“Homes that fall into foreclosure in Phoenix are sold at a public auction. The highest bidder becomes the new owner. The former owner then has to move out.

Departing owners have five days under Arizona law to vacate the property. But in the overheated foreclosure market that has come in the wake of the metropolitan Phoenix housing crash, some people are being told to get out the same day their house is sold at auction.

In some cases, people aren’t allowed back into their house to collect their belongings. In others, people leave the house for a few hours, and the new owner changes the locks.

Facing aggressive foreclosure buyers who want to resell homes quickly, struggling homeowners often don’t know their rights…”

Read the full article: http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/2010/03/07/20100307evictions0307.html

“Close to half of the existing home sales in the Phoenix metro area last month were foreclosed properties exhibiting continued struggles in the housing market, according to an Arizona University report released Thursday.

The report also said that two out of three home sales in the Valley in January were either foreclosures or re-sales of foreclosed homes…”

Read the full article: http://phoenix.bizjournals.com/phoenix/stories/2010/02/08/daily62.html

“The share of borrowers who are falling seriously behind on loans backed by the Federal Housing Administration jumped by more than a third in the past year, foreshadowing a crush of foreclosures that could further buffet an agency vital to the housing market’s recovery.

About 9.1 percent of FHA borrowers had missed at least three payments as of December, up from 6.5 percent a year ago, the agency’s figures show.

Although the FHA’s default rate has been climbing for months and eating into the agency’s cash, the latest figures show that the FHA’s woes are getting worse even as the housing market shows signs of improvement. The problems are rooted in FHA mortgages made in 2007 and 2008. Those loans are now maturing into their worst years because failures most often occur two to three years after a mortgage is made.

If the trend continues and the FHA’s cash reserves are exhausted, the federal government would automatically use taxpayer money to cover the losses — a first for the agency, which has always used the fees it charges borrowers to pay for its losses…”

Read the full article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/01/AR2010020103527_pf.html

“Chandler is preparing to spend millions of dollars trying to shore up one of its most sickly economic indicators, the home foreclosure rate, which surged by 95 percent over the last year.

In the coming weeks, the City Council is expected to consider expanding an eight-month-old program to buy up bank-owned properties and renovate them for sale as affordable housing. The council this month also passed a resolution declaring the entire city an “economic recovery zone,” making it eligible to issue $8 million in bonds to pay for infrastructure projects like roads and drainage, meant to create jobs and stimulate the local economy.

Dennis Strachota, the city’s management services director, said Chandler’s home foreclosure rate rose 95 percent from the third quarter of 2008 to the fourth quarter of 2009. Similarly, unemployment increased from 4.3 percent in October 2008 to 6.6 percent last October, and Chandler’s poverty rate now stands at 7.3 percent, he said…”

Read the full article: http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/149953

 ”Foreclosures continued to dominate the housing resale market in November despite continued evidence that they are declining, according to the latest monthly report from Arizona State University.

 Foreclosure activity edged lower last month but is still high in some parts of the Valley, such as Avondale, where it represented about 43 percent of sales, and Glendale, with 40 percent.

But Jay Butler, director of realty studies at ASU, predicts another wave of foreclosures could hit after the first of the year because of the continued weak job market and the fact that homeowners are having a tough time paying their mortgages…”

Read the article: http://www.azcentral.com/community/phoenix/articles/2009/12/11/20091211biz-resales1211.html

“This week the Treasury Department released new rules that will help homeowners who need to sell but can’t get a price high enough to pay off their mortgage.

The guidelines make it easer for troubled homeowners to sell their home via short sales. In a short sale, the owner agrees to sell for less than the balance owed on the mortgage but avoids foreclosure and allows homeowners to avoid damage to their credit report. Short sales mitigate the impact on local markets because they avoid public auctions and foreclosure, where sales prices are usually lower. About one in 10 home sales this year was a short sale, or an estimated 500,000 sales, according to the National Association of Realtors…”

“…To provide owner occupants and public entities an advantage in purchasing Fannie Mae-owned foreclosed properties, Fannie Mae has created the First Look initiative. With First Look, only offers from owner occupants and buyers using public funds are considered during the first 15 days a property is on the market. Offers from investors will be considered only after the first 15 days have passed.

‘First Look provides owner occupants and public entities that are committed to the community an early opportunity to purchase one of Fannie Mae’s Real Estate Owned properties,’ said Terry Edwards, Executive Vice President for Credit Portfolio Management at Fannie Mae. ‘As a result, we believe First Look will help us make progress toward stabilizing neighborhoods and building stronger communities in this difficult market.’”

Read the press release: http://www.fanniemae.com/newsreleases/2009/4868.jhtml?p=Media&s=News+Releases

“When foreclosure homes come up for public auction in Phoenix, a minimum opening bid is set and bidding is open to anyone.

At least that is the way it’s supposed to work.

But a Republic investigation into the daily public auctions held on the Maricopa County Courthouse steps and at some local law offices suggests a growing number of homes are sold for less than the posted opening bid…”

Read the article: http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/2009/11/22/20091122dropbid1122.html

“Qualifying homeowners facing foreclosure will be able to stay in their homes — as renters — under a new program announced by Fannie Mae on Thursday.

The Deed for Lease Program is designed to help borrowers who aren’t eligible or haven’t been able to sustain other work-out solutions, including a modification, according to a news release.

Participating borrowers voluntarily transfer their property deed back to the lender; the lender then leases the house back to the borrower at a market rate for up to a year. After the period is up, there’s a possibility of a term renewal or a month-to-month lease arrangement, the release said. ..”

Read the article: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/owners-become-renters-in-bid-to-avoid-foreclosures-2009-11-05

“The foreclosure crisis may be coming to a middle-class neighborhood near you. As joblessness continues to rise and as a person’s unemployment lasts on average 6.5 months, roughly 3.4 million homes are expected to go into foreclosure by the end of 2009. That’s up from 1.2 million homes in 2007, according to RealtyTrac, a subscription-based site that tracks foreclosures nationwide. ‘We’re not out of the woods yet,’ says Rick Sharga, RealtyTrac’s senior vice president.

Sharga recently spoke to NEWSWEEK’s Nancy Cook about the various waves of the foreclosure crisis, the future of homeownership and why the Obama administration’s loan-modification program won’t stem this latest crop of foreclosures…”

Read the article: http://www.newsweek.com/id/220080