Fannie Mae's Selling Guide Updates and Additional Guidance on Appraisal-Related Policies, Announcement SEL-2010-09, addresses many concerns raised by the National Association of Realtors (NAR) regarding the Home Valuation Code of Conduct (HVCC) and the appraisal policies of the government sponsored enterprises (GSE), Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The announcement addresses geographic competency, lender changes to the appraisal report, communication under HVCC, and the use of short sales and foreclosures as comparable sales. NAR had previously called on the GSEs to provide additional guidance on these issues. The guidance states that Fannie Mae requires lenders use appraisers with geographi ...
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©2010 WSJ.com Some banks have a special technique for dealing with business borrowers who can't repay loans coming due: Give them more time, hoping things improve and they can repay later.  Banks call it a wise strategy. Skeptics call it "extend and pretend." Read more. ...
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One of the most effective weapons in the Forest Service's firefighting toolbox is being phased out of use because of the high costs of maintaining it. The number of big tankers used to drop fire retardant has fallen from 44 in 2004 to 17, and the entire fleet of slurry bombers is set to be out of commission completely by 2012. Replacing the tankers, considered the best "first strike" in fighting wildfires, is expected to cost $2.5 billion. Without funding to replace the tankers, the Forest Service will have to rely on heavy helicopters and single-engine air tankers (SEATS) to fight fires in out-of-the-way places. ...
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©2010 Reuters The Federal Housing Administration is in better financial health than predicted last fall thanks to stronger performance on FHA-backed loans in the first part of 2010, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan said on Monday. Read more.  ...
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©2010 CNBC  For American taxpayers, now on the hook for some $145 billion in housing losses connected to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans, that amount could be just the tip of the iceberg.  According to the Congressional Budget Office, the losses could balloon to $400 billion. And if housing prices fall further, the cost to the taxpayer could hit as much as $1 trillion.  Two things are clear: Taxpayers don't want to foot the bill, and Fannie and Freddie, taken over by the government in 2008 to stanch the financial bloodletting, need a major overhaul.  More >>

©2010 Boston.com  Byline: Cheryl Costa  The real estate market is still in a very serious slump and according to a recent study, more than one in four homeowners is "underwater", meaning they owe more on their mortgage than their home is worth. Many people in this situation have lost their jobs and are struggling to make their mortgage payments. For some, the circumstances get so bad that they have no choice but to walk away from their mortgage.  For others, however, the decision to walk away from a house and a mortgage is more strategic. These homeowners are generally employed and fully capable of making their mortgage payments, but they choose not to beca ...
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The city of Mesa, which saw nearly 1,000 foreclosures in May alone, is looking for ways to deal with the flood of abandoned property. The city has been attempting code enforcement on abandoned properties but faces issues as to identifying who owns them.  Many of the abandoned homes are in disrepair and in need of yard maintenance but the city can't pin down whom, exactly, to hold responsible for maintenance as many of the properties are in limbo between default and foreclosure.  Mesa is hoping to fix that by joining about 300 other cities that have adopted abandoned-property registration ordinances. The idea of the program is to find a responsible party for the p ...
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RealtyTrac has reported that more than 30 percent of all home sales across the country during the first quarter were tied to some stage of the foreclosure process.The average foreclosure special sold for $171,971, a 27 percent discount compared to the median home price. Nevada had the highest proportion of distressed sales of any U.S. state, with 64 percent of all transactions involving properties in mortgage distress. California ranked second, with such sales accounting for 51 percent of all sales and Arizona was third at 50 percent. Discounts on distressed home ...
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©2010 WSJ.com Vacant office space continued to accumulate in the second quarter, the latest indication that businesses aren't planning significant hiring in the near future. Office buildings across the U.S. lost 1.8 million square feet of occupied space in the quarter, pushing the national office vacancy rate to 17.4%, the highest level since 1993, according to New York-based research firm Reis Inc. While the drop in occupied space was much smaller than in previous quarters, analysts said companies' continued reduction of office space meant they still lacked confidence in economic ...
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Michael Heid, co-president of Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, testified in a hearing conducted by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform that borrower error is a main factor in Wells Fargo’s inability to approve loan modification packages.  His testimony comes as Wells Fargo attempted to offer an explanation for the lack of loan modifications his employer has managed to approve since the institution of President Obama’s Home Affordable Modification Plan (HAMP). Although Heid blames borrower error for his organization’s inability to modify loans he did state that Wells Fargo will soon implement a policy requiring each homeowner to be paired with one ...
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