The prolonged mortgage crisis that has confronted the U.S. housing industry since 2008 has regulators poised to crack down on loan servicers with a proposed list of new requirements.
Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. chair Sheila Bair on Wednesday called for the establishment of a foreclosure claims commission and outlined steps to streamline the loan-modification and foreclosure processes.
"It is time for government and industry to reach an agreement that will finally bring closure to the crisis and pave the way for a lasting recovery in our housing and mortgage markets," Bair said in a speech at the Mortgage Bankers Association conference in Washington, D.C. "If we fail to act decisively now to deal with the foreclosure crisis, we risk triggering a double-dip in U.S. housing markets that could roll back the progress the program has made to date."
The foreclosure rate has climbed steadily nationally and locally since the housing slump began in 2008. Savannah's foreclosure rate peaked at 1.9 percent in September 2010, according to real estate analysis firm CoreLogic, and the delinquency rate remains above 6 percent.
Local real estate and mortgage industry insiders applauded Bair's proposals Wednesday.
Any measure that can decrease the number of foreclosures and help guide distressed borrowers would be beneficial to troubled homeowners and the market as a whole, said Monica Spillane, president of the Savannah Area Board of Realtors.
"Fewer foreclosures on the market would improve pricing obviously," Spillane said. "But the other part of the foreclosure crisis is people are scared. You hear all these things about what's going on with both the economy and the problems with the process, and you don't want to make a purchase. And that's a detriment to our community."
From: http://ping.fm/mI2wC
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