Rebuilding Together's rehabilitation plan is to restore REOs and sell them to community members who make between 80 and 20 percent of the local median income. The income range is actually 80 to 120 percent of the local median income.

See also:
Foreclosure-Review Offer Getting Few Takers, Report Says
How to Avoid Foreclosure: Steps You Can Take to Keep Your Home
Home Prices May Withstand Foreclosure Wave

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]]>Bank of America mortgage to leaseforeclosure crisisNational Community Stabilization TrustNeighborhood Stabilization ProgramNeighborWorks AmericaRebuilding Togetherreo blightREO maintenancereo problemsREO rental initiativeTeke Wiggin2012-04-26T11:30:00 00:00Case-Shiller Shows Home Prices Still Falling but More Slowlyhttp://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/04/24/case-shiller-shows-home-prices-still-falling-but-more-slowly/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/04/24/case-shiller-shows-home-prices-still-falling-but-more-slowly/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/04/24/case-shiller-shows-home-prices-still-falling-but-more-slowly/#commentsFiled under: News

Home prices are continuing their descent in 2012, reaching a 10-year low in February, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller Index, while new home sales also fell in March, the Census Bureau reported. But the annual rate of decline in home prices showed modest improvement from January, hinting that prices may be beginning to stabilize. And new home sales remained well above 2011's estimates.

In a 20-city composite, home prices for February 2012 fell 3.5 percent annually, a slight improvement from January's 4.1 percent annual decline, the Case-Shiller index shows. Fifteen of 20 metro areas posted better annual returns than in January. New home sales in March 2012 fell 7.1 percent below a revised February 2012 rate of 353,000 to 328,000, but still were 7.5 percent above the March 2011 estimate of 305,000.

"While there might be pieces of good news in this report [the Case Shiller Index], such as improvement in many annual rates of return, February 2012 data confirm that, broadly speaking, home prices continued to decline in the early months of the year," chairman of the index committee David M. Blitzer said in a statement.

A Hobbled Housing Market

Overall, the data continues to reflect a housing market that is slogging along to a slow recovery, as a glut of distressed properties, tight lending conditions and high unemployment continue to stifle the market.

"The bottom line is that builders in many markets are reporting more interest among prospective buyers, with the main sticking points for sales right now being access to credit for builders and buyers, and problems with obtaining accurate appraisals," National Association of Home Builders chairman Barry Rutenberg said in a statement that offered his take on the new home sale numbers.

Chief economist of listing service Trulia, Jed Kolko, says the Case-Shiller Index's February numbers come as relatively positive news for the housing market, however. He says that some indices, which gauge home-price movements based on asking prices, suggest that the market improvement shown by Case-Shiller -- which he says actually reflect prices in the fall of 2011 -- should continue until prices actually rise. The Trulia Price Monitor, an index that Kolko has helped develop, shows that prices bottomed out sometime in January, he says.

"Asking prices started stabilizing in September, according the Trulia Price Monitor, and rose in February and March," he wrote in an email. "We should see Case-Shiller reporting bigger month-over-month price increases this summer. Strong spring demand, helped by the recovering economy, and tighter inventories will together finally give prices a lift."

Traditional indices such as the Case-Shiller Index usually reflect home prices that are at least three months old because they measure prices after a home sale is finalized. Sale prices aren't established until about two months after homebuyers sign home-purchase contracts, and on top of the two-month lag, indices usually take at least four weeks to process the sales data.

Though housing bellwethers have been painting a rosier picture of the housing market over the last few months, the most recent data have suggested that progress may be stalling. Existing home sales and construction on new homes fell marginally in February, while builder confidence slipped in April, marking a drop from its highest level since 2007.

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See also:
Foreclosures Put 8 Million Children At Risk, Study Says
1st Gay-Friendly Public Housing Project Planned in Philadelphia
Fair Housing Group Sues U.S. Bank Over Foreclosures

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]]>April Case Shiller IndexCase Shiller IndexCase Shiller Index downCase Shiller Index February 2012February Case Shiller Indexhome pricesSPCase Shiller IndexTeke Wiggin2012-04-24T12:22:00 00:001st Gay-Friendly Public Housing to Rise in Philadelphiahttp://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/04/19/1st-gay-friendly-public-housing-project-planned-in-philadelphia/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/04/19/1st-gay-friendly-public-housing-project-planned-in-philadelphia/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/04/19/1st-gay-friendly-public-housing-project-planned-in-philadelphia/#commentsFiled under: News

In what's being hailed as a first of its kind, a gay-friendly affordable-housing development financed entirely with public money is scheduled to rise in Philadelphia.

