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Arizona Four Seasons Resort and Golf Club Facing Foreclosure

admin — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 14:03:21 +0000

A 400-acre luxury resort that hosts the annual Byron Nelson Championship golf tournament is facing foreclosure.

U.S. Bank has posted the Four Seasons Resort and Club in suburban Dallas, with its more than 400-room hotel and spa, for a Feb. 2 auction. The bank is seeking payment on a $183 million note with Los Angeles-based BentleyForbes.

The real estate investment company did not immediately respond Thursday to a request for comment from The Associated Press.

Four Seasons general manager Michael Newcombe says the owner has been in talks with lenders on ways to restructure debt. He says the posting will not affect the property’s daily operations.

This year’s Byron Nelson Championship is scheduled for May 20-23.

Boston Works To Keep Renters in Foreclosed Homes

admin — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 16:10:49 +0000

The Boston Redevelopment Authority and the Department of Neighborhood Development are working together to keep tenants in foreclosed homes throughout Allston-Brighton.

The BRA has used funds earned through its leased properties around the city to purchase five foreclosed homes from the Bank of America as a way to revitalize neighborhoods and limit the impact of the ongoing foreclosure crisis. This pilot program, known as theREO Tenancy Preservation Pilot initiative, is the first of its kind in the country and is meant to create a pool of affordable homes residents can purchase with the assistance of Boston’s federal Neighborhood Stabilization Program funds.

“Earlier this year, President Obama signed into law the Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act of 2009 that guaranteed tenants the right not to be evicted without cause for at least 90 days after the foreclosure. Today we are taking this to the next level, protecting tenants all the way through the process until a new owner takes possession of the property,” said Mayor Thomas Menino. “Not only is this good for the tenants, it is also good for our neighborhoods. We want to prevent buildings from remaining vacant for long periods and attracting crime and vandalism.”

DND spokesperson Lucy Warsh said the program will help revitalize neighborhoods hit hardest by the recession, and could possibly aid in increasing homeownership rates throughout the city.

In order to acquire foreclosed properties, the BRA uses its own revenue to purchase homes from lending institutions before transferring ownership to the Department of Neighborhood Development, which then sells the homes at discounted rates in order to reimburse the BRA for the initial investment.

“We are getting back exactly what we paid for,” said Warsh. “The savings come from our time at the negotiating table. Banks know the city and the mayor so we can reach a fair price.”

While Bank of America has been the only lending institution to complete a sale, Warsh said the city is currently negotiating with six other major banks to establish similar deals, resulting in 100 additional sales in the next eight to 10 months.

Currently there are approximately 1,550 units of housing in 875 properties held by banks, concentrated mainly in East Boston, Dorchester, Hyde Park, Mattapan and Roxbury. Research by the city of Boston stated that almost three-quarters of tenants displaced by foreclosure had no direct involvement in the actions that led to their loss of housing.

The new pilot program is part of an ongoing effort by DND to educate tenants about their rights and prevent foreclosed families from accepting “cash for keys” programs from banks, which kick residents off a property in exchange for up-front cash, often landing families in emergency shelters.

To aid in this effort, Boston received $4.2 million in federal neighborhood stabilization funding eight months ago; the funds are now being used to aid potential home buyers and help maintain newly purchased homes.

Warsh said the city’s efforts to reduce the impact of the recession have been successful thus far, but additional work needs to be done.

“It’s all part of a larger effort, every program we implement is aimed at minimizing the damage to our neighborhoods,” said Warsh.

Brockton MA Has Most Foreclosures in Massachusetts

admin — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 13:30:13 +0000

BROCKTON —

The city had the highest number of housing units in foreclosure in the state as of July, according to the Massachusetts Housing Partnership and the Federal Reserve.

A total of 34,794 housing units (including apartments) were in some stage of foreclosure. That number is actually down 1 percent since October 2008, and represents 2,900 properties, said Janine Carreiro of Brockton Interfaith Community.

“I’m not surprised,” said Carreiro.

She said for every 1,000 Brockton houses, 43.8 are considered distressed, or in some stage of foreclosure. The 02301 and 02 zip codes of Brockton have the highest foreclosure rates in Massachusetts, according to Carreiro.

“That’s why we’re getting federal money. They realize the problems,” said Mayor James E. Harrington.

Foreclosures can stem from predatory, or deceptive, lending, as well as owners’ job loss.

Housing specialists say federal programs designed to help have only recently made it into the city. Some are yet to be realized. Much of the money is designated to cleaning up blighted neighborhoods instead of helping homeowners keep their houses.

Donald Walsh, president and CEO of Building a Better Brockton Corp., the agency that administers federal housing funds, said that the prevalence of subprime lenders and unemployment in Brockton, as well as a lack of preparedness, put the city on the top of the list.

