Foreclosure Counseling in Minnesota 2009

The Minnesota Home Ownership Center has released its Foreclosure Counseling report for 2009. 

This report provides a summary of findings from an evaluation of the foreclosure prevention counseling program supported by the Minnesota Home Ownership Center. The program delivers local foreclosure counseling services to consumers through 25 agencies throughout Minnesota. The report summarizes household and loan characteristics, service usage, and outcomes for homeowners receiving foreclosure counseling during 2009.

The complete report is available online at the Center's website, here.

Here are a few highlights from the report:

• In 2009, the Minnesota Home Ownership Center’s network of foreclosure counseling agencies served a record number of homeowners, providing services to 15,868 homeowners. This represents an increase of 34% from the previous year.
• 7,771 of the homeowners receiving counseling services were able to avoid foreclosure. \
• Foreclosures cost homeowners, lenders, local governments and neighboring home values. The foreclosures prevented by the Minnesota Home Ownership Center’s counseling network translates to an estimated savings of up to $600 million for Minnesota homeowners, lenders, neighborhoods and local governments in 2009 alone.
• The pattern of service use suggests that the foreclosure problem is moving out from the urban areas and into suburban and rural counties. The counties with the highest rate of households served form a ring surrounding Hennepin and Anoka counties.

The report was highlighted in an article in the Pioneer Press on June 19th.  The article is here.

Housing Notes - Bits and Pieces

There's so much going on, rather than try and write in-depth posts about all these stories... I'd just throw all the links out there for you:


There were two news stories in the press over the weekend that expose another side to the foreclosure crisis: squatters.

1. The police are currently investigating the death of an unidentified man whose body was found in the attic of a garage at a vacant south Minneapolis home.  The real estate agent, quoted in the article, believes that the man was a squatter that was living in the 'attic' of the garage.
2. In another article from Seattle, reporter Danny Westneat has hit on an intriguing story about a new scam that promises to help find cheap homes for investors/homebuyers by squatting in a foreclosed house in order to force the bank to prove ownership.  If the bank can't produce proof, the scammers place liens and try and take legal posession of the property.  These vultures are also selling this scam, and charging $5,000 or more in the process, as a way to 'eliminate your mortgage'.

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The Center for Responsible Lending released a new study on June 18th that analyzes the demographics of the foreclosure crisis, and finds that foreclosure has disproportionately impacted black and Latino homeowners.  The full report is here.


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The FBI has released its mortgage fraud report for 2009... and the report indicates that mortgage fraud activity continued to increase in 2009. FBI mortgage fraud pending investigations increased 71 percent from fiscal year (FY) 2008 to FY 2009.  The full report is here.


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Report: 23,000 Foreclosures in 2009

The Center is pleased to announce the release of its 2009 "Foreclosures in Minnesota" Report, prepared in partnership with HousingLink.


There were 23,019 foreclosures in Minnesota in 2009, making it the second highest year on record.


While the number declined 12% from 2008, it is still an extraordinarily higher rate than the number of foreclosures experienced prior to the current housing crisis. The report shows that 1.28% of all residential parcels in Minnesota experienced a foreclosure in 2009.


This means that almost 5% of all residential properties in Minnesota have experienced a foreclosure in the last five years.


To view the press release of this report, click here.


To view the report, click here.




Press sightings:


To read the Pioneer Press story on the report, click here.


To read the Star Tribune story on the report, click here.

Update:

To read the MPR story, click here.

Update II:

To read the Star News (Elk River, Otsego, Rogers, Zimmerman) story, Click here.

Report on Mortgage Fraud

Chris Snowbeck from the Pioneer Press has written an article about the Mortgage Asset Research Institute's (MARI) 11th annual report on Mortgage Fraud to the Mortgage Banker's Association.

The article can be viewed here.

The Complete MARI report can be viewed in PDF format here.

The report describes the three most prevelant mortgage-related fraud schemes that have emerged in the last year. Here at the Center, we've already written extensively about the #1 new scam: Foreclosure Rescues. (Here, Here and Here).

If you're having difficulty with your house payment - or think you might have some difficulty in the future - contact a FREE Foreclosure Specialist today... waiting limits your options.

Disclosure: Ed Nelson from the Center was quoted in the Pioneer Press article.

Center Media Sightings

Additional details of President Obama's "Making Home Affordable" plan were announced today. The Center is working on producing pieces that can assist Minnesota Homeowners with the details of the plan.

Staff from the Minnesota Home Ownership Center have been interviewed today by WCCO-TV, KARE-11, and FOX-9 News, and the St. Paul Pioneer Press regarding the plan.

Catch us on the news tonight, or newspaper tomorrow! We'll follow-up with links to any of the pieces that air or are published.

Over the next few days, the Center will be producing fact sheets and blog posts to help homeowners understand both the modification and refinance details of the plan... and whether or not this plan is the best option for them.

If you're behind in your payments... or fear you may fall behind soon, DON'T WAIT. Contact a Foreclosure Counselor today for help with determining YOUR next steps.