Foreclosure

With hundreds of thousands of California homeowners in foreclosure, a stalemate continues as only a small percentage reach the end of the process and the time to foreclose stretches. New data from locally-based ForecloureRadar shows that the time from notice of default to trustee sale in California has increased from 146 days in August 2008, to 229 days in January 2010, because lenders are increasingly delaying foreclosures to work through loan modifications and other foreclosure alternatives.

More than 1,000 current and college-bound students nationwide answered the call during the 2009 Foreclosure.com scholarship program, submitting essays on ""How to Solve the Foreclosure Crisis."" The Florida-based company awarded a total of $9,000 in scholarships to five students for their innovative ideas on how to curb the distress in the housing market.

Following multiple revisions and dismal closings, the Hope for Homeowners (H4H) program may experience revitalization. Irvine, California-based Banker's Portfolio, LLC, an innovative solution provider for the resolution of distressed assets, has secured a forward commitment for the purchase of the H4H securities and is rolling out the H4H product to existing mortgage investors, loan servicers, and asset managers as an alternative to foreclosure.

Mortgage servicers have significantly stepped up efforts to convert trial modifications to permanent status under the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP), nearly doubling the number in just one month's time. The U.S. Treasury released its January report card Wednesday and it showed that 116,297 homeowners are now in permanent modifications. Another 76,482 have been extended offers for a permanent restructuring, needing only the borrower's signature to complete the conversion. The Treasury said the data ""marked record progress.""

Foreclosure experts at Heavy Hammer Inc. and its foreclosure listing site USHUD.com see a confluence of factors exacerbating an already devastated housing market in 2010, driven primarily by financial industry practices and changing government policies. They predict that the consequence will be a doubling of foreclosure rates this year.

That looming shadow of housing inventory that's graced so many headlines lately has put the entire industry on edge. And that uneasiness was validated in a report published by Standard & Poor's Tuesday. The ratings agency said this hidden supply of REOs and pending foreclosures will likely take 33 months - or nearly three years - to clear if liquidation rates hold steady. What's even more unsettling is that S&P called its estimate ""conservative.""

Sixteen months after Countrywide Financial settled one of the biggest predatory lending lawsuits in the nation's history, restitution is coming for distressed homeowners in Florida. More than 2,700 Countrywide borrowers in the Sunshine State are being sent foreclosure relief payments from the lender this week, totaling $16.9 million. Florida's Attorney General said the checks will make a ""significant difference"" for struggling families who are trying to save their homes.

The percentage of borrowers at least 60 days past due on their mortgage increased for the 12th straight quarter, hitting 6.89 percent by the end of 2009, according to new data released by TransUnion Tuesday. This precursor to foreclosure increased 10.24 percent from the previous quarter, and compared to the year-ago delinquency rate of 4.58 percent, past due mortgages are up a staggering 50 percent, TransUnion said.

Moody's Investors Service is forecasting another 8 percent decline in home prices before a bottom in property values is reached. That's actually an improvement over previous estimates, but it's the duration of depreciation that's the headline grabber. Last month, Moody's analysts were predicting the price floor to be reached in the third quarter of this year. Now they say it won't be hit until the end of the fourth quarter, largely because of the ""underwhelming"" success of the administration's Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP).

Las Vegas has the highest foreclosure rate of any metro in the country, but lenders there have become more willing to accept short sales as an alternative to foreclosure. The Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors (GLVAR) reports that 21.1 percent of all existing-home sales in the area last month were short sales. GLVAR called it ""one of the more promising trends"" for the month.