Last week, the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency awarded $11 million in tax credits to the Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld Fund. The credits, combined with $8 million in preliminary funding from state and city grants, will allow it to build William Way Senior Residences, an affordable housing facility nestled in the heart of what the fund's website calls "the Philadelphia Gayborhood."

The housing development, which is scheduled to break ground in the fall, calls attention to an increasing demand from members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community for affordable housing that will allow them to live as seniors free from fear of discrimination. Affordable housing that dictates eligibility based on sexual preference is illegal, but developments like the planned Philadelphia facility can draw special interest from gays and lesbians through location and marketing.

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Another affordable housing complex that targets members of the LGBT community already exists in Los Angeles, and plans for at least two others are underway in San Francisco and Chicago. But William Way Senior Residences appears to be the first to receive all of its funding from government grants and awards, says Mark Segal, publisher of Philadelphia Gay News.

Segal, who spearheaded the project, says he has spent around 10 years lobbying for an LGBT-friendly housing development in Philadelphia that would provide seniors with affordable living accommodations.

"Most of them were in the closet most of their lives," he says of community members who may benefit from the facility. "They don't have the same support systems that other seniors would have."

Philadelphia's gay seniors comprise a small segment of what the advocacy group SAGE estimates to be at least 1.5 million LGBT Americans who are over 65. SAGE, whose name is an acronym for Services and Advocacy for GLBT Elders, expects that number to double by 2030 as more baby boomers enter their retirement years.

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A recent study highlights just how important landing in an accepting community is for many of these seniors. When the San Diego LGBT Community Center polled seniors on their greatest concerns as they age, "LGBT-affirmative housing and housing affordability" ranked above health insurance and health care in importance for respondents, Senior Housing News reported.

Triangle Square - Hollywood, an LGBT-friendly, 104-unit development built in 2007, was the first affordable housing community to cater to the rising demand from gay seniors. The Los Angeles facility cost $22 million to build but received private funding in addition to some tax credits, says Eric Harrison, executive director of Gay and Lesbian Elder Housing, which developed Triangle Square and is looking to expand into other markets around the country.

In Chicago, Center on Halsted is planning a 90-unit apartment building in partnership with Heartland Alliance, scheduled for construction in 2013. "We're moving forward with the project. We've received some funding from the city," says Brian Richardson, director of public affairs for the center.

Such developments can't come soon enough for Fanny Price, director of Philadelphia gay rights group, Philly Pride, who says the William Way project will meet the needs of local LGBT elders who otherwise would be hard-pressed to find comfortable living accommodations.

"I know so many people that worked a lot of these bars, clubs and businesses, and you know they're older and they don't have benefits," said Price. "I'm kind of glad that they'll be able to live in some sort of affordable housing. You get to be yourself as you grow really old."

See also:
Housing Market Unprepared for Aging Gay Community
The Minor Threat: Age-Restricted Communities Evicting Children
Happy End of the Road for RVers: Assisted Living on Wheels

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]]>center on halsteddmhFunddmhFund housinggaygay affordable housinggay housinggay senior housinglgbtlgbt housingsenior affordable housingsenior housingWilliam Way Senior ResidencesTeke Wiggin2012-04-19T16:14:00 00:00Fair Housing Group Sues U.S. Bank Over Foreclosureshttp://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/04/17/fair-housing-group-sues-u-s-bank-over-foreclosures/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/04/17/fair-housing-group-sues-u-s-bank-over-foreclosures/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/04/17/fair-housing-group-sues-u-s-bank-over-foreclosures/#commentsFiled under: News

A fair housing group is suing a second mortgage lender, alleging that U.S. Bank takes much better care of its foreclosed properties in predominantly white neighborhoods than those in minority communities.

The National Fair Housing Alliance has filed a discrimination lawsuit against U.S. Bank, as a result of a study by the civil rights group into the way banks maintain the properties that they've foreclosed on (also known as real estate-owned or REO properties). It follows last week's NFHA lawsuit alleging the same discriminatory practice by Wells Fargo, and comes as the group reportedly is in discussions with Bank of America over the upkeep of its properties.

The NFHA said in a statement: "The investigation of 177 foreclosed properties owned by U.S. Bank demonstrates that the financial giant has engaged in a systemic practice of maintaining and marketing its foreclosed, bank-owned properties in a state of disrepair in communities of color while maintaining and marketing REO properties in predominantly white communities in a far superior manner."

