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Smart Real Estate News & Commentary by Chris McLaughlin February 21, 2012

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Florida foreclosure bill moving along

The state Senate version of the controversial Florida Fair Foreclosure Act, which proponents say protects homeowners and opponents claim is far from fair, passed the Senate Judiciary Committee on Monday and appears to be on a fast track to the Legislature floor.  The bill to streamline foreclosures, introduced to the Legislature by Rep. Kathleen Passidomo, R-Naples, has roused the passions of those who say it’s needed to revive the foundering real estate industry and those who say it’s just plain unconstitutional.  “I think it’s one of the most important pieces of legislation we have the potential to pass this year,” said Sen. Jack Latvala, R-St. Petersburg, who sponsored Senate Bill 1890. The Senate measure is a combination of two House bills, the first sponsored by Passidomo and a second, companion bill sponsored by Rep. Greg Steube, R-Parrish.

The bill contains a provision of finality of judgment, which means that once a home is foreclosed upon and sold in a short sale to a new owner, that new owner holds clear title to the property even if it turns out that the home was foreclosed upon fraudulently by the lender. The original homeowner can’t get his home back, but he can sue the lender for damages.  Passidomo, who is a real estate attorney, said that some people are misunderstanding the finality of judgment provision. It is meant to protect an innocent third party who buys the foreclosed home, she said. If it turns out that a lender didn’t really hold the note, and a different lender comes forward with the real note and tries to foreclose, the third party is protected, she said.  “The bankers don’t like this bill because it makes them produce all kinds of stuff,” Passidomo said. The point is to hold lenders’ feet to the fire and make sure they have the proper paperwork, she said. “Don’t file your complaint until you have your ducks in a row.”

Under current uniform commercial code, the lender isn’t barred from foreclosing if it can’t produce the note, Passidomo said. “If you have a car title and by mistake, the dog eats it, you can go up and get a new title,” she said. “The fact that you’ve lost it doesn’t mean it’s gone.”  Rather, the lender must provide an affidavit that says they do have the right to foreclose. A judge may require the lender to put up a bond, possibly for the amount owed on the mortgage, so that if another lender shows up with the real note, the borrower won’t be foreclosed upon twice. Instead, the second lender that holds the note can go after the first lender for the mortgage.  The bill advanced 5-2, along party lines. The measure goes next to the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee, chaired by Sen. Garrett Richter, R-Naples. The House bill goes to the Judiciary Committee.

Greek’s new deal

Euro zone finance ministers sealed a 130-billion-euro ($172 billion) bailout for Greece on Tuesday to avert a chaotic default in March after persuading private bondholders to take greater losses and Athens to commit to deep cuts.  By agreeing that the European Central Bank would distribute its profits from bond buying and private bondholders would take more losses, the ministers reduced the debt to a point that should secure funding from the International Monetary Fund and help shore up the 17-country currency bloc.  But the austerity measures wrought from Greece are widely unpopular among the population and may hold difficulties for a country which is due to hold an election in April.  Further protests could test politicians’ commitment to cuts in wages, pensions and jobs.  Every government in the currency union will also have to approve the package.  Northern creditors, such as Germany, had pressed for even tougher measures to be placed on Greece, but Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said he was very confident a majority in parliament would approve the package.

Some economists say there are still questions over whether Greece can pay off even a reduced debt burden.  A return to economic growth could take as much as a decade, a prospect that brought thousands of Greeks onto the streets to protest on Sunday.  The cuts will deepen a recession already in its fifth year, hurting government revenues.  A report prepared by experts from the European Union, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund said Greece would need extra relief to cut its debts near to the official debt target given the worsening state of its economy.  If Athens did not follow through on economic reforms and savings to make its economy more competitive, its debt could hit 160% by 2020, said the report, obtained by Reuters.  “Given the risks, the Greek program may thus remain accident-prone, with questions about sustainability hanging over it,” the nine-page confidential report said.

LPS “first look” report

Lender Processing Services, Inc. (NYSE: LPS), a leading provider of integrated technology, data and analytics to the mortgage and real estate industries, reports the following “first look” at January 2012 month-end mortgage performance statistics derived from its loan-level database of nearly 40 million mortgage loans.

Total US loan delinquency rate (loans 30 or more days past due, but not in foreclosure):​  7.97%​

Month-over-month change in delinquency rate:​  -2.2%​

Year-over-year change in delinquency rate:​  -10.5%​

Total U.S foreclosure pre-sale inventory rate:​  4.15%​

Month-over-month change in foreclosure presale inventory rate:​  1.1%​

Year-over-year change in foreclosure presale inventory rate:​                 -0.1%​

Number of properties that are 30 or more days past due, but not in foreclosure: (A)​  3,998,000​

Number of properties that are 90 or more days delinquent, but not in foreclosure:​                1,772,000 ​

Number of properties in foreclosure pre-sale inventory: (B)​  2,084,000​

Number of properties that are 30 or more days delinquent or in foreclosure:  (A+B)​  6,082,000 ​

States with highest percentage of non-current* loans:​  FL, MS, NV, NJ, IL​

States with the lowest percentage of non-current* loans:​  MT, AK, WY, SD, ND​

*Non-current totals combine foreclosures and delinquencies as a% of active loans in that state.
Notes:
(1) Totals are extrapolated based on LPS Applied Analytics’ loan-level database of mortgage assets
(2) All whole numbers are rounded to the nearest thousand.

Home depot increases income

Home Depot Inc.’s fiscal fourth-quarter net income rose 32% as homeowners spent more on renovation projects and mild weather in the US helped results surpass expectations.  Shares rose 3% in premarket trading.  Home-goods sellers like Home Depot and others are facing cautious consumer spending and prolonged weakness in the housing market. They’ve had to adjust to fewer consumers making large-scale home renovations by cutting costs and improving services such as online shopping and customer service.  But Home Depot’s sales increase shows there may be some pent-up demand for home improvement, even during the winter.  “We had a strong finish to 2011, and with favorable weather, our business delivered results that exceeded our expectations,” Chairman and CEO Frank Blake said in a statement.  The largest US home-improvement company reported Tuesday that it earned $774 million, or 50 cents per share, for the period ended Jan. 29. That’s up from $587 million, or 36 cents per share, a year earlier.  The earnings topped the 42 cents per share that analysts surveyed by FactSet expected.

