HBA Newswatch
April 16, 2008
PHILADELPHIA DEVISES PROGRAM TO STEM FORECLOSURES
By Harold Brubaker
Philadelphia judges, advocates for borrowers, and attorneys for lenders have developed a pilot program they hope will slash the number of mortgage-foreclosure sales in the city.
Details of the plan, called the "mortgage foreclosure diversion program," were hammered out at three City Hall meetings over the last nine days and are scheduled for release today.
A key component is a timeline requiring mortgage companies to respond more quickly to proposals made by housing counselors on behalf of borrowers in default on their mortgage payments.
"We're expecting good things to come out of this," Common Pleas Court President Judge C. Darnell Jones II said yesterday. "It's extraordinary," Jones said of the effort all parties put into the plan. The court oversees foreclosure proceedings in the city. More...
CHARLESTOWN PUTS OPEN SPACE QUESTION ON BALLOT
VOTERS WILL BE ASKED WHETHER THERE SHOULD BE 0.5% EARNED-INCOME TAX TO PRESERVE, ACQUIRE UNDEVELOPED LAND
By ANNE PICKERING, Special to The Phoenix
CHARLESTOWN — Township residents going to the polls April 22 for the state primary may also vote on an open-space referendum.
In an April 8 letter to residents, township supervisors advised a ballot question will ask whether voters favor a 0.5 percent earned-income tax to preserve, conserve and acquire open-space property interests, open-space uses and farmland.
The supervisors said it is urgent to preserve the township’s remaining open space before it is too costly and too late.
The township developed an open-space preservation program in 2000 and instituted a 0.5 percent earned-income tax in 2003 to fund it. More than 820 acres has been preserved so far using the revenue.
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HOUSING CRISIS Q&A
By Tom Raum, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration, Congress and the Federal Reserve are moving on separate tracks to calm troubled housing and financial markets and to help distressed borrowers. The three presidential candidates have weighed in, too. Some questions and answers on the crisis, what has been done so far and the additional help that may be on the way.
Q: How did things get so bad?
A: Tumbling house prices have left many borrowers owing more on their homes than the homes are worth. With little or no home equity, these borrowers cannot refinance to reduce their payments to reflect their current home value. That means higher payments for people with adjustable-rate mortgages. Among those who are facing foreclosure or who have lost their homes are many borrowers who had questionable credit histories and who obtained risky subprime loans.
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CONFIDENCE SINKS TO LOWEST ON RECORDS GOING BACK TO 2002 AS FEAR TIGHTENS HOLD ON CONSUMERS
By By JEANNINE AVERSA, AP Economics Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) _ Americans' confidence in the economy fell to a new low, dragged down by worries about mounting job losses, record-high home foreclosures and zooming energy prices.
According to the RBC Cash Index, confidence dropped to a mark of 29.5 in April, down from 33.1 in March. The new reading was the worst since the index began in 2002. It marked the fourth month in a row where confidence has fallen to an all-time low.
"Consumers are very pessimistic," said Mark Vitner, economist at Wachovia. "There are not a lot of happy campers out there."
Over the past year, consumer confidence has deteriorated significantly. Worsening problems in housing, harder-to-get credit, financial turmoil on Wall Street and lofty energy prices have put people in a much more gloomy mind-set. Last April, confidence stood at 85.4. The index is based on results from the international polling firm Ipsos.
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