Monday Morning Cup of Coffee takes a look at news coming across the HousingWire weekend desk, with more coverage to come on bigger issues.
Antonio Cromartie isn’t playing. That’s right, the former cornerback for the National Football League is currently out of work as a free agent; and he’s not playing around with his financial position, either.
According to several reports, Cromartie also recently served an eviction to a tenant in a home he purchased. The reason? Nonpayment, of course.
Makes sense, until you realize the tenant is his very own mother.
As noted, Cromartie is out of work, so he wants his mother to start paying the mortgage. He does, TMZ claims, need to prioritize his financial affairs for his own children, of which he has 12.
According to TMZ, “Cro's mother needs to be out by August 15th … UNLESS she forks over a check for $2,310 in back payment.”
The Department of Housing and Urban Development needs to shed some delinquent loans from the Federal Housing Administration-backed portfolio, this we know.
A subsidiary of Lone Star Funds wins bids for these NPLs, and others, from time to time.
But all is not well with these deals, according to the New York Times. Authors Jessica Silver-Greenberg and Michael Corkery write that the practice of selling NPLs to private firms disproportionately impacts blacks; so much so that it reminds us of the days of redlining accusations.
If the comparison isn’t enough to get you scratching your head, the mortgage modification race card will.
The slant of the article is that blacks are being unfairly targeted. Yet the article states, “from 2012 to 2014, more than 61% of the government-backed mortgages sold to investors were in predominantly black neighborhoods, according to the lawsuit,” hardly a definitive majority.
So unless the new owners of these distressed loans offer horrible mortgage mods only to black homeowners, it stands to reason that what’s happening here is the natural process of tragic foreclosures. And it’s happening to all poor souls involved.
Besides, not long ago, nonprofits argued for HUD to speed up this very solution.
So sorry, NY Times, no one gets to have it both ways in lose-lose situations.
In another case of alleged improper foreclosures, ABC reports that two housing companies were fined for illegally evicting military service members and their families from rental homes in Southern California.
From the article:
In a settlement with the Department of Justice, Lincoln Military Property Management and San Diego Family Housing agreed to pay $260,000 in penalties and fines covering four improper evictions that took place between 2008 and 2013, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported Sunday.
The companies also agreed to pay $252,000 in fines and fees under a settlement with California authorities.
Yes it’s illegal to foreclose on active military members while on tour. And both companies say they are working to prevent it from happening again.
Shifting from bad mortgages to new mortgages, Business Insider reports that more Americans are growing concerned about a new housing crisis.
Citing recent consumer confidence numbers, author Bob Bryan lays it out:
The read through here is that Americans are beginning to see the writing on the wall that record-low mortgage rates may soon begin to rise if the Federal Reserve hikes rates. Therefore, the urgency to buy a home may increase.
While these low rates may spur people to buy houses, they're also making it less likely for people to move. This is drying up the stock of existing homes that could help alleviate the supply crisis and rising prices.
The only issue is barely anyone is saying that home prices are low.
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp closed no banks over the weekend. And HousingWire will probably stop regularly reporting on bank closures, or lack thereof, in Monday Morning Cup of Coffee.
Questions, objections? Ask us in the message boards below.
Either way, have a great week!