Doubt that the settlement will end foreclosure woes

Even as government officials prepare to unveil new standards this week for how banks treat millions of Americans facing foreclosure, housing advocates and homeowners are skeptical the rules will be able to do something past efforts have not: provide a beleaguered borrower with one individual to help them navigate the mortgage maze.  So the promise of a single point of contact has emerged as a crucial element in the much-ballyhooed $26 billion settlement reached earlier this month involving state attorneys general, the federal government and the five biggest mortgage servicers. These rules will apply nationwide and come with commitments of strong enforcement by federal and state authorities, but they carry a familiar ring for those experienced in the foreclosure process.

Last April, the industry made many of the same pledges under a consent order with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and since then, consumer representatives say, there has been barely any improvement, adding that loan files continue to be handed off from one agent to another, sometimes weekly, and that even when a single person is assigned to their cases, one phone call after another goes unreturned.  “It doesn’t seem like much has changed,” said Josh Zinner, co-director of the Neighborhood Economic Development Advocacy Project, or Nedap, a resource and advocacy center that works with community groups in New York. “We’re still seeing the same systematic problems.”

See you at the top!
Chris McLaughlin

**************

Copyright Loss Mitigation Institute LLC 2011.
All Rights Reserved.

http://www.shortsalesriches.com

http://www.shortsalescoach.com

http://www.sixfigurebpo.com

http://www.reomillionaireclub.com

http://www.youtube.com/shortsalesriches

http://www.smartrealestatenews.com

(subscribe to this newsletter)

*************************************************

About the author:
Chris McLaughlin is widely known as America’s top
Real Estate Attorney and Investment Consultant.

* As the top Florida foreclosure and pre-
foreclosure expert, he oversees more than
100 short sale & REO closings each month

* Long-time authority on real estate investing
and rapid reselling of distressed homes.  Owns
portfolio of nearly 150 high-value, high-profit
properties

* Owner of one of Florida’s largest Real Estate firms,
running 4 different offices, supporting over
420 agents, uniquely positioning him to help
thousands of investors make money in the
biggest market opportunity ever!

* In 2010, Chris’ 4 Central Florida real estate offices
closed 2,786 sides for a closed sales volume of
$392,912,927!

* Highly sought-after speaker, consultant, and
seminar leader for current trends and hot topics
in Real Estate Investing, Entrepreneurship, and
Wealth Building

* Follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/mclaughlinchris

* Join my Facebook Fan Page: http://www.mclaughlinchris.com

Smart Real Estate News & Commentary by Chris McLaughlin February 13, 2012

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Bloomberg – foreclosure deal falls short but worth the wait

In any out-of-court settlement for alleged wrongdoing, the test of whether prosecutors got a good deal rests on the answers to three questions: Does it hold the miscreants accountable? Does it make victims whole? And does it prevent similar misconduct in the future?  Thursday’s $25 billion agreement by five banks to end a 16- month investigation of abusive foreclosure practices fails on the first two counts. And we won’t know for some time whether it is successful on the third. Nonetheless, the deal is in the country’s interest because it clarifies the liabilities of banks that filed bogus court documents to speed up repossessions. That could clear the clogged foreclosure process and, more importantly, help bring a moribund real-estate market back to life.

The banks — Bank of America Corp., Wells Fargo & Co., JPMorgan Chase & Co., Citigroup Inc. and Ally Financial Inc. (the five largest home-loan servicers) — have committed to spend the bulk of the $25 billion on reducing the principal owed by at-risk homeowners. Smaller amounts will go to people who already lost their homes or are in the foreclosure process. The settlement could help as many as 2 million borrowers, including many whose mortgages are underwater. Cash payments of up to $2,000 will go to those whose homes were repossessed from September 2008 to December 2011.  Since 2007, about 4 million families have lost their homes or are about to, and an additional 11 million owe about $750 billion more on their mortgages than their homes are worth. Even taking into consideration that some borrowers acted irresponsibly and don’t deserve compensation, the settlement amount is a pittance.

The deal does have teeth. It calls for an outside monitor and for heavy penalties if banks don’t make good on their commitments. More important, banks will be given credit only for what they actually accomplish for homeowners — and not for any refinancing offers that borrowers refuse. This rightly gives the victims some leverage.  If a bank falls short of its agreed benchmarks, it must pay the difference plus a penalty. And it must meet all its obligations in three years.  The settlement also reverses the banks’ incentives to foreclose on families rather than keep them in their homes with loan forgiveness. Until now, banks had been loath to reduce principal amounts because it meant recognizing losses on their balance sheets. This deal awards more credit for principal reduction and less for lowering interest rates or extending payment terms.  Banks have calculated that the settlement is in their interest, even though it means they may have to continue paying huge mortgage-related litigation costs.

The deal enables them to predict their legal exposure.  Even better, it could help the housing market recover. Banks own outright almost half a million homes and have 2 million more in various stages of foreclosure. Such so-called shadow inventory has been a drag on the market, which after six years remains depressed, holding back the overall recovery.  With this settlement, banks can clear out their backlog of stalled foreclosures. In the short run, that may drive prices down even more, but it will also help the housing market find its natural bottom faster. Only then can home prices, which have fallen by more than a third since 2007, begin to rise again. Borrowers can finally start to rebuild equity.  Once banks reduce their real-estate inventory, and their balance sheets recover, they’ll be able to loosen up home- lending standards to create new mortgages. If this is the result of a less-than-satisfactory legal settlement, it will have been worth the wait.

Obama’s budget to raise taxes, keep spending

Obama’s fiscal 2013 budget proposal to Congress will defer significant cuts in the deficit until the economy is securely back on track, a priority as he seeks re-election in November, while outlining measures to shrink that funding gap over time.  “I think there is pretty broad agreement that the time for austerity is not today,” new White House chief of staff Jack Lew, the president’s budget director until a few weeks ago, told NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday.  Obama will repeat a demand for millionaires to pay a minimum tax rate of 30%, named after billionaire investor Warren Buffett, and identify $4 trillion in deficit reduction over 10 years that broadly mirrors a plan he laid out in September.   The budget projects a deficit of $901 billion in 2013, representing 5.5% of gross domestic product (GDP), down from $1.33 trillion, or 8.5% of GDP this year, White House officials say.  Obama pledged back in 2009 to have cut the deficit in half by next year, but his budget does not anticipate getting it back under 3% of GDP until 2018.  Overall, the budget proposes raising $1.5 trillion over a decade through higher taxes, with around half coming from allowing tax breaks for families earning more than $250,000 a year to expire at the end of 2012 — a longstanding Obama administration goal.