Through a spokeswoman, U.S. Bank, which the NFHA says is the fifth largest commercial bank in the U.S., told AOL Real Estate that it has "not received a single detail on any of the properties in the complaint. Without knowing the addresses, it's impossible to know the rightful owner, the servicer or the condition of the property."

U.S. Bank spokeswoman Nicole Garrison-Sprenger went on to say in an email that in the "vast majority of cases" in which U.S. Bank is involved in a foreclosure, it serves as a trustee for an investment pool that encompasses the failed mortgage, and has "no role in servicing or maintaining that property."

"That is the responsibility of the servicer (typically another bank), and not the trustee," Garrison-Sprenger said. "It is often the case that we are mistaken as the owner of a property because of our role as trustee."

According to NFHA President Shanna Smith, the civil rights group intends to file similar lawsuits in the coming months targeting not just additional lenders, but also asset managers and preservation companies tasked with maintaining foreclosed properties.

But Smith indicated that the NFHA may also hold off on legal action if lenders demonstrate a willingness to work with the organization to resolve the maintenance inequities, pointing to Bank of America as an example. The lender reached out to the NFHA in January after catching wind of the NFHA's investigation, she said.

"We decided we'd talk with them to get this resolved," she said of Bank of America. "At this point we're trying to work through everything in a partnership way, rather than through a formal complaint."

Some of the properties looked at by the investigation are owned by the Federal Housing Administration, she said, and in order to rectify their neglect, the NFHA may sue contractors hired by the FHA to maintain foreclosed homes.

"As we look at FHA properties, we're finding some of that negligence," she said.

Examining over 1,000 bank-owned properties, the nonprofit's study focused on a wide array of maintenance and marketing indicators, "including curb appeal, structure, signage, indications of water damage, and condition of paint, siding and gutters," to draw conclusions about maintenance standards.

"REO properties in communities of color generally appeared vacant, abandoned, blighted and unappealing to real estate agents who might market the unit to homebuyers," the report from the NFHA reads. "On the other hand, REOs in white communities generally appeared inhabited, well-maintained and attractive to real estate agents and homebuyers."

Gerardo Ascencio, president of the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals, praised the efforts of the NFHA, alleging that banks' neglect of foreclosed homes in minority areas is a "widespread industry problem."

"Our view is that this issue is not exclusive to one or two lenders but an an industry-wide issue with tremendous opportunity for improvement across the board," he told AOL Real Estate. "We applaud NFHA for bringing this important issue to light."

Banks have, in the aftermath of the housing meltdown, repeatedly come under fire for discriminating against minorities. A study from the Center for Responsible Lending, for example, found that blacks and Hispanics with credit scores above 660 received subprime mortgages three times as often as whites with the same rating. And allegations that Countrywide charged 200,000 minority borrowers higher rates and fees than whites led to a historic $335 million discrimination settlement between its parent company, Bank of America, and the Justice Department.

In the wake of a housing crisis that caused around 4 million Americans to lose their homes to foreclosure, banks have taken on ownership of swarms of those properties. Foreclosures have pushed down prices by swelling the general supply of homes and sometimes selling at steep discounts. Failing to maintain the homes, which already are a drag on property values by virtue of being foreclosures, is generally seen as adding to their negative impact on neighborhoods.

The new report, the NFHA said in a statement, now "offers disturbing evidence that the same banks that peddled unsustainable loans to communities of color and triggered the current foreclosure crisis are now exacerbating damage to those communities."

Follow Teke Wiggin on Twitter (@tkwiggin), follow @AOLRealEstate, or connect with AOL Real Estate on Facebook.

See also:
Foreclosure-Review Offer Getting Few Takers, Report Says
How to Avoid Foreclosure: Steps You Can Take to Keep Your Home
Home Prices May Withstand Foreclosure Wave

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]]>National Fair Housing AllianceNFHA Discrimination LawsuitUS BankUS Bank Discrimination LawsuitUS Bank foreclosuresWells Fargo discrimination lawsuitTeke Wiggin2012-04-17T16:50:00 00:00NAHB Housing Market Index Shows Drop in Builder Confidencehttp://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/04/16/nahb-housing-market-index-shows-drop-in-builder-confidence/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/04/16/nahb-housing-market-index-shows-drop-in-builder-confidence/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/04/16/nahb-housing-market-index-shows-drop-in-builder-confidence/#commentsFiled under: News

In a slight letdown for housing bulls, homebuilder confidence slipped in April against the backdrop of uninspiring market signs that have tempered the view that a market recovery is accelerating. The National Association of Home Builders/Housing Market Index dipped to 25 in April, the NAHB says, marking a three-point drop from what had been the index's highest level since the housing bust.

