HUD Awards $73 Million to Housing Counseling Organizations

12/23/2010 By: Joy Leopold

 

The Obama Administration announced on Thursday a round of grants totaling nearly $73 million to more than 500 national, regional, and local organizations to provide housing counseling services.

The funding, provided by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), will allow hundreds of thousands of households the chance to find housing or stay in their homes. The funding represents a 22 percent increase over last year’s funding.

“These organizations are on the front lines of helping families who are desperate to remain in their homes,” said HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan.

He continued,“Now, more than ever, it’s crucial that we support these agencies that are working with struggling families on a one-to-one basis to manage their money, navigate the home buying process, and secure their financial futures.”

The counseling grants will assist families in becoming first-time homeowners and in remaining homeowners once they have a house. The HUD-approved counseling agencies provide both homeownership counseling and financial literacy training to renters and homeless people.

Nearly $68 million will provide housing counseling services by 24 national and regional organizations, five multi-state organizations and 484 state and local housing counseling agencies.

Counseling agencies will receive $9.5 million of the grant to help assist senior citizens with reverse mortgages or Home Equity Conversion Mortgages. The remaining $5 million is awarded to three national organizations to train, instruct, and certify more than 4,000 counselors to assist families.

Agencies receiving the grants will also focus on helping home buyers and homeowners evaluate their readiness for home purchase, and understanding financing and down payment options. The agencies will also help combat predatory lending by helping borrowers review loan documentation and avoid potential mortgage scams, inflated appraisals, high interest rates, and other issues that can lead to problems down the road.

“It is crucial that Americans better understand how to manage their money, navigate the home buying process, and secure their financial future.” said Donovan. “This critical funding will help counseling organizations continue to assist families in making more informed choices before they purchase a home and counsel families facing foreclosure.”

 

 

 

 

 

For more information Call  Lisa at A Better Realty.Net  480-655-0904  or email  lisa@abetterrealty.net

 

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Open House

Merry Christmas to everyone, I am going to be holding an open house on Wed, Dec 22, 2010 at 1:00 pm until 3:00 pm, stop by see this great home, get in out of the rain.   :-)

3782 E Megan Street, Gilbert AZ   Ray and Higley,  Bella Vista Subdivision.

Huge back yard, if you have any questions call Lisa at 602-390-4329

or email lisa@abetterrealty.net

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Foreclosures Fall to Lowest Level Since 2008 on Robo-Signing Delays

Just a piece that came across my desk, and thought it was worth reading. The article was written by : Carrie Bay  12/15/2010

New data from RealtyTrac shows that foreclosure activity last month fell to a level not seen since November 2008, after problems with paperwork prompted case reviews, foreclosure suspensions, and re-filings of affidavits by mortgage servicers.

Foreclosure filings nationwide in November dropped 21 percent from the previous month and 14 percent from a year earlier. For the first time since February 2009, RealtyTrac says the total number of filings for the month dipped below the 300,000 mark. The company tracked foreclosure filings – including default notices, scheduled auctions, and bank repossessions – on 262,339 U.S. properties during November.

That equates to one in every 492 U.S. homes hit with a foreclosure notice or taken back by the lender during the month, compared to one in every 389 homes during October.

James Saccacio, RealtyTrac’s CEO, said “While part of the decrease can be attributed to a seasonal drop of 7 to 10 percent that typically occurs in November, fallout from the foreclosure robo-signing controversy forced lenders and servicers to hit the pause button on many foreclosures while they scrambled to revamp their internal procedures and revise or resubmit questionable paperwork.”

According to RealtyTrac’s report, a total of 78,955 properties received default notices in November, a 21 percent decrease from the previous month and a 31 per-

cent decrease from November 2009. While the robo-signing scandal may have impacted the short-term numbers, this marked the 10th straight annual decline in default notices.

RealtyTrac says default notices in states that practice judicial foreclosures plummeted 31 percent from the previous month. Meanwhile non-judicial default notices decreased 9 percent between October and November.

