The United States and 49 state Attorneys General (no Oklahoma) reached a settlement with five banks over mortgage loan servicing and foreclosure abuses and fraud. A press release states, "The settlement addresses past mortgage loan servicing and foreclosure abuses and fraud, provides substantial financial relief to borrowers harmed by bank fraud, and establishes significant new homeowner protections for the future. This is the largest joint state-federal settlement in history and it is the result of a massive civil law enforcement investigation and initiative by state attorneys general, state banking regulators, and nearly a dozen federal agencies." more ›

The New York Post alleges that Occupy Wall Street shunned the homeowner of the foreclosed home in East New York that the movement reclaimed for a homeless family last month. "They’re trying to take a house and say the bank is robbing the people because the mortgage is too high—so contact the owner!" Wise Ahadzi told the paper. Ahadzi, a single father of a 3-year old and a 10-year-old, has been confirmed to be in foreclosure proceedings since 2009. more ›

On Tuesday, a group of housing activists and Occupy Wall Street protesters marched the streets of East New York to put a spotlight on the vast foreclosure rates affecting the Brooklyn neighborhood. The demonstration came to a head at 702 Vermont Street, where a homeless family comprised of Alfredo Carasquillo, Tasha Glasgow, and their two children, intend to occupy a house foreclosed upon by Bank of America. And while Glasgow and her children are still squatting in a dilapidated home in Far Rockaway, with the help of an OWS team, Carasquillo is hard at work making the Vermont Street space a safe and livable one for his family. more ›

A U.S. Postal Service employee who worked in the Corona, Queens facility was arrested for stealing department store coupons and selling them online. According to the Post, "Thomas Tang, 38, of Baldwin, Long Island, allegedly pilfered more than 7,000 coupons from JCPenney, Kohl's and Lowe's and sold them in batches on" eBay—he estimated he made about $35,000 between October 2009 and this month just on the JC Penney coupons. And what drove him to this desperate act? more ›

Back in the summer of 2008, before we were worrying about the collapse of the financial industry, America was obsessed with a super fat cat named Princess Chunk. The 44-pound cat was found wandering NJ streets and taken in by a shelter and quickly went on a media tour, where it was revealed Chunk was abandoned by a woman whose home was being foreclosed...and that Chunk was a boy. Thus, it is with great sadness that we found out Prince Chunk died at the age of about 10 this past Sunday; a vet said he had heart disease. (Feline obesity is no joke.) more ›

From a $5.4 billion trophy purchase to foreclosed property: The 80-acre Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village complex is now in control of lenders, who, the NY Times reports, are "now expected to begin negotiations with tenants over what could be the country’s largest conversion of rental buildings to a condominium or cooperative. That could start battles among the 25,000 tenants over whether the apartments should remain affordable or be allowed to trade openly on the real estate market." more ›

The foreclosure robosigning mess has stalled foreclosure auctions and sales, leaving many homes in limbo. The Post reports, "Lawyers in New York must make sure that real people sign documents and thoroughly check homeowners’ financial situations before they try to take away people’s homes," making the Empire State the first state to do so. Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman said, “We cannot allow courts in New York to stand by idly and be party to what we now know is a deeply flawed process, especially when that process involves basic needs - such as a family home - during this period of economic crisis." more ›

As the Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village complex heads into foreclosure auction later this month, both the NY Times and Wall Street Journal look at how the development, in spite of its problems under Tishman Speyer, remains attractive. People are expecting a war over the property, and one investor group thinks it'll make a lot of money by turning the rental apartments into co-ops. William Ackman, whose Pershing Square Capital Management and Winthrop Realty Trust is one of the parties in the investor group, tells the WSJ, "The value of the property as a co-op is much higher than the value of the property as a rental." If only Tishman knew that four years ago! more ›