"What we're seeing is essentially a pause in what had been a fairly rapid buildup in builder confidence that started last September," NAHB chief economist David Crowe said in a statement.

Existing home sales and construction on new homes fell marginally in February. Both indexes, along with some other market indicators, had shown sustained market improvements prior to recent lackluster results, which may have cooled builders' confidence.

Jed Kolko, chief economist of listing service Trulia said disappointing job numbers have also chipped away at market enthusiasm.

"The job market drives demand for housing. Employment, while still growing, stumbled in March, and that shook confidence across the board," he said. "The latest consumer confidence and small business confidence numbers are both down, too -- not just builder confidence."

Crowe pointed to stultifying market conditions, which have plagued builders throughout the housing crisis, as behind the disappointing result, including banks' wariness to originate loans and the competition posed by the excess supply of foreclosures, which sell at below-market prices.

Bright spots have been emerging in the real estate market over the past year, and some economists say that they expect home prices to turn the corner by the end of 2012.

Home sales had risen by 13 percent in the previous six months as of March, according to Capital Economics, while the delinquency rate had dropped by 14 percent in the last year, as of February 2012, according to Lender Processing Services.

Some indexes that aim to provide a near-real-time picture of price movements are actually showing that home prices have begun to increase. But looming over green shoots in the market, is the possibility of an impending foreclosure wave that could put downward pressure on home prices.

"Those distressed homes will compete with new homes for sale, cutting into builders' profits," Kolko said of a possible flood of foreclosures. "Despite the drop in confidence, new home sales are 11% higher than one year ago, while existing home sales are 9% higher than one year ago, so the new-home sale market is recovering, and that's good news for builders.

See also:
Homebuying: 5 Key Steps to Your 1st Real Estate Purchase
Home Affordability: How Much House (or Apartment) Can I Handle?
Home Costs: 4 Crucial Questions Reveal Hidden Expenses

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]]>HMIhomebuilder confidencehomebuilder pollhomebuilder surveyHousing Market IndexNAHBNAHB HMINAHB housing market indexNational Association of HomebuildersTeke Wiggin2012-04-16T12:53:00 00:00Banks Neglect REO Homes in Minority Areas, Study Sayshttp://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/04/12/banks-neglect-reo-homes-in-minority-areas-study-says/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/04/12/banks-neglect-reo-homes-in-minority-areas-study-says/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/04/12/banks-neglect-reo-homes-in-minority-areas-study-says/#commentsFiled under: News

After the housing meltdown, banks have repeatedly come under fire for allegedly using discriminatory lending practices against minorities. A study from the Center for Responsible Lending found that blacks and Hispanics with credit scores above 660 received subprime mortgages three times as often as whites with the same rating. And allegations that Countrywide charged 200,000 minority borrowers higher rates and fees than whites led to a historic $335 million discrimination settlement between its parent company, Bank of America, and the Justice Department. Now a study of more than 1,000 foreclosed properties suggests that lenders are much more concerned with the upkeep of their homes set in affluent, predominantly white neighborhoods than those in more diverse ones.

"REO properties in communities of color generally appeared vacant, abandoned, blighted and unappealing to real estate agents who might market the unit to homebuyers," the report from the National Fair Housing Alliance says. "On the other hand, REOs in white communities generally appeared inhabited, well-maintained and attractive to real estate agents and homebuyers."

The NFHA study, "The Banks Are Back -- Our Neighborhoods Are Not," has led the civil rights organization to bring a discrimination suit against Wells Fargo, and the alliance filed a complaint against the bank with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development on April 10.

Examining over 1,000 bank-owned properties, also known as "REO properties," the nonprofit's study looked at a wide array of maintenance and marketing indicators, "including curb appeal, structure, signage, indications of water damage, and condition of paint, siding and gutters," to draw conclusions about maintenance standards.

In the wake of the housing bust, millions of Americans have lost their homes to foreclosure, resulting in a glut of bank-owned homes on the market. And aside from those owned by the banks, U.S. taxpayers reportedly are responsible for about 200,000 vacant homes by proxy -- because of the bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Those government sponsored enterprises will spend more than $40 million just to mow the lawns of these properties over the next year, Yahoo! News says.

See also:
Home Costs: 4 Crucial Questions Reveal Hidden Expenses
Principal Reduction Plan for Fannie, Freddie Meets Resistance

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]]>bank discriminationbank homesforeclosed homesforeclosure discriminationminority foreclosed homesminority homesREOswells fargowells fargo discriminationTeke Wiggin2012-04-12T17:00:00 00:00