Lawyers and Business Executives in the News™

U.S. home foreclosures soar in Augus

                                                                                                        This is the 21st century of media technology, and John Manly of Manly, McGuire & Stewart is maximizing his influence among 60 million viewers on AOL Television, iTunes, CBS and The InsiderExclusive   TV Show with Steve Murphy. See him now on AOL Television, iTunes and CBS by clicking here. John was also a featured guest on the "Insider Exclusive's" "Southern California's Premier Law Firms " TV Show. Hence his interest in this story about how the number of foreclosure filings reported in the U.S. last month more than doubled versus August 2006 and jumped 36 percent from July, a trend that signals many homeowners are increasingly unable to make timely payments on their mortgages or sell their homes amid a national housing slump. A total of 243,947 foreclosure filings were reported in August, up 115 percent from 113,300 in the same month a year ago, Irvine, Calif.-based RealtyTrac Inc. said Tuesday. There were 179,599 foreclosure filings reported in July. The filings include default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions. Some properties might have received more than one notice if the owners have multiple mortgages. August's total represents the highest number of foreclosure filings reported in a single month since the company began tracking monthly filings two years ago. You can listen to more of John Manly on "The Law Business Insider," at www.lbishow.com. You can also reach John directly at 949-252-9990, or email jmanly@manlymcguire.com

Record Number of Homes Entered Foreclosure in Second Quarter

This is the 21st century of media technology, and John Manly of Manly, McGuire & Stewart is maximizing his influence among 60 million viewers on AOL Television, iTunes, CBS and The InsiderExclusive   TV Show with Steve Murphy. See him now on AOL Television, iTunes and CBS by clicking here. John was also a featured guest on the "Insider Exclusive's" "Southern California's Premier Law Firms " TV Show. Hence his interest in this story about how ecord number of homes entered the foreclosure process in the second quarter, and housing market problems have put mounting strain on prime loans, according to data released by the Mortgage Bankers Association. Pressure remained the most severe on subprime adjustable-rate mortgages, as 18 states reported at least 19% of these loans were delinquent. More than 26% of the borrowers with subprime ARMs in Mississippi and West Virginia were delinquent, MBA said. On a seasonally adjusted basis, 0.65% of homes entered the foreclosure process in the second quarter, shattering the 0.58% record set in the first quarter. The second quarter foreclosure starts were 44% higher than in the second quarter of 2006. The rise in foreclosure starts comes despite intensified efforts by regulators, lawmakers and lenders to stem the time of delinquencies, with close to 2 million adjustable-rate mortgages resetting by the end of next year into higher monthly payments. You can listen to more of John Manly on "The Law Business Insider," at www.lbishow.com. You can also reach John directly at 949-252-9990, or email jmanly@manlymcguire.com

Mortgage Crisis Spreads to High-Cost Real Estate

This is the 21st century of media technology, and John Manly of Manly, McGuire & Stewart is maximizing his influence among 60 million viewers on AOL Television, iTunes, CBS and The InsiderExclusive   TV Show with Steve Murphy. See him now on AOL Television, iTunes and CBS by clicking here.

John was also a featured guest on the "Insider Exclusive's" "Southern California's Premier Law Firms " TV Show. Hence his interest in this story about how, as ending nationwide has rapidly gotten more restrictive for borrowers taking out large loans, expensive residential areas around the country have seen the pace of sales for homes above $500,000 fall off sharply during what should be one of the busiest seasons for buyers and sellers, mortgage bankers and realtors say. Even in markets where it’s too soon to get a true measure of the effects of higher rates — there is, after all, a built-in lag time between when mortgage applications are accepted and when they close — a sudden drop in confidence has cast a pall on home sales activity. And that, in turn, could put downward pressure on prices for higher-priced homes. You can listen to more of John Manly on "The Law Business Insider," at www.lbishow.com. You can also reach John directly at 949-252-9990, or email jmanly@manlymcguire.com