Nearly four years after being sold for $5.4 billion, Stuyvesant Town headed into a foreclosure sale—CityRoom reports that Judge Alvin Hellerstein "issued the long awaited foreclosure order against the owner of the complexes, a partnership of Tishman Speyer Properties and BlackRock Realty, which defaulted on a $3 billion mortgage early this year... the partnership now owes $3.67 billion, according to court records." Tenants are interested in buying the property, as are some investors; one investor, Wilbur Ross, said, "We will bid only if and when we can do so in concert with the tenants. Any proposal that materially disrupts the tenancy and lifestyle there would be inappropriate and impractical. This is not just a place card in a Monopoly game." more ›

Last week, the NY Times had an article about homeowners who stopped paying mortgages, mentioning Florida couple Alex Pemberton and Susan Reboyras, "Foreclosure has allowed them to stabilize the family business. Go to Outback occasionally for a steak. Take their gas-guzzling airboat out for the weekend. Visit the Hard Rock Casino." But Pemberton now tells the St. Petersburg Times they've used their "old yellow airboat exactly twice in the past 2 1/2 years" and he "mentioned Outback and Hard Rock — where he sometimes plays the penny slots — only when the reporter pressed him for examples of what they might do for entertainment." But he sorta understands the hate mail, "If I didn't know it was me, I would have been the one digging out the pitchforks and torches and knocking on my door." [Via Pat's Papers] more ›

For all those New Yorkers at risk of foreclosure Mayor Bloomberg says, it's OK, you can pay your water bills late. His new program allows homeowners who already owe $1,000 in water bills to freeze their penalties and unpaid interest. The city will recoup the money when the properties are sold or refinanced, reports the Daily News. "What this is trying to do is to help people, not to bail out everyone. The city just can't do that," Bloomberg said. But daaad... more ›

The city has been exploring a controversial solution to the problem of overcrowded homeless shelters—foreclosed homes! According to the Daily News, the Department of Homeless Services is moving families from shelters to cut-rate and sometimes illegal apartments. So far it's refused to say where all of its 12,000 Work Advantage families have been placed, but a survey of 70 participants found homes that are facing foreclosure, as well as illegally converted apartments and units full of violations. In the case of foreclosed homes, families got cozy in their new apartments, only to end up back on the streets. more ›

In a State of the City address crafted for a recession era, Mayor Bloomberg said he will reduce government spending, streamline city agencies, and assist debt-ridden New Yorkers by establishing a $10 million fund to help refinance mortgages, and starting a new banking program that will offer accounts with no minimum balances or hidden fees. "The city can't manage anyone's personal finances but we can make it easier for New Yorkers to manage their own — and we will," he said. more ›

The subprime mortgage meltdown and the wave of foreclosures that swept across the city and the nation continue to put New Yorkers at risk of losing their homes — despite a federal policy drafted to protect them. The Times reports that in the ten months since President Obama debuted his $75 billion plan to keep as many as four million Americans from being forced out of their homes due to foreclosure, only 31,000 homeowners have been able to negotiate permanent new mortgages. And in the city, where 20,000 homeowners faced foreclosure this year, lenders have offered new or trial mortgages to just 3 percent of homeowners who sought help. more ›

With its troubling debt problems, an arm of Dubai World lost control of the W Union Square Hotel in a foreclosure auction this morning. The Real Deal reports, "LEM Mezzanine, a Philadelphia-based private equity fund, acquired Istithmar's former W New York - Union Square hotel for $2 million, plus the assumption of $212 million in debt." more ›

Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries says that there are 65 condominium developments in Brooklyn which are "either financially troubled or on the verge of distress". He said, "There was an irrational exuberance of construction in the area these past few years," and Crain's reports that he's "in the early stages of approaching developers and banks behind some of these properties with a proposal to convert the unsold units into affordable housing." (Apparently it's unrelated to the city's own from-foreclosed- to-affordable-housing push.) The Local has a list of the developments; Curbed notices, "There's some shockers on there, including the blockbuster One Hanson Place conversion." Possibly related: Prices were cut on the remaining units at One Hanson Place ("One of the biggest was a 23 percent price reduction on a 1,500-sf, 2-bed, which went from $1,222,431 to $945,000"). more ›

