A new state law requiring lenders to give homeowners 45 days notice before filing a notice of default drove down foreclosures in North Carolina in September.
RealtyTrac Inc. of Irvine, Calif., says there were 2,477 properties with foreclosure filings in the state, or one for every 1,627 households, during the month.
That’s down by 27 percent from September 2007, RealtyTrac says.
RealtyTrac tracks default notices, auction-sale notices and bank repossessions. The company says that the downturn in North Carolina’s foreclosures came from a 66 percent decline in notices of default, which mortgage companies issue to borrowers as the first step in the foreclosure process.
State lawmakers passed a bill in July that requires mortgage servicers to give 45-day notice before starting foreclosure proceedings.
Across the country, RealtyTrac says, foreclosures increased by 21 percent in the 12 months ending in September. One in every 475 U.S. housing units received a foreclosure filing in September.
Nevada, California and Arizona posted the top statewide foreclosure rates in the country. North Carolina ranked 35th among all states.
Sunday
Foreclosures come up in election
LANSING, Mich.—An Ohio Republican county chairman says a Web site that made it sound as if he planned to use foreclosure lists to challenge voters owes him an apology.Franklin County GOP Chairman Doug Preisse said last week that a reporter for The Michigan Messenger took comments he made to the Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch out of context. Preisse was the second GOP official to take issue with a story published by MichiganMessenger.com saying Republicans were planning to challenge homeowners on foreclosure lists to keep them from voting.The story quoted Macomb County Republican Party Chairman James Carabelli, but Carabelli denies saying that the GOP will have a list of foreclosed homes and will make sure people aren't voting from those addresses.
Friday
Number of abandoned animals soars as foreclosures rise
When Diane Hamilton and her neighbors discovered a wandering pony in their Boulder Creek neighborhood three weeks ago, they immediately put up signs with their contact information.
"I've heard about dogs and cats getting lost, but a horse?" said Hamilton. "Who loses a pony? Seriously?"
Hamilton said she figured she would find the owner in a day or two but no one has claimed the horse since she found it July 18.
"I don't think anyone's looking for this horse," Hamilton said.
She hopes to give it up for adoption to one of the stables or families that have shown interest after seeing her missing pony signs and Craigslist announcement.
It's not clear what happened to the pony's owners, but the Santa Cruz County SPCA was given three large animals in the last month because their owners' homes were foreclosed upon. In fact, officials from Santa Cruz County's SPCA say there has been a 30 percent increase in surrendered animals as a result of foreclosures in the past month.
"People are losing their houses and are being forced into apartments, but a rental that allows pets is very difficult to find in Santa Cruz," said Lisa Carter, executive director of the SPCA.
Despite a 20 percent drop in adoption rates, Carter was able to find homes for the three large animals, which included a miniature horse and a goat and a donkey that came from a Merced shelter due to overcrowding and foreclosures there.
"It's been a tough last six months," said Carter. "The economy is hurting everyone, including the animals."
Overcrowded animal shelters and rescue operations at maximum occupancy throughout the state have been contacting Carter in hopes of finding shelter for animals that run the risk of being put down. The SPCA's policy on killing animals is only to do it when they arrive too sick to be rehabilitated or are too aggressive to be safely placed in a home.
Carter hopes that the new law passed last week Assembly Bill 2949, that will require anyone who encounters an abandoned pet to immediately call Animal Control, will help crack down on animal abandonment.
Jessica Kipp, barn manager of Willow Pond Ranch, a sanctuary for rescued horses, says that because their budget is so tight, the ranch cannot open up the 17 stalls that they have available. The ranch has 15 rescued horses.
"We're being hit as hard as everybody," said Kipp. "We can't take any more in unless someone is willing to fully sponsor their horse but that isn't usually the case for owners."
Kipp said between the price of hay doubling, farriers raising their prices, and people's homes foreclosing there's a definite theme of economic hardship.
