Will we ever get through the backlog? From the WSJ:
Some Banks Halt Foreclosures, Citing Regulator’s Bulletin
Some of the nation’s largest banks, including Wells Fargo & Co., suspended foreclosure sales in a number of states following guidance issued last month by federal banking regulators.
While some foreclosures have since resumed, the halt marks the latest dustup over how foreclosures are handled.
Banks said their actions were triggered by a four-page bulletin issued last month by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Reserve. The bulletin outlined basic operating standards for foreclosure sales. Many of the nation’s largest banks were already operating under consent orders with the OCC or the Fed in response to foreclosure-processing abuses that surfaced in late 2010.
Officials at Wells Fargo and J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. said they had postponed scheduled foreclosures earlier this month in response to the latest guidance. J.P. Morgan has since resumed foreclosures, a spokeswoman said.
A Wells Fargo spokeswoman said the bank hasn’t resumed foreclosures but said it expected the pause to be “brief.” It wasn’t immediately clear what part of the regulatory guidance had prompted the suspensions or how many states were affected.
…
News of the foreclosure suspensions was first reported Friday by the American Banker.During April, Wells Fargo completed around 80 foreclosures per workday for five Western states–California, Nevada, Arizona, Oregon and Washington–according to data compiled by ForeclosureRadar, which tracks filings in those states. But since May 6, Wells Fargo has completed no more than eight foreclosures on any day.
The bank said the guidance didn’t affect other parts of the foreclosure process outside of the final step, in which the lender takes title to the property.
The slowdown in foreclosures came as a surprise to market analysts because the OCC’s compliance letter “appears to cover all of these things the banks should have been doing,” said Sean O’Toole, president of ForeclosureRadar.
An OCC spokesman said regulators hadn’t directed any foreclosure pause. “However, if servicers are not certain they are meeting these standards, pausing foreclosures is a responsible and productive step,” said OCC spokesman Bryan Hubbard.
From American Banker:
N.Y. AG Revising Foreclosure Settlement Complaint Against B of A, Wells
Documentation failings: they aren’t just for bankers.
New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman is revising his allegations of foreclosure settlement violations by Wells Fargo (WFC) and Bank of America (BAC), resetting the clock on his plans to sue the banks over 339 alleged servicing violations.
Under the national mortgage settlement agreement, Schneiderman must give the other settlement parties 21 days before pursuing litigation. Schneiderman asserted during his May 6 press conference that his office was ready to bring a case, making the re-submission something of a do-over.
The cause of the revisions is unclear, as is the question of whether complaints will be resubmitted for each of the cases. A spokeswoman for the office was checking on this late Friday afternoon.
The attorney general “temporarily suspended” his complaints earlier this week, according to the office of Iowa’s Attorney General, who is on the monitoring committee for the national foreclosure settlement. Iowa declined to comment on why New York’s original grievance was retracted.
“We are sending the [mortgage settlement] monitoring committee more information which we believe will help them in their analysis of their enforcement action,” a spokeswoman for Schneiderman told American Banker. “We expect to have that to them by the middle of next week..”
At the original press conference, Schneiderman hoisted a six-inch stack of documents as photogenic proof that Wells and B of A had “flagrantly violated” their obligations to provide timely modification responses and fulfill other settlement commitments.
Schneiderman’s spokeswoman did not comment on what, if any, problems the original complaints contained.
Consumer advocates have repeatedly cited instances in which banks have failed to meet the standards laid out in the national mortgage servicing settlement. Banks have acknowledged some of the errors.
From the Star Ledger:
Christie’s revenue figures expected to fall short by $1 billion, top budget officer says
The state’s top legislative budget officer will tell lawmakers Monday that Gov. Chris Christie’s revenue figures for the next 13 months will fall short by nearly $1 billion, The Star-Ledger has learned.
The gap may be shorter if Christie revises his revenue projections downward, an unlikely move as the governor spent the last week boasting about the dip in the state’s unemployment rate and a surge in income tax collections.
“Obviously, we disagree and the treasurer will be before the committee (Monday) to discuss his forecast,” Christie spokesman Michael Drewniak said.
In April, David Rosen, the budget officer for the nonpartisan Office of Legislative Services, predicted Christie’s revenue figures for the remainder of the current fiscal year and the upcoming year were $637 million too high, drawing a fresh round of criticism from the Christie administration.
But, even as the state’s economy seems to be picking up steam, Rosen now expects the shortfall to be $937 million, according to an e-mail he sent to lawmakers last night.
