7/29/2019 Friday - February 22, 2013 - ForeclosureGate Gazette

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FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2013 

ACADEMIA ADVERSARIES ADVOCATES BLOGOSPHERE LEGAL LEGISLATE OP-ED HOMEOWNERS NEWS

ForeclosureGate.org Is A Public Service Homeowner Coalition and Cooperative, Created To Exchange News And Information And To Advance Justice For American Homeowners 

Wall Street wins again

Schneiderman’s “task force” (a generous appellation) was merely a politically motivated shell organization graftedonto that public relations strategy. This was evident almost from the moment of the announcement, but thecoalition of self-proclaimed bank accountability advocates, who had backed the administration into a corner overthe lack of prosecutions, decided to align with Schneiderman and his kabuki task force, losing whatever leveragethey may have had. If those same groups who feel “betrayed” and “lied to” had stayed on the outside andshamed those in power into action, we would probably have more accountability today…. 

California falling foreclosures may be amirage in the desert

"The decrease in foreclosure starts in California,while welcome, is also an indictment of the pastfive years when banks failed to deal fairly withthe hundreds of thousands of California families

struggling to keep their homes," said Kevin Steinof the California Reinvestment Coalition. "TheHomeowners Bill of Rights is a rare point of leverage to hold banks accountable to communities, and this data point indicates that… 

 Alabama home forec losures rise in January

Foreclosure starts and finishes rose acrossAlabama in J anuary, according to a new report. The number of introductory public foreclosurenotices filed in Alabama in J anuary rose 5.52percent to 746, while foreclosure completions rose

5.37 percent to 824, real estate research firmRealtyTrac reported today. But compared toDecember 2012, J anuary was an improvement.Starts fell 18.65 percent and completions fell 5.07percent in that time frame, the report said…. 

U.S. finalizes rules for financial firms to avoidforeclosures

In a major effort to heal the $10-trillion U.S.mortgage market, the Consumer FinancialProtection Bureau has finalized rules designed toensure financial firms offer every available optionto keep delinquent borrowers in their homes. The regulations, to be announced Thursday,address widespread complaints that loan servicers — the companies that collect mortgagepayments and repossess homes — werewoefully unprepared to help borrowers during…. 

Days Before 2007 Crisis, Fed Officials Doub tedNeed to Ac t

Federal Reserve officials in August 2007 remained skeptical that housing foreclosurescould cause a financial crisis, just days before theFed was jolted into action, according to transcriptsthat the central bank published Friday. Worriesabout the health of financial markets dominated ameeting of the Fed’s policy-making committee onAug. 7, but officials decided there was not yetsufficient evidence that the problems wereaffecting the growth of the broader economy…. 

Paper edited by former FDIC leader focuseson fixing housing

 The nation's housing market is improving, butremains constricted by uncertainties related torepurchase liabilities and longer foreclosuretimelines in some of the nation's hardest-hit

states, researchers with Boston Consulting Group said in a report commissioned by ThePew Charitable Trusts.Pew, of course, is whereformer Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. leaderSheila Bair went after leaving the FDIC a fewyears after the housing market meltdown…. 

El Paso home foreclosure filings doubled lastyear 

El Paso home foreclosure filings almost doubledlast year, but El Paso's foreclosure rate continuesto be well below the national and state rates, newdata show. The jump in the number of El Paso

foreclosure filings is probably tied to a backlog lastyear of pending foreclosures built up because of increasing federal regulations requiring lenders totake more steps to help people in trouble with theirhome mortgages, industry experts said…. 

GA Sen. Jackson Calls on State to Release Federal Foreclosure Assistance Funds

Senator Lester J ackson (D-Savannah) attended the Senate Select Committee Hearing on Housing andForeclosures last night to discuss HomeSafe Georgia, a federal program that provides “bridge” mortgageassistance in the form of grants to homeowners who are currently unemployed or substantially underemployed.“Although our economy continues to show signs of significant improvement, the fact remains that many Georgiansare still struggling to avoid foreclosure on their homes,” said Sen. J ackson. “I’m calling on the Department of Community Affairs to ramp up the disbursement of the HomeSafe Georgia fund to our citizens that need it most….