Republicans say Obama uses gimmicks to massage the deficit numbers, pointing to savings from winding down wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, which they complain amounts to counting funds that were never going to be spent.  His budget is likely to be declared a non-starter by Republicans too, in control of the US House of Representatives, who point out that the president is a tax-and-spend liberal.  They warn that tax hikes will kill jobs while doing nothing to halt the climb in the crushing level of national debt.  “We’re taking responsibility for dealing with the drivers of our debt,” said Republican Paul Ryan, chairman of the House Budget Committee.  “Unfortunately, the president and his party’s leaders — they’re not a part of this conversation,” he told ABC News’ “This Week” on Sunday.

Olick – private homebuilders, dead men walking

“One of the biggest impediments to housing’s recovery is credit, tight credit. The Chairman of the Federal Reserve, Ben Bernanke, said in a speech to the National Association of Home Builders today:  ‘Current lending practices appear to reflect, in part, obstacles that are limiting or preventing lending even to creditworthy households.’  While the Fed chairman talked a lot about the credit barriers for homebuyers, he did not discuss the credit crunch for homebuilders.  Last year was the worst on record for the nation’s builders, in sales and starts, but demand is slowly returning, and the concern is that when demand really surges in the coming years, there will be too little supply to meet it.  ‘There will be a shortage that will create inflation,’ says Wade McGuinn, of South Carolina’s McGuinn Homes.  With acquisition and development (A and D) loans from the big banks gone, the only way for builders to finance new development now is through private equity, smaller community/regional banks or self-financing. That last one gives the big public builders a huge advantage, as they have been stockpiling billions of dollars in cash during the housing downturn.

Not so for the smaller private builders, who have downsized dramatically and built individual homes to order.  Now that demand is coming back, McGuinn says the big builders are inhaling lots, some developed, some not, and outbidding the smaller builders at every turn. He likens it to when Main Street retailers were taken out by the likes of Wal-Mart Stores and Target.  ‘A lot of private guys here today who think they’ve survived the worst of it, they don’t know it yet, but they’re dead men walking,’ he said.  McGuinn says federal regulation of the banking industry has gone too far, and it’s locking out the little guys. Big builders with big cash continue to gain market share and will be way out ahead when home buying demand does finally come back toward the middle of the decade.  Homebuilding used to be the No. 1 family-owned business sector in America, with restaurants a close second; that may already be part of history.”

Construction jobs are a quarter of Q4 mass layoffs

The Department of Labor reported 528 mass layoffs in the construction segment, impacting 66,110 workers this week. Construction cuts alone represented 32% of mass layoffs over the final three months of 2011. Most of those job losses were attributable to the end of seasonal construction activity in an already anemic building market.  Overall, employers in the fourth quarter began 1,638 layoffs, leading to the dismissal of 266,971 employees, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said.    When comparing the most recent fourth quarter to a year earlier, the Labor Department noted a decline in layoffs, with the government reporting 1,999 layoff events, impacting 338,643 workers, in the 2010 fourth quarter.  Mass layoffs grew to 1,638 cuts in 4Q from 1,393 in the third quarter. Still, 3Q cuts displaced more workers, with 289,330 losing their jobs during that period.  The Bureau of Labor Statistics concluded, “The construction and the accommodation and food services sectors experienced the largest declines in the numbers of worker separations over the year. Fourteen of the 21 manufacturing subsectors experienced over-the-year decreases in the number of layoff events.”

Gas up to $3.51 per gallon

The average price for a gallon of gasoline in the United States rose nearly 12 cents in the past three weeks to about $3.51, due in part to higher prices for North Sea crude oil, according to the nationwide Lundberg Survey.  The national average for a gallon of regular gasoline rose 11.57 cents to $3.5101 as of February 10, the survey of about 2,500 gasoline stations in the continental United States found.  That was a greater change than the 3.5-cent rise in the previous survey, which covered the two weeks that ended January 20.  Survey editor Trilby Lundberg told Reuters that the higher prices came as the price for North Sea Brent crude rose more than $7 per barrel. Brent prices are more volatile and sensitive to changes in the Middle East than is US crude.  One barrel holds 42 gallons.  Lundberg said US pump prices will likely rise a few more cents in the short-term because retailers have yet to pass along all of the recent wholesale price increases.  Among cities covered by the survey, the lowest average price was in Denver at $3.01 per gallon. The price was highest in Long Island suburbs of New York, at $3.82. The price difference is largely because of taxes, Lundberg said.

Investors plead guilty to bid rigging

Three Northern California real estate investors agreed to plead guilty to forming a conspiracy to rig bids at foreclosure auctions, the Department of Justice Financial Fraud Enforcement Division said last week.  Charges were filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of California against Barry Heisner of Brentwood, Calif.; Dominic Leung of Alameda, Calif.; and Hilton Wong of San Ramon, Calif.  The investigation into auction bid-rigging in North California has resulted in 20 plea agreements thus far.

The Department of Justice says the three defendants conspired with others to obtain favorable auction selling prices by agreeing not to bid against each other in certain circumstances and by selecting a winning bidder for each auction item in advance. Authorities say the defendants carried out these activities at various real estate auctions, spanning from August 2008 to January 2011.  Authorities claim Heisner, Leung and Wong also committed mail fraud by fraudulently acquiring title to properties sold at public auctions and then by holding second, private auctions open only to members of the conspiracy. The properties selected were then given to the conspirators who submitted the highest bids.  Some of the violations related to the uncompetitive practices are breaches of the Sherman Act, which carry a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $1 million fine. Each count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud carries a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine.  The FBI and the antitrust division have been working on California auction rigging cases for the past year. In October, two real estate investors pleaded guilty to bid rigging in the counties of Contra Costa and Alameda.

See you at the top!
Chris McLaughlin

**************

Copyright Loss Mitigation Institute LLC 2011.
All Rights Reserved.

http://www.shortsalesriches.com

http://www.shortsalescoach.com

http://www.sixfigurebpo.com

http://www.reomillionaireclub.com

http://www.youtube.com/shortsalesriches

http://www.smartrealestatenews.com

(subscribe to this newsletter)

*************************************************

About the author:
Chris McLaughlin is widely known as America’s top
Real Estate Attorney and Investment Consultant.

* As the top Florida foreclosure and pre-
foreclosure expert, he oversees more than
100 short sale & REO closings each month

* Long-time authority on real estate investing
and rapid reselling of distressed homes.  Owns
portfolio of nearly 150 high-value, high-profit
properties

* Owner of one of Florida’s largest Real Estate firms,
running 4 different offices, supporting over
420 agents, uniquely positioning him to help
thousands of investors make money in the
biggest market opportunity ever!

