The Point Aventura
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Monday, October 4, 2010
The Associated Press: Bank of America delays foreclosures in 23 states
WASHINGTON — Bank of America is delaying foreclosures in 23 states as it examines whether it rushed the foreclosure process for thousands of homeowners without reading the documents.
The move adds the nation's largest bank to a growing list of mortgage companies whose employees signed documents in foreclosure cases without verifying the information in them.
Bank of America isn't able to estimate how many homeowners' cases will be affected, Dan Frahm, a spokesman for the Charlotte, N.C.-based bank, said Friday. He said the bank plans to resubmit corrected documents within several weeks.
Two other companies, Ally Financial Inc.'s GMAC Mortgage unit and JPMorgan Chase, have halted tens of thousands of foreclosure cases after similar problems became public.
The document problems could cause thousands of homeowners to contest foreclosures that are in the works or have been completed. If the problems turn up at other lenders, a foreclosure crisis that's already likely to drag on for several more years could persist even longer. Analysts caution that most homeowners facing foreclosure are still likely to lose their homes.
State attorneys general, who enforce foreclosure laws, are stepping up pressure on the industry.
On Friday, Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal asked a state court to freeze all home foreclosures for 60 days. Doing so "should stop a foreclosure steamroller based on defective documents," he said.
And California Attorney General Jerry Brown called on JPMorgan to suspend foreclosures unless it could show it complied with a state consumer protection law. The law requires lenders to contact borrowers at risk of foreclosure to determine whether they qualify for mortgage assistance.
In Florida, the state attorney general is investigating four law firms, two with ties to GMAC, for allegedly providing fraudulent documents in foreclosure cases. The Ohio attorney general asked judges this week to review GMAC foreclosure cases.
In New York, State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is reviewing the matter "to prevent homeowners from being improperly removed from their homes," according to a spokesman, Richard Bamberger, who said Friday that Cuomo's office has been in contact with several of the financial institutions.
Mark Paustenbach, a Treasury Department spokesman, said the Treasury has asked federal regulators "to look into these troubling developments." And the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, which regulates national banks, has asked seven big banks to examine their foreclosure processes.
"We both want to see that they fix the processing problems, but also to look to see whether there is specific harm" to homeowners, John Walsh, the agency's acting director told lawmakers Thursday.
A document obtained Friday by the Associated Press showed a Bank of America official acknowledging in a legal proceeding that she signed up to 8,000 foreclosure documents a month and typically didn't read them.
The official, Renee Hertzler, said in a February deposition that she signed 7,000 to 8,000 foreclosure documents a month.
"I typically don't read them because of the volume that we sign," Hertzler said.
She also acknowledged identifying herself as a representative of a different bank, Bank of New York Mellon, that she didn't work for. Bank of New York Mellon served as a trustee for the investors holding the homeowner's loan.
Hertzler could not be reached for comment.
A lawyer for the homeowner in the case, James O'Connor of Fitchburg, Mass., said such problems are rampant throughout the industry.
"We have had thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands of foreclosures around the country by entities that did not have the right to foreclose," O'Connor said.
The disclosure comes two days after JPMorgan said it would temporarily stop foreclosing on more than 50,000 homes so it could review documents that might contain errors. Last week, GMAC halted certain evictions and sales of foreclosed homes in 23 states to review those cases after finding procedural errors in some foreclosure affidavits.
Consumer advocates say the problems are widespread across the lending industry.
"The general level of sloppiness is pervasive around the industry," said Diane Thompson, counsel at the National Consumer Law Center.
Vickee Adams, a spokeswoman for Wells Fargo & Co., said Wells' "policies, procedures and practices satisfy us that the affidavits we sign are accurate."
Mark Rodgers, a spokesman for Citigroup Inc., said the bank "reviews document handling processes in our foreclosure group on an ongoing basis, and we have strong training to ensure that appropriate employees are fully aware of the proper procedures."
Mortgage finance companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac said Friday they're directing companies they work with that collect loan payments to follow proper procedures.
In some states, lenders can foreclose quickly on delinquent mortgage borrowers. By contrast, the 23 states in which Bank of America is delaying foreclosures use a lengthy court process. They require documents to verify information on the mortgage, including who owns it.
Those states are:
Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Vermont and Wisconsin.
