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Archive for January, 2012

2010 HMDA Data Report of San Diego

The National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC) has preformed an analysis of the lending patterns of five major banks in the San Diego metropolitan area.  Click on the 2010 HMDA Data Report of San Diego below to view a full copy of the report. 

2010 HMDA Final Report of San Diego by NCRC

OCC Announces Independent Foreclosure Review

 OCC Releases Public Service Ads About the Independent Foreclosure Review

On January 4, 2012, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) released print and radio public service advertisements to increase awareness of the Independent Foreclosure Review, announced in November 2011.

The public service items include a feature story, distributed to 7,000 small newspapers throughout the country, and two 30-second radio spots distributed to 6,500 small radio stations.  The material will be distributed in English and Spanish.  Below is the text of the feature story for use:

Your Independent Foreclosure Review

  • Did you face foreclosure in 2009 or 2010? If so, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency says you may be eligible for a free independent review of your case. Independent foreclosure reviews let borrowers who faced foreclosure on their primary residences between January 1, 2009 and December 31, 2010 request reviews of their cases if they believe they suffered financial injury as a result of errors in the foreclosure processes of these servicers:  America’s Servicing Company, Aurora Loan Services, Bank of America, Beneficial, Chase,Citibank, CitiFinancial, Citi Mortgage, Country-Wide, EMC, EverBank/Everhome, Freedom Financial, GMAC Mortgage, HFC, HSBC, IndyMac Mortgage Services, MetLife Bank, National City, PNC Mortgage, Sovereign Bank, Sun-Trust Mortgage, U.S. Bank, Wachovia, Washington Mutual, and Wells Fargo.
  • The reviews will determine whether individuals suffered financial injury and should receive compensation or other remedies due to errors or other problems during their home foreclosure process. The reviews were ordered by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve in April 2011 after the federal regulators found unsafe and unsound mortgage servicing and foreclosure practices among these large, federally regulated mortgage servicers.

Situations that may have led to financial injury include, but are not limited to:

  • The mortgage balance at the time of the foreclosure action was more than you actually owed. 
  • Fees charged or mortgage payments were inaccurately calculated, processed or applied. 
  • You were doing everything a modification agreement required but the foreclosure sale still happened. 
  • The foreclosure action occurred while you were protected by bankruptcy. 
  • A foreclosure proceeded on a military member in violation of Servicemembers Civil Relief Act protections.
  • More than 4 million letters were mailed to potentially eligible borrowers with request-for-review forms and instructions on how to complete and return them. The form lets you describe what you think went wrong. Simply answer the questions to tell your story, include any additional documents you think relevant and return the form by April 30, 2012.

If you believe you are eligible and have not received a form, you can request one from (888) 952-9105, Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. (ET) and Saturday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. (ET).

For additional information and answers to basic questions about the review process, visit www.IndependentForeclosureReview.com. Reviews are conducted by independent consultants working under the direction of the federal regulators and may take several months to complete.

You can learn more at www.occ.gov/independentforeclosurereview.

Fed urges REO to rental among other steps on housing

Fed urges REO to rental among other steps on housing  by Ethan Handelman and Sarah Jawaid, National Housing Conference
The Federal Reserve submitted a 26-page letter to Congress on January 4 recommending action on real estate owned, or REO, properties nationwide owned by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, FHA, and various lenders comprising around “one-fourth of the 2 million vacant homes for sale in the second quarter of 2011.” This paper is a notable move for the Fed in several ways, because it:

  • Points to weak housing markets as an impediment to economic recovery
  • Highlights the need for greater housing affordability and stability of tenure amidst unemployment and foreclosures
  • Signals possible action by the Fed to clarify banks regulatory obligations if renting REO property
  • Identifies conversion of REO homes to rental use as a needed step, which requires action by others—Congress, FHFA, the GSEs, FHA, and private lenders
  • Provides useful discussion of other steps to revive housing markets, including principal reductions, broader refinancing efforts, targeted interventions and rental options for underwater homeowners, and improvements to mortgage servicing.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke wrote REO conversion can help “redeploy the existing stock of houses in a more efficient way.” It would address rising demand for rental units, low demand for owner-occupied properties, and banks hesitance to provide borrowers access to credit. The paper also highlights the inefficiencies and disruptive consequences of foreclosures in the form of economic harm of vacant properties to a community “beyond the personal suffering and dislocation” of a family. Renting these properties could help move the housing market to a more stable footing.

The Fed’s attention to REO properties builds on efforts already in motion by FHFA and HUD, which requested information in August of last year on ways to best handle the REO portfolio of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and FHA. The agencies were inundated with over 4,000 responses from various housing industry leaders and are currently sifting through the proposals, including one from NHC’s Foreclosure Response and Neighborhood Stabilization Task Force.

The Fed’s paper observes some of the key investment challenges for REO conversion, but necessarily goes into little detail on the basic real estate difficulties of operating a portfolio of single-family rentals, including maintenance, oversight, geographic dispersion, and tenant responsibilities. It acknowledges a potential role for nonprofits as experienced rental managers, but does not directly address the need to provide seller financing or other support to allow nonprofits and other mission entities to bid competitively with purely economic investors.