* In 2010, Chris’ 4 Central Florida real estate offices
closed 2,786 sides for a closed sales volume of
$392,912,927!

* Highly sought-after speaker, consultant, and
seminar leader for current trends and hot topics
in Real Estate Investing, Entrepreneurship, and
Wealth Building

* Follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/mclaughlinchris

* Join my Facebook Fan Page: http://www.mclaughlinchris.com

Smart Real Estate News & Commentary by Chris McLaughlin February 10, 2012

Forward this e-mail to your friends!
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Oklahoma crafts its own mortgage settlement

Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt reached his own settlement with top mortgage servicers. Pruitt was the only Attorney General (AG) not to sign the $26 billion multistate deal that included the Justice Department and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The negotiations launched in October 2010 after evidence surfaced of foreclosure documents signed en masse and filings on borrowers being considered for modifications. As details emerged of a preliminary settlement in 2011, Pruitt and three other Republicans Florida AG Pam Bondi, Texas AG Greg Abbott, and Virginia AG Kenneth Cuccinelli sent a letter to lead AG Tom Miller of Iowa saying any deal that involved principal reduction would only promote strategic default. “We had concerns that what started as an effort to correct specific practices harmful to consumers, morphed into an attempt by President Obama to establish an overarching regulatory scheme, which Congress had previously rejected, to fundamentally restructure the mortgage industry in the United States,” Pruitt said yesterday.

Pruitt’s $18.6 million settlement will resolve claims of any unfair and unlawful practices he found. His public protection unit will process relief applications from borrowers. “Oklahoma is fortunate to have a stronger housing market and economy than many other states that are struggling. This settlement will provide damages to those Oklahomans who did fall victim to unfair and unlawful misconduct of mortgage servicing companies, while not exceeding the appropriate role and authority of state attorneys general,” Pruitt said.

US trade deficit leaps

The monthly trade gap swelled to $48.8 billion as goods imports climbed to the highest level since July 2008, just before the financial crisis caused world trade to plunge, a report from the Commerce Department showed today. Analysts surveyed before the report had expected the December trade deficit at $48.0 billion, up from a revised estimate of $47.1 billion in November. US exports grew slightly in December, with records set for petroleum, services and advance technology goods. For the year, the US trade gap rose 11.6% to $558.0 billion, the highest since 2008. Exports last year rose 14.5% to a record $2.1 trillion, keeping the United States on pace to meet President Obama’s goal of doubling exports in five years. Imports grew 13.8% to a record $2.7 trillion, with records set in several categories. Auto imports rose to the highest since 2007 and petroleum the highest since 2008. The average price for imported oil in 2011 was a record high $99.78 per barrel.

The record trade deficit last year with China is certain to reinforce concerns in Congress about Beijing’s currency and trade practice ahead of a meeting next week between Obama and the Asian giant’s expected next leader, Vice President Xi Jinping. US exports to China jumped 13.1% to $103.9 billion. But that was overwhelmed by a 9.4% increase in imports from China, which pushed the tally to a record $399.3 billion. Last year, the Democratic-controlled Senate passed legislation to pressure China to raise the value of its currency, but that bill hit a dead end in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives. Many lawmakers believe that China deliberately undervalues its currency to give its companies an unfair price advantage, contributing to the huge bilateral deficit. The US trade deficits with the European Union and Canada also expanded in 2011.

Olick – robo-deal about lowering principal

“It took more than a year to strike a deal, but here it is, the biggest government-industry settlement in history, surpassing even big tobacco. Five of the nation’s largest servicers will cough up more than $25 billion, the bulk of which will go toward lowering mortgage principal for borrowers who are behind on their mortgage payments. Wait a minute. What does that have to do with faulty foreclosure documents? Nothing. But that’s how it started, and now that government got what it wanted, i.e. mortgage principal reduction for about a million borrowers, they are likely, quietly whispering a big thank you to all those so-called ‘robo-signers.’ Let’s take a step back for a second to remember the fall of 2010, when ‘robo-signing’ came to light. The idea that one low-paid guy sitting in a room was signing his, or perhaps somebody else’s, name to thousands of foreclosure documents was appalling. It is appalling, no question. But let us not forget that the vast, vast majority of those foreclosures being processed were in fact legitimate foreclosures; it was the documentation process that was fraudulent. Banks didn’t foreclose on borrowers for no reason, they foreclosed because borrowers weren’t paying their mortgages.

So fast-forward to 2011 when the housing market is still in deep despair. Home prices are still falling, eleven million borrowers owe more on their mortgages than their homes are worth, home construction sees its worst year ever, and government relief programs are doing very little to help. Cries arise that the only way to help housing is to reduce the principal on all those underwater mortgages, give borrowers their equity back! But how does government force the banks to do that? Robo. The last thing the banks need are fifty state lawsuits over bad foreclosure documents, plus they need to be able to get all these legitimate foreclosures through the courts, so they can stem some losses by reselling the homes. The ‘robo’ scandal has ground foreclosure processing to a veritable halt in much of the county and slowed it everywhere else. Borrowers are sitting in their homes paying nothing. So the banks agree to the deal, any deal, because they have no other choice. You can hear it in their statements today:

‘We believe this settlement will help provide additional support for homeowners who need assistance, brings more certainty to the housing market and aligns to our ongoing commitment to help rebuild our neighborhoods and get the housing market back on track.’ — Bank of America.

‘Today’s agreement represents a very important step toward restoring confidence in mortgage servicing and stability in the housing market.’ — Wells Fargo Home Mortgage.

Getting the housing market back on track. Restoring stability in the housing market. That’s what they want. They’ve already stopped ‘robo-signing’ long ago. Now what they need is closure. Move the foreclosure process along again, so that the housing market can clear all the distress and move ahead. Let the bank black eye begin to heal. Sure, they will get hit with plenty more lawsuits over mortgage securitizations, but that has little to do with their customers on the street, the average consumers. That has to do with investors, and federal regulators and all kinds of complicated Wall Street products that are lost on average Americans. Robo-signing was more personal; it had to do with real people’s mortgage papers that they signed at their kitchen tables.”

