Foreclosure

The Ohio Legislature has introduced several bills aimed at fighting the foreclosure crisis in the state. Ohio has one of the highest foreclosure rates in the country. Residential foreclosures in the Buckeye State were ranked the 10th highest in the nation in RealtyTrac’s latest market report, with one in every 452 homes receiving a foreclosure filing in January.

Community Reinvestment Fund, USA (CRF), a national organization that provides capital to nonprofit community development lenders through its secondary market for loans, recently announced a new foreclosure remediation program for the Twin Cities area of Minnesota.

Pennsylvania Gov. Edward D. Rendell announced on Monday an emergency executive action= intended to provide immediate relief to struggling homeowners in the state. The governor is directing $5 million in state funding to be used for mortgage assistance to ensure that recently unemployed workers can keep their homes while they are retraining and finding new jobs, the governor’s office said in a press statement.

An auction of foreclosed homes in New York City was picketed by a group of two dozen protesters on Sunday. The auction of more than 375 foreclosed homes was put on by Real Estate Disposition Corp. (REDC), and was only the second event the company has held in the Big Apple.

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) released its Mortgage Delinquency Survey for 2008 on Thursday, which showed that Americans fell behind on their mortgages and banks seized homes at a record pace in the fourth quarter of last year.

On Thursday, Freddie Mac announced the official launch of its new REO Rental Initiative, giving qualified tenants and former owners the option to lease their recently foreclosed properties on a month-to-month basis.

Foreclosure.com, based on Boca Raton, Florida, announced that it has doubled the size of its agent services department in response to high volume and demand for programs that help connect buyers and sellers in the distressed real estate marketplace.

With President Obama’s recent proposal to provide $75 billion to help modify home loans, millions of Americans on the brink of foreclosure now have hope in sight. But what’s uncertain, particularly for those who are facing imminent foreclosure, is how quickly the assistance will funnel down the pipeline to homeowners.

HOPE NOW, a foreclosure prevention alliance of mortgage servicers, non-profit counselors, and investors, today announced that its members and the larger mortgage lending industry modified 123,000 mortgages in January 2009.

From foreclosure moratoriums to targeted community outreach programs, lenders across the country are stepping up their home retention efforts to tackle the foreclosure epidemic that has strangled the U.