The home foreclosure crisis was upended this week by escalating probes into the banks' foreclosure paperwork. But the freezes on foreclosure proceedings and sales need to be accompanied by more principal write-downs and loan modifications by the banks, advocates say.
The foreclosure rate in the greater Chicago area ranks 51st out of 366 large
metropolitan regions. That's worse than the rate of foreclosures in greater New York City and Los Angeles.
JP Morgan Chase and GMAC announced this week they'll halt foreclosures while they review the accuracy of loan documents, but local foreclosure couselors said they couldn't be sure if Chicagoland mortgagees would be helped by the news.
New data compiled
by the Woodstock Institute shows that the number of Chicago-area
households taking part in trial and permanent home mortgage
modifications is now at its lowest regional level since the federal
Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) was launched. There were
34,576 active modifications in the Chicago region in July
2010 compared to 36,208 in November 2009, the first month the Treasury
Department released data by metro area.
Local anti-foreclosure measures are being undermined by a baffling response to the housing collapse from the federal
government. Can the Obama administration get its act together?
It was a busy day for Chicago-based National People's Action, the organizers behind the Showdown in America
campaign. Earlier this afternoon, the group swung by Chicago's
Federal Reserve Bank for a public regulatory hearing about the Community Reinvestment Act, which housing and consumer advocates want to see updated and modernized.
Earlier
in the day, NPA also paid a visit to the headquarters of Bank of
America. The protesters delivered a letter to Brian Moynihan, the CEO
of the humongous financial institution, requesting the bank divest from
payday lending institutions and invest more capital into foreclosure
prevention programs and small businesses. After all, BoA has its hand in
a plurailty of Chicago's home foreclosures. Watch a clip from the event below:
A new study from RealtyTrac found
that Illinois home foreclosure activity rose 33 percent in July
compared to the previous month. Illinois ranks eighth nationally in
foreclosure notices.
Chicago Ald. Pat Dowell's new vacant property ordinance is garnering interest from officials on the City Hall's fifth floor. Here's what that might mean for both the bill's prospects and the 2011 mayoral election.