Hamilton, who cannot afford to take care of the lost pony, can only hope that the owners will turn up or she can give it to a farm that contacted her about adopting and training the horse.
"The pony is probably better off being somewhere else than where it has been," said Hamilton.
"It's negligent on so many levels." Contact Alia Wilson at 429-2436 or at jcopeland@santacruzsentinel.com.
"I've heard about dogs and cats getting lost, but a horse?" said Hamilton. "Who loses a pony? Seriously?"
Hamilton said she figured she would find the owner in a day or two but no one has claimed the horse since she found it July 18.
"I don't think anyone's looking for this horse," Hamilton said.
She hopes to give it up for adoption to one of the stables or families that have shown interest after seeing her missing pony signs and Craigslist announcement.
It's not clear what happened to the pony's owners, but the Santa Cruz County SPCA was given three large animals in the last month because their owners' homes were foreclosed upon. In fact, officials from Santa Cruz County's SPCA say there has been a 30 percent increase in surrendered animals as a result of foreclosures in the past month.
"People are losing their houses and are being forced into apartments, but a rental that allows pets is very difficult to find in Santa Cruz," said Lisa Carter, executive director of the SPCA.
Despite a 20 percent drop in adoption rates, Carter was able to find homes for the three large animals, which included a miniature horse and a goat and a donkey that came from a Merced shelter due to overcrowding and foreclosures there.
"It's been a tough last six months," said Carter. "The economy is hurting everyone, including the animals."
Overcrowded animal shelters and rescue operations at maximum occupancy throughout the state have been contacting Carter in hopes of finding shelter for animals that run the risk of being put down. The SPCA's policy on killing animals is only to do it when they arrive too sick to be rehabilitated or are too aggressive to be safely placed in a home.
Carter hopes that the new law passed last week Assembly Bill 2949, that will require anyone who encounters an abandoned pet to immediately call Animal Control, will help crack down on animal abandonment.
Jessica Kipp, barn manager of Willow Pond Ranch, a sanctuary for rescued horses, says that because their budget is so tight, the ranch cannot open up the 17 stalls that they have available. The ranch has 15 rescued horses.
"We're being hit as hard as everybody," said Kipp. "We can't take any more in unless someone is willing to fully sponsor their horse but that isn't usually the case for owners."
Kipp said between the price of hay doubling, farriers raising their prices, and people's homes foreclosing there's a definite theme of economic hardship.
Hamilton, who cannot afford to take care of the lost pony, can only hope that the owners will turn up or she can give it to a farm that contacted her about adopting and training the horse.
"The pony is probably better off being somewhere else than where it has been," said Hamilton.
"It's negligent on so many levels." Contact Alia Wilson at 429-2436 or at jcopeland@santacruzsentinel.com.
Monday
Foreclosure Rescue: Who Gets Help
The spate of hurricanes that battered South Florida three years ago blew the shingles off Tatrisha Harvin's modest house in Miami Gardens, Fla. But this year's housing catastrophe could do something much worse. Two years ago, Harvin, 44, a Miami-Dade corrections clerk, turned to interest rates that were at a historic low to ease her household finances. The apparent windfall came at a critical time: her husband was injured and a daughter was diagnosed with diabetes. She refinanced with an adjustable-rate mortgage, taking out a chunk of her home equity. But she says she never realized the ultra-low teaser rate would jump so high so soon, raising her monthly mortgage payment by more than $1,000. "That was never explained to me," she says.
"If it was, I never would have signed any documents." A year behind on her payments, Harvin faces foreclosure.
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She and thousands of others in her community. When America's category 5 housing hurricane hit Florida this year, its eye came ashore at Miami Gardens. More than 4,000 of its 22,000 residential units are in foreclosure, giving this predominantly African-American city just north of Miami one of the state's — and one of the nation's — highest mortgage failure rates. Few places were as glad to hear that Congress this week had passed a housing relief bill that could help some 400,000 desperate homeowners like Harvin keep their homes via mortgage refinancing aid.
