Monday, January 10, 2011

"C'mon, trust us. We're a bank!"

Apparently, in Massachusetts banks now have to prove they hold the mortgages before they can foreclose:
The Massachusetts high court ruled on Friday that two foreclosures are invalid because the banks could not prove they had the proper paperwork to foreclose.

The banks "failed to make the required showing that they were the holders of the mortgages at the time of foreclosure," Justice Ralph Gants wrote for the Massachusetts Supreme Court.

This could be a harbinger of things to come because it is the first ruling by a state high court on the issue of whether banks can foreclose on homeowners if [they] can't prove they hold the mortgages.
There goes my get rich quick scheme—Start a bank and then just start foreclosing on any house I darn well please. Luckily, this only applies to Massachusetts. If I start a bank in DC, I bet the Clinton's home could fetch a pretty penny!

20 comments:

  1. Clear Capital forecasts a -3.7% price decline for the US...except DC where it projects a +6.5% increase because its different here

    http://clearcapital.com/company/MarketReport.cfm?month=January&year=2011

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  2. Home values have fallen 26 percent since their peak in June 2006, worse than the 25.9-percent decline seen during the Depression years between 1928 and 1933, Zillow reported.

    November marked the 53rd consecutive month (4 ½ years) that home values have fallen.

    What’s worse, it’s not over yet: Home values are expected to continue to slide as inventories pile up, and likely won't recover until the job market improves.

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  3. That sounds terrible. Good thing that does not apply to DC...

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  4. But it certainly applies to northern Virginia.

    http://www.zillow.com/m/homedetails/2408-Ridge-Road-Dr-Alexandria-VA-22302/12031932_zpid/

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  5. It does huh? Hmmm, lets see Zillow says "November marked the 53rd consecutive month that home values have fallen"

    Yet whats this, Zillow also says that prices in Alexandria are up 4.1% YOY???

    http://www.zillow.com/local-info/VA-Alexandria/r_10071/

    Whew! Glad to know that even Zillow thinks its different here!

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  6. How come the home in the previous post is down more than $150,000? Explain why that homeowner is underwater.

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  7. Jim,

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    Adam Stern

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  8. "How come the home in the previous post is down more than $150,000? Explain why that homeowner is underwater."

    Cuz he bought near the top and sold near the bottom.

    Still doesnt change the fact that (unlike the rest of the USA) zillow is reporting prices up 4.1% YOY.

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  9. He didn't sell at the bottom. He still owns the home. I am confused. Was his home not considered in the stats because he didn't sell it? So do the data only reflect homes that have been sold? Is it something to celebrate that your home increased 4% despite the 25-30% decrease? I am confused.

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  10. Is it a fair assumption that those homes with positive equity (purchased before 2003), are the bulk of the sales data and those with negative equity represent a insignificant number?

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  11. Is it something to celebrate that your home increased 4% despite the 25-30% decrease?

    Yes. No one is saying prices are going to zoom back to peak bubble highs anytime soon. All that is worth celebrating is that (unlike the rest of the country which is going down 53 months straight), this area is up, 4.1% YOY.

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  12. No celecration for the poor chap who is underwater 150k.

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  13. Nope - but nevertheless, unlike the rest of the country which is going down 53 months straight, this area is up 4.1% YOY.

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  14. "but nevertheless, unlike the rest of the country which is going down 53 months straight"

    Good thing that events in this very large nation have no effect on the very, very small capital city.

    I mean, really. There's never been artillery deployed around the Capitol to keep the economically disaffected out of Congress.

    Or has there? Look into it and let us know what you learn.

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  15. "Good thing that events in this very large nation have no effect on the very, very small capital city.

    There's never been artillery deployed around the Capitol to keep the economically disaffected out of Congress."


    Probably has been. Im sure many many things that happen around the country affect DC. Nevertheless, given that the rest of the country went down 53 months straight vs dc going up 4.1% YOY, its clear that "housing markets and housing prices" isnt one of them.

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  16. "its clear that "housing markets and housing prices" isnt one of them."

    It is clear if you are delusional.

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  17. Actually you are right. I take that back, im sure the 53 negative months in the rest of the USA did drag down the DC housing market.

    If the rest of the country was healthy, DC probably would have appreciated +5% or so YOY. However, since the rest of the country is so sick, it dragged the rate of appereciation all the way down to +4.1% YOY.

    BTW im not being snarky here. You really are right about that. A healthy nation probably would have led to something greater than +4.1% YOY. Still, +4.1% it is...

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  18. Yep. DC is up 4.3% over last year. Now let's look at the last three years.

    "3-year (12-quarter) Appreciation (2010 Q3) -22.7%" Washington DC

    "3-year (12-quarter) Appreciation (2010 Q3) -19.9%" United States

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  19. "3-year (12-quarter) Appreciation (2010 Q3) -22.7%" Washington DC

    "3-year (12-quarter) Appreciation (2010 Q3) -19.9%" United States

    Yep - thats because it was a bubble, which I never denied. Actually I dispute the decline was really that mild.

    Still, that doesnt change the fact that it went up over 4% last year.

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  20. How could that be? How could the bank not prove that they have the proper paper work to foreclose? This bank is a failure. They have all the rights and still are unable to prove themselves.

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