This free document was prepared by Attorney General Wasden for residents and prospective home buyers in Idaho, but a large portion of information in this document apply also to residents and home buyers in other states. So even if you do not live in Idaho, you can download this document, which has just been released this October, and benefit from it.

According to the PDF, before buying a home, you need to examine your credit scores, financial readiness and your loan pre-qualification.

Most lenders use the FICO credit score to evaluate your credit-worthiness. FICO refers to credit rating agency Fair Isaac Corporation. If your FICO credit score is higher than 700, you are considered financially healthy by lenders, but if your credit score is below 600, you are considered a high risk.

Attorney General Wasden advises buyers to delay their plan of buying homes for sale if their credit score is poor because lenders assign higher mortgage rates to high-risk debtors. Besides, banks no longer offer subprime or nontraditional loans.

To calculate if you can afford to buy a house, use mortgage calculators available at fhaoutreach.gov. You should not consider future salary increases because they may never come and you should have 20 percent of the home price ready for down payment. Additionally, you should not be allotting over 30 percent of your monthly income for your monthly home loan payment.

Remember also that closing on a home is very costly. Depending on your agreement with the seller, you may be required to pay various fees that include fees for loan application, appraisal, home inspection, credit report, document processing, prepaid interest, private mortgage insurance, insurance escrow, title closing, title insurance, recording, taxes, flood certification and home association. You can get more information about closing costs at federalreserve.gov.

Under the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, when you are buying a house, you are entitled to receive written disclosures from your lender or broker before and during closing and as you pay your mortgage loan through the years. These disclosures will inform you about closing costs, escrow accounts and other activities related to your loan account so you can guard yourself against people victimizing people buying homes for sale.

Buying Homes for Sale: Advice from Attorney General is a post from: Listings Foreclosures

They said that one in every 38 homes in Carroll County is bank-repossessed and that one in every 49 homes in Haralson County is in foreclosure. They also said that the number of vacant foreclosed homes has been rising. Additionally, the problem of foreclosure has been spreading into affluent neighborhoods and into homes owned by prime borrowers.

Over the past 12 months, three banks in West Georgia have been closed. Housing starts in Carroll County have dropped by a staggering 82 percent and Haralson County also experienced a drop of almost 71 percent.

According to William Smith, economics professor at UWG, most foreclosures occurred in Carroll County, with the highest concentration of foreclosures in the neighborhoods of Villa Rica and in Temple.

The only positive thing about the long list of foreclosures in West Georgia is that it has pushed down home prices to levels affordable to many families. According to Donald Ratajczak, a business professor at Georgia State University, home values have fallen by 33 percent from their peak levels.

Economists who participated in the meeting also agreed that the improvement in home affordability will contribute to economic recovery, especially if the unemployment rate continues its downward direction despite its still high level.

In Carroll County, 4.5 percent of all jobs or 1,744 jobs were eliminated so far this year, most of which were due to the closure of the Pilgrim’s Pride and Carlisle manufacturing plants. In Haralson, 6.7 percent of all jobs were lost, most of which arose from the closure of the Ball manufacturing operation in Tallapoosa.

The job sectors recovering in Carroll County are social services and health care, mostly because of the opening of the Villa Rica behavioral health center called Willowbrook at Tanner. Some small businesses are also helping create jobs in Haralson and food services are surviving in most parts of West Georgia.

Business professor Ratajczak said that in past recessions, consumer confidence helped in contributing to economic recovery, but this year, consumer confidence levels are still down in West Georgia because of concerns about job losses, frozen wages and the area’s still growing list of foreclosures.

List of Foreclosures Grows in West Georgia Due to Job Losses is a post from: Listings Foreclosures

According to Robert Miller, deputy supervisor for Redford, around 2,000 homes will be foreclosed this year in the area. Just like other places in Michigan, Redford has been following the foreclosure trend in the state.

In the July to September quarter, more than 37,000 residential properties throughout the state were hit with foreclosure postings, with almost 15,000 already in the foreclosure books of lenders. With the continued increase in foreclosures in the state, Michigan was ranked eighth in the third quarter based on foreclosure rates.

To help contain foreclosure distressed properties in Redford, Thomas Krause, head and founder of the Redford business association, and other members committed to help distressed families avoid foreclosures. They planned to work with Bruce Kaufman, a mortgage restructuring specialist who owns HHAF Systems LLC and who has been negotiating loan modification successfully with lenders.

Early this year, Redford officials tried to launch a foreclosure prevention program that involved HHAF Systems, but the program fell through. The program would have prevented distressed properties from getting into real estate foreclosure listings with only around $500 in fees per mortgage modification and with the fees getting paid by state or federal agencies.

