Community Events

• Free Online Bankruptcy Classes - By The Legal Aid Center Of Southern Nevada, The William S. Boyd School of Law and Vegas PBS
• Home Ownership Assistance
• YMCA of Southern Nevada Offers Free Memberships to Unemployed
• Foreclosure Mediation Program: Open to owner-occupied residential properties that have received foreclosure notices filed on or after July 1, 2009.
  For more information:
  Hotline: 702-486-9380 or 775-687-9816 in Northern Nevada
  Web: http://www.nevadajudiciary.us
  Email: www.foreclose@nvcourts.nv.gov

Please check back for the latest upcoming events.

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In the News

Home Prices Continue to Fall
New-home prices will drop another 5 percent this year and stay essentially flat in 2011 as builders compete with more foreclosures and short sales, a Las Vegas housing analyst said Thursday at his quarterly presentation.
By Hubble Smith, LVRJ - July 29, 2010

Foreclosure Mediation Results
First-year statistics for the Nevada Foreclosure Mediation Program show that 43 percent of homeowners who completed mediation procedures stayed in their homes as a result of agreements with their lenders.
By Frank X. Mullen Jr., RGJ - July 29, 2010

Las Vegas retains No. 1 ranking in nation for foreclosures
Las Vegas retained its No. 1 national ranking when it comes to foreclosure filings during the first six months of 2010, but the city has shown some improvement compared to the rest of the nation.
By Buck Wargo, LV Sun - July 28, 2010

FIGHTING FORECLOSURE: Thousands request mediation
More than 90,000 notices of default were recorded against residential and commercial property owners in Nevada in the past 12 months, according to a statement released by the Administrative Office of the Courts, which oversees the Nevada Foreclosure Mediation Program state lawmakers established in 2009.
By Doug McMurdo, LVRJ - July 27, 2010

Local Governments Take Tough Stance On Empty Homes
Across the valley, local governments are using fines and other tactics to pressure owners and lenders to more quickly repair and sell abandoned houses before they become eyesores.
By Buck Wargo, LV Sun - July 26, 2010

Nearly a third of lenders no-shows for foreclosure mediations
Assembly Speaker Barbara Buckley says she’s anxious to see more sanctions imposed by the courts on lenders who boycott the fledgling foreclosure mediation program aimed at saving homes for Nevadans.
By Cy Ryan, LV Sun - July 24, 2010

Federal Housing Program Complicates Short Sales
A recently implemented federal housing-market stimulus program designed to encourage short sales appears to be doing just the opposite, according to Phoenix-area real-estate agents, title companies and mortgage lenders.
By J. Craig Anderson, The Arizona Republic - July 15, 2010

Foreclosure Rate Drops, but Nevada Still Ranks No. 1
Nevada has seen a decline in foreclosures compared to last year, but the state kept its No. 1 national ranking in the first half of 2010. California-based RealtyTrac, which monitors foreclosures nationwide, reported foreclosure filings fell 13 percent from the second half of 2009 and fell 6 percent from the first six months of last year.
By Buck Wargo, LV Sun - July 14, 2010

Loan Modification Flawed
A year ago, Nevada's new foreclosure-mediation law was touted as a savior that would keep an estimated 17,700 Silver State families in their homes and prevent communities from becoming ghost towns in a state that led the nation in home foreclosures.
By Frank X. Mullen Jr., RGJ - July 11, 2010

Some Praise Loan Modification
Those who praise the loan modification law say it's doing its job by bringing lenders and borrowers to the table so they can modify loans and keep families in their homes.
By Frank X. Mullen Jr., RGJ - July 11, 2010

Nevada to Receive $102.8 Million for Foreclosure Prevention
President Obama announced the "Hardest Hit Fund" earlier this year during a visit to Las Vegas. Nevada is among five states that will receive funds from the program, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Nevada will receive the largest amount per resident.
By Sun Staff - June 23, 2010

Mortgage Fraud Arrests in Southern Nevada
A nationwide sweep that targeted mortgage fraud across the country has resulted in 123 people in Southern Nevada being charged, convicted or sentenced in connection with the probe. The announcement was made Thursday at the Lloyd D. George federal courthouse in downtown Las Vegas. The investigation was dubbed Operation Stolen Dreams.
By Kyle Hansen - June 17, 2010

