Foreclosure Trustee Services / 888.925.3938

Fresno California Foreclosure Rate Down

Wed, 28 Jul 2010 23:41:36 +0000

The foreclosure rate dipped last month compared with a year ago in the Fresno area, according to CoreLogic.

For the month of June, the real estate data analysis firm said the rate of foreclosures among local mortgages was 2.76%, an improvement from 3.54% in June 2009. CoreLogic said foreclosure activity last month was slightly lower in the Fresno area compared with the national rate of 3.06%.

Meantime, the firm said the local mortgage delinquency rate increased last month compared with a year ago, with 11.22% of borrowers falling 90 days or more overdue on their payments. That compared with a rate of 9.91% in June 2009.

Auto Repair Lynnwood — Auto Repair North Hollywood –Auto Repair Irvine –Auto Repair Anaheim –Auto Repair San Bernardino –Auto Repair Riverside –Auto Repair Long Beach –Auto Repair Orange County –Auto Repair Glendale –Air Conditioning Repair Reseda — Huntington Beach Auto Repair Shop — Ventura Family Law — Malibu Glass — Malibu Glass — Everett Divorce Attorney — Bat Removal — Stone Sealer — Foreclosure Trustee Services — Wedding Gift Heirlooms — Cleaning Services Seattle — Thousand Oaks Blinds — Woodland Hills Criminal Defense Attorney — Rancho Palos Verdes Glass — Agoura Hills Family Lawyer — Auto Repair Long Beach - Auto Repair Simi Valley — Bakersfield Apartments for Rent –Dog Walker Los Angeles
Auto Repair Lynnwood
Auto Repair Lynnwood
13432 Mukilteo Speedway
Lynnwood, WA 98087-1665
(425) 224-6309‎

Some Bargains at California Auctions

Wed, 28 Jul 2010 00:15:55 +0000

A national company has auctioned 250 homes on Sunday and Monday at the Sacramento and Santa Clara convention centers, generating about $23.5 million.REDC, the nation’s largest residential real estate auction company, handled the auctions, with the average house selling for $94,000.The four-county Sacramento region has been one of the hardest-hit by foreclosures in the nation, according to several industry trackers.

A couple of examples of bank foreclosed-to-auctioned properties in Sacramento:

• A house at 101 Del Verde Circle #1 sold for $32,500, 86 percent less than the peak value of $223,500.

• A house at 1660 Grand Ave. sold for $37,500, 84 percent less than the peak value of $225,000.

• A house at 700 Norwich Court sold for $50,000, 77 percent less than the peak value of $221,300.

“First-time homeowners and investors walked away with some incredible bargains,” REDC chief executive officer Jeff Frieden said in a news release Tuesday. “The auctions are a big boost to the local economy. When a house sits vacant, no one is paying a mortgage, property taxes, nor gas, electrical and water bills …”

Irvine-based REDC has auctioned more than 20,000 homes for a total of almost $900 million this year, including about $100 million in Northern California.

Auto Repair Lynnwood –Auto Repair North Hollywood –Auto Repair Irvine –Auto Repair Anaheim –Auto Repair San Bernardino –Auto Repair Riverside –Auto Repair Long Beach –Auto Repair Orange County –Auto Repair Glendale –Air Conditioning Repair Reseda — Huntington Beach Auto Repair Shop — Ventura Family Law — Malibu Glass — Malibu Glass — Everett Divorce Attorney — Bat Removal — — Stone Sealer — Foreclosure Trustee Services — Wedding Gift Heirlooms — Cleaning Services Seattle — Thousand Oaks Blinds — Woodland Hills Criminal Defense Attorney — Rancho Palos Verdes Glass — Agoura Hills Family Lawyer — Auto Repair Long Beach - Auto Repair Lynnwood
Olympic Automotive
13432 Mukilteo Speedway
Lynnwood, WA 98087-1665
(425) 742-1355‎Auto Repair Simi Valley
C&M Automotive and Transmissions of Simi Valley
4292 Valley Fair Street
Simi Valley, CA 93063
(805) 522-1759‎

