Safeguard Properties

Proposed Bill Would Ban Use of Plywood for Boarding in New York

Posted on by Safeguard

Industry Update
January 31, 2023

Full Bill Text:  New York Senate Bill 3369

Proposed New York Senate Bill 3369 was introduced on January 31, 2023 and has been referred to the Senate Housing, Construction and Community Development Committee for further review.  If the bill is passed, it would prohibit a person, municipality or governmental entity from using plywood, wood composite, wood veneer, or similar wood-based products to secure any real property that is deemed vacant and abandoned.

For full report, please click the source link above.


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

HUD Secretary Announces Major Milestone of Assisting Nearly 2 Million Homeowners Stay in their Homes

Posted on by Safeguard

Industry Update
February 8, 2023

Source:  U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Marcia L. Fudge announced that, thanks to Federal Housing Administration (FHA) programs, approximately 2 million homeowners with FHA mortgages were able to stay in their homes from the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020 through December 2022 – when doing so was often a matter of life and death. During this period of time amid the pandemic, FHA borrowers whose ability to make their mortgage payments was impaired by the pandemic were able to obtain either a COVID-19 forbearance or a more permanent solution such as a loan modification that allowed them to avoid foreclosure.

Based on the effectiveness of these options, FHA announced last week that their COVID-19 toolkit has been extended to help all eligible borrowers who are struggling to avoid foreclosure, regardless of the reason for their hardship. These tools will be available for at least the next 18 months.

“Although the pandemic has ended, the economic effects will remain a challenge for the foreseeable future,” said HUD Secretary Marcia L. Fudge. “These impactful and effective foreclosure prevention tools will help struggling borrowers find the right option to help them get back on their feet and keep them in their homes. These tools have been so successful already, which is why FHA worked to enhance them further and include more borrowers.”

For full report, please click the source link above.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

U.S. Foreclosure Activity in January 2023 Continues to Increase Annually for 21 Consecutive Months

Posted on by Safeguard

Industry Update
February 9, 2023

Source:  ATTOM

ATTOM, a leading curator of land, property, and real estate data, released its January 2023 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report, which shows there were a total of 31,557 U.S. properties with foreclosure filings — default notices, scheduled auctions or bank repossessions – up 36 percent from a year ago, and up 2 percent from the prior month.

”The uptick in overall foreclosure filings nationwide points toward a trend that may suggest more increased activity is on the horizon as we enter the new year,” said ATTOM CEO Rob Barber.” While both completed foreclosures and foreclosure starts have stalled slightly over the past month, the annual increase in overall activity seen over the past 21 months may indicate a more substantial trend that could continue into 2023.”

For full report, please click the source link above.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ATTOM Integrates Propensity to Default Analytics into its Vast U.S. Property Data Warehouse

Posted on by Safeguard

Industry Update
February 7, 2023

Source:  ATTOM

ATTOM, a leading curator of real estate data nationwide for land and property data, announced it has integrated propensity to default analytics into its U.S. property data warehouse. With this news, the ATTOM Table of Data Elements expands even further with yet another layer of details to enhance market intelligence, while enabling various industries powerful investment insight and mitigation strategies.

This integration combines ATTOM’s comprehensive foreclosure and mortgage data with Powerlytics – a predictive analytics solution provider with a proprietary database of anonymized tax returns covering over 150 million U.S. households, to score properties across the nation on the likelihood of going into foreclosure.

“What started as a focus in fueling real estate industry customers with premium property data, has exploded into powering various industries across all spectrums,” said Rob Barber CEO at ATTOM. “In today’s volatile housing market, being armed with predictive analytics that will allow real estate investors, brokers, mortgage servicers, and more the ability to zero in on properties that have the highest probability of going into foreclosure, is essential for competitive data-driven decision making.”

For full report, please click the source link above.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

FEMA Major Disaster Declaration – North Dakota Severe Winter Storm, Snowstorm, and Straight-line Winds

Posted on by Mike Rasch

FEMA Alert
February 5, 2023

FEMA has issued a Major Disaster Declaration for the state of North Dakota to supplement state, tribal and local recovery efforts in areas affected by a severe winter storm, snowstorm and straight-line winds from Nov. 9-11, 2022.  The following areas have been approved for assistance:

Public Assistance:

  • Dickey
  • Kidder
  • Mercer
  • Nelson
  • Ransom
  • Sargent
  • Wells

 

North Dakota Severe Winter Storm, Snowstorm, and Straight-line Winds (DR-4686-ND)

President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. Approves Major Declaration for the State of North Dakota

Map of Affected Areas

List of Affected Zip Codes

 

Additional Resources

FEMA’s web site

FEMA’s Disaster Declaration Process

Safeguard Properties Industry Alerts

HUD Moratorium on Foreclosure

VA’s Policy Regarding Natural Disasters

Freddie Mac Disaster Relief Policies

Fannie Mae’s Natural Disaster Relief Policies

Federal Housing Administration Expands Assistance Options for Borrowers Struggling to Make Mortgage Payments

Posted on by Safeguard

Industry Update
January 30, 2023

Source:  U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) has announced that it is expanding and enhancing its set of loss mitigation options used to help borrowers struggling to make mortgage payments on their FHA-insured mortgages. The enhancements extend FHA’s highly effective COVID-19 loss mitigation options to all eligible borrowers who fall behind on their mortgage payments, regardless of the cause of their delinquency. The updates also enable mortgage servicers to use the full 30 percent of FHA’s partial claim option, rather than the previously permitted 25 percent, to help maximize the number of borrowers able to retain their homes. The mandatory effective date of the changes is April 30, 2023, but mortgage servicers may begin offering these options to borrowers immediately.

