Fortunately, there is now a chance to get much of that funding restored. In the next few weeks, the House Appropriations Committee will consider an amendment to an agriculture bill that would add $60 million to the program. This...
By Kyle Clapham October 25, 2011 At first glance, recent data suggests dramatic improvement in Chicago-area foreclosures. In the six counties that comprise the region, there were 8,515 foreclosure auctions in the first half of 2011, a 51...
By Mary Morrison October 25, 2011 A federal program to modify delinquent home loans is helping more struggling local homeowners than it did last year but still not enough, according to local housing advocates. More than 35,700...
As Woodstock Institute has reported, foreclosure filings are continuing at high levels, cases are taking longer to process to completion, and the growing inventory of vacant, foreclosed homes is causing blight and depressing property values. Despite the evidence all...
You might have heard of some of the innovative initiatives Philadelphia has pursued in the fight against foreclosures. The city courts, led by Hon. Annette Rizzo, pioneered a model that requires homeowners and servicers to come together in the...
By Kerry Curry October 20, 2011 Poverty rates rose to 15.3% in 2010 from 14.3% 2009 as the nation’s economic malaise and housing crisis persist, according to Census Bureau data released Thursday. Some 3.3 million more people were...
By David Unger October 19, 2011 At a Chicago city council committee meeting Monday, Ald. James Balcer (11th) raised a seemingly simple question. The topic was proposed changes to the city’s vacant property ordinance. “If you’re in...
The Hardest Hit Fund, funded by the U.S. Department of Treasury, offers struggling homeowners a 10-year forgivable loan for up to $25,000 to bring their mortgages current by paying arrearages, penalties, and fines, as well as regular monthly mortgage...
By Mary Ellen Podmolik October 14, 2011 Many consumers applying for a mortgage are going to start sharing more personal information with lenders next year, like it or not. FICO scores, the industry standard for determining credit...
New HAMP data show that active trial modifications dropped nationally by 59 percent from July 2010 to July 2011, while permanent modifications grew by 60 percent over the same period (see Figure A). The change in trial modification activity...