“Compared to the revenue forecasts provided in the February Governor’s Budget Message, we anticipate $444 million less revenue in FY 2013 and $492 million less in FY 2014, for a two-year gap of $937 million. Six weeks ago that gap was $637 million,” Rosen told lawmakers.
IMHO – My new opinion on the NJ Accelerated Foreclosures legislation is that it will have zero impact as banks will be reluctant to leverage the approach fearing uncertainties (irregularities, f*ckups, etc) around process and procedures that can potentially cause major repercussions that far outweigh any benefits of acceleration.
Clot,
End of days was yesterday.
Today is a new bright and shiny day and the number of the day is 18!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IjfyvR2IZEg&feature=player_embedded
@MMFlint: Malcolm X’s b-day. At 4yrs old, white supremacists in East Lansing, MI set his house on fire. FD, all white, just stood by & watched it burn
The key metrics across 19 major metropolitan markets are:
Home prices in April increased 16% year over year, and rose 5% since March.
The number of homes for sale (inventory) is down 26% compared to April 2012, yet increased 6.4% month-over-month. This is the largest gain since March 2010.
Home sales rose 10.7% from 2012, and gained 7.2% from March.
The percentage of listings that were under contract within 14 days of their debut inched up yet again from 34.5% in March to 35.2% in April, another record high.
The market is as competitive as ever with more than a third of homes going under contract in two weeks or less, but there may be light at the end of the tunnel for buyers with the solid gains in inventory.
Metropolitan Statistical Area # of Houses Sold Yearly Change Monthly Change
Austin 2,273 26.1% 15.1%
Baltimore 1,553 -0.6% 11.1%
Boston 2,110 -4.7% 4.9%
Chicago 5,759 32.7% 12.5%
Denver 3,660 28.0% 6.3%
Inland Empire 5,242 4.5% 4.1%
Las Vegas 3,431 0.1% 6.0%
Long Island 2,103 53.4% -2.6%
Los Angeles 7,657 9.3% 3.8%
Philadelphia 2,998 22.5% 15.4%
Phoenix 8,103 0.3% 7.0%
Portland 2,617 28.2% 12.4%
Sacramento 2,987 7.3% 7.6%
San Diego 2,551 11.0% 3.2%
San Francisco 3,068 -9.9% -1.5%
San Jose 1,303 -3.3% 12.4%
Seattle 4,092 24.9% 9.4%
Ventura 662 10.0% 5.4%
Washington 3,644 1.4% 11.3%
National 65,813 10.7% 7.2%
http://rare.us/story/were-not-deleveraging-were-defaulting-en-masse/
We’re not “deleveraging”, we’re defaulting en masse.
“We’re making exactly the same mistakes we did with Enron, just with a different commodity,” Robert McCullough, an energy consultant, said by telephone from Portland, Oregon. “The same manipulation we saw in electricity and gas pricing is what we’re seeing in oil.”
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-05-20/enron-no-lesson-to-traders-as-eu-probes-oil-price-manipulation.html
These are not crimes, mind you… just mistakes
7 – I haven’t read the zh piece, but from a quick glance, “Discharge” does not necessarily mean “Default” in every case. The word “Discharge” has specific meaning with regards to a lien. The graph seems to use Chargeoff and Discharge interchangeably…
When you start to lose the New Yorker, it ain’t good . . .
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/borowitzreport/2013/05/obama-denies-role-in-government.html
re#8 – Joyce what do the KGB, Judo and energy trading have in common? This move by the EU seems to be going after him again via his ties to the second largest oil trader Gunvor. The EU has been after him for years they don’t like paying the vig.
70% of all Russian gas exports go to the EU
50% of all Russian coal exports go to the EU
80% of all Russian oil exports go to the EU
He and his family makes Billions off of the EU, it’s rumored on every trade has a vig
that goes directly to them.
They need to start Fracking in the EU. I think I read somewhere France banned it.
Activists fear U-turn on French fracking ban
http://www.english.rfi.fr/france/20130315-activists-fear-uturn-frances-fracking-ban
From the Star Ledger:
Poverty on rise in N.J. suburbs, report says
There’s been a slight increase in New York City area suburban poverty since 2000.
The New York Times says experts from Metropolitan Policy Program of the Brookings Institution analyzed census figures for the new report on American poverty.
It includes statistics from New York and New Jersey.
Thirty-three percent of suburban residents in the New York metropolitan area are living below the federal poverty level. In 2000, the figure was 29 percent.
Among the New Jersey municipalities mentioned in the report where poverty climbed:
Bayonne, Bergenfield, Clifton, Edison, Garfield, Hoboken, Lakewood, Linden, Mount Olive, New Brunswick, Passaic, Paterson, Perth Amboy, Raritan, Summit, Teaneck and Woodbridge. It also mentioned Hunterdon County.
The report’s authors say the suburbs are now home to the “fastest growing poor population in the country.”
Closing is this week. Anything special I should do on my walk thru?
Get the Alarm PIN code.
Juice Box says:
May 20, 2013 at 12:45 pm
Closing is this week. Anything special I should do on my walk thru?
Yeah getting arrested for breaking into my own house would put a damper on Memorial Day weekend.
Is it just because I now live in horse country, or is it an especially bad year for pollen sufferers. I can’t remember when allergies kicked the snot out of me so badly.
BTW, that was a question. Sorry.
Remember to ask for the garage door openers
Juice [15];
Move anything that isn’t bolted down. Seller was being ‘helpful’ and cleaned out his freezer — left the ice bin to dry over paper towels on the counter. He happened to be there when we arrived for the walk-through; even made a point to mention it to us. Turns out there was a nice (and recent) crack in the corian countertop beneath the paper towels (directly over dishwasher — prob induced by heat/cool cycles). That would have been cause for a conversation at the closing table.
Did you ever get that fixed, or did you fix it yourself?
re: Hunterdon county poverty. It seems that the white trash has figured out at last how to game the system here. Money flows too freely from the troughs as it is mostly state and federal funded. As a landlord with first-hand experience, many young white girls are hitting the system because they see it as a way of getting away from their parents. Even if that means living in poverty. Yes, they’re stupid here, too. One former tenant got herself pregnant at age 21 because she knew she would get free housing, food, etc in a neighboring county.
And, this is most shocking: I once received a phone call in response to a vacancy asking if I accepted Section 8. You have to say yes. It’s the law. She was about 19 and had two kids. Either way, after she hung up, I recalled the name. She was once the 4 year old daughter of a tenant who I inherited when I bought a property in the early nineties. Her mother was on section 8 then. No father around. Just male organs visiting for tasty treats from the mother. Stupid is as stupid does.
The policies of this country have caused this. Government assistance IS big industry.
So you are saying your a good rental strategy is to knock up your teenage mistresses, then put them in your rental properties as section 8 tenants. It is pure genius. Then on rent collection day you collect in person and when you need more money just knock some more up. When the Mormans hear about this watch out.
xolepa says:
May 20, 2013 at 1:17 pm
re: Hunterdon county poverty. It seems that the white trash has figured out at last how to game the system here. Money flows too freely from the troughs as it is mostly state and federal funded. As a landlord with first-hand experience, many young white girls are hitting the system because they see it as a way of getting away from their parents. Even if that means living in poverty. Yes, they’re stupid here, too. One former tenant got herself pregnant at age 21 because she knew she would get free housing, food, etc in a neighboring county.
And, this is most shocking: I once received a phone call in response to a vacancy asking if I accepted Section 8. You have to say yes. It’s the law. She was about 19 and had two kids. Either way, after she hung up, I recalled the name. She was once the 4 year old daughter of a tenant who I inherited when I bought a property in the early nineties. Her mother was on section 8 then. No father around. Just male organs visiting for tasty treats from the mother. Stupid is as stupid does.
The policies of this country have caused this. Government assistance IS big industry
Check the readings on you electric and gas meters…..I got screwed once on that one…..NJNG is ok, but JCP&L are jackals…..
Juice Box says:
May 20, 2013 at 12:45 pm
Closing is this week. Anything special I should do on my walk thru?
re #18 – “pollen sufferers” Physiologically my superior genetics all me to roll around in fields of wildflowers unaffected, however for those suffering it seems to be a very bad year. Even in the city I hear people complaining continually.
Gotta love technology the pollen count map.
http://www.pollen.com/allergy-weather-forecast.asp
FYI – you really do not have a convenient Home Depot…the Loews on 35 on the Holmdel/Hazlet border is the best bet…..Chinese/Indian down here is slim pickings….kind of a culture shock…..
Give this one a shot when time permits….
http://templegourmet.com/
conventional up by you…..best choice of limited options…
http://crownpalacerestaurant.com/
Also, Comcast is pure garbage……you will actually miss Cablevision if that is possible…..go FiOS if possible…
Chi got FIOS w/400 channels, two dvr boxes, phone and their 2nd fastest internet for $112 a month all in, free install and hidden extras.
My current Direct TV bill was close to $180 and phone internet was another $90 in Hoboken. I will be saving some coin to purchase gasoline for my boat.
Red Bank NJ is middle of no where. You have your choice of a hugely expensive boat ride to work, horrible bus ride or to have your wife blow the guy who hands out train parking passes to jump the line.
The town is cute in an artsy way kinda like the little town up by Mohonk.
Went to a wedding there once, and stayed over night in the place on the water that had the wedding. I think you will see some JJ slept here signs, real estate started rising quickly around 10 months after I stayed there as several families had additions to their families after my visit.
Get a ruku box, wifi and borrow someones netflix and Optonline password. The best Nation is a Do-Nation
Juice Box says:
May 20, 2013 at 1:48 pm
Chi got FIOS w/400 channels, two dvr boxes, phone and their 2nd fastest internet for $112 a month all in, free install and hidden extras.
My current Direct TV bill was close to $180 and phone internet was another $90 in Hoboken. I will be saving some coin to purchase gasoline for my boat.
Check the readings on you electric and gas meters…..I got screwed once on that one…..NJNG is ok, but JCP&L are jackals…..
This is actually a good point, JCP&L as well as PSE&G continued to bill based on “estimated usage” when I purchased my place, even though the house was entirely vacant for 6 months while we were renovating. Once I called in my readings, they credited me a pretty substantial amount. If you are doing work, or not moving in immediately, you might want to call in your readings. I thought it was pretty odd I was getting $300 electric bills in the middle of summer, when power to most of the house was shut down and the AC had been disconnected.
So for the second car we are buying we are able to get the Ford “A” plan discount, wife’s uncle was an engineer there. I think it amounts to 15% off sticker and 0% finance for 60 months. Anyone here drive the new Explorer? Opinion?
JJ – I can expense my costs. No need to steal wifi.
re #31 – JJ the boat from Hoboken is $272 monthly and $635 from Belford, both are a very nice peaceful NONSTOP ride. No need to mingle with the rabble on a bus or train, it is well worth the expense of not having to sit next to a slob who keeps spilling his tall boy on your shoes every-time the train bounces on the tracks or worse when those glassy eyed kid touchers stare at you during the entire ride. The ride is also only 45 minutes from Belford.
Reply to Randy from last week –
Randy says:
May 17, 2013 at 6:33 pm
We should grab a beer sometime when you move in. You can email me at jay-dee-eye-four-five-zero@yahoo (use letters and numbers)
You have a few choices to 22 west, and the best way depends on the time. If it’s early you can take south ave to martine or terrill. Later on, you can take new providence road out. It’s worse going east, so you should be fine.
And the whole town is terrible at school letout, but you might be able to walk from where you are to Jefferson. If you are picking up from Edison, you may want to make your kids walk around the block to pick them up.
I drove it and like it a lot. Only issue I had with Explorer is they price it barebones, clothseats and 2 wheel drive. It takes a lot of work to get one with just options you want. Dealers get them loaded or stripped. Loaded to sell, stripped to scare you.
The Explorer is also a very nice looking car. But honestly in that class both the Acadia and Cherokee are nice looking and all three run well. It is really what you like and get the best deal on.
Juice Box says:
May 20, 2013 at 1:54 pm
So for the second car we are buying we are able to get the Ford “A” plan discount, wife’s uncle was an engineer there. I think it amounts to 15% off sticker and 0% finance for 60 months. Anyone here drive the new Explorer? Opinion?
I had a discrepancy which I could not validate because I never had my starting point…..the only argument I could make was that the one electric bill was totally out of proportion with the ones that followed…..they told me to go blow myself…..with years of readings that followed during the same time period, I know I lost $150 forever….it meant more in 1998….
grim says:
May 20, 2013 at 1:51 pm
I thought it was pretty odd I was getting $300 electric bills in the middle of summer, when power to most of the house was shut down and the AC had been disconnected.
The widows and orphans needed the $150 in their dividend/interest checks more than you. Think of it as Charity.
I personally follow the Japanese Circle of life approach to my LIPA bill. I own just enough LIPA muni bonds so that interest income equal my LIPA bill so I pay them back with their own money.
chicagofinance says:
May 20, 2013 at 2:24 pm
I had a discrepancy which I could not validate because I never had my starting point…..the only argument I could make was that the one electric bill was totally out of proportion with the ones that followed…..they told me to go blow myself…..with years of readings that followed during the same time period, I know I lost $150 forever….it meant more in 1998….