The Post says that "two distressed luxury condo buildings -- one in Harlem and another in Downtown Brooklyn -- are in talks with the city to unload their unsold units at fire-sale prices as affordable housing." Hey, if luxury condos can become homeless shelters, why not? While it's unclear which condos are being eyed, apparently the city is negotiating with the banks that foreclosed on the properties. And the city's housing commissioner Rafael Cesetro said the condo developers/banks "would have to take significant losses"—a $500,000 condo could be purchased by the city for $300,000 (plus the developer/bank would get a $50,000 subsidy). Cesetro added that developers were only thinking about the bubble, "Some of the sales assumptions seemed like a stretch in any kind of market. In Downtown Brooklyn, and not on the water, they had buildings underwritten to sell for $800 to $900 a square foot." Will more luxury condos be turned over to the city? more ›

Earlier this week, the NY Times had a feature on the Queens Museum of Art's Red Lines Housing Learning exhibit. Artist Damon Rich put markers on the Panorama of New York City (the 9,335 square foot architectural model of the city which has over 895,000 structures) to show where there have been foreclosures. more ›

Victoria Gotti, daughter of the late Teflon Don John Gotti, is "bitter" about the foreclosure of her Old Westbury mansion. A panel of judges allowed Chase to start foreclosure proceedings; Gotti says that her ex, Carmine Agnello, took out a $700,000 mortgage behind her back (Chase says she never paid all the $25,000 monthly payments that were owed). Her mother told the Post that her daughter was "not in the mood to talk to anybody" and offered her own thoughts on her former son-in-law, calling him a creep. But Victoria Gotti did tell Newsday, "The house, all the marital assets, are part of a divorce package (settlement) I have never seen yet." The white brick, five-bedroom, and five-and-a-half bath home was seen on the A&E reality series Growing Up Gotti—in the past few years, Gotti has listed the home on the market for $4.8 million, $3.995 million, $3.899 million and most recently, between $3.2 million and $3.5 million. more ›

According to a study from RealtyTrac, NYC's foreclosures increased by 44% last month, while NY State had 23% more foreclosures over January. Realty Trac says many NYS foreclosures probably hit last month after the recently-instituted law that delays foreclosure proceedings by 90 days. Manhattan's foreclosures rose by 549%, but the Post explains the number "was distorted because of actions taken against one 230-unit Midtown condo complex... Building officials said the complaint involved a payment dispute with a contractor, not the mortgage." (It's unclear how that would change the overall NYC and NY State total.) Some more stats: Foreclosures increased 33% in the Bronx and 26% in Brooklyn, while they were 11% down in Queens. And on Staten Island, there was a foreclosure for every 1022 homes, the second worst rate in NY—after Suffolk County which has one foreclosure for every 822 homes (yikes!). See the map here. more ›

Yesterday, over a thousand people flocked to the Javits Center in hopes of landing a deal at the city's first home foreclosure auction. The NY Times, which said 1,400 were in attendance, described the atmosphere:

On the floor, four men called the bids, screaming, blowing whistles, thrusting their arms into the air and using their fingers to signal how much more was being offered over the last bid... more ›

There's been talk of big apartment complexes, bought by private equity firms, being at risk for mortgage defaults, after the buildings' new owners had unrealistic expectations for rent increases. Now, the NY Times reports that Senator Charles Schumer wants to make sure certain buildings stay affordable given that 60,000 lower income residents may be affected. He also wants the SEC to investigate the loans, "The entire predatory equity enterprise is a house of cards built on a foundation of fantasy and greed. The whole thing collapses when there is any depreciation, or even a leveling, in the property’s value, which is the reality we now face. You would think these deals would’ve stopped a year ago, but they are still going forward." more ›

The DAily News reports that as foreclosures and evictions rise all over the city, many of the victims are renters--NYU's Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy counts 38,000 were affected. And in many cases, "renters have been given just weeks to find new digs, while unscrupulous landlords collect rents for homes they no longer own." In one case, some tenants told a judge they had no idea their landlord didn't own the building anymore--and after paying their September rent, the landlord "told them she would keep their security deposits as payment for October rent." Even the bank's lawyer believes they are innocent victims! more ›

