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A few more of these stories and people are going to take it to the streets. From Reuters:

Remember Jackie Ramos? She caused a huge stir by going public, on YouTube, with her story of working for Bank of America, which fired her for allowing customers to pay off their debts with installment loans.

Now Ramos is back, and her latest story of Bank of America is even worse. The short version: BofA started charging her extra money, on her mortgage bill, for mortgage insurance she’d never asked for. Eventually, when she found out what the charges were for, she agreed to keep on making those insurance premiums, since they would allow her to stay in her home if anything ever happened to the other person on the mortgage, her son’s father Tim.

Then, in April 2011, Tim died — and the mortgage insurance didn’t pay out. Instead, BofA foreclosed on Ramos, and she lost her house. When she tried to ask why the insurance didn’t pay out, they wouldn’t answer her questions, on the grounds that she and Tim weren’t married.

Over email, Ramos told me that the insurance in question was absolutely mortgage life insurance, over and above the standard mortgage insurance which they already were paying for from another provider. That’s what BofA explained when they agreed to keep on paying the premiums. And Ramos also passed on a tax form 1098 from Bank of America to Tim, which clearly shows that Tim had paid mortgage insurance premiums in 2011 — even as the bank is now telling Ramos that there was no mortgage insurance at all.

At the very least, this is a case of Bank of America communicating in an absolutely atrocious manner with one of its homeowners. And at worst it’s a case of BofA foreclosing on and evicting someone who should instead have had her home paid off. One can’t expect that anybody at BofA realized that the person they were talking to was that Jackie Ramos. But it’s unfortunate for them that they didn’t. Because I suspect that this video might prove just as popular as the last one — which received more than 440,000 views, at last count.

Those who have been long-time bubbleinfo.com readers may remember back a few years when we ran Wednesday Rock Blogging.  Exene and I happen to share a birthday, so to commemorate, let’s re-start the WRB!

This song comes from the movie, Decline of Western Civilization, a phrase that may be more applicable to today’s environment. The camera picks up the mosh pit towards the end, which at these old-time X shows was an uncontrolled riot in front of the stage – and most times involved the band too. They do use a swear word in the song, so if you are sensitive, please don’t watch:

It’s John Doe’s birthday tomorrow!

The warehouse-type older tract homes in SE Carlsbad are sitting patiently, hoping that the spring selling season might bring some love their way.  The list would be longer if those who failed to sell last year would have trudged on, instead of renting:

The Del Mar Heights REO has closed for $1,900,000 - well over the list price of $1,749,900.

In the listing under concessions they noted that the buyer received $5,000 towards closing costs.

So we have two winners!

$1,895,000 – swm

$1,900,000 – Joe

Congratulations to you both! 

The winners will receive four tickets to the swanky Del Mar Turf Club for one day during the season (July 18th – Sept. 5th).  

Here is a link to the original post with video tour from January 4, 2012:  http://www.bubbleinfo.com/2012/01/04/new-reo-contest-2

See all the guesses in the comment section – this time almost everyone was low!

More from HW:

The FHFA set off a firestorm of discussion in 2011 when it announced an REO-bulk sales initiative that aims to repair the hardest-hit housing markets by selling off bulk assets to investors who have the ability to turn those properties into rentals.

The FHFA, as conservator for the government-sponsored enterprises, says investors can now enter the pre-qualification process to establish whether they have the financial ability and property-management capacity to bid on transactions during the initial pilot phase of the program.   

“This is an important step toward increasing private investment in foreclosed properties to maximize value and stabilize communities,” said FHFA acting director Edward DeMarco. “I am grateful for the collaborative effort by the many stakeholders including investors, nonprofit organizations, and state and local government officials, who have worked together on this Initiative.”

Investors who qualify will be able to purchase pools of foreclosed properties for the purpose of turning those homes into rentals.

The pre-qualification process will identify which investors have the expertise to manage the properties and the financial capacity to deal with the homes for a long period of time. Investors who participate have to sign agreements, promising to keep certain aspects of the deals confidential.

Investors who want to pre-qualify, can click here for information.

This guy’s opinions are usually suspect, but he’s got it right here – though he stops short of fingering the Tan Man specifically - from the WaPo:

It wasn’t that Fannie and Freddie made a prescient strategic decision to stay clear of the housing frenzy. They couldn’t have participated even if they had wanted to. The two agencies had committed various accounting irregularities earlier in the decade, and their regulator forced them to rein in their growth.

Moreover, Fannie and Freddie couldn’t compete with rapaciously expanding private lenders. Securitization was in full swing, enabling private lenders to offer low rates and increasingly aggressive terms to borrowers. In 2006, almost half the loans made by private lenders required no down payment and no documentation. Fannie and Freddie simply couldn’t play in that league, even though Congress had given them aggressive lending targets to help boost homeownership among lower-income and minority households.

Fannie and Freddie did play a significant part in the financial panic. As financial conditions began to weaken in 2007 and the private mortgage industry pulled back, the agencies partially filled the void. This was their chance to get back in the game. The memory of their accounting scandals had faded, and policymakers hoped the agencies could keep the housing market from unraveling. Fannie’s and Freddie’s originations of sketchy loans actually peaked near $160 billion in 2008, the year regulators placed them into conservatorship. The two agencies had jumped back into the housing market at precisely the wrong time.