Even if the initial effort to work with Kaufman collapsed, the township has been supporting the plans of RTBA and encouraging business leaders and other associations to help families in Redford save their homes from foreclosure.

To help start the modifications, the association will be conducting fund raising efforts. In November, RTBA will hold a fundraising event at the Timber Wolf Tavern.

Bill Kanbilian, founder of Little Bill?s Trophies, explained that RTBA decided to help solve the problem of foreclosure homes not only to help families, but also to help themselves. Business people know that if communities are overloaded with repo properties and families abandon communities, they will be left with no customers to serve.

Additionally, values of properties will deteriorate, including the values of their office spaces and their business spaces.

Kaufman of HHAF said that he has reduced his mortgage modification fee to only $150, a sharp drop from the usual $500 charged by loan modification firms in the area.

Both Kaufman and Krause reiterated that launching the program to contain real estate foreclosure listings in Redford requires determination to face challenges, but they need to do it to save their township from deterioration.

Real Estate Foreclosure Listings Grow in Redford, Michigan is a post from: Listings Foreclosures

Based on the Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller index for 20 major cities over the past months, Detroit is among the cities where home prices have dropped substantially since the downturn began and is among those which are still struggling from declining home values. The median distressed home sales price has fallen to a low of $8,000 last August, far below the $59,700 median price in August 2005. Nearly 25 percent of the more than 4,000 houses available for sale in September were foreclosures and total home sales dropped by almost 20 percent compared to sales in September last year.

Because of the high unemployment in the city, people have left and now, there are only around 900,000 residents, far below the 2-million population in the 1950s.

Among the neighborhoods thought to be immune from foreclosures because of the high number of residents who are judges, lawyers, auto-industry executives and educational professionals is Indian Village. Here, investors and first time home buyers can find a lot of bargain repo properties for sale.

Because many of these professionals were laid off and many of them were unable to convince their lenders to reduce their monthly payments, many were forced to let their homes go into foreclosure. Now, about 15 percent of the 350 houses in Indian Village are foreclosures.

To save Indian Village from the deterioration and collapse that occurred in other Detroit neighborhoods, residents in the area took action and decided to find a realtor committed to the neighborhood and help sell the foreclosed properties in the neighborhood to families and individuals who will live in the properties and help preserve the neighborhood.

The residents found Joy Santiago, who arrived in Detroit in the 1980s from Ann Arbor and started working in real estate in the 1990s, focusing on Indian Village.

Since then, Santiago has been successful in creating buzz about the neighborhood, especially its lower-priced mansions. She has organized bus tours where she talks about the backgrounds and histories of the homes she showed.

Among these houses is a four-bedroom Colonial that was built in 1925 but still sturdy. It is being offered at only $39,000. Another is an 8-bedroom Colonial mansion which is being offered at only $189,000. These are only two of many bargain foreclosed properties for sale being offered in Detroit.

Bargain Repo Properties for Sale Abound in Detroit is a post from: Listings Foreclosures

The agency has been receiving federal grants to be used for foreclosure counseling. However, the increasing unemployment rate and mortgage defaults in the state are taking its toll on the agency’s funding.

Recently, the agency received $775,000 emergency funds, about 50 percent of what it usually receives. According to the agency, it needs to apply for more federal money and to find other fund sources in order to continue offering free mortgage counseling services to distressed homeowners who want to save their properties from listings of foreclosed houses.

Debbie Kidd of the Family Services said that the current situation is nerve-wracking and there is a great possibility that the agency will experience a shortage of funds by early next year. But she still encourages distressed homeowners who are in default and want to save their homes from foreclosures to contact the agency for free counseling help.

The agency uses the federal grant it receives to pay for the 22 foreclosure counselors on its staff. These counselors negotiate for reduced mortgage payments for struggling borrowers. Since 2007, the agency has already helped about 6,130 troubled borrowers across South Carolina.

Mayor Joe Riley said that many homeowners may save their houses from foreclosures and remain in their homes by working out their loan problems through counseling. He added that Family Services is providing good credible honest counseling for free.

Federal lawmakers have issued three rounds of grants for a total of $410 million to help homeowners hurdle the economic downturn and save their homes from foreclosures. The latest round of nearly $48 million funds could be the last federal grant that would be received by foreclosure counseling services for a while.

Homeownership advocacy groups are expecting emergency funding for mortgage counseling programs across the state and the rest of the country to simmer down as the overall economy improves. However, the groups are expecting foreclosures to continue to be serious problem in Charleston for the next two years.

On its part, Family Services plans to advocate for additional funding to continue providing assistance to homeowners who want to save their properties from listings of repossessed houses.

