The Norris Group Blog

Sources:

http://www.realtor.org/press_room/news_releases/2010/06/may_strong_pace

http://www.nahb.org/news_details.aspx?newsID=10966

http://www.car.org/newsstand/newsreleases/maysalesprice/

http://lansner.ocregister.com/2010/06/23/calif-s-first-time-buyer-tax-credit-almost-gone/69971/

http://www.ftb.ca.gov/aboutFTB/press/2010/Release_29.shtml

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-06-23/bank-of-america-hires-2-000-staff-to-handling-troubled-real-estate-loans.html?source=patrick.net

http://oversight.house.gov/images/stories/Hearings/Committee_on_Oversight/2010/062410_HAMP_II/TESTIMONY-Desoer.pdf

http://gov.ca.gov/index.php?/print-version/press-release/15395/

http://www.calhfa.ca.gov/about/publications/press-releases/2010/pr2010-05.pdf

http://gov.ca.gov/index.php?/print-version/press-release/15395/

http://www.calhfa.ca.gov/about/publications/press-releases/2010/pr2010-05.pdf

http://www.keepyourhomecalifornia.com/

http://www.dsnews.com/articles/audit-shows-prison-inmates-received-9m-in-homebuyer-tax-credits-2010-06-24

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703615104575328020013164184.html?mod=djemalertNEWS

Today’s News Synopsis:

The Commerce Department reports the economy increased by 2.7 percent in the first quarter. Fannie Mae is implementing new rules requiring servicers to verify income, liabilities, and monthly expenses for all borrowers prior to granting a permanent standard Fannie Mae mortgage modification. Also, Fannie Mae will hold strategic defaulters accountable for all associated costs of getting the house back on the market. California unemployment was 12.4 percent in May.

In The News:

Los Angeles Times – “House, Senate lawmakers reach a deal on financial reform” (6-25-10)

“Ending more than two weeks of often-contentious negotiations, House and Senate lawmakers reached agreement early Friday on the most far-reaching rewrite of financial rules since the Great Depression. The final details, including creation of an agency to protect consumers in the financial marketplace and new regulations to reduce risk-taking by large banks and limit their trading of complex derivatives, were hashed out in a marathon 20-hour session that began Thursday morning.”

San Francisco Chronicle – “Economy faces tough road ahead with slower growth” (6-25-10)

“The Commerce Department said Friday that the economy grew at an annual rate of 2.7 percent in the first quarter, offering its third and final estimate for the period. It was slower than initially thought because consumers spent less and imports rose faster that previously calculated.”

Housing Wire – “Unemployed Homeowner Provision Survives Reform Bill Compromise” (6-25-10)

“The provision provides $1bn to unemployed homeowners and is patterned after a program introduced by Fattah when he was a Pennsylvania state legislator. Pennsylvania’s Homeowner’s Emergency Mortgage Assistance Program (HEMAP) has provided $236m to tens of thousands of unemployed workers to stave off the foreclosure, according to Fattah’s office. Fattah had originally sought $3bn for the federal reform bill provision.”

Housing Wire – “Fannie Mae Mortgage Modifications Now Require Proof of Financial Hardship” (6-25-10)

“After announcing this week that it intends to crack down on strategic defaulters, Fannie Mae (FNM: 0.3886 +2.26%) issued a servicing guide (download here) Friday implementing another new policy — requiring servicers to verify income, liabilities, and monthly expenses for all borrowers prior to granting a permanent standard Fannie Mae mortgage modification.”

Housing Wire – “Most Borrowers Would Benefit from Mortgage Refinance, But Can’t Qualify: Credit Suisse” (6-25-10)

“But even so, according to fixed income researchers at Credit Suisse (CS: 38.90 +1.33%), the majority of borrowers remain unable to take advantage of the exceptionally low rates that would reduce monthly payments. They find that only 38% of borrowers that could benefit from a refinance can actually do so due to a variety of barriers.”

Housing Wire – “KB Home Posts Q210 Loss, But Sees Deliveries Up” (6-25-10)

“KB Home (KBH: 11.195 -8.39%) reported a net loss of $30.7m, or $0.40 per share, for its fiscal year Q210 ending May 31, narrowed losses for the Los Angeles-based builder, which said it saw home deliveries increase for the first time in more than three years. The Q210 loss is 61% less than its Q110 loss of $78.4m, or $1.03 per share. At the end of its 2009 fiscal year, KB Home posted a $100m quarterly profit, the result of a nearly $192m tax return made possible by a temporary change to tax law.”

Bloomberg - “States of Crisis for 46 Governments Facing Greek-Style Deficits” (6-25-10)

“Californians don’t see much evidence that the worst economic contraction since the Great Depression is coming to an end. Unemployment was 12.4 percent in May, 2.7 percentage points higher than the national rate. Lawmakers gridlocked over how to close a $19 billion budget gap are weighing the termination of the main welfare program for 1.3 million poor families or borrowing more than $9 billion in the bond market. California, tied with Illinois for the lowest credit rating of any state, is diverting a rising portion of tax revenue to service debt, Bloomberg Markets magazine reports in its August issue.”

Housing Wire – “Fannie Mae to Charge Strategic Defaulters, for Everything” (6-25-10)

“Fannie Mae (FNM: 0.3871 +1.87%) is sifting through borrower data to determine who is strategically defaulting and who is not after announcing more efforts this week to crack down on those who walk away from their homes. And if the GSE determines someone strategically defaulted, then they say they will hold the borrower accountable for all associated costs of getting the house back on the market, in areas that lawfully allow deficiency judgments.”

For more information about The Norris Group’s California hard money loans or our California Trust Deed investments, visit the website or call our office at 951-780-5856 for more information. For upcoming California real estate investor training and events, visit The Norris Group website and our California investor calendar. You’ll also find our award-winning real estate radio show on KTIE 590am at 6pm on Saturdays or you can listen to over 170 podcasts in our free investor radio archive.