AP Business Writer Christopher S. Rugaber contributed to this report.
Copyright © 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Thursday, September 23, 2010
New red light cameras in South Florida - be careful to avoid getting a ticket!
For those in South Florida…hope this helps you from getting a ticket! Wanted to let all of you know where they will be and remind each of you to drive carefully. Total Locations: 30
NW 9th Ave & NW 62nd St NW 62nd St & NW 31st Ave Pines Blvd & SW 129th Ave N. Federal Hwy & NE Eighth St . S. Federal Highway & State Road 84 Florida 84 & SW 9th Ave W Commercial Blvd & NW 9th Ave W Commercial Blvd & NW 21st Ave W Sunrise Blvd & NW 15th Ave U.S. 441 & Hollywood Blvd W Sheridan St & N Park Rd U.S. 441 & Sheridan St Pines Blvd & Dykes Rd Sheridan St & N. 72nd Ave Taft St & N Hiatus Rd Taft St & N Hiatus Rd Pines Blvd & SW 136th Ave N Australian Ave & Banyan Blvd Belvedere Rd & Parker Ave Summit Blvd & Parker Ave Okeechobee Blvd & Royal Palm Beach Blvd Royal Palm Beach Blvd & Crestwood Blvd N NW 183rd St & NW 2nd Ave NW 183rd St & NW 17th Ave NW 27th Ave & NW 183rd St NW 27th Ave & NW 211th St Right turns on red lights enforced. N Federal Hwy & E Hallandale Beach Blvd Florida 84 & SW 9th Ave Thanks to Isac Keboudi for forwarding this to me. |
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Who Is Saying It is Time To Buy a Home? EVERYONE!
Share“Enough with the doom and gloom about homeownership.” – WSJ 9/16/2010 WOW! If that quote was attributed to the National Association of Realtors or the National Association of Home Builders, it would have been quickly dismissed. However, it was the
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Rendez Vous - Aventura FL
Rendez Vous – Aventura FL
Authentic French cuisine
This is one of those small great restaurants in Aventura that don’t get the credit they deserve, unless you have gone to eat there of course! It is a small French restaurant tucked away in the Office Depot shopping center which has a great lunch menu, when you eat there you feel that you have been transported to a small Parisian Cafe. Most of the waiters parle vous francais and are very attentive and helpful. The ambiance is relaxed and casual. Your wallet won’t suffer either, since the prices are inexpensive for the great food.
Tip: You can buy some of the pastries as take out and serve them for a family get together or dinner with friends and you will be wowed and complimented on the presentation and taste.
Salad Nicoise
Croque Monsieur
Location
Rendezvous Bakery and Cuisine
17851 Biscayne Blvd, Aventura FL 33160
305-936-1440
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Almost 65,000 Floridians claim tax credit
Almost 65,000 Floridians claim tax credit
WASHINGTON – Sept. 7, 2010 – A report by the Government Accountability Office finds that Florida ranked third in the number of first-time buyers who qualified for one of the three IRS tax credits, with 64,879 buyers making the claim. The study includes all three credits authorized by Congress. In dollars and cents, that means Florida residents received $455,565,365 offered under the Housing, Recovery and Assistance acts. Still, the amount pales compared to No. 1 ranked California that had almost 117,000 claims and over $814 million returned to residents. Texas, which ranked No. 2, saw almost 100,000 claims and over $680 million in federal money. Nationwide, Americans collected about $23.5 billion and submitted 3.32 million claims, which is about $1.5 billion higher than original estimates. Congress had passed three different versions of the credit to help stimulate the housing market. • The Housing Act version provided a refundable tax credit, equal to 10 percent of the purchase price of a home, up to a maximum of $7,500. Taxpayers must repay the credit. • The Recovery Act version provided a refundable tax credit equal to 10 percent of the purchase price up to a maximum of $8,000 with a waiver of the repayment provision. • The Assistance Act version extended the timeframe in which homebuyers could claim the credit to April 30, 2010, and included several modifications, such as allowing certain long-term homeowners purchasing new homes to claim a tax credit up to $6,500. According to the National Association of Realtors, the tax credit had a strong impact on home sales, and the last version’s expiration led to a significant drop in July home sale numbers. © 2010 Florida Realtors®