They're happier still that President Bush said he'll sign it, despite his objections to the refinancing trust fund as well as $4 billion set aside to help local governments buy up and refurbish already foreclosed homes (the President described these provisions as giveaways).
"We feel a large measure of hope," says Miami Gardens councilman and real estate lawyer Andre Williams. "This isn't just about maintaining houses, it's about preventing the destruction of families and communities. A city's quality of life is also on the line."
But the daunting trick for cities like Miami Gardens will be making the federal dolars work effectively and, perhaps more important, equitably. The triage process may require local officials to identify not only those homeowners who are most likely to make the best use of the aid — the most long-term, credit-worthy bets — but also those who were genuinely victimized by predatory or unscrupulous lenders as opposed to those who simply made bad financial decisions (especially property flippers) and took on more housing debt than they and their salaries could ever afford.
"We want folks to be able to hold on to the American dream," says Daniel Rosemond, the Miami Gardens director of community development. "But at the same time, in a low-wage region like South Florida, we have to be realistic about people who, frankly, aren't ready to be homeowners yet."
Under the new legislation, which also provides billions to save the country's two largest mortgage banks, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has 60 days to lay out a plan for how the homeowner aid will be disbursed via state and local agencies. After that it has 30 days to send it out. Officials like Rosemond, who this summer created a foreclosure prevention program in his city to help distressed homeowners buy more time, hope that lenders who are poised to pounce with notices will hold off until the money arrives to help debtors make up for delinquent mortgage payments and refinance into more affordable mortgages backed by the Federal Housing Administration.
One key, according to homeowner advocates, will be whether or not the program will prompt lenders in general to be more generous from here on out. "So far we're not seeing the loan modifications we need from lenders," says Jackie Duran, a foreclosure counselor for the non-governmental Neighborhood Housing Services, which has been overwhelmed in recent months by homeowners from all over the Miami area. "When you've got people whose [interest] rates have jumped to 11 or 12%, a 1% reduction isn't going to work. You need at least a 3% break."
The housing bubble was good to Miami Gardens, a working/middle-class city that prides itself on its family and community cohesiveness. The city was incorporated, in fact, in 2003, at the height of the boom, which has since helped its population of 110,000 reach a 71% homeowner rate. "It's the core of our existence," says Rosemond. The city's property tax revenue leapt by 65% last year — and its property values have risen 120% the past five years. But for a city with a median income less than $40,000, it was all a bit out of whack.
Rosemond notes that before the bubble burst last year the average Miami Gardens home value was nearing $300,000 when it should have been closer to $200,000. As a result, the city and its minority residents have been a special target of what Williams calls "scoundrels and criminals dressed as mortgage brokers" duping low income or subprime buyers with risky mortgage products.
Williams is quick to note that not all the lenders involved in the Miami Gardens disaster were disreputable — and he acknowledges that "there were too many folks here who were totally irresponsible as buyers and shouldn't be able to take advantage of this process." He agrees, for example, with a stipulation in the new bill that defaulting homeowners who get bailed out must return all or a significant portion of any profit they make on the subsequent sale of their house to the federal government. But he also stresses that one of the things he hopes the city can do with the federal aid is reform the reckless culture of home-buying by setting up tools like lender data bases and buyer workshops. "This has to become an educational process as well as a relief process," he says.
Rosemond agrees. He's already envisioning rules for the federal aid when it reaches Miami Gardens — such as prohibiting refinancing with adjustable-rate mortgages and requiring 30-year fixed loans in order to be eligible for relief. He also hopes to establish rent-to-own programs, providing landlords with incentives to give house and apartment renters the option to buy their units once they've saved enough and built a strong enough employment and credit history.
