By Brittany Dunn 

Preventloanscams.org was recently launched by HUD in partnership with the Loan Modification Scam Prevention Network, a national coalition of public and private enterprises led by the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. The Web site was created to provide homeowners with a single destination to report alleged scammers.

“Homeowners at risk of foreclosure can be easy prey for home loan modification scammers,” said John Trasviña, HUD assistant secretary for fair housing and equal oppportunity.

Trasviña said dishonest individuals often lure vulnerable homeowners into foreclosure rescue scams by making false promises, frequently claiming they can lower mortgage payments or stop the foreclosure process. Instead of receiving help, these troubled homeowners lose time and money, he explained.

Through Preventloanscams.org, complaints filed online are added to a national complaint database and are forwarded to the appropriate law enforcement center for review. In addition, HUD has directed its local fair housing and housing counseling grantees to begin reporting alleged loan modification scams via the Web site.

Before the launch of Preventloanscams.org, federal, state, and local government agencies could not share complaint data with nonprofit organizations. However, the new system allows for better analysis of trends across jurisdictional lines, which HUD says will likely lead to an increase in private enforcement action filings.

The network estimates that this online tool will assist approximately 50,000 homeowners affected by loan modification scams. Clearly, the creation of this national complaint database is a major step in the fight against loan modification scams.

The Southern California Home Buyer’s Fair is offering a free, two-day primer on the home-buying process . This 2 day event will be held on March 13th & 14 at The Los Angeles Convention Center, located at 1201 S. Figeroa St., Los Angeles, Ca 90015. There will be more than 50 educational “how-to” seminars and a large exhibit hall, designed to help you navigate today’s real estate market with confidence and peace of mind. 

For more info, visit  http://www.homebuyersfair.com

By Jon Prior

Shaun Donovan, secretary of the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), will temporarily permit buyers to use FHA-insured financing to purchase real-estate owned (REO) property to stave off vacancies.

The waiver will take effect on February 1, 2010 and remain available for one year. It will be subject to extension or withdrawal by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) commissioner David Stevens.

To protect FHA borrowers from predatory “flipping” practices, where properties are quickly resold at heightened prices to borrowers, HUD laid down some general conditions.

The transactions must be at arms-length, with no entity of interest between the buyer and seller. If the sales price of the property is 20% or more above the seller’s acquisition cost, the waiver will only apply if the lender meets certain requirements. Also, the waiver only applies to forward mortgages, not to the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) for purchase program.

“This change in policy is temporary and will have very strict conditions and guidelines to assure that predatory practices are not allowed,” Donovan said.

With some exceptions, FHA currently does not insure a mortgage if the seller owned the home for less than 90 days, but this temporary waiver will give access to FHA borrowers into a “broader array” of recently foreclosed properties.

“This change in policy is temporary and will have very strict conditions and guidelines to assure that predatory practices are not allowed,” Donovan said.

Other government initiatives are attempting to boost the REO sale process in order to clear out vacancies. The REO Insider reported that the governor of Colorado will try to push new legislation through the 2010 state session, which will provide a minimum of four months for lenders to sell an abandoned property.

LOS ANGELES, Jan. 11 /PRNewswire/ — The year 2009 has come to a close and the real estate professionals at Bank Foreclosures Sale are gearing up to continue to provide real estate investors with the most current information on foreclosures in 2010.

While the Obama administration has worked to quell foreclosures, it appears that these efforts may not be enough. High unemployment continues to plague the real estate market and, as a result, according to an article in the New York Times, an estimated 2.4 million foreclosed homes will be added to the list of 2010 foreclosures. This will lead to prices going down even more – another 10 percent or so.

“It appears that we may be seeing a surge of ’shadow inventory’ properties appear on the market,” says Simon Campbell, real estate analyst for Bank Foreclosures Sale. “These are properties that, as of yet, have not been calculated into official inventory numbers. They include homes repossessed by lenders through foreclosures and similar actions and homes where owners are 90 days or more delinquent on payments.”

However, statistics do show that lenders may finally be closer to finding a solution for the home mortgage crisis.

“The question now remains,” says Campbell, “about how fast can they work to stem these potential foreclosures. Until we see a reduction in the number of foreclosures, we cannot get too hopeful about restoring housing industry stability.”

Even with this progress, unemployment remains at a record high. And congressional leaders continue to look for ways that millions of people who have lost their jobs will be able to stay in their homes. For instance, U.S. Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) wants $3 billion to be allocated to such a program to help stem foreclosures.

About Bank Foreclosures Sale:

Bank Foreclosures Sale is a leading foreclosure listing service. It provides real estate investors with a large database of up-to-date foreclosure listings throughout the U.S.; listings are refreshed daily. Cheap foreclosure listings are readily available in all regions.

Bank Foreclosures Sale also offers customer support service via e-mail to real estate investors who navigate its database of foreclosed homes. Over the years, the company has worked to assemble a team of real estate experts with practical experience in the foreclosure industry. They have developed a large network of resources throughout the real estate industry.