Listings of Foreclosed Houses to Rise as Counseling Funds End is a post from: Listings Foreclosures

In August, notices of defaults in San Diego County dropped to 2,658 notices, a nearly 20 percent drop from 3,318 notices in July and a 6.7 percent decrease from notices in August last year. It also marked the lowest number since November 2008.

Mortgage analysts however said there has not been a slowdown in the intensity of distress suffered by borrowers. The delinquency rate is still rising and the number of defaulting borrowers unable to pay their arrears continues to rise.

Typically, the analysts said, the banks file notices of delinquencies after 2 or 3 months of missed payments and then proceed with foreclosure within 6 months from the first missed payment.

According to the analysts, the decline in default and foreclosure notices may have been driven by the increased pressure from government agencies and housing advocates for more loan modifications and the increased efforts to complete short sales to avoid house foreclosed listing.

But based on initial data, about 50 percent of borrowers who have obtained loan modifications have not been able to sustain payments because of reduced income, job loss, existence of other personal debts and family problems.

There are also reports that many modified loans have not reduced monthly payments, but instead increased them because lenders have added unpaid balances and other fees to the principal.

Many other monthly payments have also increased substantially after modification because these loans are originally option adjustable rate mortgages which featured very low monthly payments. Adjusting from very low monthly payments to higher levels but typical for conventional loans is certainly difficult for many borrowers.

Norm Miller, a professor of real estate at the University of San Diego, said that the improving default and foreclosure numbers may be reflecting the slight improvement in the unemployment situation. He explained that the jobless rate in San Diego in August remained unchanged while the nationwide and statewide rates increased.

In addition, the shift in foreclosure and default trends also occurred in the type of communities affected. While foreclosures slowed in moderate-income areas targeted by subprime lending, the pace of house foreclosed listing is now rising in higher-income communities where most houses were purchased with prime loans.

House Foreclosed Listing Slowing in San Diego amid Defaults is a post from: Listings Foreclosures

According to data from Alpharetta-based real estate research firm Equity Depot, nearly 117,000 residential properties in metro Atlanta will have been notified of foreclosure by the end of the year if the current foreclosure pace does not slow down.

Barry Bramlett of Equity Depot said that the main reason for foreclosures now is no longer subprime lending but unemployment and other effects of the recession. In the past years, defaulting borrowers were able to quickly sell their houses to be able to pay their loans, but now they cannot sell even at low prices.

According to Dan Immergluck, regional and city planning professor at Georgia Tech, the largest growth in home foreclosure listing are in the counties of Gwinnett, Cobb, Forsyth and Cherokee. He explained that the foreclosure crisis has reached the higher-cost communities in the suburbs.

As of January, the highest number of foreclosure notices was posted in Fulton County, which had more than 18,600 filings. At its current pace, Fulton is expected to reach 35 percent more filings than last year. Gwinnett, which had already more than 17,000 filings, is expected to reach 71 percent more filings than last year.

Out of the 13 counties surveyed, only DeKalb County has not yet surpassed total filings in 2008, but it is expected to reach 13,677 foreclosure filings or 30 percent more filings this year compared to last year.

Meanwhile, Cobb County is expected to reach 12,833 filings, 57 percent more than last year’s filings. Cobb has about 201,000 houses, according to Steve Palm of SmartNumbers. With Equity Depot foreclosure data, over 6 percent of 201,000 homes will have been notified of foreclosure by the end of the year. In contrast, only 15,253 houses were notified of foreclosure in 2000.

Palm said that around one-third of households receiving foreclosure notices ultimately go into foreclosure. The percentage is higher than during the first months of the foreclosure crisis because many homeowners facing foreclosures now are prime borrowers. Oftentimes these borrowers have other resources they can use to prevent their properties from being repossessed by the banks.

Nonetheless, according to Atlanta analysts, even prime borrowers will not be able to prevent their properties from going into home foreclosure listing if the economy does not recover as quickly as hoped for.

Home Foreclosure Listing Still Growing in Atlanta is a post from: Listings Foreclosures

Pre-foreclosure purchases, when done correctly, provide the buyer with profit opportunities since pre-foreclosure properties are sold at much lower prices. But these purchases are also fraught with risks. The seller could disappear before the pre-foreclosure is completed or he could lie about the real conditions of the house and situations in the neighborhood.

There could also be liens or other claims that are not immediately posted on the deeds. Unpaid property taxes and utility bills oftentimes are among the problems faced by buyers of pre-foreclosures.

In California, there are laws that protect homeowners forced to sell their homes to avoid foreclosure. If the pre-foreclosure sale is not carried out according to state law, the sale could be rescinded and the seller could take back the property.

So if you are considering investing in pre-foreclosures, you need to know the laws and legal procedures on short sales or repo pre foreclosure sales in your state. You also need to make sure that the lender has really approved the short sale.

