5 million loans modified, HOPE NOW says

Foreclosure prevention agency HOPE NOW Alliance has completed five million permanent loan modifications since 2007, the organization announced Wednesday in West Palm Beach.

REAL ESTATE

‘Shadow inventory’ of homes could topple real-estate recovery

A ‘shadow inventory’ of homes in foreclosure or held by banks could hobble recovery from the real estate meltdown.

South Florida No. 2 on mortgage fraud risk list

South Florida's mortgage fraud risk index spiked 10 percent during the first part of the year, shooting the region to second place nationally for potential housing scams.

REAL ESTATE

Banner Supply agrees to $54 million Chinese drywall settlement

Banner Supply Co., the Miami-based firm that supplied the vast majority of Chinese drywall in Florida, has agreed to pay $54 million to settle claims.

REAL ESTATE

Foreclosure homes starting to lose their appeal, data shows

Sales of homes in some stage of foreclosure declined across South Florida during the first quarter, a result of the recent "robo signer" controversy and perhaps a changing sentiment among buyers, observers say.

courts

Mortage broker sentenced in fraud

A Homestead mortgage broker arrested after being profiled in a Miami Herald investigative series was sentenced Friday for her role in defrauding two lenders.

BUSINESS MONDAY

Foreclosure crisis hits home for all

Courts, local governments and lenders were caught unprepared to deal with the debilitating ripple effects from South Florida’s housing collapse, compounding and prolonging the crisis.

REAL ESTATE

Homes sell for as little as $200

Scores of Palm Beach County homes were sold to investors at foreclosure auction this month for as little as $200 following the collapse of the David J. Stern law firm and the ensuing confusion while thousands of its cases are reassigned.

WEST PALM BEACH

'Deadbeat' fights back against foreclosure process

This deadbeat took on Wall Street, and Wall Street was cowed.

REAL ESTATE

Bank of America forecloses home without a mortgage

When Jason Grodensky bought his modest Fort Lauderdale home last December, he paid cash. But seven months later, he was surprised to learn that Bank of America had foreclosed on the house, even though Grodensky did not have a mortgage.

REAL ESTATE

GMAC suspends foreclosure evictions and sales of seized property

Foreclosure evictions and homeowner lockouts have been halted by Ally Financial Inc.'s GMAC Mortgage in 23 states including Florida as the nation's fifth-largest home loan servicer addresses legal challenges to its foreclosure procedures.

COURTS

Promises of Costa Rican dream homes fueled a 'Ponzi-type scheme,' lawsuit says

She wanted a piece of paradise — a tropical retirement home where the temperature is warm, the air is clean and the crowds and stress of South Florida are far, far away.

Calculate the recovery period for your underwater home mortgage

Is your home loan currently more than the market value of your house? Plug in your numbers here and see approximately how many years of mortgage payments it could take you to break even.

REAL ESTATE

Report: Fontainebleau loans could be in default

The Fontainebleau Miami Beach is vulnerable to a declaration of default by its lenders, partly thanks to about $60 million in unpaid contractor claims, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday.

BofA, Wells Fargo get low marks on mortgage modifications

The Obama administration's first monthly report on mortgage modifications showed that Bank of America had adjusted the terms of just 13 percent of mortgages eligible for modification, while Wells Fargo had made changes to just 12 percent of its eligible loans. Both banks received billions in government bailouts last year.

Next economic crisis looms: Commercial real estate defaults

Two years after fissures in the residential housing market gave way to a national collapse of home prices and sales, experts warn that the the commercial real estate market is next shoe to drop, bringing more woes to the battered economy. Thousands of commercial mortgages valued at hundreds of billions of dollars are approaching their renewal dates, and by some estimates, two out of every three no longer will meet the original loan conditions and won't be able to be refinanced.

Obama's housing fix: Encourage lenders to help borrowers

President Barack Obama will provide a set of incentives to lenders to to help homeowners who are facing foreclosure. He introduced his new $75 billion plan on Wednesday in Phoenix, an area hit hard by the housing crisis.