Dropouts rise in gov’t loan modification program

By AP Real Estate Writer Alan Zibel

WASHINGTON – The number of homeowners dropping out of the Obama administration’s main mortgage assistance plan is growing, and is now almost equal to the number who have received permanent relief.
The Treasury Department’s report on Monday was the latest evidence of problems [...]

Can’t refinance? Try your congressman

By ANNE FLAHERTY
WASHINGTON (AP) — Can’t afford your mortgage payment? If the bank won’t take your call, your member of Congress just might.
Several lawmakers whose districts are drowning in foreclosures are taking unprecedented steps to help people stay in their homes, including picking up the phone themselves to negotiate with banks on behalf of their [...]

Foreclosures Hit ‘Milestone’: 1 Million in ‘09

By Nick Timiraos, Associated Press

Here’s a bleak milestone: there’s been more the 1 million foreclosures filed in the U.S. so far this year, according to a count by the Center for Responsible Lending.
Not all of those foreclosures will result in evictions, but the statistic offers a sobering illustration of the magnitude of the problems that still [...]

‘Shadow market’ may undercut real estate rebound

Only 30 percent of foreclosed homes are currently on the market nationwide. Could the backlog of hundreds of thousands of empty or rented homes swamp recovery?
By Patrik Jonsson
SURPRISE, ARIZ.
Brian Mehigan, the self-described “Mayor of Tara Lane,” knows all too well the rise and fall in real estate prices that he calls, simply, “the madness.”
One of a [...]

Each week, sharks feed on county’s foreclosed homes

By Noah Haglund
Herald Writer
EVERETT — A feeding frenzy. That’s what some seasoned onlookers call the weekly foreclosure auctions in front of the Snohomish County Courthouse.
The spectacle takes over the open space around a cluster of war memorials every Friday morning.
This week, it started with 30 or more people, a half-dozen of them “criers” who read legal [...]