U.S. Home Foreclosures Jump 90% as Mortgages Reset

[swag]

Source: Bloomberg

Feb. 26 (Bloomberg) -- Bank seizures of U.S. homes almost doubled in January as property owners failed to make higher payments on adjustable-rate mortgages.

Repossessions rose 90 percent to 45,327 last month from the same period a year ago, RealtyTrac Inc. said today in a statement. Total foreclosure filings, which include default and auction notices as well as bank seizures, increased 57 percent.

``The most troubling thing is that we are seeing more and more of these properties actually going all the way through the process and going back to the banks,'' Rick Sharga, executive vice president of Irvine, California-based RealtyTrac, said in an interview.

Defaults among subprime borrowers and those unable to meet rising payments on adjustable-rate loans drove foreclosure filings to the highest since August and the second-highest since RealtyTrac started keeping records. About $460 billion of adjustable mortgages are scheduled to reset this year, raising minimum payments for borrowers, according to New York-based analysts at Citigroup Inc.




Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=as29xCuq3gZM&refer=home

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More than 233,000 properties in default last month.

[ananda]

1. Predictable and typical FUBAR..

.. just like the war.. just like the mismanagement
of Hurricane Katrina.. just like all the inhuman
and idiotic policies and laws of Bushinc and the
cave-in Congress.

[superkia]

18. There is one part that I disagree with you on and I think it is a...

huge mistake. The media tells us that congress is weak and folds so we repeat and believe that but they are not weak, they are just corrupt and all in bed together. Now I do believe that there are some good, honest politicians like Kucinich but there aren't enough of them to fight the money and the medias brainwashing. Too many people believe that congress is weak, republicans are evil and democrats are pure but that is just the WWE wrestling style of politics they use to divide us. When more people wake up to the reality of what they are doing, maybe then our children can try and take back the country but right now it doesn't look so good.

I think the turnouts in the primaries have been larger because more of the middle class are being squeezed financially and they are getting involved.

Some people don't like Alex Jones and think he goes too far but he has allot of good information in some of his documentaries, everyone should check out the one called: Endgame: The Blueprint For Global Enslavement. There are also some good ones out about the federal reserve (created in 1913) and its part in slowly enslaving us into poverty with inflation. Why would our government go away from using gold to back our own money and borrow money backed by nothing from rich bankers? How many people understand how tour money system works, if we had no debt, the banks would have no money. How about bushs grandfather being a part of an attempted coup to take over the government in 1933? How about the bilderberg meetings, whats the purpose there?

I could go on and on but there is too much to list, I wish more people had the time to do some research...our freedom is at stake and it will hit more and more people as time goes on.


First they came for the Jews
and I did not speak out
because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for the Communists
and I did not speak out
because I was not a Communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists
and I did not speak out
because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for me
and there was no one left
to speak out for me.

[Dems Will Win]

34. We're betond FUBAR. I had to invent a new category: FUBUSH

Fuck-Up Beyond Unbelievable: Situation Hellzone

[Doctor_J]

2. Welcome to the Republikkkkon-style "ownership society"

If you believed Too Stupid To Be President's lies, raise your right hand and use your left to turn off your hate radio station

[zanne]

3. We're struggling hard to keep our house...

And we have a sensible mortgage. I don't know how much more we can "cut down" on things in order to make the mortgage every month. At this point, nothing we own can break down!

[reggie the dog]

25. ever watch the tv show weeds

that shows at least one way to save a house.

[NashVegas]

4. A Luxury Home Builder Near Me Filed for Bankruptcy Last Week

http://www.corinthiancustomhomes.com/corinthian.swf

Should I feel bad?

[comtec]

6. no, that is obviously beyond reasonible means

a McMansion is not normal housing. Its not supposed to be standard!
The American dream is owning a home, not a pre-fab mini-castle!
besides, greed is what got us into this mess.
My only feeling is for the poor construction workers who are now fucked because you know there was no pension and no foresight into taking care of them when the whole things bust.

[dysfunctional press]

10. if the construction workers are union, they'll have a pension...

and hopefully the work will come back around soon, too.

[comtec]

13. I truly and sincerely hope so

But I wonder how many of their workers were work-pay and Mexicans?

