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 more than “extend & pretend” measures, designed to put off the day of reckoning. They are not only ineffective, they are counter-productive. They reward the reckless and punish the responsible, and create a moral hazard. Worse yet, they penalize middle America for the sake of giant Wall Street banks.

It may sound counter-intuitive, but the best thing for the nation (but not necessarily the banks) is to allow the foreclosure process to proceed unimpeded. We need more, not less foreclosures.

Your thoughts?

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 slow up the foreclosure process for thousands of other homes. Could this further delay the housing market recovery? We’ll see.

Three words: What a mess.

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 January 2005.

Source: The Wall Street Journal Blog

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 number of Bay State foreclosure deeds and petitions to foreclose has declined from last year.

Source: Banker & Tradesman

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