Trail going cold at MF Global

When commodities brokerage MF Global imploded, the FBI and federal prosecutors were quick to launch an investigation to pursue what seemed obvious to outspoken regulators and lawmakers: laws were broken and crimes were committed. More than three months later, it is far from clear that anyone will face criminal charges over the disappearance of more than $600 million in customer money as MF Global spiraled towards bankruptcy in the brokerage’s final, frantic days in the last week of October. So far, the MF Global investigation is not tracking the early progress of other high-profile financial scandals such as RefCo, where former Chairman Phil Bennett was arrested within days of the disclosure that the futures firm had been hiding losses for years.

Lawyers and people familiar with the MF Global investigation of the firm that was run by former Goldman Sachs head Jon Corzine say that even though the hunt is still on to find out whether or not officials at MF Global intended to pilfer customer money in a desperate bid to keep the brokerage from failing, the trail at this point is growing cold. To date, scant evidence of criminal intent has emerged in company emails, no former or current employees have sought to cut a deal to provide testimony about potential wrongdoing and seasoned defense lawyers say they are not seeing the tell-tale signs of a hot criminal investigation. Ellen Davis, a spokeswoman for the office of the Manhattan US Attorney, declined to comment. Randall Samborn, a spokesman for the office of the US Attorney in Chicago, also declined to comment.

MBA statement on foreclosure deal

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), issued the following statement upon news of an agreement between state and federal officials and five large residential mortgage servicers.

“A final agreement can play an important role stabilizing and providing certainty and confidence to the housing and mortgage markets. With all the rumors and speculation surrounding these negotiations behind us, it is now imperative that policymakers, lenders, servicers and other stakeholders work together on policies and initiatives that will allow us to get the housing market on the road to recovery. I would caution, though, that, while a positive step, this will not be a panacea for all that ails housing. There are a number of other issues that we need to resolve. This includes striking the appropriate balance between consumer protection and access to affordable credit for qualified borrowers in the QM and QRM rulemakings, and facilitating the return of private capital to the mortgage market by comprehensively addressing the future of the GSEs and the government’s role in the secondary market.” – David H. Stevens, President and CEO of MBA.

Debra W. Still, CMB, Chairman of MBA’s Council on the Future of Residential Mortgage Servicing in the 21st Century added: “The standards in this settlement can provide a framework for a national servicing standard that would provide borrowers with equal protections, regardless of where they live, and would give lenders a single set of rules governing how they interact with their customers. If done properly, and in recognition of different business models, a nationwide standard would provide renewed confidence in the system and encourage qualified borrowers to jump back into the housing market.”

Citigroup takes $50 million loss

Citigroup was forced to write off $50 million after two traders accused of attempting to influence global lending rates left the bank, according to people familiar with a worldwide investigation that is gathering pace. Nine separate enforcement agencies in the US, Europe and Japan have been probing whether US and European banks manipulated the London Interbank Offered Rate or Libor, the benchmark reference rate for $350 trillion worth of financial products, and other interbank lending rates. So far, only Japan’s Financial Services Agency has formally sanctioned banks in connection with the probe. In December, regulators found that two former Citigroup employees in Tokyo attempted to pressure colleagues and employees at other banks involved in the rate-setting process for the Tokyo Interbank Offered Rate, or Tibor. While the regulator did not publicly name the traders involved, people familiar with the case identified them as Thomas Hayes, a trader of yen-related products, and Christopher Cecere, his former boss.

According to those people, the alleged attempts to influence Tibor were uncovered after another Citi employee in London reported the activity. Citi took a $50 million loss when it unwound the traders’ positions and reported the matter to regulators, according to people familiar with the case. However, other Citi sources suggested the losses were significantly in excess of that amount. The investigation into possible manipulation of global interbank lending rates has accelerated in recent weeks, with more than a dozen traders at various banks fired, suspended or placed on administrative leave. A former Barclays trader, Philippe Moryoussef, is being investigated in connection with the setting of Euribor, the rate at which banks lend euros, according to people familiar with the case. Mr. Moryoussef left Barclays in 2007, long before US, European and Japanese regulators launched their probe into interbank lending rates and now works in an unrelated position for Nomura in Singapore. Barclays took the information to European Commission officials, who are now investigating and declined to comment.

NAR – prices boost affordability

Housing affordability conditions improved in most metropolitan areas from softer existing-home prices and record-low mortgage interest rates in the fourth quarter, with rising sales and lower inventory creating more balanced conditions, according to the latest quarterly report by the National Association of Realtors (NAR). Introduced with this release is a new annual metro-level housing affordability index, with historically favorable conditions dominating across the country.

The median existing single-family home price rose in 29 out of 149 metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) in the fourth quarter from a year earlier; two were unchanged and 118 areas had price declines. The national median existing single-family home price was $163,500 in the fourth quarter, down 4.2% from $170,600 in the fourth quarter of 2010. The median is where half sold for more and half sold for less. Distressed homes – foreclosures and short sales which sold at discounts averaging 15 to 20% – accounted for 30% of fourth quarter sales; they were 34% a year earlier. Total existing-home sales, including single-family and condo, increased 5.9% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.42 million in the fourth quarter from 4.17 million in the third quarter, and were 9.2% above the 4.04 million pace during the fourth quarter of 2010. All regions rose from the third quarter and from a year ago. At the end of the fourth quarter there were 2.38 million existing homes available for sale, which is 21.2% lower than the close of the fourth quarter of 2010 when there were 3.02 million homes on the market.

NAR’s national Housing Affordability Index rose to a record high 184.5 in 2011, based on the relationship between median home price, median family income and average mortgage interest rate. The higher the index, the greater the household purchasing power; recordkeeping began in 1970. An index of 100 is defined as the point where a median-income household has exactly enough income to qualify for the purchase of a median-priced existing single-family home, assuming a 20% down payment and 25% of gross income devoted to mortgage principal and interest payments. For first-time buyers making small down payments, the affordability levels are relatively lower. Metro areas with the greatest housing affordability conditions in 2011 include the Detroit-Warren-Livonia area of Michigan, with an index of 383.4; Toledo, Ohio, at 242.9; and Decatur, Ill., at 236.8. Only 24 out of 152 metros measured had an affordability index below 100 in 2011.

