Hat tip to Susie! From the L.A. Times: The measure, which is expected to be signed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, would waive state taxes on mortgage debt that has been forgiven in a foreclosure or short sale. Thousands of Californians whose homes were foreclosed on...
Hat tip to JimG for sending this along: Timothy Geithner is a Sniveling Scamster Whew. That was fast. It didn't take long for Wall Street to figure out how to game Obama's new mortgage modification program, did it? The plan was hyped as help for "struggling...
We could use some good old-fashioned market clearing - maybe this is a start? JimG brought it up, and our friend Effective Demand has charted the increase in Bank of America foreclosure activity for Southern California - recently their number of auctions has spiked:...
Thanks to Mark for sending along this confirmation of first-time home buyers being able to claim both the federal and state tax credits, from the WSJ: But, it might not get off to a peaceful start on May 1: Get ready for a stampede early on as some buyers rush to...
(editor's note - I inputted this before noon and forgot to press send!) Bank of America's announcement (link here): Bank of America will on Wednesday announce plans to start forgiving mortgage loan principal for troubled homeowners who owe more than 120 percent of...
First Arnie signs in $200 million more free cheese, now this. Although when I receive unsolicited emails I never know for sure how to verify them, so I'll call this a rumor - but very believeable: Jim, I was just at a conference in NY and they said that the Treasury...
From the latimes.com Sacramento — After weeks of bickering over how to cut the deficit-ridden budget, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and lawmakers agreed Monday to trim $1.1 billion from mass transit but give new tax breaks to home buyers and green-technology companies....
From NMN, a summary of HAFA, with doubts (more videos coming!): As an alternative to foreclosure, the government's forthcoming program to spur short sales may prove just as ineffectual as the push to modify loans. In a short sale, the borrower sells the home for less...
From NMN: The SwapRent concept has been slow to find traction and faces some challenges, but its potential benefits make the case that there may be hope for it yet. Among a host of benefits that could be realized from its large-scale implementation is its ability to...
From the U-T: WASHINGTON -- With the Obama administration and private lenders now actively considering mortgage principal-reduction programs to help financially distressed homeowners, the Internal Revenue Service has issued a new advisory to taxpayers who receive --...