Foreclosures Surged in July Amid Housing Market Woes

John Manly of Manly, McGuire & Stewart is a real estate and business pro and a featured guest on the "Insider Exclusive's" "Southern California's Premier Law Firms " TV Show. Hence his interest in this story about how foreclosure filings rose 9% from June to July and surged 93% over the same period last year, with Nevada, Georgia and Michigan accounting for the highest foreclosure rates nationwide, a research firm said Tuesday. The filings include default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions. The figures are the latest measure of the ailing housing market, which has seen defaults and foreclosures soar as financially strapped borrowers have failed to make payments or find buyers. In all, 179,599 foreclosure filings were reported during July, up from 92,845 in the year-ago month, according to Irvine, Calif.-based RealtyTrac Inc. A total of 164,644 foreclosure filings were reported in June. The national foreclosure rate in July was one filing for every 693 households, the firm said. "While 43 states experienced year-over-year increases in foreclosure activity, just five states -- California, Florida, Michigan, Ohio and Georgia -- accounted for more than half of the nation's total foreclosure filings," said RealtyTrac Chief Executive James J. Saccacio. You can listen to more of John Manly on "The Law Business Insider," at www.lbishow.com. You can also reach John directly at 949-252-9990, or email jmanly@manlymcguire.com

After the Pain of Foreclosure, a Big Tax Bill

John Manly of Manly, McGuire & Stewart is a real estate and business pro and a featured guest on the "Insider Exclusive's" "Southern California's Premier Law Firms " TV Show. Hence his interest in this story about how, for those who struggle to pay their bills, who watch their housing payments rise out of reach with their adjustable-rate mortgages, who lose a job or who fall victim to illness, losing one’s home can feel like hitting bottom. But one more financial indignity may await as the fallout from the great housing boom ripples across the United States. Notices of unpaid taxes, unanticipated and little understood, will probably multiply as more people fall behind on their mortgages, said Ellen Harnick, senior policy counsel at the Center for Responsible Lending, a nonpartisan research and policy center in Durham, N.C. The Center for Responsible Lending expects that 20 percent of the home loans made in 2005 and 2006 to people with weak credit, commonly called subprime loans, will end in foreclosure. Because so little money was required as a down payment during the boom, the value of many of these houses may be less than what is owed. Some people in this predicament are fighting the I.R.S. and winning. Sometimes, lower payments can be negotiated with the I.R.S., tax experts say. You can listen to more of John Manly on "The Law Business Insider," at www.lbishow.com. You can also reach John directly at 949-252-9990, or email jmanly@manlymcguire.com

In the Current Foreclosure Crisis, Echoes of the Past

Irina J. Drill is the managing partner of Lindborg & Drill LLP, and a featured guest on the "Insider Exclusive's" "LA's Most Influential Women Series" TV Show. Ms. Drill's practice is primarily devoted to the representation of owners, contractors, developers and construction managers in all facets of construction law, including the litigation and mediation of construction and commercial claims, business litigation, real property-related matters and the counseling of clients in claims avoidance and mitigation techniques. Ms. Drill is skilled in working with clients and opposing parties to resolve matters as efficiently, expeditiously and economically as possible. She has successfully represented clients in complex construction disputes and is knowledgeable in presenting complex construction claims to judges and mediators. Hence her interest about how attention has been focused on losses rippling across the global financial system as a result of loose mortgage lending. But the impact is often felt most viscerally in lower-income neighborhoods in Detroit, Cleveland, Brooklyn, Baltimore and Atlanta. Many were ground zero for the F.H.A. program as well. “It’s déjà vu all over again,” said Calvin Bradford, a housing researcher and consultant who has written about the F.H.A. and the current mortgage problems. “It has the same underlying economic causes, even if the actors are different. It’s a variation on a theme, but the theme is the same.” In the F.H.A. program, the government paid out hundreds of millions in claims for defaulted mortgages and was left owning tens of thousands of abandoned homes. Today, the losses are being borne by investors in hedge funds and banks like Bear Stearns. You can reach Ms. Drill at 818 637-8325, or email idrill@ldllp.com

Did Big Lenders Cross The Line?