Between 2010 and 2011, in markets where comparisons are available, all but 2 out of 148 areas showed improvement in housing affordability, and 69 MSAs had double-digit increases in affordability conditions. The share of all-cash home purchases in the fourth quarter was 29%, unchanged from the third quarter; they were 30% in the fourth quarter of 2010. Investors, who are drawn by bargain prices and account for the bulk of cash purchases, accounted for 19% of transactions in the third quarter; they were 20% in the third quarter and 19% a year ago. First-time buyers purchased 33% of homes in the fourth quarter; they were 32% in both the third quarter and the fourth quarter of 2010. In the condo sector, metro area condominium and cooperative prices – covering changes in 54 metro areas – showed the national median existing-condo price was $160,800 in the fourth quarter, which is 1.7% below the fourth quarter of 2010. Ten metros showed increases in their median condo price from a year ago, one was unchanged and 43 areas had declines.

Regionally, existing-home sales in the Northeast rose 6.3% in the fourth quarter and are 3.7% above the fourth quarter of 2010. The median existing single-family home price in the Northeast fell 4.6% to $229,200 in the fourth quarter from a year ago. In the Midwest, existing-home sales increased 7.0% in the fourth quarter and are 14.1% higher than a year ago. The median existing single-family home price in the Midwest declined 3.3% to $134,100 in the fourth quarter from the fourth quarter in 2010. Existing-home sales in the South rose 3.8% in the fourth quarter and are 9.1% above the same quarter in 2010. The median existing single-family home price in the South was $146,500 in the fourth quarter, down 3.8% from a year earlier. Existing-home sales in the West increased 8.1% in the fourth quarter and are 8.4% higher than a year ago. The median existing single-family home price in the West declined 4.2% to $205,200 in the fourth quarter from the fourth quarter of 2010.

Greece still not bailed out

Stock markets fell Friday after Greece’s crucial international bailout was put on hold by its partners in the 17-nation eurozone, a day after it seemed that the country’s tortuous journey to pacifying its creditors had reached a conclusion. Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos and heads of the three parties backing his government agreed to deep private sector wage cuts, civil service layoffs, and significant reductions in health, social security and military spending. Investors breathed a sigh of relief that the agreement would allow Greece to get a euro130 billion ($173 billion) bailout package and avoid a bankruptcy next month that could send shockwaves around the financial markets. But finance ministers from the other 16 eurozone states threw a spanner in the works late Thursday and insisted that Greece had to save an extra euro325 million ($430 million), pass the cuts through a restive parliament and guarantee in writing that they will be implemented even after planned elections in April.

Amherst – foreclosure deal penalizes investors

The $26 billion settlement between government officials and the five largest mortgage servicers will exacerbate servicer conflict of interest by allowing the banks to use investor dollars to foot the bill, according to Amherst Securities Group. The analysis comes as representatives from mortgage banks, trade groups and organizations expressed relief as the settlement with state attorneys general and federal prosecutors finally arrived. By receiving credit for principal write downs on the loans owned by investors, servicers can settle their liability claims with private investor money, Laurie Goodman and her team of analysts at Amherst noted. The settlement includes $17 billion in required credits for principal reduction and other foreclosure initiatives, including short sales, anti-blight measures and borrower transition efforts. These credits are put toward loans both in bank portfolios and in private label securitizations.

“We believe that this settlement will further exacerbate the conflicts of interest in the foreclosure process, highlighting the fact that first liens are often poorly treated,” the analysts said. “We are deeply concerned that such a settlement will significantly raise the cost and delay the return of private capital to the US single-family mortgage market.” They compare the settlement to charging a patient, or investor, an extra fine when his doctor, or bank, is found guilty of malpractice. The already wounded patient is hurt again, and the doctor does not have much incentive to change his behavior. “The settlement has missed the opportunity to correct some of the huge conflicts of interest that are embedded in the foreclosure process,” the analysts said.

It’s not all bad news, however. “On the positive side, we are pleased to see that the changes in servicing practices address the fact that servicers often own companies that provide ancillary foreclosure services, or mark-up third-party services with no disclosure to borrowers or investors,” they said. The increased foreclosure timeline due to robo-signing issues is likely to extend further because of the settlement, Amherst analysts said, and the costs of will fall disproportionately on private investors.

See you at the top!
Chris McLaughlin

**************

Copyright Loss Mitigation Institute LLC 2011.
All Rights Reserved.

http://www.shortsalesriches.com

http://www.shortsalescoach.com

http://www.sixfigurebpo.com

http://www.reomillionaireclub.com

http://www.youtube.com/shortsalesriches

http://www.smartrealestatenews.com

(subscribe to this newsletter)

*************************************************

About the author:
Chris McLaughlin is widely known as America’s top
Real Estate Attorney and Investment Consultant.

* As the top Florida foreclosure and pre-
foreclosure expert, he oversees more than
100 short sale & REO closings each month

* Long-time authority on real estate investing
and rapid reselling of distressed homes. Owns
portfolio of nearly 150 high-value, high-profit
properties

* Owner of one of Florida’s largest Real Estate firms,
running 4 different offices, supporting over
420 agents, uniquely positioning him to help
thousands of investors make money in the
biggest market opportunity ever!

* In 2010, Chris’ 4 Central Florida real estate offices
closed 2,786 sides for a closed sales volume of
$392,912,927!

* Highly sought-after speaker, consultant, and
seminar leader for current trends and hot topics
in Real Estate Investing, Entrepreneurship, and
Wealth Building

* Follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/mclaughlinchris

* Join my Facebook Fan Page: http://www.mclaughlinchris.com

Smart Real Estate News & Commentary by Chris McLaughlin February 2, 2012

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Foreclosure deal deadline postponed

The deadline for states to decide whether to join a proposed nationwide foreclosure settlement with banks was delayed to Feb. 6 from Feb. 3, the Iowa Attorney General’s Office said. States were given more time to evaluate the proposal, which may total $25 billion, after at least one asked for a delay, Geoff Greenwood, a spokesman for Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller, said yesterday in a phone interview. Miller is helping to lead negotiations. State and federal officials have been negotiating an agreement with mortgage servicers that would provide mortgage relief to homeowners and set requirements for how banks conduct foreclosures.

State officials are reviewing the agreement with Bank of America Corp., JPMorgan Chase & Co., Citigroup Inc., Wells Fargo & Co. and Ally Financial Inc., and are being asked to sign on. Greenwood declined to name the state that asked for more time or comment on state support for the deal. Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto said in a Jan. 27 letter to Miller, the Justice Department and US Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan that she needed answers to 38 questions to evaluate the deal. The deadline was changed as Oregon Attorney General John Kroger said today in a statement that he would sign on to the settlement, joining Connecticut Attorney General George Jepsen, who also supports it. Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden has said he won’t sign on to the settlement.

