Few Respond to Foreclosure Review Offer

WASHINGTON – May 21, 2012 – Months after the first invitations were mailed, only a small percentage of eligible borrowers have accepted a chance to have their foreclosure cases checked for errors and maybe win restitution. By April 30, fewer than 165,000 people had applied to have their foreclosures checked for mistakes – about 4 percent of the 4.1 million who received letters about the free reviews late last year, according to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. The reviews were agreed to by 14 major mortgage servicers and federal banking regulators in a settlement last year over alleged foreclosure abuses. So few people have responded that another mailing to almost 4 million households will go out in early June, reminding them of the July 31 deadline to request a review, OCC spokesman Bryan Hubbard says. If errors occurred, restitution could run from several hundred dollars to more than $100,000. The reviews are separate from the $25 billion mortgage-servicing settlement that state and federal officials reached this year. Anyone who requests a review will get one if they meet certain criteria. Mortgages had to be in the foreclosure process in 2009 or 2010, on a primary residence, and serviced by one of the 14 servicers or their affiliates, including Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Citibank and Wells Fargo. More information is at independentforeclosurereview.com. Even though letters went to more than 4 million households, consumer advocates say follow-up advertising has been ineffective, leading to the low response rate. Many consumers have also grown wary of foreclosure scams and government foreclosure programs, says Deborah Goldberg of the National Fair Housing Alliance. “The effort is being made” to reach people, says Paul Leonard, the mortgage servicers’ representative at the Financial Services Roundtable, a trade group. “It’s hard to say why people aren’t responding.” With this settlement, foreclosure cases will be reviewed one by one by consultants hired by the servicers but monitored by regulators. With the $25 billion mortgage settlement, borrowers who lost homes to foreclosure will be eligible for payouts from a $1.5 billion fund. That could mean 750,000 borrowers getting about $2,000 each, federal officials have said. For more information on that, go to nationalmortgagesettlement.com.

Here's the Scoop on Home loan rates

                  Sunflower Homes and Equestrian Listed this Palm City Home in Stuart West. It is PENDING SALE. 

The world is certainly more connected than ever these days, and that's true well beyond the Internet. If you've been wondering what's been going on...and what things mean for home loan rates...here's the scoop from Sunflower Homes and Equestrian, Broker, Carol Barron Cross.

Http://www.mysunflowerfarmfl.com 

A Recap of News at Home
First, it's important to remember that when our economy is struggling, our Bond Market usually benefits as investors seek a safe haven for their money. And since home loan rates are tied to Mortgage Bonds, our home loan rates are sometimes at their best when our economy is struggling. In a way it makes sense...in times of economic struggle, good home loan rates can help kick start our economy in other areas.

The housing market is one of the main areas in our economy that is still struggling. New Home Sales, Existing Home Sales and Housing Starts all fell in March. And in April, the Fed noted in its statement from their Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting that the housing market remains "depressed."

In addition, recent reports in the manufacturing sector were also disappointing, as both the Empire State Manufacturing Index and the Philly Fed Index came in below expectations. The same is true in the labor market, as recent Initial Jobless Claims readings have spiked sharply higher...and well above the 350,000 range seen in recent weeks.

But not all the news has been disappointing: Retail Sales in March rose by a nice 0.8%, as consumers bought all kinds of products across the board. And when stripping out autos, sales still grew. This adds to the increasing trend seen in January and February and is a good sign for our economy, as consumers don't spend when they aren't feeling optimistic about their financial situation.

The direction of economic reports here will certainly impact the markets and home loan rates in the weeks and months ahead, and it's something to watch closely.

News to Note from Overseas
Our Bond Market–and therefore home loan rates–also often benefit when the global economy is struggling, as investors overseas see our Bond Market as an ultra safe haven for their money. This has happened throughout recent months as Greece and several other countries in Europe have been facing a debt crisis. What's more, there is growing and very justified concern about Spain's ability to pay down debt, meet new budget deficit targets, and avoid a bailout or debt restructuring. And let's not forget that besides Spain and Greece, we still have France, Portugal, and Ireland to deal with in future months and years.

There will likely be more safe haven trading into the relative safety of the US Dollar and US Bonds (which will benefit Mortgage Bonds, to which home loan rates are tied) as the uncertainty out of Europe escalates. And more bad economic reports here in the United States could increase trading into the safety of our Bonds, just as more good economic news here would likely benefit Stocks at the expense of our Bonds and home loan rates.