When looking at pre foreclosure listings to look for homes that you can further examine, it is best that you ask for the help of a buyer’s real estate agent who is an expert in the area where you like to buy a home.

It is also beneficial if you choose an agent or broker specializing in distressed short sales or pre-foreclosure sales. These types of agents are well experienced in the typical time frames of short sales and foreclosures in your state. They will know if a short sale can be completed before the final stage of the foreclosure process is reached.

If the agent is familiar with your market, he can help you identify properties that can be acquired in pre-foreclosure sales. He will also know if sellers are able to work with buyers quickly to complete short sales.

Another risk that arises in pre foreclosure sales is bankruptcy filing. There are cases where sellers file for bankruptcy protection and then negotiate to sell their distressed homes in a pre-foreclosure transaction.

Lastly, when considering pre foreclosure listings, do not be enticed by the low prices and rosy investment projections. Ask help from an experienced pre-foreclosure agent and a certified foreclosure home inspector.

Pre Foreclosure Listings Require Investment Risk Assessment is a post from: Listings Foreclosures

The original lawsuit was filed by the bank in February, claiming that the developer was not able to pay his $165 million loan which he obtained to convert all the 304 rental units of the Rector Square building into condo units. The suit also alleged that Levy failed to pay common charges, contractors? fees and pilot rental fees to the Battery Park City Authority, which owns the ground lease of the rental building.

In response to the first lawsuit, the developer filed his own lawsuit in Nassau County, his place of residence, claiming that the bank forced him into default because it failed to provide the needed construction money on time.

State and local investigators of the reserve fund of the Rector Square complex issued subpoenas to the said bank to respond to Levy’s accusation. They also stated that the fund was already depleted and that the accounting for the expenses was not clear. According to some reports, state and local officials asked Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau to get involved in the investigations.

Trust lawyer Michael Miller was later appointed receiver of the Rector Square and he appointed Related Companies to be the new managing firm of the building. Within 3 months, Miller has completed building some of the common areas and managing agent Related Companies has rent out around 40 of the apartments which were not yet renovated and converted into condo units.

On July 31, the New York Attorney General approved a revision to the building’s condo offering plan. Under the new amendment, buyers who bought their apartments before the approval of the new amendment have the option to cancel their purchases and get a refund of all their initial payments.

In New York history, Rector Square was the first and biggest operating condo building that was foreclosed. There were other condo buildings that were foreclosed, such as the 80-unit Jasper, but they were not yet occupied.

In early August, Levy’s other condo conversion project Sheffield57 also went into foreclosure after his partner Kent Swig failed to pay over $100 million in construction and mezzanine loans.

New York Foreclosure Listings to Include Battery Park Condos is a post from: Listings Foreclosures

In the second quarter last year, RBC Bank posted a profit of over $13 million. This year, the bank provided $202.5 million in reserves for bad loans, an almost 200-percent increase from the bank’s bad loan reserves of only $53.5 million in the second quarter last year.

Aside from the increased reserves for bad loans, the bank also increased its net bad loan charge-offs from only $26 million in the second quarter last year to $113 million this year, representing a staggering 330 percent increase.

Out of the $113 million charge-offs, nearly $55 million represented residential loans used to purchase single family distressed houses while $36.3 million represented loans provided to home builders and developers for their land development and construction projects. The rate of net charge-offs compared to total loans increased from 0.49 percent in the second quarter last year to 2.l2 percent this year.

Non-current loans, which refer to loans delinquent by over three months, increased from $237.6 million in the second quarter last year to $1.1 billion in the same quarter this year.

For the first 6 months of this year, net charge-offs posted by RBC Bank reached $255 million, representing a substantial rise from the $75.2 million net charge-offs in the first 6 months of 2008.

According to RBC Bank chief executive Scott Custer and his top officers, the current loan and asset quality problems of the bank are largely caused by the operations of its Houston-based lending company RBC Builder Finance. This unit made huge land development and construction loans in nearly 20 states, including Georgia, Florida, California and other states battered by residential and commercial delinquencies and foreclosures.

Florida and California accounted for nearly 46 percent of all default and foreclosure filings in the U.S. in July. Georgia, meanwhile, was seventh in a ranking of state foreclosure rates in July.

Nonetheless, RBC Bank may received much needed help from its parent firm, the Royal Bank of Canada, which has released its income statements this week and showed that it increased its net income by 24 percent, surpassing predictions by financial analysts. With the Royal Bank’s strong performance, Canadian bank analysts have called on the parent company to take corrective actions at RBC Bank.

North Carolina Bank Foreclosure List Drives $110M Loss is a post from: Listings Foreclosures