Bakersfield Apartments for Rent
Westcourte Luxury Apartments
7107 Ming Avenue Bakersfield, CA 93309
(661) 834-7026‎

Dog Walker Los Angeles
Manymutts Pet Care
1270 S Alfred
Los Angeles, CA 90035
(310) 889-0697‎

Interno Real Estate Services Continues to Expand

Mon, 26 Jul 2010 23:51:40 +0000

CUPERTINO, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Intero Real Estate Services , a leading U.S. real estate brokerage that has recently expanded its brand globally, as a franchisor, through Intero Franchise Services, Inc. and Intero International Franchise Services, LLC, announced its continued expansion with the conversion of a former Alain Pinel brokerage affiliate in Discovery Bay and Brentwood, CA to the Intero Real Estate brand, and the addition of new franchises in San Diego, CA, and Minden, NV.

More than forty agents will join Intero Discovery Bay and Intero Downtown Brentwood franchise. This office will complement an existing Intero franchise in Brentwood.

“We are pleased to welcome our new franchisees and agents today at a time when our competitors are retrenching,” said Intero Real Estate Services COO Tom Tognoli. “This expansion speaks to our commitment to innovate and thrive in an ever-changing business.”

LeeAnn Hogge, co-owner and manager of what will become the new Intero Discovery Bay and Downtown Brentwood offices, said: “We’re thrilled to become part of the Intero® family, and feel good knowing that we’ll have the technology and expertise needed to win in today’s market.”

Bryan Hogge, co-owner and manager of the future Intero Discovery Bay and Intero Downtown Brentwood offices, added: “We’ve worked hard to build our reputations in this market and the Intero® brand will help us grow and innovate upon that foundation.”

Intero Downtown Brentwood is the second Intero franchise to open in Brentwood, CA, joining the very first Intero franchise at 5541 Lone Tree Way, established in 2005 by owners Denise McGrew and Erin Gonzalez.

Intero also announces two new franchises in San Diego, CA and Minden, NV. Intero El Cajon, will be owned and managed by Sandy Miller, and Intero Minden Nevada, will be owned and managed by Teddy Carlson-Brown.

About the Intero® brand

Founded in 2002, Intero Real Estate Services, Inc. has quickly become one of the premier real estate brands in the U.S. The company is private and headquartered in California’s Silicon Valley.

–Auto Repair Lynnwood –Auto Repair North Hollywood –Auto Repair Irvine –Auto Repair Anaheim –Auto Repair San Bernardino –Auto Repair Riverside –Auto Repair Long Beach –Auto Repair Orange County –Auto Repair Glendale –Air Conditioning Repair Reseda — Huntington Beach Auto Repair Shop — Ventura Family Law — Malibu Glass — Malibu Glass — Everett Divorce Attorney — Bat Removal — — Stone Sealer — Foreclosure Trustee Services — Wedding Gift Heirlooms — Cleaning Services Seattle — Thousand Oaks Blinds — Woodland Hills Criminal Defense Attorney — Rancho Palos Verdes Glass — Agoura Hills Family Lawyer — Auto Repair Long Beach - Auto Repair Lynnwood
Olympic Automotive
13432 Mukilteo Speedway
Lynnwood, WA 98087-1665
(425) 742-1355‎

Auto Repair Simi Valley
C&M Automotive and Transmissions of Simi Valley
4292 Valley Fair Street
Simi Valley, CA 93063
(805) 522-1759‎

Bakersfield Apartments for Rent
Westcourte Luxury Apartments
7107 Ming Avenue Bakersfield, CA 93309
(661) 834-7026‎

Dog Walker Los Angeles
Manymutts Pet Care
1270 S Alfred
Los Angeles, CA 90035
(310) 889-0697‎

California Bank President to Talk at New York Conference

Sun, 25 Jul 2010 15:14:37 +0000

WESTLAKE VILLAGE, CA, Jul 22, 2010 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) — First California Financial Group, Inc. today announced that C. G. Kum, President and Chief Executive Officer and Ron Santarosa, Chief Financial Officer, will presenting at the Keefe, Bruyette & Woods 2010 Community Bank Conference in New York City at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel on Wednesday, July 28, 2010 at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time.