JP Morgan Chase announced yesterday that it will take a break from leaving Americans in the cold and hold off on foreclosures for the next ninety days. A JP Morgan executive told the press, "We felt it is our responsibility to provide additional help to homeowners during these challenging times. We will work with families who want to save their homes but are struggling to make their payments." In the interim, the company will attempt to find ways to make payments easier on the $110 billion of problem mortgages. Meanwhile in Washington yesterday, Barney Frank complained that banks thus far are using their portion of the $700 million government bailout for "bonuses, dividends and acquisitions." more ›

Manhattan, once one of the few spots that seemed immune to the foreclosure bug that has swept the nation. But the NY Times reports that more apartment owners in Manhattan are missing payments, putting their apartments up for sale to avoid losing them with foreclosures for this July up 78 percent from the year before. Manhattan homeowners may have believed that they were invincible because of the relatively stable real estate market with those folding on their mortgages in Manhattan being not your typical middle-class. The Times describes the new foreclosure class: "Their Facebook pages feature them at parties with friends, and their LinkedIn bios list prestigious careers and educational credentials." A program coordinator of foreclosure prevention for Neighborhood Housing Services tells the paper that he finds his Manhattan clients seem to have “a level of not fully accepting what is going on.” more ›

It seems hip-hop mogul Damon Dash may be an entrepreneur, but he's certainly not in the business of paying the bills. The NY Post is now reporting that the Eastern Savings Bank has filed suit against him, "charging the Roc-a-Fella Records co-founder hasn't made a payment on his $78,504.20-a-month mortgage since January." The $7.3M mortgage is split between two properties, at both 25 N. Moore Street and 79 Laight Street, and Dash and his wife (Rachel Roy) have been warned in writing that they are in danger of losing both. The Daily News adds that the suit "cites numerous judgments against Dash in which he was ordered to pay more than $2 million in New York state taxes, more than $100,000 in federal taxes and $95,000 in unpaid rent to the landlord of the W.39th St. building that houses Damon Dash Enterprises." Last year he "sued his accountant for allegedly costing him millions of dollars by filing faulty tax returns." more ›

You've heard about Ed McMahon's home being foreclosed in Beverly Hills? Well, now Donald Trump is swooping in to help out the former Tonight Show sidekick. Trump, who doesn't know McMahon--"I grew up watching him on TV"--told the LA Times it would be "honor" to lease the mansion to the 85-year-old, who defaulted on $4.8 million in mortgage loans with Countrywide (the house is a 6-bedroom, 5-bath home, bought in 1990 for $2.6 million). Details are still being worked out, but Trump said, "When I was at the Wharton School of Business, I'd watch him every night. How could this happen?" We wonder if this means McMahon will have to appear on the next season of The Apprentice. more ›

John Brennan was arrested after drawing a gun on sheriff's officers who had come to move items out of his 88-year-old mother's foreclosed home in Saddle Brook, NJ. His mother was unable to pay off her refinancing payments and the home was sold at auction in May. When movers and officers arrived yesterday, Brennan refused to let them into the house, wielding a .22-caliber gun. Eventually, the officers were able to calm Brennan down. Charges are pending against the 60-year-old; his mother was taken away in an ambulance. A mover told the Bergen Record, "I don't want to have any more experiences like this again." more ›

The Post reported that, when comparing July 2008 figures to July 2007, foreclosures were up 67%. Here's how it broke down by borough: A 16% increase in the Bronx; up 63% in Brooklyn; up 7.6% in Manhattan (but a 55% increase between June and July of 2008); up 81% in Queens (half the foreclosures there were); and up 215% on Staten Island. The Post adds that Queens "appears to be at the epicenter of the national housing crisis," what with high foreclosure rates, the low number of houses sold, and median sale prices dropping. PropertyShark.com CEO Bill Saniford said, "The numbers are pretty dramatic for New York City.l In Queens, it's quite scary." more ›