Sunday, April 21, 2013
Increase in empty foreclosed properties drains social services, financial resources in Newark.
Almost 43 percent of bank-owned properties in one Newark neighborhood remain vacant, even years after foreclosure, according to a new study. On a day when the city auctioned off 80 abandoned properties, the large number of vacant foreclosures “really jumped out” at researchers as they walked the Upper Clinton Hill neighborhood and studied property records, Linda Fisher, a Seton Hall University professor, told a Newark City Council committee hearing. “We’ve heard a lot about homeowners walking away in the middle of foreclosures” rather than continuing to make mortgage payments, Fisher said. “Well, these are bank walkaways.” Vacant, boarded-up units can become a pernicious problem, as they are a drag on the city’s finances, with extra costs …
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
Foreclosure filings start to slow in most of the country.
The numbers tell a grim story for the Garden Sate. The tide of foreclosure is slowly receding across many of the nation’s housing markets, but it is still rising across southern New Jersey. While other regions may have higher raw numbers, housing distress was becoming pervasive across the state’s southern counties even before superstorm Sandy, according to participants in New Jersey Future’s 2013 redevelopment forum. And even though big cities like Phoenix and Las Vegas grab foreclosure headlines, South Jersey communities top the list for a number of unfortunate housing market trends, according to Kathe Newman of Rutgers University. “When you combine mortgages that are delinquent by at least 90 days with properties already in foreclosure, …
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Allowing Wells Fargo to collect full back interest on foreclosed mortgages will drive up debt for overburdened homeowners
Wells Fargo Bank can charge New Jersey homeowners full back interest on mortgages in foreclosure cases that were delayed by a judicial review of abuses in the process, a Superior Court judge has ruled. The decision by chancery Judge Margaret Mary McVeigh boosts the debt owed on thousands of properties at a time when major banks ostensibly are offering loan modifications to homeowners in arrears. Now, the debt starting point for modifications will be higher for thousands of borrowers, which may increase the likelihood of foreclosure. They will be hit with back interest accrued at rates as high as 13 percent, set before the cost of borrowing plunged along with the economy. Wells Fargo, represented by Mark Melodia and Diane Bettino of Reed …
Thursday, December 13, 2012
Protesters accuse Gov. Christie of 'indifference’ toward state residents with mortgage woes.
Like many New Jerseyans, Yolanda Andrews began having mortgage problems when the economy fizzled, which in turn was caused by the Wall Street meltdown as risky mortgage-backed securities went bad. But the Newark resident may yet beat the odds. In August, Andrews said, Wells Fargo notified her that she qualifies for a modification of her mortgage loan. Just one thing: It’s four months later, and the bank still has not forwarded the paperwork. In fact, Andrews said she has been unable to learn the particulars of the offer. "They haven’t told me how much I would be paying,” she said. The ongoing confusion about New Jersey’s foreclosure crisis, potential solutions and bungled policies brought Andrews to the narrow street outside Gov. Chris …
Stacey Irwin
10:11 pm on Sunday, April 21, 2013
I was born in 1953. It was a good much easier time. I definitely think this generation will has it so much more difficult. more ›