Interested parties may listen to the presentation through a live audio webcast accompanied by the presentation slides by visiting the company’s Web site at www.fcalgroup.com. Listeners are encouraged to visit the Web site at least 15 minutes prior to the start of the scheduled presentation to register, download and install any necessary audio software. For those unable to listen to the live webcast, the presentation will be archived on the Web site for 60 days following the conference presentation.

About First California First California Financial Group, Inc. /quotes/comstock/15*!fcal/quotes/nls/fcal (FCAL 2.54, -0.01, -0.39%) is the holding company of First California Bank. Celebrating 31 years of business in 2010, First California is a regional force of strength and stability in Southern California banking with assets of $1.45 billion and led by an experienced team of bankers. The bank specializes in serving the comprehensive financial needs of the commercial market, particularly small- and middle-sized businesses, professional firms and commercial real estate development and construction companies. Committed to providing the best client service available in its markets, First California offers a full line of quality commercial banking products through 17 full-service branch offices in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego and Ventura counties. The holding company’s Web site can be accessed at www.fcalgroup.com. For additional information on First California Bank’s products and services, visit www.fcbank.com.

More Money to Prevent Foreclosures Isn’t Working Well

Sun, 25 Jul 2010 02:11:33 +0000

By: DAVID SHERFINSKI
Examiner Staff Writer
July 25, 2010

Area governments are racing to dole out money to shore up foreclosure-ridden neighborhoods as a congressional deadline approaches.

Virginia as of July 12 had allocated more than half of the $38.7 million it received through the federal Neighborhood Stabilization Program, established to shore up communities hit by foreclosures and abandoned properties. Four months earlier, the state had allocated only about a quarter of the funding.

The trend holds true for Fairfax and Prince William counties. Prince William had allocated about 62 percent of its $2.56 million and Fairfax had allocated about 44 percent of its $2.8 million, compared with one-fourth in March.

Over the last six months, there has been “a pretty steep increase in the obligation rate,” said Phillip Bush, a program director at Enterprise Community Partners, which provides financing and expertise to community-based organizations throughout the country. Nationally, about 70 percent of the $3.92 billion has been allocated, compared with about 38 percent in March.

Congress has required that states and localities allot their money from the first round of funding by September.

Montgomery County used its funds in spots that had been hit hard by foreclosures, including the Germantown and Glenmont areas. The county assigned all of its funding in March, plus $2.5 million more from the state, according to Rick Nelson, director of the county’s Department of Housing and Community Affairs. As a result, Montgomery received an extra $300,000 from the state.

Prince George’s County, which has consistently had one of the highest foreclosure rates in the state, has assigned more than 90 percent of the $10.9 million it received.

In the District, $2.8 million is going toward the redevelopment of the Ivy City neighborhood in Northeast. D.C.’s Department of Housing and Community Development also was awarded about $9.5 million in the second round of funding, which will be used to rehabilitate properties in Ivy City, Deanwood and Anacostia.

“Locally, this money will be very helpful,” said Monica Warren-Jones, director of relationship management in Enterprise Community Partners’ D.C. office.

An additional $1 billion was put into the financial regulation bill signed into law by President Obama — bringing the total funding for the program to nearly $7 billion.

“We’re hoping we’ll be able to get something out of that,” Nelson said.