Foreclosure Filings Down, but Nevada Ranks First Nationwide
Foreclosure filings fell by double-digit margins in Nevada in May, but the state still kept its No. 1 national ranking. The 14,346 filings in May were nearly 12 percent lower than April and 16 percent below their level of a year ago, according to California-based RealtyTrac.
By Buck Wargo, LV Sun - June 9, 2010

Government Short Sale Aid Implemented
A government program that went into effect Monday is expected to speed up the short-sale process and prevent lenders from filing deficiency judgments against home sellers, a move that could go a long way toward mitigating the foreclosure crisis in Las Vegas, real estate industry sources said.
By Hubble Smith, LVRJ - Apr 6, 2010

Suggestions on how to spend federal housing money
A year ago, the federal government rolled out two ambitious plans to help put a dent in the nation's housing crisis. Plan A was to provide funding for lenders to offer loan modifications to underwater homeowners. Plan B was to give local governments money to put families in already foreclosed homes. Both plans have yielded disappointing results, prompting an on-the-fly assessment of possible other ways to use federal housing aid. In the coming weeks, the Nevada Housing Division will decide how to spend $102.8 million in additional federal funding made available to states hit hardest by foreclosures.
By Alan Maimon, LVRJ - Apr 5, 2010

Anti-Foreclosure Program Aims To Spur 'Short Sales'
Nearly 5 million people around the country are seriously delinquent on their mortgages. Some may be able to save their homes if they can negotiate a loan modification with a lower payment from a lender. But others simply don't have enough income even for that.
By Chris Arnold, NPR - Apr 5, 2010

HOME FORECLOSURE CRISIS: Federal aid program fails to help many
In today's second of a two-part package, housing experts, policy­makers and bank officials discuss the challenges of implementing programs that can make a difference for average homeowners.
By Alan Maimon, LVRJ - Apr 5, 2010

Underwater homeowners leave behind mortgages, but lenders can still come calling
People are walking away from their mortgages by the thousands, making a financial decision that it's better to take the hit on their credit score than try to recover $300,000 of negative equity on a $600,000 home purchased at the peak of the housing bubble. They're called "strategic defaults."
By Hubble Smith and Valerie Miller, The Las Vegas Review Journal - Mar 14, 2010

Las Vegans in danger of losing homes look for help
Housing workshop brings lenders, homeowners together

With Las Vegas leading the nation in foreclosures, it is not only people who have lost their jobs who are in danger of losing their homes; just ask Peter and Jean Girard.
By Kyle Hansen, The Las Vegas Sun - Mar 13, 2010

Foreclosure rates show slower growth
The foreclosure crisis isn't over, but the pace of growth may be slowing.

RealtyTrac Inc., an Irvine, Calif.-based foreclosure listings company, said Wednesday that the number of U.S. households facing foreclosure in February grew 6 percent from a year earlier, the smallest annual increase in four years.
By Alan Zibel, The Las Vegas Review Journal - Mar 11, 2010

HUD boosts staff in Las Vegas to handle foreclosures
The HUD secretary said today he is immediately dispatching a three-person foreclosure rapid-response team to Las Vegas and plans to add a total of eight new members to its Clark County office to deal with the housing crisis.
By Lisa Mascaro, The Las Vegas Sun - Feb 1, 2010

WSJ: Debtor's Dilemma: Pay the Mortgage or Walk Away
In Down Real-Estate Market, Homeowners Are Deciding to Abandon Their Loan Obligations Even if They Can Afford the Payments
By James R. Hagerty and Nick Timiraos, Wall Street Journal - Dec 17 2009

U.S. home prices are flat, but L.A. fares better and Vegas worse
As national prices see a tiny gain in October, according to the Case-Shiller index, some California cities have a somewhat sunnier outlook. In Sin City, however, the news is dour.
By Alejandro Lazo, L.A. Times - Dec 29 2009

Lenders get an order: Ramp up the rescues
The Obama administration is publicly pressing banks to modify more mortgages after a Treasury Department report showed dismal results in a federally funded foreclosure prevention program — including only 16,000 mortgages being reworked in Southern Nevada.
By Lisa Mascaro, The Las Vegas Sun - Dec 20, 2009

Greater scrutiny for reverse mortgages
Concerned that older Nevadans may increasingly be targets of fraud from the heavily advertised reverse mortgage industry, Rep. Dina Titus succeeded in getting legislation passed recently to better regulate the industry’s practices.
By Lisa Mascaro, The Las Vegas Sun - Dec 20, 2009