"We need people to rent longer before they buy houses, but we also need renters to feel like they have a stake in those properties," Rosemond says. "This would motivate them and create the kind of homeownership you want for a community, not the houses built on sand."
Residents like Harvin, however, don't have the luxury of looking that far ahead. When told about the new federal relief, she said it was the best news she'd had in years. "A lot of us in this community haven't even recovered yet from the 2005 hurricanes," she says. "Then the housing mess started hitting us, and you take into account we're all strugglin' to buy food and gasoline.
Seems the least they could do." Americans should know by Christmas whether that will be enough to preserve the quality of life in Miami Gardens and countless other U.S. cities still recovering from the housing storm.
"If it was, I never would have signed any documents." A year behind on her payments, Harvin faces foreclosure.
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She and thousands of others in her community. When America's category 5 housing hurricane hit Florida this year, its eye came ashore at Miami Gardens. More than 4,000 of its 22,000 residential units are in foreclosure, giving this predominantly African-American city just north of Miami one of the state's — and one of the nation's — highest mortgage failure rates. Few places were as glad to hear that Congress this week had passed a housing relief bill that could help some 400,000 desperate homeowners like Harvin keep their homes via mortgage refinancing aid.
They're happier still that President Bush said he'll sign it, despite his objections to the refinancing trust fund as well as $4 billion set aside to help local governments buy up and refurbish already foreclosed homes (the President described these provisions as giveaways).
"We feel a large measure of hope," says Miami Gardens councilman and real estate lawyer Andre Williams. "This isn't just about maintaining houses, it's about preventing the destruction of families and communities. A city's quality of life is also on the line."
But the daunting trick for cities like Miami Gardens will be making the federal dolars work effectively and, perhaps more important, equitably. The triage process may require local officials to identify not only those homeowners who are most likely to make the best use of the aid — the most long-term, credit-worthy bets — but also those who were genuinely victimized by predatory or unscrupulous lenders as opposed to those who simply made bad financial decisions (especially property flippers) and took on more housing debt than they and their salaries could ever afford.
"We want folks to be able to hold on to the American dream," says Daniel Rosemond, the Miami Gardens director of community development. "But at the same time, in a low-wage region like South Florida, we have to be realistic about people who, frankly, aren't ready to be homeowners yet."
Under the new legislation, which also provides billions to save the country's two largest mortgage banks, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has 60 days to lay out a plan for how the homeowner aid will be disbursed via state and local agencies. After that it has 30 days to send it out. Officials like Rosemond, who this summer created a foreclosure prevention program in his city to help distressed homeowners buy more time, hope that lenders who are poised to pounce with notices will hold off until the money arrives to help debtors make up for delinquent mortgage payments and refinance into more affordable mortgages backed by the Federal Housing Administration.
One key, according to homeowner advocates, will be whether or not the program will prompt lenders in general to be more generous from here on out. "So far we're not seeing the loan modifications we need from lenders," says Jackie Duran, a foreclosure counselor for the non-governmental Neighborhood Housing Services, which has been overwhelmed in recent months by homeowners from all over the Miami area. "When you've got people whose [interest] rates have jumped to 11 or 12%, a 1% reduction isn't going to work. You need at least a 3% break."
The housing bubble was good to Miami Gardens, a working/middle-class city that prides itself on its family and community cohesiveness. The city was incorporated, in fact, in 2003, at the height of the boom, which has since helped its population of 110,000 reach a 71% homeowner rate. "It's the core of our existence," says Rosemond. The city's property tax revenue leapt by 65% last year — and its property values have risen 120% the past five years. But for a city with a median income less than $40,000, it was all a bit out of whack.
Rosemond notes that before the bubble burst last year the average Miami Gardens home value was nearing $300,000 when it should have been closer to $200,000. As a result, the city and its minority residents have been a special target of what Williams calls "scoundrels and criminals dressed as mortgage brokers" duping low income or subprime buyers with risky mortgage products.