“We are committed to ensuring that no FHA borrower experiences foreclosure unnecessarily,” said Assistant Secretary for Housing and Federal Housing Commissioner Julia Gordon. “FHA’s COVID-19 forbearances and streamlined COVID-19 loss mitigation options have successfully helped millions of struggling borrowers in the last two fiscal years alone. Our action today lets us capitalize on what we have learned through the pandemic to continue helping borrowers avoid foreclosure, regardless of the nature of their hardship.”

For full report, please click the source link above.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

HUD Announces Over 100,000 Families & Individuals Housed Through “House America” Homelessness Initiative

Posted on by Safeguard

Industry Update
January 26, 2023

Source: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Marcia L. Fudge announced that states, municipalities, and tribes who joined House America have housed more than 100,000 households experiencing homelessness and added over 40,000 affordable housing units into development. HUD organized leaders from 105 communities across 31 states and territories and the District of Columbia to join House America and provided technical assistance to reach these goals. Launched in September 2021 by Secretary Fudge in partnership with the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH), House America is an all-hands-on-deck effort to address the nation’s homelessness crisis.

“Everyone deserves a safe, stable place to call home. Through House America, I’m proud to see that communities have stepped up to get people off the streets and into homes,” said Secretary Fudge. “The Biden-Harris Administration is deploying a Housing First approach, using American Rescue Plan funding and other resources to help individuals find a place to call home. We will continue to work to house America until we end homelessness as we know it.”

For full report, please click the source link above.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

‘The Wreckage of Decades’: The Fight to Fix Nearly 1K Vacant Properties in Albany

Posted on by Safeguard

Industry Update
January 28, 2023

Source: timesunion.com

Outside a deserted house in the South End earlier this month, a city inspector photographed the utility shut-off notice and partially boarded up windows of the dilapidated structure. A mostly broken staircase clung to the back of the house, and the roof caved in on a nearby moss-covered shed. In the backyard, the door to a smaller structure was broken open revealing trashed furniture, pillaged cabinets and shredded ceilings.

Built in 1880, the brick home with stately trim is vacant and plunging into disrepair. Just up the street was another boarded up vacant home. Down the road, there were once another three vacant buildings, but they were demolished by the city in 2020 after they started to collapse.

The homes are among the approximately 974 vacant buildings in Albany, according to city records.

For full report, please click the source link above.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

FEMA Fire Management Assistance Declaration – Oregon Cedar Creek Fire

Posted on by Safeguard

FEMA Alert
January 27, 2023

FEMA has issued a Fire Management Assistance Declaration for the state of Oregon to supplement state, tribal and local response efforts in areas affected by the Cedar Creek fire beginning September 9, 2022 and continuing.  The following areas have been approved for assistance:

Public Assistance:

  • Lane

 

Oregon Cedar Creek Fire (FM-5457-OR)

List of Affected Zip Codes

 

Additional Resources

FEMA’s web site

FEMA’s Disaster Declaration Process

Safeguard Properties Industry Alerts

HUD Moratorium on Foreclosure

VA’s Policy Regarding Natural Disasters

Freddie Mac Disaster Relief Policies

Fannie Mae’s Natural Disaster Relief Policies

Share of Mortgage Loans in Forbearance Remains Flat at .7% in December

Posted on by Safeguard

Industry Update
January 23, 2023

Source:  Mortgage Bankers Association

The Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) monthly Loan Monitoring Survey revealed that the total number of loans now in forbearance remained flat relative to the prior month at 0.70% as of December 31, 2022. According to MBA’s estimate, 350,000 homeowners are in forbearance plans.

The share of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans in forbearance decreased 1 basis point to 0.31%. Ginnie Mae loans in forbearance decreased 1 basis point to 1.45%, and the forbearance share for portfolio loans and private-label securities (PLS) increased 3 basis points to 1.00%.

“For three consecutive months, the forbearance rate has remained flat — an indicator that we may have reached a floor on further improvements,” said Marina Walsh, CMB, MBA’s Vice President of Industry Analysis. “New forbearance requests and re-entries continue to trickle in at about the same pace as forbearance exits. The overall performance of servicing portfolios was also flat compared to the previous month, but there was some deterioration in the performance of Ginnie Mae loans.”

Added Walsh, “Forbearance remains an option for struggling homeowners and its usage may continue, especially if unemployment increases as expected. MBA is forecasting for the unemployment rate to reach 5.2 percent in the second half of 2023, up from its current level of 3.5 percent.

For full report, please click the source link above.