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Over 23 years in real estate land development, custom lots/homes, mixed-use projects, affordable and senior housing. Consulting on entitlements. Sacramento and San Diego regions.
Joanne Davis Sr. Executive Associate Lyon Real Estate www.JDavis.GoLyon.com 916.747.1901 Great article and right-on! The government is throwing money around like water and none of it is helping the "people". The banks have sat on homes for the past 4 years, and it is time to foreclose, get these homes on the market and let the buyers have something to buy. The Loan Servicing companies get paid whether or not an owner makes a payment or note, so no wonder why BoA bought $18B and the loan servicing of Countrywide. No wonder why the loan servicing companies wouldn't talk to the homeowner or the listing agents. Now the Asset Managers continue to make it difficult, in a majority of the cases. I guess you shocked me that there are listing agents stripping homes (as opposed to some homeowners0 - just when I think I can't be shocked. The banks and government need to get "grip" on reality. The real estate industry (all parts of it), is a major driving force in this Country's economy: from developing land/infrastructure, commercial/retail centers, housing, which all put a lot of people to work. Yet the Feds continue to make it more difficult for the Real Estate Industry to function by making ridiculous rules under RESPA on Realtors and the real estate industry. Example: Title Companies can no longer provide many tools Realtors need/count on in order to do their work to help buyers and sellers: obtaining property profiles, mailing lables - these are/were not the problem. For a few bad title companies, developers, Realtors, etc., who really committed major fraud: prosecute them, but stop making it more difficult to get things moving. No one talks about the sheer number of homes that have never been listed for sale, but are in trouble and headed for foreclosure. The numbers are staggering, yet the Feds and banking industry continue down the wrong path to "let the market correct itself" ... you are correct in your opinion that many people in trouble right now did not over-buy ... they are caught in a spiral. Question: where are the Feds to "protect" the people being foreclosed on with a 2nd TD? Consumers think that a foreclosure wipes out a 2nd TD: not so fast. A number of the largest lenders are now going to go after the homeowner for the 2nd TD after the home is foreclosed upon. I believe there is a 4-yr statute of limitations - watch the banks let consumers get their credit back and then go after them. Lastly, California has chosen to put a 90-day moratorium on banks foreclosing - one more delay that will make things worse. It is inevitable that the majority of the homes in trouble will become foreclosures; get them on the market and sold, there are plenty of buyers. When people are in pre-foreclosure they stop paying property taxes, and until the banks own it and sell it: the State and local governments lose out on re-couping this money. Since the banks have chosen tell their customers to miss 3 payments before the bank "might talk to them about some "help" - why pay the property taxes? Why not just walk away? And how about banks demanding homeowners in trouble, while in escrow and in order to close an escrow on a short sale: demanding thousands of dollars on behalf of a Private Mortgage Insurance Company, who insured the investors on the less that 20% down portion of a loan... guess what? The banks have no right or business of demanding this money. Consumers pay the premium for insurance to cover that that portion of their loan. Where is the Government to protect those consumers from the fraudulent activity of a bank? Anyone hear about this problem? Well, it's growing. Again, Government, get out of the way; and Banks, take your lumps and get the economy moving again.