Williams is quick to note that not all the lenders involved in the Miami Gardens disaster were disreputable — and he acknowledges that "there were too many folks here who were totally irresponsible as buyers and shouldn't be able to take advantage of this process." He agrees, for example, with a stipulation in the new bill that defaulting homeowners who get bailed out must return all or a significant portion of any profit they make on the subsequent sale of their house to the federal government. But he also stresses that one of the things he hopes the city can do with the federal aid is reform the reckless culture of home-buying by setting up tools like lender data bases and buyer workshops. "This has to become an educational process as well as a relief process," he says.
Rosemond agrees. He's already envisioning rules for the federal aid when it reaches Miami Gardens — such as prohibiting refinancing with adjustable-rate mortgages and requiring 30-year fixed loans in order to be eligible for relief. He also hopes to establish rent-to-own programs, providing landlords with incentives to give house and apartment renters the option to buy their units once they've saved enough and built a strong enough employment and credit history.
"We need people to rent longer before they buy houses, but we also need renters to feel like they have a stake in those properties," Rosemond says. "This would motivate them and create the kind of homeownership you want for a community, not the houses built on sand."
Residents like Harvin, however, don't have the luxury of looking that far ahead. When told about the new federal relief, she said it was the best news she'd had in years. "A lot of us in this community haven't even recovered yet from the 2005 hurricanes," she says. "Then the housing mess started hitting us, and you take into account we're all strugglin' to buy food and gasoline.
Seems the least they could do." Americans should know by Christmas whether that will be enough to preserve the quality of life in Miami Gardens and countless other U.S. cities still recovering from the housing storm.
Friday
US home foreclosures on the rise
The number of US homes in some stage of foreclosure more than doubled between April and June from the previous year.
Figures from research firm RealtyTrac showed that one in every 171 US households was in the process of losing their home - up 121% on last year.
There was better economic news from the Commerce Department, with orders for big-ticket US manufactured items growing 0.8% in June.
But much of the bigger-than-expected rise came from big defence orders.
Meanwhile, sales of new homes fell 0.6% in June, also according to the Commerce Department.
It is the seventh fall in the figure in the past eight months.
It means that new home sales are down by 33.2% from a year ago.
Negative equity
Mortgage defaults by US homeowners have surged as millions of sub-prime loans are reset at higher interest rates, and the drop in house prices has pushed more homes into negative equity.
The housing crisis is causing serious problems for the wider US economy.
Almost 740,000 US homes entered the foreclosure process in the second quarter of 2008, according to RealtyTrac.
This includes receiving a default or bank repossession notice or warning of an impending auction.
The worst hit areas were Nevada, California, Florida and Arizona, which had seen the biggest house price rises during the boom years, and the largest volume of sub-prime lending.
But RealtyTrac said most areas of the country were seeing at least some levels of foreclosure activity.
Outlook
California had the most filings - 202,599 - which was up 198% from the same period a year ago.
Some help to homeowners may be available if the US Congress finally passes the housing bill, which aims to help hundreds and thousands of homeowners trapped in unaffordable mortgages.
The bill, if it became law, would allow these borrowers to refinance their mortgages with cheaper, fixed-rate mortgages backed by the government. It cleared the US House of Representatives this week and is expected to be passed by the Senate and signed by George W. Bush in the next few days.
But many analysts believe the housing market has not yet hit rock bottom, and falling house prices could put millions more at risk of foreclosure.
'Hardly thriving'
While the 0.8% growth in orders for durable goods, which are US manufactured items expected to last at least three years, was the highest since February, analysts cautioned against reading too much into it.
"With orders excluding defence falling at a 4% annualised rate in the second quarter, it is pretty clear manufacturing is hardly thriving," said Ian Shepherdson, chief US economist at High Frequency Economics.
Orders for motor vehicles and parts rose 1.8%, which was the strongest for almost a year.
But the increase was only a fraction of the big declines that have been seen in recent months.
