Foreclosure

The California Housing Finance Agency (CalHFA) expanded eligibility criteria for several of the Keep Your Home California programs to make them available to a larger number of families at risk of losing their homes, including those with home equity loans and recently originated mortgages. Keep Your Home California is a $2 billion federally funded initiative. Implemented statewide in early February, the programs are part of the U.S. Treasury Department's Hardest Hit Fund.

CitiMortgage Inc. has been hit with a class action lawsuit for allegedly denying borrowers a permanent loan modification through the government's Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP). The complaint was filed with a U.S. District Court in Pennsylvania on behalf of homeowners in the state who have entered into a trial modification plan, made all payments as required, and complied with CitiMortgage's requests for documentation, but have not received or have been denied a permanent HAMP mod, according to the lawsuit.

Mortgage servicers have reportedly reached an agreement with federal regulators to change their foreclosure procedures as part of a settlement for the robo-signing transgressions that were uncovered last fall. The arrangement includes no fines, but monetary penalties have not been completely ruled out. In early March, federal regulatory agencies and state attorneys general together crafted a 27-page settlement proposal, however, the states have not been part of this latest development.

Florida-based PREO operates an online marketplace aimed specifically at turning distressed properties into family homes. On Wednesday, the company announced the official launch of its new Web site, which PREO says can shrink the timeline for short sales to weeks instead of months.

The majority of Americans say walking away from a mortgage should never be an option for homeowners, even those who are struggling to make their payments, according to a survey conducted by FindLaw.com. No reliable figures exist to pinpoint exactly how many homeowners choose strategic default, which entails walking away and refusing to make monthly payments, but industry experts agree that it has become a growing concern in the fallout of the housing crisis.

RealtyTrac on Tuesday unveiled new site features of its online foreclosure marketplace that allow users to see the amount of equity - or negative equity - in a property based on its estimated market value and total outstanding loans. The company says this additional information will help buyers and investors quickly determine which distressed properties represent good purchase opportunities for them, and will help real estate agents and brokers pinpoint potential listing opportunities.

Although the Treasury Department has vowed to hold mortgage servicers publicly accountable for their adherence to Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) guidelines, some senators want to go one step further. They have proposed establishing a new federal agency as a means of recourse for ""families who face foreclosure but believe their mortgage servicers are breaking the rules."" Legislators say if the bill passes, HAMP has the potential of reaching its original goal of helping 3 to 4 million homeowners.

The commercial mortgage research firm Trepp LLC says the delinquency rate for loans held in U.S. commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) edged higher in March, but the agency says it's seeing clear signs that the market is starting to heal. Trepp reports that the percentage of CMBS loans 30-plus days delinquent, in foreclosure, or REO rose 3 basis points last month to 9.42 percent. It's the highest delinquency rate ever recorded by the company, but the smallest month-over-month increase in more than two years.

According to a new poll from the market research firm Harris Interactive, 22 percent of people with mortgages have difficulty making their monthly payments. The poll also reveals that 21 percent think they are underwater and owe more on the loan than their home is worth. Compared to the results of last year's poll, those struggling to pay their mortgage has declined by 7 percent, but the company says the improvement is deceptive since it likely reflects the fact that borrowers previously experiencing trouble have already lost their homes.

The U.S. House of Representatives voted to pull the plug on HUD's Emergency Homeowner Loan Program last month, but that hasn't stopped HUD from moving ahead to put the money into the hands of distressed homeowners. The fund was established to provide zero-interest bridge loans of up to $50,000 for unemployed homeowners to continue making their mortgage payments while they look for a new job. HUD just deployed nearly $200 million of the $1 billion allotted to state agencies.