Auto Repair Lynnwood
Olympic Automotive
13432 Mukilteo Speedway
Lynnwood, WA 98087-1665
425) 742-1355‎

Auto Repair Simi Valley
C&M Automotive and Transmissions of Simi Valley
4292 Valley Fair Street
Simi Valley, CA 93063
(805) 522-1759‎

Bakersfield Apartments for Rent
Westcourte Luxury Apartments
7107 Ming Avenue Bakersfield, CA 93309
(661) 834-7026‎

–Auto Repair Lynnwood –Auto Repair North Hollywood –Auto Repair Irvine –Auto Repair Anaheim –Auto Repair San Bernardino –Auto Repair Riverside –Auto Repair Long Beach –Auto Repair Orange County –Auto Repair Glendale –Air Conditioning Repair Reseda — Huntington Beach Auto Repair Shop — Ventura Family Law — Malibu Glass — Malibu Glass Everett Divorce Attorney — Bat Removal — — Stone Sealer — Foreclosure Trustee Services — Wedding Gift Heirlooms — Cleaning Services Seattle — Thousand Oaks Blinds — Woodland Hills Criminal Defense Attorney — Dog Walker Los Angeles — Rancho Palos Verdes Glass — Agoura Hills Family Lawyer — Auto Repair Long Beach -

California Foreclosures Down - Short Sales Up

Thu, 22 Jul 2010 23:20:43 +0000

Even as the economic recovery sputters, the mortgage crisis that helped trigger the recession appears to be easing.

Mortgage defaults in California have fallen to their lowest level in three years, market research group MDA DataQuick said Wednesday.

Some of the drop-off may reflect an increase in short sales, in which troubled homeowners sidestep the foreclosure process but still lose their homes. But experts said it’s also a sign of a housing market that’s genuinely improving.

In Stanislaus County, for example, two of every three Stanislaus County homes sold this year have been bank-owned or “short sales” to avoid foreclosure, according to RealtyTrac, another real estate research firm,

That’s more than double the national average, showing how foreclosures continue to dominate the region’s real estate market.

Merced, San Joaquin, Stanislaus and Im- perial counties had the highest percentage of bank-owned and pre-foreclosure sales in California of homes sold during January, February and March.

A tightening of lending standards also means fewer buyers are taking out loans they can’t repay.

“The bad loans have kind of worked their way through,” said Warren Adams of Security Pacific Real Estate in Fair Oaks. He said mortgages issued in, say, 2008, are far less likely to go into default than those made in 2006.

Statewide, MDA DataQuick said lenders issued 70,051 default notices in the second quarter, down 44 percent from a year earlier. It was the lowest number since almost 54,000 were issued three years ago.

In the valley, there was a decline in foreclosure filings this January, February and March compared with the same months last year.

Notices of default — the first step of the foreclosure process — dropped 41.6 percent in Stanislaus County, 46 percent in Merced County and 43.4 percent in San Joaquin County.

In the same period, the number of homes lost to foreclosure plunged 9.7 percent in Stanislaus, 33 percent in Merced and 7.3 percent in San Joaquin, MDA DataQuick found.

Still, more than 1 million U.S. households are likely to lose their homes to foreclosure this year, as lenders work their way through a huge backlog of borrowers who have fallen behind on their loans.

Since 2007, nearly 52,500 Stanislaus, Merced and San Joaquin county homes have been lost to foreclosure. That includes 12.7 percent of all houses and condos in Stanislaus, 15.5 percent in Merced and 13.9 percent in San Joaquin.

“The market has stabilized in most areas,” said MDA DataQuick analyst Andrew LePage. “We’re moving further and further beyond the initial problem, which was the subprime loans.”

However, LePage and others said the pool of distressed homeowners remains deep.

He said the weak economy is continuing to pressure homeowners. California’s unemployment rate sits at 12.3 percent, Sacramento’s at 12.4 percent. Stanislaus County’s is 17.3 percent.

Fears of another wave

Because of those numbers, some are concerned that more homeowners may default on their loans and trigger another wave of foreclosures.

