Foreclosures drop in Mississippi, rise in Louisiana

Foreclosures drop a bit in Miss.


Irvine, Calif.-based RealtyTrac, which tracks foreclosures nationwide, said that in April, foreclosure-related actions were taken against 361 properties in Mississippi. Those actions ranged from an initial notice of default to outright repossession by a lender.

Last month, 149 properties were scheduled for a foreclosure sale. Lenders took back 212.

The rate of foreclosure actions - affecting one in every 3,551 housing units - was down 2.7 percent from March and 2.2 percent from April 2010. That ranked Mississippi 45th in the nation.

RealtyTrac said that national foreclosure actions dropped 9 percent from March and 34 percent from April 2010 - mostly because of legal questions about paperwork.


Number of home foreclosures on the rise in La.


NEW ORLEANS (AP) - The number of Louisiana homeowners facing foreclosure is on the rise.

Irvine, Calif.-based RealtyTrac, which tracks foreclosures nationwide, said that in April, foreclosure-related actions were taken against 2,289 properties. Those actions ranged from an initial notice of default to outright repossession by a lender.

Last month, 1,349 housing units were scheduled for a foreclosure sale. Lenders took back 635.

The rate of foreclosure actions - affecting one in every 858 housing units - was up 11.8 percent from March and 23.8 percent from April 2010. That ranked Louisiana 22nd in the nation.

RealtyTrac said that national foreclosure actions dropped 9 percent from March and 34 percent from April 2010 - mostly because of legal questions about paperwork. April was the seventh straight month of national declines and brought foreclosure activity in the depressed U.S. housing market to a 40-month low.

"The slowdown continues to be largely the result of massive delays in processing foreclosures rather than the result of a housing recovery that is lifting people out of foreclosure," said RealtyTrac chief executive James Saccacio.

Nationally, 219,258 properties received a foreclosure-related notice last month. Lenders took back 69,532 U.S. properties in April.

Obama: More Aggressive Anti-Foreclosure Efforts Would Help People Who Don't Deserve It

President Barack Obama defended his administration's eleaguered foreclosure-prevention initiatives on Wednesday by arguing that more aggressive steps to assist homeowners might help people who don't deserve to be helped.

Asked if his administration had done enough to stem the foreclosure crisis, Obama opted not to address foreclosure fraud scandal that has forced banks to temporarily halt home repossessions across the country. Instead, he claimed that the government's efforts had stabilized the housing market, and argued that the "biggest challenge" was to make sure speculators and deadbeats didn't take advantage of the government's help.

"The biggest challenge is how do you make sure that you are helping those who really deserve help and if they get some temporary help can get back on their feet, make their payments and move forward and stay in their home versus either people who are speculators, own second homes that they really couldn't afford because they'd gotten a subprime loan, and people who through no fault of their own just can't afford their house anymore because of the change in housing values or their incomes don't support it," Obama said during a roundtable discussion with a handful of progressive bloggers at the White House.

"And we're always trying to find that sweet spot to use as much of the money that we have available to us to help those who can be helped, without wasting that money on folks who don't deserve help," he continued. "And that's a tough balance to strike."

Homeowner advocates, members of Congress, and auditors of the administration's Home Affordable Modification Program have relentlessly criticized the Treasury Department for the program's shortcomings. President Obama said in early 2009 when he announced HAMP that it would help "as many as three to four million homeowners to modify the terms of their mortgages to avoid foreclosure."

While 640,300 homeowners are benefiting from reduced payments under HAMP, 728,686 people have been bounced from the program. Fewer than 500,000 are in active "permanent" five-year modifications. There is no shortage of stories from homeowners who say banks acted in bad faith by stretching out "trial" modifications that are supposed to last for only three months, then denying permanent modifications and leaving homeowners faced with imminent foreclosure -- and no shortage of class action lawsuits, either.
On Monday, a federal bailout watchdog reported that HAMP sometimes actually causes the foreclosures it's designed to prevent, as applicants "end up unnecessarily depleting their dwindling savings in an ultimately futile effort to obtain the sustainable relief promised by the program guidelines." It's an allegation that had already been made by homeowner advocates.

Obama is unfazed by all of that.

"The HAMP program has gotten a lot of criticism, but the fact of the matter is, is that you've got half a million people who have gone through permanent loan modifications that are saving 500 bucks a month," Obama said. "And I get letters every day from people whose homes were saved as a consequence of it."

One of the biggest changes to HAMP since it started last year has been the requirement that as of June, borrowers must prove their eligibility with documents like tax forms and pay stubs. The administration argues that many people were denied permanent modifications because they were put into trial plans before their ability to pay had been verified.

HP

Obama administration to provide $3B in housing aid to 17 states; Mississippi to get $38 million.

The Obama administration is providing $3 billion to unemployed homeowners facing foreclosure in the nation's toughest job markets.

The Treasury Department says it will send $2 billion to 17 states that have unemployment rates higher than the national average for a year. They will use the money for programs to aid unemployed homeowners. Some of those states have already designed such programs.

Another $1 billion will go to a new program being run by the Department of Housing and Urban Development. It will provide homeowners with emergency zero-interest rate loans of up to $50,000 for up to two years.

The administration was required to launch the programs by the financial regulatory bill signed by President Barack Obama last month. The money to pay for the efforts is coming from $50 billion set aside for homeowner assistance from the $700 billion Wall Street bailout.

California will get the largest share of money for the Treasury program, at $476 million. Florida is in line for nearly $239 million. Illinois will receive $166 million and Ohio will receive $149 million.

The Obama administration has rolled out numerous attempts to tackle the foreclosure crisis but has made only a small dent in the problem. More than 40 percent, or about 530,000 homeowners, have fallen out of the administration's main effort to assist those facing foreclosure.

That program, known as Making Home Affordable, provides lenders with incentives to reduce mortgage payments. So far, it has provided permanent help to about 390,000 homeowners, or 30 percent of the 1.3 million who have enrolled since March 2009.

Also receiving money are Michigan, $129 million; Georgia, $127 million; North Carolina, $121 million; New Jersey, $112 million; Indiana, $83 million and Tennessee, $81 million.

Alabama is due to receive $61 million, South Carolina, $59 million; Kentucky, $56 million; Oregon, $49 million; Mississippi, $38 million; Nevada, $34 million; Rhode Island, $14 million; and Washington, D.C., $8 million.

AP

Program Will Pay Homeowners to Sell at a Loss

By DAVID STREITFELD

In an effort to end the foreclosure crisis, the Obama administration has been trying to keep defaulting owners in their homes. Now it will take a new approach: paying some of them to leave.

This latest program, which will allow owners to sell for less than they owe and will give them a little cash to speed them on their way, is one of the administration’s most aggressive attempts to grapple with a problem that has defied solutions.

More than five million households are behind on their mortgages and risk foreclosure. The government’s $75 billion mortgage modification plan has helped only a small slice of them. Consumer advocates, economists and even some banking industry representatives say much more needs to be done.

For the administration, there is also the concern that millions of foreclosures could delay or even reverse the economy’s tentative recovery — the last thing it wants in an election year.

The New York Times