Two New Items

Well, today I have two bits of interesting news for you. One involves Bank of America and its mortgage reduction proposals. The other is California-centric and relates to making foreclosures illegal(unlikely to happen any time soon, but worth the discussion).
In the first case, BofA is, like most other major mortgage lenders, in intense negotiations with various regulators (read HUD; US Dept. of Justice and many state attorneys general)about ongoing investigations into faulty foreclosures based on incorrect paperwork and/or illegal affidavits on the foreclosures. As part of the negotiations, the lenders are making various offers to assuage the regulators and possibly avoid or reduce potential penalties as a result of past practices. The talks, however, have slowed to almost a stop, and the lenders are trying to figure out what to do next. BofA has suggested a possibility of more definite amounts of principal reduction in exchange for avoiding any liability for its past errors. Lenders overall have sought a blanket protection from liability and regulators, while willing in some cases to discuss partial liability protection, have not been willing to just provide total blanket avoidance for lenders. The parameters for this have been bandied about by many of the major lenders for a while now, but BofA is apparently getting specific with their numbers (exact figures not available, although rumored to be an original principal amount of not over $1 million). Where this may all end up is anybody's guess at this point, but we'll do our best to keep you informed. Keep your eyes peeled for more info as it becomes available.

Now--making foreclosures illegal. A Sacramento resident has proposed an amendment to the California constitution that would outlaw foreclosures. He feels that banks have not been fair or easy enough to work with in avoidance programs, and so wants to abolish the foreclosure altogether. In California, voter initiatives are used to pass various laws, most of them, under state code, becoming amendments to the state constitution. So far this individual has filed notice he wants to qualify an initiative for the ballot. Now he needs 807,615 signatures to get it on the ballot. He has until December 27 to collect these signatures. If he does, see you in June, 2012. If not, it's just another interesting footnote to our foreclosure crisis.

Stay tuned, and, as always, good luck.