Loudoun Foreclosures

Loudoun County Considering Foreclosure Program For County Employees

Just ran across this post over at the LoCo Real Estate Musings blog which talks about how the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors will be considering a program to help county employees purchase foreclosed properties. This is similar to what Fairfax County recently proposed with their "Silver Lining Program".

Here's an excerpt:

"Apparently Chairman Scott York is planning to propose a program to our Board at the June 3rd meeting that would help county employees get low interest loans to purchase foreclosed homes in the easternmost portion of Loudoun County.  It’s early yet for specific details, but according to the article it looks like York wants the program to focus on the Sterling Park area, which has a high number of foreclosures."

To read the full post, click here.

Related Articles

"Foreclosures Eyed As Opportunity" - Leesburg Today

-Danilo

Washington Post Runs Article On "Luxury Foreclosures" - Features Arko and Bogdanovic

The Washington Post ran a story on "luxury foreclosures" yesterday. It featured several local real estate agents, including Tony Arko and Danilo Bogdanovic. Check out the Post article here or the Loudoun Extra version here.

Foreclosure Auctions - Where Is Everyone?

If you've been to a real estate auction at the local courthouse steps recently, you may have found yourself to be the only one there aside from the auctioneer. Many people are wondering where all the bidders are especially since auctions used to be a good way to get a deal on a foreclosure property.

ABC 7 News (WJLA) was curious about this as well and ran a story on it earlier this month. Here's the video (couldn't get around the quick commercial intro, sorry):

-Danilo

Don't Fall Prey To "Quick-Fix" Foreclosure Scams

As a home owner facing foreclosure, you may be desparate to find a way out - a way to turn things around and get back on your feet. But don't let that desparation cloud your judgement or stop you from doing your homework when approached by someone promising to "fix everything" and "keep you out of foreclosure."

Here is the latest case involving scam artists preying on home owners facing foreclosure (via InmanNews):

"Federal officials announced the indictments of 20 people Thursday in two California-based foreclosure rescue and equity-stripping schemes that allegedly netted more than $12 million from more than 100 victims who were left without their homes.

Prosecutors said victims believed that they were making rental payments to "investors" whom they agreed to add to the title of their home. The "investors" were actually straw buyers who often replaced homeowners on the title. After taking out a new mortgage to extract the home's equity, the defendants would sell the victims' home, stop making the mortgage payments, or begin eviction proceedings against the victims, prosecutors said."

Be careful out there, do your homework and remember...there is no quick fix.

U.S. Foreclosures Hit Record High; Virginia Below National Level

Just in case you haven't read or seen any news within the past 24 hours... Foreclosures in America have hit an all-time high. Here are links to some of the stories:

From The Washington Post: Home Foreclosures Hit Record High

"The spike was driven by declining home prices..."

From CNNMoney: Foreclosures hit all-time high

"Declining home prices are clearly the driving factor behind foreclosures, but the reasons and magnitude of the declines differ from state to state," said Doug Duncan, MBA's Chief Economist said in a prepared statement."

From AP: Home Foreclosures Hit Record High

"Clearly it's the worst it's been," chief association economist Doug Duncan said in an interview with The Associated Press. ... "We expect some increases in the next couple of quarters,"

From Bloomberg: U.S. Mortgage Foreclosures Rise as Owners "Give Up"

"U.S. mortgage foreclosures rose to an all-time high at the end of 2007 as borrowers with adjustable-rate loans walked away from properties before their payments rose, the Mortgage Bankers Association said today.

"We're seeing people give up even before they get to the reset because they couldn't afford the home in the first place,'' said Jay Brinkmann, vice president of research and economics for the Washington-based trade group."

From InmanNews: U.S. foreclosure starts hit new records

"Our general outlook is as long as house prices are declining, we expect to see some continued increase in delinquencies and foreclosures," Duncan said. With the continued seizure of credit markets and tightened underwriting standards, "we don't expect to see the peak (in foreclosures) until mid- to late-2008."

All of the articles/quotes hit on a few key points:

1. foreclosures are at all-time highs
2. falling prices is the driving force behind foreclosures
3. the foreclosure rate is expected to continue to rise
4. people are giving up/walking away before their rate resets

Despite all of this negative news, there is some good news for us in Loudoun County and the DC metro area. In the Washington region, foreclosure rates were below the national level: In the District, 1 percent of loans were in foreclosure; in Virginia, 1.01 percent; and in Maryland, 1.22 percent.

Loudoun County Foreclosure/REO Market Makes International Headlines

The situation regarding foreclosures in Loudoun County made international headlines by being featured in a story in The Economist entitled "Foreclosures In America; Searching For Plan B" (this week's issue).

Are Some Borrowers Just "Walking Away" From Their Mortgage?

There is a great article over at Calculated Risk that deals with the notion that some borrowers are just "walking away" and letting their property go into foreclosure rather than trying to sort things out and work with the bank. It's a long article, but definitely a good read.

Project Lifeline Puts Temporary Hold On Foreclosure Proceedings

The six major lenders participating in the Project Lifeline initiative have agreed to put foreclosure proceedings on delinquent borrowers on hold for up to 30 days to evaluate alternatives. The lenders say that eligible borrowers will be offered workout plans that could lead to formal loan modifications for those who can make payments on new terms for three months.

The borrowers targeted by the Project Lifeline are those who are 90 days or more behind on their payments. But borrowers can be excluded if they are in active bankruptcy, if a foreclosure sale date is less than 30 days away, or if the home is an investment property or vacant.

The lenders are also members of the HOPE NOW coalition organized by the Treasury Department to speed up the process of modifying subprime adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) loans before the interest rate resets. By March 31, Project Lifeline will include every member of the HOPE NOW coalition, which is an additional 19 lenders and loan servicers, according to a press release by the coalition yesterday.

Source: InmanNews

Further Reading:

Statement by Secretary Henry M. Paulson, Jr. on Hope Now and Project Lifeline initiative

"Project Lifeline" post - Calculated Risk

Various posts (and reactions) on "Project Lifeline" - Technorati

Washington, DC Metro Area Makes Top 50 Highest Foreclosure Rate List

The Washington, DC metro area, which includes Loudoun County, made the top 50 list of metro areas with the highest foreclosure rates, coming in at number 41.

For the full list and a detailed look at the stats/numbers, click here.

U.S. Foreclosure Filings Up 79 Percent in 2007

According to RealtyTrac, U.S. foreclosure filings rose 79 percent in 2007 compared to 2006 with 1 percent of all households entering a stage of foreclosure.

The household numbers are based on the U.S. Census Bureau's 2005 estimates of total housing units, and RealtyTrac tracks filings for all phases of foreclosure, including notice of default and lis pendens, notice of trustee sale and notice of foreclosure sale, and real estate-owned (REO) properties that have been foreclosed on and repurchased by a bank.