Chino Hills California Real Estate, Gail Griffin

Talking Points As the housing market continues to struggle for stabilization, many homeowners are turning to strategic default.  Almost 11 million homes are now underwater, according to Corelogic.  Around 3.5 million homeowners are behind in their payments and another 1.5 million homes are already in the ...

  HousingWire The Treasury Dept. and the Federal Housing Administration will issue new rules in the coming months allowing borrowers to appeal mortgage servicer decisions under certain modification programs. Read the full story

  The New York Times Those who have issues with their mortgage lenders now have another place to take them: The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which began accepting such complaints and inquiries this month. Read the full story

  The Mercury News Declining house values create great opportunities for homeowners to contest their property tax bills and potentially save big money. Read the full story

  The Washington Post There is plenty of blame to go around for the U.S. housing bubble, but not much of it belongs to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Read the full story 

CNN Money... President Obama announced last week that he’s asked the Justice Department to create a special unit of prosecutors and state attorneys general to investigate abusive lending and packaging of risky mortgages that led to the housing crisis. Read the full story

Mercury News... In his State of the Union Address, President Obama laid out a plan to help responsible borrowers and support a housing market recovery.  Details of that plan were released yesterday.  However, funding for the proposed program must be approved by Congress, lowering the possibility that it will be implemented ...

Talking Points The CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®’ (C.A.R.) Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI)* fell from a revised 108.7 in November to 91.6 in December, based on signed contracts.  The index was up from the revised 82.5 recorded in December 2010, marking the eighth consecutive month that pending ...

  The Los Angeles Times The Center for Responsible Lending has called a proposed $25-billion settlement over faulty foreclosure practices between attorneys general, federal agencies, and the mortgage industry “an important step in addressing foreclosure abuses.” Read the full story 

  The Wall Street Journall  There were fewer houses for sale at the end of 2011 than in any of the previous four years, a positive sign for the housing sector. Read the full story