Some people manage to avoid defaulting merely because lenders are allowing more short sales, enabling the borrowers to get out of their homes while avoiding the painful foreclosure process. In a short sale, the lender takes purchase offers for less than what’s owed on the property.

The valley has led the nation in foreclosures for three years, and those repossessed homes have pulled down all property values.

There was only a 9 percent price difference in Stanislaus County between foreclosure properties and those bought from owners who were not in mortgage trouble. That’s evidence of how foreclosures have reduced home values throughout the region.

Bank-owned homes and those in mortgage default typically are priced lower because their owners are motivated to sell quickly, and often foreclosure homes are damaged or have maintenance problems.

The median sale price for Stanislaus County homes dropped to $139,000 in June, according to the most recent report from MDA DataQuick.

The figure had jumped to $148,000 in May, raising hopes that prices were rising again after plunging by two-thirds from 2006 to 2009. That report followed 18 months in which the median mostly stayed at $133,000 to $140,000.

The June report suggests that the region could be in for a long, uneven recovery from the housing slump.

Nonetheless, “there is a sense that the housing market in general is healing,” said Dustin Hobbs, spokesman for the California Mortgage Bankers Association.

California Foreclosures at 3 Year Low

Wed, 21 Jul 2010 22:44:05 +0000

By Alejandro Lazo, Los Angeles Times

Story posted 2010.07.21

The number of California homes entering foreclosure dropped to a three-year low in the second quarter as the fallout from the housing crisis continued to abate, according to data released Wednesday.

Banks stepped up their repossession of homes from people already ensnared in the process, reflecting a push by financial institutions to clear troubled loans off their books.

The number of notices of default filed on California properties dropped 43.8% in the second quarter over the same period last year and 13.6% from the prior quarter for a total of 70,051. Default notices are the first stage of the formal foreclosure process.

It was the slowest pace of California homes entering foreclosure since the second quarter of 2007. Default notices peaked statewide in the first quarter of 2009, when 135,431 households received filings, contributing to a steep slide in prices as bank-owned houses sold at steep discounts.

In Southern California, the number of default notices dropped 46.9% in the second quarter from the year-earlier period and 15.23% from the prior quarter.

“Obviously, motivated sellers and accommodating lenders have played a part in bringing the default filings down, especially when it comes to short sales,” DataQuick President John Walsh said. “Public policy has also been a factor. We also need to remember that prices have come up off bottom over the past year. If they continue to rise, fewer homeowners will find themselves underwater, which is a significant factor in letting a home go.”

Banks stepped up their repossession of homes statewide and in the Southland. The number of trustees deeds — the last stage of the foreclosure process — filed on California properties increased 4.4% from the same quarter a year earlier and 11.2% from the prior quarter, for a total of 47,669. In Southern California, the number of deeds filed jumped 4.5% from the same quarter a year earlier and 9.6% from the prior quarter, to 24,367.

alejandro.lazo@latimes.com

Renters Lose Security Deposits, Security & Other Monies in Foreclosures

Wed, 21 Jul 2010 02:40:50 +0000

By Rick Radin
Contra Costa Times

Erin Kennedy-Florez was 10 months into a one-year lease on a home in Richmond’s Marina Bay development when she found a notice on her door saying the home was being foreclosed.

She said she called her landlord, who told her that he was trying to refinance the house and to keep paying him rent.

“I was paying the rent, but he was not paying the mortgage,” Kennedy-Florez said.

Soon after, the house went into foreclosure and Kennedy-Florez immediately heard from a law firm representing Freddie Mac, the federal real estate lending agency that held the note on the home.

“I had to decide whether I still wanted to be living there while they were showing it (to potential buyers),” she said.

Kennedy-Florez’s situation reflects a problem that tenants rights’ groups say has been flying under the radar since the home foreclosure crisis began in 2008.

They say thousands of renters have lost security deposits, paid rent to former landlords who no longer owned the house, and agreed to move on short notice because they didn’t know their rights.

