New rules coming down from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke aim to prevent the current mortgage lending crisis from happening again in the future. The rules will require stricter requirements for proving income of borrowers, limiting or eliminating pre-payment penalties. The changes will also require lenders to consider the borrowers ability to repay from sources other than the home’s value.
Interesting article.
It appears that more and more cities are seeing banks delay the foreclosure process when the occupant abandons the property. There can be many reasons but the article speculates that the banks are trying to minimize losses on their books which may catch the eye of regulators. Others presume it’s to avoid costly maintenance fees, taxes, and increased liability.
Nevertheless, it’s happening on a large scale. Neighborhoods of all flavors are seeing often smelly over-grown eye sores sitting detracting from the value of their surrounding properties.
What can one do? Little without trespassing.
City and county officials (according to the article) have spent millions on cleaning up such properties with little recourse to banks and prior owners. At the end of the day, the tax payers are footing the bill.
Just another added benefit of a changing market.
Comparison of 3 markets. Post Falls, Coeur d’Alene and Spokane.
I think you’ll be interested in what you see.
For other Idaho Cities – shoot me a note.