[smoogatz]

23. Union or no, they'll probably be able to collect some unemployment.

But it's only a fraction of what they were earning, and only for a few months. If they're illegals, they get bupkis.

[donco]

7. Yes, if he employed union carpenters. nt

[NashVegas]

9. Tennessee Is a Right To Work State

It's also probable they employed Mexican immigrants under the table. Not necessarily illegal aliens, too.

[smoogatz]

22. Maybe not for the owners of the operation

but if they go under, a lot of people lose their jobs. Nothing to chortle about there.

[comtec]

5. I think, that ther eshould be a governmental home ownership board...

Hear me out first...
You have xyz loan companies, they offer loans for omfg interest rates.
what about just borrowing that money from the government at 0 or 1%?
you make home ownership possible, and repayment of loans actually viable!

Since it's the government, it's our money. We the people are basically borrowing from ourselves.
It would employ thousands of people - real estate agents, and it would give many first time buyers a chance to get properties at affordable prices.
The idea is that certain houses can be sold to people under a certain income. That is people making a million a year are definitely NOT able to use this system.

Here in Holland there are "starter" houses. They are expected to be bought, lived in and re-sold inside of 5-10 years. There is no expectation that you'll stay there in perpetuity. If you do, fine, if not, great for the next young couple that buys it.

My wife and I have such a house. It has enough room for one, maybe two kids, and it was reasonably priced (170k near the city center). It's in a neighborhood that is being re-done, and rebuilt. It's a fairly young populations and we're one of the few actual houses, in a sea of rentals and apartments.

the national housing office does not need to make profit. so interest rates are low or non-existent. As long as they government gets it's money back, alls good.

It would also make a credit rating pretty much unneeded as being the government they'll have access to your IRS records, and will know if you qualify.

i dont care, personally, if the loan market shrivels up and dies, too many people have been destroyed by it, and if their housing was semi-protected from bad times (IE interest rates that dont make 80% of your payment interest for perpetuity)we'd see less petty crime and stress-related crimes (going postal anyone?)

It's a dream I have. I know it'll never happen, but I can dream :)

[pattmarty]

8. Jumped 90%? And this ain't viewed as a total fucking disaster?

[slackmaster]

11. Not necessarily

If the previous rate was very low, a 90% increase, less than a doubling, may not qualify as a TFD.

[pattmarty]

15. Are you fucking nuts? Have you EVEN glanced at some of the headlines this morning?

[slackmaster]

19. I've been working in the real estate industry since the early '80s

Every frightening statistic has a silver lining. What's happening now will lead, maybe sooner than people think, to a situation in which more people can actually afford to buy their own homes.

The process has to work its way through. There is really no getting around it. This is the third major cycle of its kind I have seen in my career.

As for me being "fucking nuts", I'm not qualified to say. I suspect you aren't either.

[pattmarty]

21. Well hoopy fucking doo. I've been a male since birth and ......

......... and a retiree since 7 yrs ago. Does your being in the "real estate business" make you an honorary graduate of the University of Chicago school of economics? This shits been going on for over 6 months for us amateurs and the "pros" have been predicting bad things for at least a year.

[smoogatz]

24. It gives him a bit of perspective that those of us who haven't had reason

to watch the markets go through a few cycles may not have. Although I don't share his lack of foreboding; I think the current circumstances are basically unprecedented, and I expect a protracted downturn in the housing market, accompanied by the collapse of both the stock and bond markets, higher interest rates, core inflation, and a number of big bank failures—and that's just for starters.

[pattmarty]

26. If you call "blinders" perspective, I guess so.

[slackmaster]

27. That cycles recur is predictable, and anyone with any hint of financial savvy...

...Could have told you a long time ago that the proliferation of "zero documentation" loans, interest-only options, ARMs, etc. is a repeat of what happened in the past.

Why are you so hostile?

[pattmarty]

28. It appears that you're are sticking up for the status quo and that ....

...... ALL THIS GOINGS ON is just "no big deal", that's why the hostility.

[slackmaster]

29. The status quo is indeed a big deal, and many people are suffering

You are addressing someone who was put out of work multiple times by the S&L crisis in the early 90s, and despite years of hard work could not break into the housing market until age 36.

The question we should be asking is what kind of treatments are available, and the consequences of whatever we do (any of which is bound to have both good and bad results).