The government’s takeover of Fannie and Freddie arguably ignited the global financial panic. The Treasury Department’s decision to wipe out shareholders of Lehman Brothers and Bear Stearns, two of the largest financial institutions on the planet, sent a shock wave through markets as it became apparent that no institution was safe any longer. Investors ran for the door, sending Lehman Brothers into bankruptcy one week later; a string of failures at other venerable institutions followed.

Despite Fannie and Freddie’s role in the panic, it is wrong to blame them for creating it; that distinction belongs rightly to the private mortgage market. Understanding this is critical to creating a stable, efficient mortgage finance system for the future. While Fannie and Freddie themselves deserve to pass from the scene, given their numerous past missteps, it is equally clear that the government needs to remain an important player in housing finance, providing consistent regulatory oversight and a backstop in case the private market collapses again.

Mark Zandi is chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, a subsidiary of Moody’s Corp. He is the author of “Financial Shock,” an book about the financial crisis. His column will appear regularly.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/realestate/fannie-and-freddie-dont-deserve-blame-for-bubble/2012/01/23/gIQAn3LZMQ_story_1.html

Just because a listing looks like a deal on paper doesn’t mean a thing these days.

Buyers want value.  They want extras.  They want to feel good.

They want a manageable floor plan that flows, a house that’s ready to move-in with a decent yard where they can watch the kids grow up.  Schools, culdesac, three-car, south-facing, one-story, newer, older, character….the list goes on and on.

The great news: If that’s what you are selling, you’ll get top dollar.

The not-so-great news: If that’s not what you are selling, you really need to work on your price.

The November 2011 Case-Shiller Index was released today.

Here is the San Diego seasonally-adjusted CSI, compared to two other indicators:

It looks encouraging to me. Both of the markers on pricing are acceptable, rates are at all-time lows, and the leading indicator, number of sales, is on the rise.

But the negative soundbites will discourage consumer confidence, thwarting any euphoria building among homebuyers – who, as a result, will be reluctant to pay more than the comps. Sellers who can live with a reasonable price will have no trouble finding a buyer during the next few months.

Case-Shiller HPI: San Diego, CA Chart by YCharts

Want to buy in a location where you can walk around a small village….and get a bank deal too!

This is across the street:  http://www.yelp.com/biz/bird-rock-coffee-roasters-la-jolla

Unfortunately I don’t think any bank will finance this home due to its unfinished condition, plus it is a two-unit condo with the other being the retail building in front (chiropractor).

Rich T. noted that in the past there hasn’t been a significant relationship between rates and pricing:

There’s actually very little correlation between interest rates and home valuations, and if anything, homes have tended to get more expensive in rising rate environments (due to rising rates typically being accompanied by rising wages, as well as other external factors).  However, I think that a sufficiently steep and abrupt rate rise could really hurt home prices.

But recall that I am more concerned with minimizing monthly payments than the purchase price.  If rates rose enough to really impact prices, it’s likely that those higher rates would have affected monthly payments even more.  So for a long-term, heavily leveraged purchase, the threat of rising rates is a reason to act sooner rather than later.

tj & the bear agrees, saying that this time it is different:

J6P now has no useful equity, which means any purchase has to be financed in it’s entirety. That puts pricing directly tied to income via the payment, which in turn is determined by rates. IMHO any significant rise in rates will have just as dramatic an effect pushing prices downward as the original drop in rates did in pushing prices skyward.

The FedGov has thwarted previous bear campaigns with the various can-kicking devices in support of big banking, would they let interest rates get away from them?

Last week the Fed stated that they plan to keep rates low through the end of 2014. 

If something went crazy and mortgage rates did start rising, they would have to go up more than 1% to alarm home buyers.  Purchases of homes at an effective rate of 50% off with inflation will still be attractive.

But let’s imagine that rates did hit 5% or higher – what would sellers do?

Let’s examine who is selling today.  Short sales and REO listings only comprise 10% of today’s NSDCC detached inventory for sale.  The rest are probably split between long-termers with substantial equity and those looking to get out with enough for a steak dinner.

If prices went down, those with little or no equity would just stop making payments – then it would be up to the TBTF banks to decide whether they want to cause a foreclosure tsunami, or let the defaulters ride for free as long as they mow the lawn.  You can guess which path they’ll take.

The long-termers with substantial equity?  One more notch down and forget it – they aren’t going to give them away!

The initial scramble to buy something – anything - once rates went up would be exciting, but short-lived.  Fear/greed would overcome buyers who have been very patient, and they’d gladly get back on the fence in anticipation of plummeting prices.

Consider who the sellers would be – only those that need their equity to keep breathing.  The FedGovBigBank troika will take care of the rest.

If mortgage rates start rising, it’ll likely cause fewer and fewer sales.  There is probably enough organic demand who will keep buying with cash or big down payments to have pricing look statistically flat or lower.  But if there are few houses to buy, who cares.