The down side is that mortgage companies don’t have to put the program into action until April 5, 2010. I think this time frame was established to give these companies time to get their act together. My understanding is that this program is voluntary for lenders that hold second mortgages. These lenders can receive up to $3,000 to release the loans. I’m sure that will be a gamble for many lenders that stand to lose a substantial amount of money and opt to hold the borrower accountable instead.

Now new federal rules will require lenders to respond to all shortsale offers in 10 business days. That makes shortsales a very real option for many. Florida’s Sun Sentinel reports that 20 percent of houses in certain parts of the state have been shortsales, while more than 40 percent were foreclosures.

Loan modification efforts fall short when they aren’t based on what a homeowner can afford in the long run.

The good news is that the number of loan modification efforts designed to help financially troubled homeowners remain in their homes is up; the bad news is that more of the same homeowners who received a loan modification are in default again.
What’s the problem?

New government guidelines and bank programs combine to boost ‘short sales’
January 5, 2010 — Is a housing turnaround possible in 2010? That’s what U.S. homeowners and real estate professionals are counting on when the government’s ‘short sale’ guidelines take effect in April—guidelines that are designed to “shorten” the short sale process. This is great news [...]

By Kathleen M. Howley and Dan Levy
Homeowners with $1 million-plus mortgages are defaulting at almost twice the U.S. rate and many are turning to short sales
(Bloomberg) — Homeowners with mortgages of more than $1 million are defaulting at almost twice the U.S. rate and some are turning to so-called short sales to unload properties as [...]

A historic hotel with distinctive Spanish Mission-style architecture, located 70 miles Northwest of Disney World, Orlando is heading to court-ordered foreclosure auction on January 21, with no minimum bid.
Ocala, Florida’s The Ritz Historic Inn, a hotel in need of renovation and rehab work, is listed on the National Registry of Historic Places, according to a [...]

By Steve Cook, Real Estate Economy Watch
 

Predictions that 2010 will bring one to two million more foreclosures are gloomy news for most homeowners and housing professionals.
But to a small group of legal professionals who have figured out how to made foreclosures their pot of gold, the Foreclosure Era continues to be a time of prosperity [...]