“I think part of Brockton’s problem is they did not have the organizational infrastructure to deal with the problems of foreclosure,” said Walsh.

Brockton received $2.1 million in federal Neighborhood Stabilization Funds and another $1 million from the state to buy and rehab foreclosed houses. The city also recently applied for another $21 million from the second round of Neighborhood Stabilization Funds.

“We’ve just started putting money out there,” he said.

Other federal funds are available to directly help borrowers bring mortgages down to 31 percent of their monthly income.

Brian Moriarty of Neighborhood Housing Services said lenders weren’t prepared to deal with the program when it was launched in March, but now, it’s beginning to work.

Neighborhood Housing Services provides foreclosure clinics every two weeks. Twenty to 25 property owners attend each program and many find solutions to prevent foreclosure. Moriarty said the success rate is now 65 percent, up from an initial 2 percent rate.

“Anything that prevents foreclosure is called positive,” he said.

Some loans are modified to a reasonable rate for the borrower, other times owners are led to a short sale — selling below the cost of the mortgage, which is not the best solution, but still considered a plus.

“Brockton was a targeted area for predatory loans,” he said. “We’re still seeing a lot of them.”

People saw Brockton as an escape from Boston — it was close by and had good schools, said Thomas Minichiello, Ward 1 school committeeman and an attorney specializing in housing.

“A lot of brokers and mortgage people marketed Brockton aggressively,” he said. “And, a lot of mortgagers turned a blind eye to tradition.”

So-called “boutique mortgages,” eventually failed because personal incomes did not keep up with escalating rates. Even some of the rescue programs aren’t realistic, because they don’t take loss of income into consideration, said Minichiello.

Often, people are paying 21/2 weeks pay toward their mortgage when the rule of thumb was always one week’s pay for housing, he said.

Unfortunately, most say the turning point is not yet on the horizon.

“It’s going to be a while,” said Moriarty. “A lot depends on how the economy goes, when people get that second job back and are not facing layoffs.”

For more information, visit mhp.net/foreclosuremonitor

Source: EnterpriseNews

Massachusetts Foreclosures Decline 59% in May

admin — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 06:52:10 +0000

Foreclosure deeds filed in Massachusetts in May dropped 58.6 percent from the previous year, although foreclosure petitions — the first step in commencing foreclosure proceedings — rose sharply, according to The Warren Group.

Deeds filed in May were also 24.3 percent below April’s count and, year-to-date, were 26.3 percent below the first five months of 2008. There were 4,110 deeds recorded during the first five months of this year, compared with 5,576 during the same period last year.

“The number of foreclosure deeds recorded in May was the lowest since April 2007. It is encouraging that foreclosures have declined for two months straight. I think lenders have realized how costly foreclosures can be and are taking steps to avoid foreclosure whenever possible,” said Timothy M. Warren Jr., CEO of The Warren Group.

NECN Covers the Boston Foreclosure Auction

admin — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 13:12:17 +0000

Buying A Foreclosure Through Bank Foreclosures

admin — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 12:30:09 +0000

Buying A Foreclosure Through Bank Foreclosures

You have decided to purchase a home through a foreclosure sale. One of the best ways is through bank foreclosures. Bank foreclosures are simply the homes and properties the bank has taken back from the original purchaser through foreclosure. The owners of the property have fallen behind in their payments forcing the bank to take back the home. These types of sales are often the safest and easiest ways to purchase foreclosure property.

You are dealing directly with the bank making bank foreclosures easy to buy. These banks want to sell the property since they don’t make any money on the property they own. Banks often advertise their properties for sale in newspaper classified ads or through a real estate service. You can often buy these foreclosure properties for about 10% to 15% lower than their market value. The process is simple and often a good option for beginning investors or first time buyers.

Another reason they are easy to purchase is the lack of judgments or liens on the property. You won’t have to worry about back taxes and tenants or the homeowners have already vacated the property so you won’t have to worry about evicting them. The bank allows you admission into the property for various inspections. As you can see, bank foreclosures have a lot of benefits.

Your financing should already be in place and ready to make a purchase before you begin your search for a foreclosure. Banks want to get rid of these properties quickly and usually won’t wait for you to get qualified in your financing. Also keep in mind there are often other fees and rates involved on top of the discounted price needed to purchase the home.

You can sometimes negotiate when buying bank foreclosures. For instance, you might be able to negotiate a lower interest rate, lower down payment, discounted asking price or reduced closing costs. As the buyer you will have to ask for these things and they should be kept realistic. Many lenders are flexible and will work will with you to get a good deal.