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Posts with tag foreclosure

Time to reread 'The Grapes of Wrath'

by Aaron Crowe Nov 20th 2008 at 6:00PM

Filed under: Banks, Home, Recession, Bankruptcy

From the recent resurgence of John Steinbeck's novel "The Grapes of Wrath," it looks like people in a recession are happy to be entertained by a tale of the Great Depression.

The 1940 movie based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning book by Steinbeck has gained such popularity recently that from September 2008 to October 2008, rentals of "The Grapes of Wrath" on Netflix rose 10%, according to the Nov. 17 issue of Business Week Magazine. A theatrical play based on the novel is also out.

If you haven't taken a look at the plot since it was assigned reading in high school, it's worth another look today. (although now you can just rent the movie.) The parallels to today are strong. People are losing their jobs, unable to pay the mortgage and forced to move elsewhere to find work.



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Tags: book, books, depression, foreclosed, foreclosure, foreclosures, john steinbeck, JohnSteinbeck, mortgage, mortgages, movie, movies, novel, pulitzer prize, PulitzerPrize, recession, the grapes of wrath, TheGrapesOfWrath

Continue reading Time to reread 'The Grapes of Wrath'

Don't use mitigation services to save your house!

by Lita Epstein Nov 18th 2008 at 2:00PM

Filed under: Home, Real Estate, Recession, Mortgage Confidential

We've been seeing a number of questions regarding mitigation services and whether to pay them $1,000 or more to help save a home from foreclosure. Most of these mitigation services are frauds. You not only could lose any money you pay them, you could also lose your house.

You don't need to pay for help to save your home. There are a number of excellent resources to tap that don't charge a fee.

If you're facing foreclosure, you're best first stop is the U.S HUD's "Guide to Avoiding Foreclosure." There you will find answers to many of your questions about foreclosure and how it works. You'll also find a link to a valuable resource - free HUD housing counselors, they can help you sought out your problem and point you in the right direction for help.

Another good place to get help is the Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America's Home Save Program. NACA provides an effective solution for owner-occupant homeowners with an unaffordable mortgage. NACA's excellent program for restructuring mortgages is a permanent solution to reduce the interest rate and/or mortgage amount to a payment you can afford. You start the process by attending a workshop. All NACA services are free. If you are facing an auction, you'll find a special link for urgent response. They will try to suspend your auction to give you time to complete the NACA process.

A third good source for help is Hope Now. Hope now is an alliance between HUD approved counseling agents, servicers, investors and other mortgage market participants. All services provided by Hope Now are free and the sole purpose of this organization is to prevent foreclosures

Don't pay for foreclosure mitigation services when you can get them for free!

Lita Epstein has written more than 25 books including "The 250 Questions You Should Ask to Avoid Foreclosure" and the "Complete Idiot's Guide to Improving Your Credit Score."


Tags: foreclosure, mitigration services, MitigrationServices

Fantastic Freebies: moving boxes for foreclosure evictees

by Jason Cochran Oct 31st 2008 at 12:50AM

Filed under: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Recession, Bankruptcy, Fantastic Freebies


Saturday will be the first day of the month, and with it, another raft of homeowners will be turned out on the streets as their untenable mortgages expire. Expect the usual moving mayhem that happens whenever the first of the month falls on a weekend: a shortage of moving trucks, jammed unloading zones at apartment buildings, and a run on cardboard boxes.

One California company is doing a little something to make the difficulty easier. For this move cycle, UsedCardboardBoxes.com is giving free moving boxes to anyone who has lost their home in a foreclosure. The point, of course, is to promote the outfit's products, which are boxes that have been used, misprinted, or overstocked but are otherwise perfectly good.

The freebie pack of boxes, normally $38, includes sixteen boxes of various sizes, a roll of tape, a stack of packing paper, a marker, and a box cutter. To get that, you have to call the company (888-269-3788), provide proof of foreclosure, and pay for shipping, which amounts to $15. (Shipping is usually free, so you're getting about $23 worth of gimmes in this arrangement.) The deadline to apply is Tuesday.


Tags: boxes, fantastic freebies, fantasticfreebies, foreclosure, foreclosures, freebies, moving, moving supplies, MovingSupplies, recycling, UsedCardboardBoxes, UsedCardboardBoxes.com

Texas woman buys foreclosed home, gives it back to old owner

by Sarah Gilbert Oct 28th 2008 at 7:05PM

Filed under: Debt, Home


Imagine yourself, watching your house be auctioned off. Maybe you, like Tracy Orr, were laid off from your job. She worked for the USPS, and she believes she was fired wrongfully (she got a DWI when off-duty), but while she was contesting the job loss, her house was slipping away.