Foreclosure auctions were scheduled for the first time on a total of 115,956 properties in November, a 16 percent decrease from the previous month and unchanged from November 2009. Scheduled judicial foreclosure auctions dropped 34 percent month-over-month, while scheduled non-judicial foreclosure auctions were down 7 percent from the previous month.

Lenders foreclosed on 67,428 homes in November, a 28 percent decline from October and 12 percent fewer than in November 2009. Bank repossessions, or REOs, decreased month-over-month in 37 states and the District of Columbia, according to RealtyTrac’s study.

November’s REO total was the lowest since May 2009, but November’s numbers pushed the year-to-date 2010 REO total to more than 980,000 – already above the record year-end total reported by RealtyTrac for 2009.

Despite a 20 percent monthly decrease in foreclosure activity, Nevada posted the nation’s highest state foreclosure rate for the 47th straight month. One in every 99 Nevada housing units received a filing in November – nearly five times the national average.

Thanks in part to sharp monthly drops in foreclosure activity in Arizona, Florida, California, and Michigan, Utah’s foreclosure rate leapfrogged to second highest among the states last month. One in every 221 Utah homes received a foreclosure notice in November.

California ranked third on RealtyTrac’s list of the highest state foreclosure rates, with one in every 233 housing units receiving a filing last month. Other states on the company’s top-10 list in November were Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, Idaho, Illinois, and Colorado

 

 

Lisa

 

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Foreclosures Suspended !

Banks Suspend Foreclosures During The Holidays Once Again This Year

For the second time in as many years, several of the largest mortgage players in the mortgage market have indicated that they will not evict borrowers in default who are facing foreclosure during the two weeks surrounding Christmas.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the two government-controlled mortgage entities that back many home loans, are freezing all foreclosure evictions on mortgage loans they own or back from Dec. 20 through Jan.3.

Evictions mark the end of the foreclosure process. After the home is sold at foreclosure auction -- or banks take possession of the home -- owners must leave the property or face eviction notices.

"If the property is occupied, our foreclosure attorneys will suspend the eviction to provide a greater measure of certainty to families during the holidays," said Anthony Renzi, executive vice president of single family portfolio management at Freddie Mac.

In addition, three of the largest mortgage servicers, Bank of America, Wells Fargo and Chase have also all three indicated that they will follow suit as well with a foreclosure freeze during the same two week period as Fannie and Freddie.

However, these servicers have also indicated that the will continue the foreclosure process for loans they service that are held by investors who decline to participate in the freeze and for properties that are known to be vacant.

Even though this is only a two week freeze, with the number of bank repossessions amounting to almost 100,000 per month, the temporary stoppage could affect tens of thousands of borrowers in default over the holiday season.

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Price REDUCTION on Mesa Rental

1109 North March, 2 bedrrom 2 bath home for rent! $675.00 per month. Close to everything, Mesa School Dist.

MLS#4483520

For more information call Bill or Lisa at A Better Realty .Net  480-655-0904

Visit us at www.abetterrealty.net    under homes for rent.

 

 

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December is a great month!

I am enjoying seeing all the families, singing, smiling, laughing.. while on the hay ride. Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas. Seeing all the Air Force Families and their children is really special. Bill and I really appreciate their service to our Country. The Luke Air Force base is one of my favorite hay rides  as my dad was Air Core, that is what they called the Air Force in World War II. 

Thank you and Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays

Bill, Lisa, Jill and Shelby

If you would like information on your own Hay ride, Call Bill 602-390-3096 or email him bill@awesteradventure.net

 

See the full gallery on posterous

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86th Place is Rented

I would like to thank everyone that showed this home... we have a great couple moving in!  Finally everything came together, Dottie the cleaning lady, great job by the way! The yard guy will be there this morning.... The home owner is happy!!

If you have property management needs call Bill 602-390-3096, he will take care of your property and you are a name not a number. Personal service from Bill with A Better Realty.Net  480-655-0904

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San Tan Valley Beauty for Rent!

This great 3 bedroom 2 bath home is in Rancho Bella Vista close to the community park, Rent is $900.00 all appliances come with it, yes, that includes washer and dryer!

Call Bill to see it 602-390-3096

MLS number 4493007

Posted via email from Affordable Property Management by A Better Realty . Net