It took a lot of leaders asleep at the wheel to allow the greed inherent in the market drive things to their present untenable condition. I really don't know what kind of force should be applied to help ease it back into a more stable state in which property values climb at modest rates over time; where qualified borrowers get credit, unqualified ones don't, and people don't live in fear of forces beyond their control.

I am interested in anyone's thoughtful opinion, but I am not one to give into hype like simplistically comparing one figure to another and declaring it a disaster without looking at it in a larger context. Getting foreclosed on is a disaster for anyone it happens to, but a large majority of us who own homes aren't in any danger of it and are not really affected by falling market values because we view our homes as homes and not vehicles for short-term profit.

The collapse of the current housing bubble is NECESSARY for the market to get back to a state where normal people can afford to buy a home. Unfortunately some people are going to lose along the way no matter who does what about it.

[customerserviceguy]

30. I've been put out of work several times

by the housing busts, and you're right. But I think it's going to get a LOT worse before it gets better, and I'm just glad that my lady and I have jobs that seem fairly immune to the current downturn. It hasn't always been that way for either of us.

[slackmaster]

31. My job is far from immune to the present situation

We've cut our staff by about 40% in the last year, including at least one other DU member.

I've been contemplating looking for something completely different to do.

[barb162]

33. I don't see the poster doing that...

the poster just seems to have been through this before and is looking at it more calmly. Yes, a lot of people will be going through hell and losing their houses. I was saying yesterday that if all these recent buyers had chosen FIXED rate mortgages and smaller homes, this crisis would most likely not be happening. My friend is an agent for many years and I recall her saying two or three years ago she always advised her clients to take fixed rate mortgages. She said most of them didn't because of the initial low rate of the ARM. Some took ARMS knowingly and some took ARMs unknowingly. There will be a lot more boarded up houses before this is all over. It's sad but it's a fact.

[barb162]

32. What I find amazing is how many people took ARMS

and didn't seem to know it. It's as if people weren't looking at their mortgage papers. A few days ago, there was a couple shown on TV who were discussing their house being in foreclosure and they thought they had a 80% fixed and a 20% ARM loan deal, which they knew they could handle. And when the readjustment came in it was 20% fixed and 80% ARM, which they couldn't handle. And I was wondering if anyone is reading contracts these days when they put their name on the dotted line. A lot of people are going through a lot of suffering because they didn't read the documents before signing them.

[Javaman]

12. so while moron* and the do nothings in congress continue to fiddle away...

the nation continues to erode. and we still have almost a whole year left till the elections.
weeee....

:banghead:

[closeupready]

14. Who cares? The mortgage brokers made their money, the banks are being bailed out at taxpayer expens

e, and so blame the borrowers. :sarcasm:

[rumpel]

16. FYI: Litton Loan Servicing Class Action - Update

On October 26, 2005, customers of Litton Loan Servicing, LP ("Litton") filed a class action complaint charging the company with violations of federal and state law. The named Plaintiffs filed the class action lawsuit on behalf of a Nationwide Class and a California Subclass of Litton customers. The Nationwide Class alleged claims based on violations of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act ("RESPA") relating to Litton's improper actions in imposing late fees or treating payments as late during the 60-day grace period following the effective date of loan transfer if a borrower sends a payment to his or her old servicer on time. The California Subclass alleged claims based on violations of California law relating to Litton's unfair business acts and practices with respect to the servicing of loans.
The case is currently pending before Judge Margaret M. Morrow of the United States District Court for the Central District of California in Los Angeles, California. Lieff, Cabraser, Heimann & Bernstein, LLP and co-counsel represent Plaintiffs and the Nationwide Class.

http://www.lieffcabraser.com/loan-servicing.htm

[TheWatcher]

17. But IBM approved a buyback of $15 Billion of their own stock

Therefore the Dow was almost up 200 at one point today, and thus the economy is saved, nothing to see here.

An economy running on complete and utter fantasy.

:crazy:

[Mountainman]

20. I have a house for sale, I've reduced the price $50K and will do it again soon I think.

I moved to a new city for a job and now pay rent and mortgage payments. I would be saving money if the house sold. So together with the rent and mortgage payments and the money I'm not saving it's costing me close to $5k a month.

I blame it all on deregulation and greed.

[Doctor_J]

35. No problem - a Harvard MBA recently said that things are fine

Here he is: