The Big Picture Blog has an interesting post on how Washington is pushing mortgage modifications and foreclosure abatements, which only amounts to “extend & pretend” outcomes:
I have been dismayed about the latest actions out of Washington and Wall Street. The banks are now pushing all manner of mortgage mods and foreclosure abatements. These are little [...]

The ownership of a lot of previously foreclosed homes in Massachusetts is now up in the air.
A Massachusetts land court judge today affirmed his previous decision that invalidated foreclosures due to lack of clear title documentation (thanks a lot, mortgage-backed securities).
The ruling could effect hundreds, if not thousands, of homes in Massachusetts – and further [...]

Foreclosure filings broke another record in April, according RealtyTrac’s monthly report released Wednesday.
Filings — default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions — were reported on 342,038 properties, a 32% jump from a year earlier. One in every 374 housing units received a filing last month, the highest monthly rate since RealtyTrac started its report [...]

In some parts of the country foreclosures are on the rise, but here in Massachusetts, only about 10 percent of single-family home sales involve a bank-owned property.
There seem to be some signs that foreclosure activity is moderating in Massachusetts. The Warren Group will be releasing a report later this week showing that the [...]

Here, in a letter from a homeowner trying to work out something, anything with his bank – so far not getting much help, he says.
Writer says:
“I am amazed at how freely folks I work with and am acquainted with discuss how they plan to skip mortgage payments, extend the foreclosure process by [...]

After a somewhat unexpected spike in December, foreclosure activity dropped 10 percent in January — although the January total of 274,399 was the fourth highest monthly total since January 2005 and still up 18 percent from January 2008, according to the latest RealtyTrac U.S. Foreclosure Market Report.
The monthly drop was uncharacteristic for a January: [...]

Spending the holiday at the inlaws, I noticed an addition to their Department 56 miniature Christmas village.

It’s the city constable serving papers to the owners of a home about to go into foreclosure.

From the Decisionism blog:
Today the SJC adventures into this murk in Commonwealth v. Fremont Investment & Loan, No. SJC 10258. The decision is long-ish. The facts are complicated. The procedural elements are a bit different, since this an enforcement action by the Commonwealth.
But everything flows from this conclusion by the Court. “It was unreasonable, and [...]

Courtesy, The Boston Globe:
US Representative Barney Frank said that even with significant default rates, the majority of those who are helped stay in their homes and slow the bleeding in neighborhoods struggling from abandonment and blight …
… Other specialists said the problem is as much the homeowners. Paul Willen, an analyst for the Federal [...]