John Manly of Manly, McGuire & Stewart is a real estate and business pro and a featured guest on the "Insider Exclusive's" "Southern California's Premier Law Firms " TV Show. Hence his interest in this story about how, until now prosecutors and pundits have laid much of the blame for the recent surge in mortgage fraud at the feet of the independent brokers who arranged the loans. But a growing number of lawsuits and complaints suggest that some big lenders may have also played a role. Eager to keep up loan volume and generate sales, the two groups allegedly colluded to falsify loan documents by beefing up income and lowballing outstanding debts. And some suits allege that lenders perpetrated the fraud on their own, even deploying teams of employees that resembled boiler-room operations.This new wrinkle in the subprime saga may mean the mortgage woes battering the financial markets could get worse. It's clear that the problems go beyond risky loans based on poor underwriting. The FBI says industry fraud hit a record $1 billion in 2006, with insiders—brokers and underwriters—accounting for 80% of it. You can listen to more of John Manly on "The Law Business Insider," at www.lbishow.com. You can also reach John directly at 949-252-9990, or email jmanly@manlymcguire.com

California's Real-Estate Tailspin

John Manly of Manly, McGuire & Stewart is a real estate and business pro and a featured guest on the "Insider Exclusive's" "Southern California's Premier Law Firms " TV Show. Hence his interest in this story about how the booming housing markets in Los Angeles, San Diego and Orange counties had barely felt the chill that hit Miami and Denver from rising inventories, declining prices and slowing sales. But this week's spate of gloomy housing data included ominous reports from the West Coast. Led by an astonishing 799% rise in Los Angeles County, foreclosures in southern California jumped 725% in the second quarter, to a record 9,504, from 1,152 a year ago. The spectacularly bad trend was coupled with news from mega-mortgage lender Countrywide Financial that homeowners with good credit are starting to fall behind on mortgage payments. It has all contributed to a contagiously pessimistic mood. "We thought the upper end of the market was immune," says Steve Johnson, of real estate consulting firm Metrostudy. "But this is now like kudzu in the South, spreading into all product types in the southern California housing market." The statistics show that subprime-caliber borrowers weren't the only takers for those notorious no-money-down, interest-only, adjustable-rate mortgages. You can listen to more of John Manly on "The Law Business Insider," at www.lbishow.com. You can also reach John directly at 949-252-9990, or email jmanly@manlymcguire.com

Foreclosures up subprime mortgages

Irina J. Drill is the managing partner of Lindborg & Drill LLP, and a featured guest on the "Insider Exclusive's" "LA's Most Influential Women Series" TV Show. Ms. Drill's practice is primarily devoted to the representation of owners, contractors, developers and construction managers in all facets of construction law, including the litigation and mediation of construction and commercial claims, business litigation, real property-related matters and the counseling of clients in claims avoidance and mitigation techniques. Ms. Drill is skilled in working with clients and opposing parties to resolve matters as efficiently, expeditiously and economically as possible. She has successfully represented clients in complex construction disputes and is knowledgeable in presenting complex construction claims to judges and mediators. Hence her interest about how late payments and new foreclosures on adjustable-rate home mortgages made to people with spotty credit climbed to all-time highs in the first three months of the year. The Mortgage Bankers Association, in its latest snapshot of the mortgage market, reported Thursday that the percentage of payments that were 30 or more days past due for "subprime" adjustable-rate home mortgages jumped to 15.75 percent in the January-to-March quarter. That was a sizable increase from the late 2006 delinquency rate of 14.44 percent and was the highest on record You can reach Ms. Drill at 818 637-8325, or email idrill@ldllp.com

CNBC Says RealtyTrac To Report Big Jump in California Foreclosures

John Manly of Manly, McGuire & Stewart is a real estate and business pro and a featured guest on the "Insider Exclusive's" "Southern California's Premier Law Firms " TV Show. Hence his interest in this story about how CNBC is reporting that RealtyTrac's not-yet-released report on May foreclosures shows a big jump in foreclosures in May, particularly in California. What CNBC reported: Nationally, May foreclosures rose 19% from April levels and 90% from May 2006 levels. In California, the numbers are even worse: May foreclosures spiked 30% from April levels, and 350% from May 2006 levels. Relatedly: Reuters is reporting that Countrywide's foreclosure rate doubled over the past year: "Countrywide also said pending foreclosures as a percentage of unpaid principal balances rose to 0.90 percent from 0.45 percent a year earlier, and 0.85 percent in April." Tough times abound. You can listen to more of John Manly on "The Law Business Insider," at www.lbishow.com. You can also reach John directly at 949-252-9990, or email jmanly@manlymcguire.com