Job cuts jump in January

The number of job cuts announced by employers jumped 28% in January, led by retailers and financial firms, according to the latest report by global outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas. Still, job losses announced last month were the lowest on record for a January, the month that typically sees the greatest number of layoffs, the firm said. Employers last month said they planned to cut 53,486 positions, compared with 41,785 job cuts announced in December. The January job cuts were 39% higher than during the same period a year earlier, when employers said they planned 38,519 cuts. Retailers and financial firms saw the greatest cuts, losing 12,426 and 7,611 jobs, respectively.

Challenger said the retail job losses were not related to seasonal hiring, and instead were the result of restructurings, store closings, and other cost-cutting measures. The financial sector saw the most job losses since September, when 31,167 cuts were announced. Challenger noted that most of those layoffs came from. Government job cuts continued to dwindle for a second straight month, with just 3,021 layoffs announced in January. “Of course, it is far too early to say whether we will continue to see low job-cut figures in government. It is highly unlikely, considering that many cities and states continue to struggle with budget deficits,” Challenger said in a statement. “And, then there is the federal level of government, which remains under intense pressure to cut costs. As a result, we expect government layoffs to be heavy again this year.”

LPS – house prices slow decline

Lender Processing Services, Inc. (LPS),  today announced that its LPS Applied Analytics division updated its home price index (LPS HPI) with residential sales concluded during November 2011. The LPS HPI summarizes home price trends nationwide by tracking sales each month in more than 13,500 ZIP codes. Within each ZIP code, the LPS HPI tracks five price levels from low to high. “Since the post-bubble drop in home prices eased in January of 2009, we’ve generally seen that prices for homes in the lowest 20% of local markets in the metropolitan areas covered by the LPS HPI now differ by more than the highest 20% from their levels 10 years ago,” said Kyle Lundstedt, managing director of LPS Applied Analytics. “In those metropolitan areas where lowest-priced homes have increased in value, the differences between the high and low ends of the market have usually shrunk; where they have decreased in value, the differences have grown.”

The LPS HPI national average home price for transactions during November 2011 was $199,000 – a decline of 0.6% during the month relative to October 2011, reaching a price level not seen since October 2002 (Figure 1, Table 1). This is the fifth consecutive month of price decreases. The partial data available for December suggests further price declines of approximately 0.8%. LPS reported partial data from November transactions in its December release, which proved a reasonable indicator for November’s performance: it showed a preliminary 0.5% estimated decline, compared to the 0.6% for the full month’s data. LPS HPI average national home prices continue the downward trend begun after the market peak in June 2006, when the total value of US housing inventory covered by the LPS HPI stood at $10.8 trillion. Since that peak, the value has declined 30.6% to $7.5 trillion. During the period of most rapid price declines, from June 2007 through December 2008, the LPS HPI national average home price dropped $56,000 from $282,000, which corresponds to an average annual decline of 13.8%. Since December 2008, prices have fallen more slowly, interrupted by brief seasonal intervals of rising prices. During this period of more slowly declining prices, the national average home price has fallen approximately $26,000 from $226,000.

The November national average price is down 3.4% from the average price at the beginning of the year. Home prices in November were consistent with the seasonal pattern that has been occurring since 2009. Each year, prices have risen in the spring, but have reverted in autumn to a downward trend that has not only erased the gains, but has led to an average 4.4% annual drop in prices to date. The national average home price has declined 4.8% over the most recent year to November 2011. Price changes were largely consistent across the country during November, increasing in 13% of the ZIP codes in the LPS HPI. Higher-priced homes had somewhat smaller declines: 0.55% for the top 20% of homes (prices above $311,000), compared to 0.60% for the bottom 20% (below $100,000). The highest-priced homes, the top 1% (prices above $839,000), declined 0.47%.

Claims and productivity both easing

New US claims for unemployment benefits fell last week, a government report showed today, pointing to more healing in the nations battered jobs market. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped 12,000 to a seasonally adjusted 367,000, the Labor Department said. The prior week’s figure was revised up to 379,000 from the previously reported 377,000. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast claims falling to 375,000. Claims have been lower than 400,000 for eight of the last 10 weeks, holding below a level associated with labor market healing. The four-week moving average for initial claims, a trend measure that smooths out volatility, fell 2,000 to 375,750. A Labor Department official said there was nothing unusual in the state-level data and that no state had been estimated. Job growth has gained momentum in recent months and the unemployment rate dropped to a near three-year low of 8.5% in December. The number of people still receiving benefits under regular state programs after an initial week of aid fell 130,000 to 3.437 million in the week ended January 21, the lowest since September 2008. Economists had forecast so-called continuing claims at 3.55 million. The number of Americans on emergency unemployment benefits rose 100,392 to 3.022 million in the week ended January 14, the latest week for which data is available. A total of 7.67 million people were claiming unemployment benefits during that period under all programs, little changed from the prior week.

Meanwhile, productivity increased at a 0.7% annual rate, the Labor Department said today. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast productivity, which measures hourly output per worker, rising at a 0.8% rate. Productivity rose at a 1.9% pace in the third quarter. Over the entire year, productivity rose 0.7%, the slowest since 2008. Hourly compensation rose at a 1.9% rate in the last three months of the year after contracting in the previous two quarters. That is well below the US inflation rate, with consumer prices rising 3.0% in the 12 months through December. Subdued wage growth supports the US Federal Reserve’s view of a low inflation environment. This likely gives the US central bank more room to try to boost growth and tackle stubbornly high unemployment. Though productivity has slowed after growing rapidly as the economy emerged from the 2007-09 recession, businesses have maintained the bulk of the gains made during the recovery. Businesses, estimated to be sitting on a cash pile of about $2 trillion, continue to hold the line on costs. Unit labor costs rose at a 1.2% rate in the fourth quarter. Economists had expected fourth-quarter unit labor costs would increase at a 0.8% rate.

WSJ – GOP discusses Obama’s mortgage plan

President Barack Obama, in announcing a program to help struggling homeowners refinance their mortgages, is betting this plan will fare better than his administration’s earlier efforts to fix the housing market. But House Speaker John Boehner (R., Ohio) questioned why this program would work when others have failed. “One more time? One more time? How many times have we done this?” he asked reporters. “I don’t know why anyone would think that this next idea is going to work.” He added that the previous programs have led to a delay in “the clearing of the market,” or letting housing prices hit bottom by allowing foreclosures to happen more rapidly. Republicans see additional government intervention as doing little to improve the housing situation. Mitt Romney, the front-runner for the GOP presidential nomination, said in October that the government should not try to stop foreclosures but let the housing market “hit the bottom.” He has argued that Mr. Obama’s housing policies have failed.