Kennedy-Florez accepted a cash settlement to move three weeks after the foreclosure in November 2009. She received the check the day she moved out but struggled to come up with the security deposit for a new rental in El Cerrito.

The landlord still owed her a $3,200 security deposit and has been paying it back in $100 and $200 installments, she said.

“I jumped at the first place I couldfind,” she said. “I’m hoping this place isn’t shaky, too.”

Kennedy-Florez’s former landlord said the home had been foreclosed but that he had paid back the security deposit in full. He did not want to be named because of privacy concerns.

According to the rights group Tenants Together, 77,145 California rental units went through foreclosure in 2009, affecting 208,795 residents.

Some of the situations probably have been resolved to everyone’s satisfaction, said Gabe Treves, program coordinator with Tenants Together, which is based in San Francisco.

But Treves said his agency has helped 3,000 renters squeezed between landlords who are behind on their mortgage payments and lenders trying to recover their investments.

“The vast majority of the tenants we talk to are having their rights violated,” Treves said. “Banks are being very aggressive in trying to get the tenants out, because they are stuck on the idea that if tenants vacate the home that they can sell it.”

Wells Fargo Bank is committed to following all rules that protect tenants who are living in foreclosures, spokesman Jason Menke said.

At the same time, Wells Fargo is in the business of lending money for home purchases, not in managing rentals, he said.

“Generally, it’s our object to get a new owner into the house as quickly as possible,” Menke said. “It’s in our best interest and that of the community to return properties to the market.”

State Attorney General Jerry Brown launched an investigation into the issue last month, partly in response to the Tenants Together report.

Brown sent a letter in June to California banks, lenders, investors and law firms asking them to explain their procedures for dealing with tenants in foreclosed properties in an effort to find out whether laws are being broken.

Tenants are protected by a 2009 federal law that allows them to stay in their units for 90 days after a foreclosure notice is posted, but they have other rights as well:

Renters can insist on staying in their units until the end of their leases, except when the new owner of a single-family home wants to move in.

They can require banks and their agents to put all communication in writing.

They are not required to take cash incentives to move out before the law requires.

Harassment, such as changing locks without a court order, entering the home without permission or shutting off utilities, is illegal.

In addition, 16 cities in California, including Oakland, Richmond, Berkeley and Hayward, have just-cause eviction ordinances that rule out foreclosure as grounds for an eviction. Tenants have the right to continue renting the home indefinitely absent any other grounds for eviction unless the new owner wants to move in.

Wells Fargo sends tenants a letter outlining their legal options if it forecloses on the house where they live, Menke said. The bank often offers cash incentives for tenants to move out before the three-month period has passed.

The bank also honors lease agreements as long as the tenant has a copy of the lease. However, if the bank sells the house, tenants have 90 days from the sale to move, said Wells Fargo spokeswoman Mary Berg.

“If the new owner wants to move in, then the tenant is no longer protected unless the new buyer decides to keep the renters there,” Berg said.

Lynne Codde and her daughter Shelby were renting an Antioch home that was sold at auction. The new owner, a property management company, offered them $500 to move out immediately, she said.

“We just kind of laughed at them and went online and found out what our rights were,” Codde said.

She said representatives of the company started showing up twice a week to ask them about their plans to move. One day a woman showed up who claimed that she had rented the house from the new owners.

“Three or four weeks in, they called and asked us how much it would take to get us out,” she said.

The property company eventually agreed to pay them $4,000, which they used to put down a security deposit and first month’s rent on a house in Fremont, she said.

Candyce Fagerhaugh said she lived in a Crockett storefront for 15 years until Bank of America foreclosed on her landlord in November.

She said she and a fellow tenant tried to buy the home before learning how much repairs to it would cost.

The bank allowed Fagerhaugh to stay rent-free while it tried to sell the building. Now Bank of America has given her $2,500 to move out by Aug. 12.

She has bought a house in Vallejo and is moving to her new home.