Sheila Bair’s Mortgage Miracle

Sheila Bair’s Mortgage Miracle What do you do if you’ve spent your career encouraging mortgage loans to people who can’t repay them? Barney Frank’s answer is to grill federal officials on why they aren’t preventing foreclosures. Infuriated at the difficulty of modifying mortgages, the Beltway crowd doesn’t understand that such contracts weren’t designed to let …

New Florida condo law is about to take effect

New Florida condo law is about to take effect In a situation that might qualify as a “be careful what you wish for” tale, several new Florida laws related to condominium insurance policies are slated to go into effect Jan. 1. The problem is they are essentially unworkable as currently written — leaving many condo …

Promises of help with mortgages, but foreclosure is still most likely outcome

Promises of help with mortgages, but foreclosure is still most likely outcome Federal and state officials, eager to stabilize the housing market, have leaned hard on mortgage companies to honor their pledges to help more homeowners avoid foreclosure. But in California at least, the mounting pressure has so far produced only modest results, according to …

Real-estate investment firm fights to stay afloat [Pheonix Arizona]

Real-estate investment firm fights to stay afloat [Pheonix Arizona] Last week, Phoenix-based real-estate investment firm Right Place Properties spent investors’ money to purchase multifamily housing units, promising a healthy return on their cash. Then on Monday, the company and its designated broker, Red Door Commercial, shut down their Web sites, disconnected the phones, laid off …

Scheme gives distressed properties to squatters

Scheme gives distressed properties to squatters Law enforcement investigators in San Diego and Riverside counties have uncovered a brazen real estate scheme in which individuals are claiming ownership of distressed homes by filing official-looking grant deeds with county recorder offices. The perpetrators then move people into the vacant homes, in some cases, by hiring a …