Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan filed a lawsuit Wednesday against a company that claims to help homeowners facing bankruptcy, but which, the state claims, has actually stolen the homes and equity of many homeowners in trouble.
“We’re looking at con artists. What they are doing is one of the evilest cons I’ve ever seen,” said Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan.
Madigan filed a lawsuit Wednesday that says Willis lost her home through fraud.
“They’re essentially stealing people’s homes and they’re stealing the equity that people have, as well,” Madigan said.
NBC5.com - News - Mortgage Scam Leaves Family Homeless
scam,mortgage fraud,foreclosure scam
117,259 properties nationwide entered some stage of foreclosure in February, a 13 percent increase from the previous month and a 68 percent increase from February 2005, according to the Monthly U.S. Foreclosure Market Report from RealTrac.
“This is the third straight month the U.S. foreclosure rate has moved higher, and it’s the second straight month new foreclosures have topped 100,000,” said James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac. “However, several states, including California, Florida, Texas and New York, reported a dip in foreclosures in February. We’ll see if the rest of the country follows that trend in March.”
foreclosure,foreclosures
RealtyTrac Inc. :: National Foreclosures Increase 13 Percent in February According to RealtyTrac(TM) U.S. Foreclosure Market Report
(more…)
With 3,300 active foreclosures in Wayne County, Michigan - the most in the nation - field service companies in the Detroit area are so backlogged the only promise they’ll make is that they will return your phone call in 5 business days.
Calls to most Metro Detroit firms result in a voice message saying someone will try to get back to you in five business days.
The crush is not hard to explain. Home foreclosures are soaring throughout Metro Detroit and Michigan amid high unemployment, overtime cutbacks and budget-busting bills for everything from gasoline to groceries. Wayne County ended January with more than 3,300 homes in active foreclosure — the highest of any county in the nation, according to statistics compiled by Foreclosure.com of Boca Raton, Fla.
Foreclosure business booms - 03/20/06 - The Detroit News
Detroit,foreclosure,field service
Freddie Mac announced it is extending its foreclosure suspension until May 31, 2006 in the 21 counties and parishes in Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas hit hardest by last year’s hurricanes. At the same time, Freddie Mac is ending the moratorium on foreclosures in areas that experienced the least damage.
Read the Freddie Mac news release on the foreclosure moratorium extension and changes…
Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard commented on the recent Ameriquest Mortgage predatory lending settlement he helped negotiate in an interview with Amanda J. Crawford of the Arizona Republic. Of particular interest where his thoughts on the status of “bad loans” that have so far escaped delinquency and foreclosure because the market rescued the borrowers…and the lenders.
Right now, there are bad loans out there, which have not gone to foreclosure because the value of the underlying property has gone up so when people have gotten in trouble they could sell it and pay off their loan. When this problem is going to become most acute is if our market levels out or dips. . . . We are going to have people that are in loans that they really shouldn’t be in, that they don’t have sufficient income to pay, and if property values drop even a little bit, they will find that the loan is bigger than the value of their house. That is extremely dangerous, and it will cause amazing dislocation for people who are not going to just lose their house but end up with significant debts.
Mortgage controls sought