JCP&L had the nerve to ask for a deposit of $450. Also while I was on the phone switching services etc they transferred me to some kind of coupon deal company to get my “confirmation”. The “closer” on the other end of the phone tried to get me to use them for switching services, cable tv, cleaning, pool, insurance and already signed me up for junk mail new mover coupons etc. I told them off after their “closer” said I needed to be more trusting. Now I am getting phone calls at work from a local brokerage. Those forkers sold my info too and even my work number that nobody has. I will pay them back in spades. Their CEO is going to be getting a present from me.
gluteus (4)-
Your team is rubbish. They will bomb out of the CL and be in their usual mad scramble to finish fourth by 1/1/14.
Can’t wait to see who you guys sell Wilshere to.
juice (41)-
Send that mf’er a Kaczynski-quality mail bomb.
juice: If you watch the alcohol order like a hawk, this early-bird special is a friggin’ steal……pick a good non-weekend day once the water warms up and hit this place on the beach side outdoor deck….
http://leclubavenue.com/restaurant-menu-prix-fixe.html
Not joking though about the alcohol…..the table wine is $19/glass……f this guys….
re#44 – I like to down a bottle in the parking lot before I go in any club or restaurant.
Wilshire will go to United, Gunners will buy Falcao, and then start Gervinho over him.
ChiFi [25];
re: JCP&L Jackals —
They respond alertly to political pressure.
On my move-in day, a hot Friday afternoon in July, I was told by the JCP&L cube-dweller that power to the house had been turned off because of the transfer of ownership, and she wasn’t sure if anyone could get out there to turn it back on that day (BTW, she was wrong; when I got to the house, I saw it hadn’t been). Moving into a dark and hot house was not acceptable. While sitting in bumper-to-bumper traffic on the Cross-Bronx, I called my (new) Rep’s local field office — that call was relayed to DC, who called the First Energy (JCP&L parent) gov’t relations office. First Energy gov’t relations called me back before 5. A lineman appeared at the house around 5:30 to confirm that power was on. I got another call from the local VP for distribution on Monday morning just to make sure everything was OK.
Local rep got a modest donation towards the reelection campaign.
JJ [31];
Went to a wedding there once…
That felt a little forced, esp. from you. If you’re going to phone it in, well…
It actually was a terrible wedding. I did not like that place on the water at all. It was a day wedding, reception ended in evening but I was pounding drinks and did not feel like driving home. So after a few after wedding drinks I pass out upstairs, then then the second wedding starts and now I have a huge hangover from drinking from noon to 7pm and the damm band is shaking the room like crazy from 10pm to 1am. Nothing worse than loud music and a hang over, I actually started heading downstairs to demand my money back and start driving home when I realized I would crack up car. So I went back to room in like 30 minutes it stopped. I did make a huge racket as I was living at 7am to wake up the other idiot guests whose band kept me up. That place should burn to the ground
Anon E. Moose says:
May 20, 2013 at 3:21 pm
JJ [31];
Went to a wedding there once…
That felt a little forced, esp. from you. If you’re going to phone it in, well…
Chifi see last week GMAC news release about to get a bond rating upgrade. Damm bonds are paying like 3% now, amazing. GMAC smart notes in 2009 were a very smart investment.
chicagofinance says:
May 20, 2013 at 2:48 pm
daddyo (46)-
Gooners won’t touch Falcao. He can actually play.
Whoever gets Falcao wins EPL next year.
Falcao is going to Monaco actually, that’s the big rumor, and fairly believable. Russian Oil money can buy a lot of soccer talent.
Cavani would be a good fit if he doesn’t go to City.
I’m not an Arsenal fan, but I honestly think Giroud is pretty talented. He has a good knack for being in the right place, and very good at laying the ball off in traffic. I believe Wenger was playing Cazorla out of position, and he’s too talented to not get 100% from. Sagna and Ramsey should probably not be allowed on the field. Wenger should pay someone to take those two donkies off his hands.
Donkees? Donkeys? WTF is the plural form of donkey?
Donkey Punch or Donkey Punches?
daddyo says:
May 20, 2013 at 4:38 pm
Donkees? Donkeys? WTF is the plural form of donkey?
Daddyo – New Jersey resident
Juice, what did u do about your pool and inspecting it?
Bears didn’t inspect, took their word for it since a closed pool cannot be inspected, just like an A/C unit in winter Just ask for the maintenance records.
Manzarek < Vigoda
F#ck yeah indeed, David Karp. Well done.
Giroud is good. Another season or two, and Wenger will have him completely ruined.
re: # 60 – Yahoo desperation for relevance spends 1.1 Billion to buy a bunch of cat photos.
62 – don’t forget about the porn
I wanna see that ginch who runs Yahoo in a p#rn.
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