So there you are. Strangers are offering impossibly low bids for your home. You paid $80,000 four years ago, and they're offering $20,000? One asks you if your house is worth the price. You say "yes," you cry more.

She wins the house for $30,000. This is it, you think, I've lost everything. The woman turns to you. Say her name is Marilyn Mock. She says, "I did this for you." What? "You look like you needed a friend."

It's not a day dream: this actually happened, in Pottsboro, Texas. One woman bought another woman's home, and handed it back to her. Whatever the individual circumstances, this was a lovely thing to do. Maybe there is hope for our society. [via Daily Kos, where the evaluation of what this act says about humanity is lovely.]

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Tags: auction, foreclosure, good samaratin, GoodSamaratin, marilyn mock, MarilynMock, texas, tracy orr, TracyOrr

Ten cars you can live in when they repossess your house

by Julie Tilsner Oct 21st 2008 at 1:10PM

Filed under: Banks, Home, Simplification, Transportation, Bankruptcy

File this one under: News you can use.

Living in your car. It's one way to save a whole lot of money. We feature here, courtesy of Jalopnik, Ten cars you could probably live in if your house is repossessed.

With all the bad financial news spiraling down into worse financial news, you might be thinking about downsizing your life. Or your life might be downsizing despite of you. We've probably all wondered if we could handle actually living in a vehicle (or maybe that's just me?). The good news is, with car sales at appalling lows and dealerships going out of business left and right, you can probably get a very good deal on one of these cars today.

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Tags: cars, featured, foreclosure, recession, repossession, simplification, transportation

Continue reading Ten cars you can live in when they repossess your house

The $1.75 eBay house: Foreclosure bargains aplenty

by Bruce Watson Oct 3rd 2008 at 5:00PM

Filed under: Bargains, Home, Simplification, Wealth, Bankruptcy

For months, I've been hearing rumors and tales about incredibly cheap housing in high-foreclosure markets. In Detroit, for example, a house that cost $65,000 in 2006 recently sold for $1, and it's apparently fairly common to find houses in the $300 range.

As in the case of the $1.75 house that Joanne Smith bought in Saginaw, Michigan, many of these super-cheap foreclosures come with a tax bill that is in arrears, but even with the $850 in back taxes and cleanup costs that she will end up having to pay, she's gotten an incredible deal.

Searching through various foreclosure listings online, I decided to check out some of the places where I've lived. In Roanoke, Virginia, where my wife and I briefly contemplated buying a home, the cheapest place I found was running about $1,000. Meanwhile, in Blacksburg, where my wife and I worked, even HUD homes used to run in the $140,000 range. Right now, "motivated sellers" and banks are dropping properties at fire-sale prices.


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Tags: bankruptcy, Cleveland, eBay, featured, foreclosure, Joanna Smith, JoannaSmith, Ohio, Roanoke, Saginaw, South Bend, SouthBend, Welch

Continue reading The $1.75 eBay house: Foreclosure bargains aplenty

Foreclosures get serious as desperate homeowners attempt suicide

by Beth Pinsker Oct 3rd 2008 at 3:00PM

Filed under: Debt, Home, Real Estate, Recession, Bankruptcy

As the vice-presidential candidates talked about the financial crisis gripping this country and the House and Senate sparred over the $700 rescue bill, the crisis got a little darker for at least one family as CNN reported that a 90-year-old woman shot herself in the wake of an eviction attempt. The woman, from Akron, OH, survived, and has become a flash point for the debate -- she was mentioned on the floor of the House on Friday.

Foreclosures have all sorts of victims and we've been reporting on them since the beginning of the crisis, but the stories of real people may have gotten a little lost over the past few weeks as the banking crisis has spiraled out of control. How do you process the plight of one woman losing her home against the backdrop of a $700 billion rescue plan? Both are impossible to fathom. And this woman has not been the only one to come to national attention for attempting suicide -- there was a case back in July of a Massachusetts woman who committed suicide as she faced eviction.

Perhaps as Congress considers the big picture of the financial crisis, it's important that they are reminded of the very real human costs of our economic condition.

