The Washington Independent

Posts Tagged REOs

Shrinking Cities Across the Pond

By | 06.15.09 | 8:52 am

For a while now at TWI, we’ve been keeping and eye on developments in the shrinking cities movement. It’s a new idea for urban development, aimed at saving cities by making them smaller: Cordoning off the sections that are abandoned and marred by blight, urging the few people left More…

Abandoned and Neglected Foreclosed Homes So Damaged They Won’t Sell

By | 04.17.09 | 9:15 am

CNN picks up on a mostly overlooked component of the mortgage crisis that TWI has been following: Growing numbers of trashed and abandoned bank-owned foreclosed homes. Some of the houses left behind by banks are so damaged they’re never going to sell, CNN reports, citing mortgage analyst Thomas More…

More Problems With Bank-Owned Homes: Sometimes You Can’t Really Buy Them

By | 04.13.09 | 10:59 am

As we’ve noted previously, neglected and abandoned bank-owned foreclosed homes have caused problems with neighborhood blight and falling property values, in some areas. The Washington Post today reports on another difficulty with these Real Estate Owned (REO) properties. Sometimes banks are so overwhelmed by the number of REOs More…

Fees Charged by Bailed Out Banks Finally Draw Some Ire

By | 04.13.09 | 10:10 am

This should have happened a long time ago: Banks that received government bailout money and  continue to charge consumers excessive fees on credit cards and other services are getting a second look, The Wall Street Journal reports.

The committee overseeing federal banking-bailout programs is investigating the lending practices of

More…

Cashing In on the Foreclosure Boom

By | 04.06.09 | 9:04 am

Speaking of businesses making money from the downturn, The New York Times reports today on how the real estate industry is trying to cash in on the glut in REOs, or Real Estate Owned properties. Those are foreclosed homes that don’t sell at foreclosure auctions or sheriff’s sales and More…

Creating New Businesses From the Ruins of Bank-Owned Homes

By | 04.06.09 | 8:48 am

In every downturn, there’s always an entrepreneur who finds a way to create a business opportunity out of terrible financial circumstances. This recession is no exception. Jon Lansner at the OCRegister. com reports that “land consultants” are popping up to help banks do something with their foreclosed bank-owned homes More…

Banks Just Keep Walking Away From Foreclosed Houses

By | 03.31.09 | 9:39 am

In another sign that the behavior of lenders who disregard their REO properties is gaining attention, The New York Times picks up on the common and scandalous practice of banks walking away from foreclosures.

Cleveland Wins the First Round in Fight to Stop Banks From Dumping Their Trash

By | 03.31.09 | 9:27 am

Late last year, TWI wrote about a landmark lawsuit in Cleveland, in which housing lawyers were trying to stop banks from dumping their rundown and neglected bank-owned homes on the city. The lawyers, working on behalf of a local nonprofit, had momentum at first, securing  a temporary restraining order More…

The Abandonment of America’s Cities

By | 03.26.09 | 8:50 am

The tent cities in Sacramento, Calif., which we described recently, and the increasing number of shanty towns detailed in The New York Times today, are only part of the crisis in America’s cities. As we’ve written, vacant and abandoned foreclosed homes in some communities have become a More…

More Evidence of the Vacant Homes Crisis: Habitat for Humanity Is Now Tearing Down Houses

By | 03.19.09 | 10:23 am

Now and then you’ve probably seen some heartwarming story about the charitable group Habitat for Humanity helping to build a home for someone down and out on their luck.

Just to show you how bad the crisis in vacant and foreclosed has become, Habitat for Humanity is still around, More…