The government already has programs that allow some homeowners who are current on their payments to refinance at lower interest rates, even if they owe more than their homes are worth or wouldn’t otherwise qualify. Those programs are limited to borrowers with mortgages backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The latest proposal would extend that option to all homeowners, allowing borrowers who are current on payments to refinance into new loans backed by the Federal Housing Administration. That requires congressional approval, partly because it would cost money. Economists said the latest proposal—at least on paper—is more ambitious than previous plans because it would allow more borrowers to qualify. Until now, policy makers and elected officials have been hesitant to take bolder steps because the political will simply isn’t there, analysts said. Many of those solutions would mean spending more money or forcing banks and investors to take bigger losses. Instead, policy makers tried to steer a middle course. Many have worried that rewarding irresponsible behavior would create a “moral hazard” that might encourage more defaults.

The hitch is that the programs were designed to make sure they didn’t help borrowers who took on more debt than they could afford. And that “made these programs very complicated,” said David Stevens, chief executive of the Mortgage Bankers Association who spent two years as a top Obama administration housing official. Using the FHA to refinance at-risk borrowers isn’t a new idea. The Bush administration and Congress passed a program in 2008 called for Hope for Homeowners that also employed the agency to refinance at-risk homeowners. It included many restrictions and resulted in just a few hundred refinanced loans. The Obama administration rolled out a similar initiative without Congress two years ago. It resulted in around 700 refinances. “The banks decided not to participate,” said Peter Swire, a former housing adviser to Mr. Obama. “So now the administration is looking for another way to achieve the same goals.”

US still risks recession

In the United States, the manufacturing sector grew at its fastest pace in seven months in January as new orders improved, but Jim Walker, Founder and Managing Director of independent research firm, Asianomics, said that the US economy is going to face a slowdown this year owing to fiscal tightening.

“There’s going to be a significant slowdown in fiscal expenditure in the US, they’re going to have to control the fiscal side much more as the year goes on,” he said. On Wednesday, the US House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly to freeze wages for federal civilian workers until 2013, a move that will save taxpayers $26 billion. According to Walker, pullbacks in government spending will cut between 1 and 1.5% from US GDP in 2012. Walker also believes corporate investment is likely to slow after the federal depreciation allowance expired at the end of 2011. In a report for clients released in December, Walker said there was a 55% chance of a US recession.

He also argued that US consumers were due for another “period of reckoning”, despite improving consumer confidence and spending numbers. He listed a litany of reasons: “Home prices are still falling (on a mild deflation path), equity prices are still off their highs of the year, household credit outstanding is still contracting, real hourly compensation growth is still negative, employment growth is still sub par – and up until November – consumer confidence was fast approaching the recession lows of 2008.” Walker is much more bearish on Europe, which he says is destined for a recession, with GDP contracting 2 to 5% in 2012. He expects further monetary easing from global central banks, which he says will boost precious metals, most notably silver. But he says investors should short the Euro and avoid industrial metals such as copper, which will suffer from a global downturn.

Atlanta lags in housing recovery

Housing prices continue to fall nationwide, despite a few modest signs of improvement. But not all markets are equal. A sprawling Southern metropolis, Atlanta has become one of the biggest laggards in the economic recovery. In November, prices of single-family homes were down close to 12% compared with a year earlier, the largest decline among major metropolitan areas, according to data released on Tuesday in the Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller Home Price Index. Home prices regionally are now below their levels of 2000, making Atlanta one of only four metro areas to have experienced such a slide. The price of entry-level housing in the area — the lowest tier of the market, valued at just under $96,600 — fell by close to a third last year.

Even though the national economy shows signs of strengthening, the beleaguered housing market remains a significant drag on the recovery. Across a group of 20 metropolitan areas measured by S&P/Case-Shiller, prices of single-family homes were 3.7% lower in November compared with a year earlier, with average prices at their 2003 levels. Economists say prices are unlikely to hit a nadir until at least late spring. Tom Porcelli, chief United States economist at RBC Capital Markets in New York, projects that average prices could slip by as much as 5% nationally this year because of the large amount of distressed properties for sale and a shortage of buyers. Although Mr. Porcelli describes a “generally better outlook on housing” than he has over the last few years, he added, “we still have a long way to go.”

The reasons for Atlanta’s housing woes are both representative of the nation’s troubles and special to this former boomtown, where housing appreciated handsomely, though not to the lofty heights of Las Vegas, Miami and New York. Where the region once attracted thousands of prospective home buyers drawn by plentiful jobs and more affordable living, that influx has dwindled. Local unemployment, at 9.2%, is slightly higher than the national rate, in part because one in every four jobs lost was connected to real estate, a much higher rate than in the rest of the country. Those jobs have yet to return, while even people with work are having trouble qualifying for loans. The region, plagued by mortgage fraud and developers who dotted the exurban landscape with large luxury homes that never sold, is inundated with foreclosed properties. In fact, Atlanta has the most government-owned foreclosed properties for sale of any large city, according to the Federal Reserve.

See you at the top!

Chris McLaughlin

**************

Copyright Loss Mitigation Institute LLC 2011.

All Rights Reserved.

http://www.shortsalesriches.com

http://www.shortsalescoach.com

http://www.sixfigurebpo.com

http://www.reomillionaireclub.com

http://www.youtube.com/shortsalesriches

http://www.smartrealestatenews.com

(subscribe to this newsletter)

*************************************************

About the author:

Chris McLaughlin is widely known as America’s top

Real Estate Attorney and Investment Consultant.

* As the top Florida foreclosure and pre-

foreclosure expert, he oversees more than

100 short sale & REO closings each month

* Long-time authority on real estate investing

and rapid reselling of distressed homes. Owns

portfolio of nearly 150 high-value, high-profit

properties

* Owner of one of Florida’s largest Real Estate firms,

running 4 different offices, supporting over

420 agents, uniquely positioning him to help

thousands of investors make money in the

biggest market opportunity ever!

* In 2010, Chris’ 4 Central Florida real estate offices

closed 2,786 sides for a closed sales volume of

$392,912,927!

* Highly sought-after speaker, consultant, and

seminar leader for current trends and hot topics

in Real Estate Investing, Entrepreneurship, and

Wealth Building

* Follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/mclaughlinchris

* Join my Facebook Fan Page: http://www.mclaughlinchris.com