Real Estate Troubles

    Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim speaks during an interview with foreign correspondents in Mexico City September 30, 2008. Private investors should take stakes in U.S. banks to save them from financial ruin, with the government buying failed mortgage debt only as a last resort, Slim said on Tuesday. REUTERS/Felipe Courzo (MEXICO)

    Reuters

    Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim speaks during an interview with foreign correspondents in Mexico City September 30, 2008. Private investors should take stakes in U.S. banks to save them from financial ruin, with the government buying failed mortgage debt only as a last resort, Slim said on Tuesday. REUTERS/Felipe Courzo (MEXICO)

    Reuters

    Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim speaks during an interview with foreign correspondents in Mexico City September 30, 2008. Private investors should take stakes in U.S. banks to save them from financial ruin, with the government buying failed mortgage debt only as a last resort, Slim said on Tuesday. REUTERS/Felipe Courzo (MEXICO)

    Reuters

    Rolando Gamez sweeps up litter on Wall St. in front of the New York Stock Exchange Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2008 in New York. A snapback of some degree wasn't unexpected as carnage on Wall Street often attracts bargain hunters. Still, questions remain about how Wall Street will proceed without a bailout plan in place to absorb soured mortgage and other debt from banks' balance sheets and restore confidence in lending. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)

    AP

    Wall St. is shown Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2008 in New York. A snapback of some degree wasn't unexpected as carnage on Wall Street often attracts bargain hunters. Still, questions remain about how Wall Street will proceed without a bailout plan in place to absorb soured mortgage and other debt from banks' balance sheets and restore confidence in lending. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)

    AP

    U.S. Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd (D-CT) answers questions during a news conference, about the failure of a bill to provide a bailout for the current financial and banking crisis, on Capitol Hill in Washington, September 29, 2008. The U.S. House of Representatives on Monday rejected a Wall Street bailout bill that would have authorized the Treasury Department to spend up to $700 billion to purchase soured mortgage-backed assets from banks with the goal of jump-starting stalled capital markets. REUTERS/Jim Young (UNITED STATES)

    Reuters

    U.S. Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd (D-CT) (L) and Senator Judd Gregg (R-NH) answer questions during a news conference, about the failure of a bill to provide a bailout for the current financial and banking crisis, on Capitol Hill in Washington, September 29, 2008. The U.S. House of Representatives on Monday rejected a Wall Street bailout bill that would have authorized the Treasury Department to spend up to $700 billion to purchase soured mortgage-backed assets from banks with the goal of jump-starting stalled capital markets. REUTERS/Jim Young (UNITED STATES)

    Reuters

    U.S. Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd (D-CT) (L) and Senator Judd Gregg (R-NH) answer questions during a news conference, about the failure of a bill to provide a bailout for the current financial and banking crisis, on Capitol Hill in Washington, September 29, 2008. The U.S. House of Representatives on Monday rejected a Wall Street bailout bill that would have authorized the Treasury Department to spend up to $700 billion to purchase soured mortgage-backed assets from banks with the goal of jump-starting stalled capital markets. REUTERS/Jim Young (UNITED STATES)

    Reuters

    U.S. Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd (D-CT) (L) and Senator Judd Gregg (R-NH) leave a news conference, about the failure of a bill to provide a bailout for the current financial and banking crisis, on Capitol Hill in Washington, September 29, 2008. The U.S. House of Representatives on Monday rejected a Wall Street bailout bill that would have authorized the Treasury Department to spend up to $700 billion to purchase soured mortgage-backed assets from banks with the goal of jump-starting stalled capital markets. REUTERS/Jim Young (UNITED STATES)

    Reuters

    U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) listens to questions during a news conference, about the failure of a bill to provide a bailout for the current financial and banking crisis, on Capitol Hill in Washington, September 29, 2008. The U.S. House of Representatives on Monday rejected a Wall Street bailout bill that would have authorized the Treasury Department to spend up to $700 billion to purchase soured mortgage-backed assets from banks with the goal of jump-starting stalled capital markets. REUTERS/Jim Young (UNITED STATES)

    Reuters



Tags: foreclosure, suicide

Experts agree: Foreclosure sales are not for inexperienced homebuyers

by Josh Smith Sep 24th 2008 at 4:00PM

Filed under: Real Estate, Simplification

foreclosure signIf you've been reading WalletPop for any amount of time, you'll have picked up on my desire to purchase a house. To the luck of many, our local real estate market hasn't had quite the downward correction that many markets have experienced, leaving many homes outside our price range. This has led my wife and I to consider picking up a foreclosed home, of which there is no shortage despite the otherwise healthy market. As I looked closer at buying foreclosures it became evident that it isn't all it's cracked up to be, especially for first time home buyers.

