Tag Archives: GAO

One Ohio congressman is taking the plight of homeowners in his foreclosure-ravaged state straight to federal regulators. Sen. Sherrod Brown says guidance issued to mortgage servicers last month by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) amounts to ""a free pass"" for banks to abandon foreclosed homes, a practice Brown says undermines neighborhoods and property values and leaves local taxpayers on the hook for maintenance and cleanup costs.

A study from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that vacant properties rose 51 percent over the span of a decade, from nearly 7 million in 2000 to 10 million in April 2010. Ten states saw vacancies go up by 70 percent or more as a result of high foreclosure rates. The elevated number of vacant homes carries a hefty price tag for lenders that must resume ownership after foreclosure, but GAO says it's local governments that are feeling ""significant"" pressure from the rise in vacant properties.

More than three-quarters of foreclosure counselors say the borrower experience when turning to the government's flagship modification program for relief is sub-par. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) says counselors it polled cited concerns about HAMP trial denials, including long waiting periods and documentation issues. Some 39 percent said paperwork had been lost or needed to be resubmitted, while 46 percent said it typically takes seven months or more to receive a decision on a trial mod application.

In the wake of the industry's robo-signing issues, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) has released a report urging the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to make mortgage servicing standards a priority. After examining applicable laws and interviewing mortgage investors and other industry participants, the agency concluded that federal laws do not specifically address the foreclosure process, and as a result, oversight of servicers has been ""limited and fragmented.""

The Government Accountability Office just completed a study of what is called ""bank walkaways"" - when a lender initiates foreclosure but then doesn't complete the process because the cost outweighs expected proceeds from the property's sale. Officials argue the practice intensifies market deterioration and complicates stabilization efforts. But the agency found that abandoned foreclosures are rare - representing less than 1 percent of vacant homes between January 2008 and March 2010 - but concentrated in specific areas of the country.

The Homeownership Preservation Foundation has partnered with NeighborWorks America, HUD, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law to help prevent foreclosure-rescue scams. The coalition is positioning the Homeowner's HOPE Hotline (1-888-995-HOPE) as a central point of contact for homeowners who think they may be victim of a scam. Information provided to the hotline is used by local, state, and federal agencies to shut down predatory companies victimizing distressed homeowners.

The three versions of the homebuyer tax credit are expected to result in revenue losses to the federal government of about $22 billion, according to estimates just released by the Government Accountability Office (GAO). Looking at Internal Revenue Service (IRS) filings through July 3, homebuyers so far have claimed $23.5 billion under the housing stimulus provisions, about a third of which was in the form of interest-free loans that will eventually have to be repaid. California ranks first among the states, with the most homebuyer tax credit dollars claimed.