"It says things were better than we generally expected as we look back into the second quarter but I think if you look forward into the third and fourth [quarters] the forward-looking indicators are pointing toward some weakness ahead," said Keith Hembre, chief economist at First American Funds.
Figures from research firm RealtyTrac showed that one in every 171 US households was in the process of losing their home - up 121% on last year.
There was better economic news from the Commerce Department, with orders for big-ticket US manufactured items growing 0.8% in June.
But much of the bigger-than-expected rise came from big defence orders.
Meanwhile, sales of new homes fell 0.6% in June, also according to the Commerce Department.
It is the seventh fall in the figure in the past eight months.
It means that new home sales are down by 33.2% from a year ago.
Negative equity
Mortgage defaults by US homeowners have surged as millions of sub-prime loans are reset at higher interest rates, and the drop in house prices has pushed more homes into negative equity.
The housing crisis is causing serious problems for the wider US economy.
Almost 740,000 US homes entered the foreclosure process in the second quarter of 2008, according to RealtyTrac.
This includes receiving a default or bank repossession notice or warning of an impending auction.
The worst hit areas were Nevada, California, Florida and Arizona, which had seen the biggest house price rises during the boom years, and the largest volume of sub-prime lending.
But RealtyTrac said most areas of the country were seeing at least some levels of foreclosure activity.
Outlook
California had the most filings - 202,599 - which was up 198% from the same period a year ago.
Some help to homeowners may be available if the US Congress finally passes the housing bill, which aims to help hundreds and thousands of homeowners trapped in unaffordable mortgages.
The bill, if it became law, would allow these borrowers to refinance their mortgages with cheaper, fixed-rate mortgages backed by the government. It cleared the US House of Representatives this week and is expected to be passed by the Senate and signed by George W. Bush in the next few days.
But many analysts believe the housing market has not yet hit rock bottom, and falling house prices could put millions more at risk of foreclosure.
'Hardly thriving'
While the 0.8% growth in orders for durable goods, which are US manufactured items expected to last at least three years, was the highest since February, analysts cautioned against reading too much into it.
"With orders excluding defence falling at a 4% annualised rate in the second quarter, it is pretty clear manufacturing is hardly thriving," said Ian Shepherdson, chief US economist at High Frequency Economics.
Orders for motor vehicles and parts rose 1.8%, which was the strongest for almost a year.
But the increase was only a fraction of the big declines that have been seen in recent months.
"It says things were better than we generally expected as we look back into the second quarter but I think if you look forward into the third and fourth [quarters] the forward-looking indicators are pointing toward some weakness ahead," said Keith Hembre, chief economist at First American Funds.
With prison release, a foreclosure
Former Universal Express CEO Richard Altomare was released from federal prison, but he may not have a luxury condo to live in much longer.
Altomare and his wife, Barbara Altomare, are facing a foreclosure lawsuit on their Highland Beach condo over a $2 million mortgage.
Altomare - who ranked No. 14 on the Business Journal's list of highest-paid CEOs, with about $2 million in compensation at the Boca Raton-based company in 2007 - hasn't broken bread in that condo for several months. He had been housed in a New York City federal prison since May 3.
New York federal Judge Gerard Lynch had ordered Altomare jailed until he paid a $1.7 million judgment disgorgement to the SEC or proved that he could not afford to pay.
Altomare and his wife, Barbara Altomare, are facing a foreclosure lawsuit on their Highland Beach condo over a $2 million mortgage.
Altomare - who ranked No. 14 on the Business Journal's list of highest-paid CEOs, with about $2 million in compensation at the Boca Raton-based company in 2007 - hasn't broken bread in that condo for several months. He had been housed in a New York City federal prison since May 3.
New York federal Judge Gerard Lynch had ordered Altomare jailed until he paid a $1.7 million judgment disgorgement to the SEC or proved that he could not afford to pay.
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