Tom Barlow a fellow WalletPop blogger recently called out Flipping foreclosures as overrated and backed up his claim with some daunting information about foreclosures. Well it appears Tom was ahead of the curve, and now Eric Tyson, the real estate expert behind "Home Buying for Dummies" met up with CNN to deliver more advice on just what it means to buy a foreclosure. Perhaps the most important information I got was to be prepared to walk away from a house if the bidding heats up. Unfortunately the buyer's remorse for an overpriced foreclosure is greater than what you felt after dropping 2 grand on a vacuum sealed hotdog from the 2006 Super Bowl!

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Tags: advice, credit, financing, foreclosure, home buying for dummies, homebuying, HomeBuyingForDummies, hotdog

Continue reading Experts agree: Foreclosure sales are not for inexperienced homebuyers

Ed McMahon: Where's the bucks?

by Barbara Bartlein Aug 26th 2008 at 10:00AM

Filed under: Borrowing, Budgets, Debt, Real Estate, Saving, Relationships, Mortgage Confidential

Ed McMahon has finally found a buyer for his multi-million dollar house avoiding foreclosure. Reportedly, his mortage lenders filed notice of default in Februrary when McMahon was over $644,00 in arrears. When McMahon was interviewed regarding his money woes, he blamed his financial problems on having broken his neck about 18 months ago, preventing him from working.

I certainly can empathize with health issues causing financial hardship, but where's the bucks? McMahon worked for over 30 years on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, was the host of Star Search and spokesperson for dozens of products. I repeat: "Where's the bucks?"

While several accounts connect McMahon's problems to the credit squeeze and U.S. housing downturn, I think it has a lot more to do with poor money management. At 85 years old, with a career that spanned decades, you would think that McMahon would be financial secure. But I have seen this before.


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Tags: Ed McMahon, foreclosure, mortgage, real estate, RealEstate, recession

Continue reading Ed McMahon: Where's the bucks?

A foreclosure story I can't feel badly about

by Tracy Coenen Aug 12th 2008 at 4:35PM

Filed under: Real Estate, Fraud

To hear the media tell it, the consumers who are losing their homes to foreclosures are all victims. They're victims of mortgage companies, real estate agents, banks, and the real estate industry. It does not matter whether or not they could afford the houses they bought or refinanced, so long as there's another person or company to blame.

Yet the San Francisco Chronicle apparently wants us to feel sorry for Joann Gardner, who is turning over her keys in exchange for an incentive payment, often referred to as "cash for keys." (It's the mortgage company's way of making sure that these "victims" don't destroy the houses on their way out.)

So how did Gardner get into so much trouble that she's losing the house? Her parents bought the house in 1954 for $11,500. They had no trouble affording the mortgage payments. Then Joann and her brother decided to refinance the house multiple times.

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Tags: foreclose, foreclosure

Continue reading A foreclosure story I can't feel badly about

Can't make mortgage payments? Take on a boarder!

by Zac Bissonnette Jul 16th 2008 at 12:00PM

Filed under: Real Estate, Recession

The New York Times reports that, as more people face foreclosure and affordable housing continues to be a problem for the working poor, more of an effort is being to help those groups help each other out. Community organizations are offering services to help boarders find struggling homeowners in need of a few hundred extra dollars per month to make mortgage payments.

Of course it's not ideal for homeowners -- few people get excited at the prospect of sharing their homes with a stranger -- but this is exactly the right kind of solution to the foreclosure crisis. No handouts and no bailouts: just people who have needs working together to reach an agreement that benefits both parties.

The opportunities for this are quite good. With foreclosures soaring nationwide, people are getting kicked out of their homes, and those homes are sitting empty. Banks don't rent out their foreclosures and this is causing, paradoxically, a lack of affordable housing in the face of plummeting property values.

And, experts say, living with someone else, especially in times of financial stress, can be tremendously rewarding. So if you have an extra bedroom and you're short on cash, give some thought to taking on a boarder.

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Tags: Boarders, foreclosure, housing, Real Estate, RealEstate

Illinois files suit against Countrywide, but who is really to blame?

by Tracy Coenen Jun 25th 2008 at 3:30PM

Filed under: Real Estate, Fraud

The State of Illinois has announced that it is suing Countrywide and its CEO for using unfair and deceptive practices in marketing and selling loans. (California's Attorney General, Jerry Brown, filed suit against the beleaguered company today as well.)

Specifically, Illinois's complaint is alleging that Countrywide used underwriting standards that were lax, used "risky features" in loans (do they mean ARMs?), and gave incentives to mortgage brokers who sold loans.

All of this was done to coerce people into buying homes they couldn't afford. If you've read any of my past pieces on the "mortgage crisis," you see that I don't accept this theory that zillions of homeowners were hoodwinked when applying for mortgages. I do accept that some people didn't know what they were signing up for, but that's their own fault. If you can't understand your mortgage, you shouldn't get one. Be a happy renter.

I don't accept the argument that it's the mortgage company's fault for offering attractive mortgages. At the end of the day, if a buyer couldn't afford a house, he shouldn't have bought it. And with very few exceptions, home buyers are well aware of what they can and cannot afford. It's simple math: Money in, money out.

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Tags: countrywide, featured, foreclosure

Continue reading Illinois files suit against Countrywide, but who is really to blame?

House in foreclosure? Set it on fire!

by Tracy Coenen May 13th 2008 at 11:00AM

Filed under: Home, Insurance, Ripoffs and Scams

News reports say that as the number of mortgage foreclosures increases, so do the number of "suspicious" fires. When the fire occurs mere days before a homeowner will be forced to leave their house due to foreclosure, it obviously creates suspicion.

Some homeowners do it to get revenge on the mortgage company or bank. Others do it thinking that they will collect insurance money that can be used to prevent the foreclosure. Check out this video on setting houses on fire, especially in areas with higher rates of foreclosure.


Tracy L. Coenen, CPA, MBA, CFE performs fraud examinations and financial investigations for her company Sequence Inc. Forensic Accounting, and is the author of Essentials of Corporate Fraud.


Tags: arson, foreclosure

Jose Canseco is the latest victim of the housing bust

by Zac Bissonnette May 2nd 2008 at 5:00PM

Filed under: Real Estate

Try to hold back your tears. The Wall Street Journal reports (subscription required) that "Faced with sinking property prices and heavy legal fines, he has abandoned a multimillion-dollar home in suburban Los Angeles and let it lapse into foreclosure."

It seems that the deflation of the steroid-enhanced housing market is hurting baseball's most infamous drug abuser.

The decline and fall of Jose Canseco has been pretty remarkable to watch, and the players whom he accused of steroid use in his bestselling -- and heinously bad -- books have to be looking on with more than a little bit of schadenfreude.

For a great look at everything that is wrong with Canseco, check out this wonderful piece from DeadSpin.

For more on celebrity foreclosures, check out this awesome blog. Here's the foreclosure listing for Michael Jackson's ranch.

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Tags: Foreclosure, Jose Canseco, JoseCanseco

USA Today wants to hear from 'foreclosure victims'; who I'd like to hear from

by Zac Bissonnette Apr 16th 2008 at 1:30PM

Filed under: Real Estate, Recession

The USA Today is looking for interviews with struggling homeowners facing foreclosure victims:

Victim of foreclosure?

We want to hear from you. USA TODAY is looking for people who have gone through foreclosure or who are facing foreclosure, who would be willing to share their stories during the current housing crisis.

I certainly have sympathy for many people who are on the brink of losing their homes, but there is another, perhaps less tear-worthy, side to this. Consider:
  • Many of these wonderful people facing foreclosure are trashing their homes before they leave: knocking holes in walls, dumping paint on carpets, etc. All because they couldn't make the payments they contractually agreed to make.
  • Some are even leaving their pets behind, not even having the decency to take Fluffy to a shelter.
  • A large chunk of the subprime loans in foreclosure are the result of mortgage fraud. Speaking on CNBC, Larry Kudlow suggested that 70% of subprime borrowers in foreclosure lied on their loan applications.
So here's who I'd like to hear from: people who lied on their loan applications, are facing foreclosure, and acting like 4-year olds about it. If you have taken no responsibility for the plight that you yourself created but are ready to fess up, we'd love to talk to you.

If we use your story, I'll send you a free package of Kashi Mountain Medley granola.

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Tags: foreclosure, housing, real estate, RealEstate, subprime

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