Foreclosure mediators take oath: Purpose is to help keep Nevadans in their homes
More than 32,600 foreclosures have been filed in Nevada since July 1 and about 10 percent of those affected have requested help from the Nevada Foreclosure Mediation Program.
By Doug McMurdo, The Las Vegas Review Journal - Dec 12, 2009

AP Analysis: US Economy Entering Sluggish Recovery
Some states saw slight improvement or stabilization, thanks to steadying foreclosure and bankruptcy rates. But the gains may be brief.
By The Associated Press - Dec 9, 2009

Federal government comes to borrowers' aid
In an effort to improve home loan modification outcomes, the Obama administration has started a mortgage modification conversion drive.
By Nicole Lucht, Las Vegas Sun, Fri., Dec 4, 2009

NJ Woman Who Dodged Foreclosure Locked Out of Home
A New Jersey woman returned home from Thanksgiving with family to find the locks changed days after she avoided foreclosure.
By The Associated Press - Dec 04, 2009

Report: Investors buying up Las Vegas foreclosure homes
Investors made their biggest push yet to buy foreclosure homes in Las Vegas.
By Brian Wargo, Las Vegas Sun - Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2009

Harry Reid on mortgages: 'Bank of America must do more'
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid pointedly criticized Bank of America today for not doing enough to help Nevada homeowners during the mortgage crisis, warning that the company must bring more resources to the state or face public scrutiny.
By Lisa Mascaro, Las Vegas Sun - Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2009

Tackling foreclosure
Foreclosure filings in Nevada fell 26 percent in October compared with the previous month, and the decline is being attributed to the state’s mediation program.
IBLV Editorial, Las Vegas Sun - Friday, Nov 27, 2009

Few mortgages have been permanently modified
Lenders have temporarily restructured hundreds of thousands of loans, but long-term changes have proved elusive, raising the specter of a new wave of foreclosures.
By E. Scott Reckard, LA Times - Nov 26, 2009

Campaign aimed at preventing foreclosure fraud
State and federal officials gathered Tuesday to announce a foreclosure education campaign in Nevada called Stop Foreclosure Fraud.
By Erin Dostal, Las Vegas Sun - Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2009

Vegas foreclosure filings up nearly 9 percent in quarter
On Oct. 15, foreclosure-tracker RealtyTrac reported Nevada led the nation in the percentage of housing units receiving foreclosure filings in September and the third quarter.
By Steve Green, Las Vegas Sun - Wed, Oct 28, 2009

Nevada's jobless rate second in nation after Michigan
The U.S. Department of Labor said today that only Michigan, which has been hit hard by losses in the auto industry, had a higher rate of unemployment than Nevada.
By Cy Ryan, Las Vegas Sun - Wed, Oct 21, 2009

Mortgage fraud blamed in more foreclosures
An increase in home foreclosures in the local housing market is revealing a growing number of mortgage fraud cases.
By Brian Wargo, Las Vegas Sun - Wed, Oct 21, 2009

FBI: 2008 Mortgage Fraud Report "Year in Review"
The purpose of this study is to provide insight into the breadth and depth of mortgage fraud crimes perpetrated against the United States and its citizens during 2008.
FBI

Long-term Obama loan modifications prove elusive
Treasury department extends mortgage aid trial period by two months. But loan servicers are having trouble compiling all the needed paperwork.
By Tami Luhby, CNN Money - Fri, Oct 16, 2009

Nevada bucks nationwide downward trend in foreclosures
Residential mortgage foreclosure filings fell nationwide in September -- but not in Nevada.
By Steve Green, Las Vegas Sun - Thurs, Oct 15, 2009

Possible Rule Changes On Foreclosure Mediation
A new state mediation program to help homeowners avoid foreclosure kicked off last week as the Nevada Supreme Court considered tweaking its rules.
By Brian Wargo, Las Vegas Sun - Fri, Sep 18, 2009

Vegas dreamers go all in
Four transplants found opportunity in a booming city: shiny cars, new homes, high-paying jobs. Then came the recession.
By Ashley Powers, LA Times - Sunday, Sept 6, 2009

U.S. Department of the Treasury
Financial Stability for the American Economy
FinancialStability.gov: The latest press releases

• Secretaries Geithner, Donovan Announce New Details of Making Home Affordable Program, Highlight Implementation Progress

Nevada Foreclosure Mediation Program
A mediation program to help stop the large number of foreclosures on Nevada homeowners should begin soon, a state official says.
By Cy Ryan, Las Vegas Sun - Friday, Aug. 14, 2009

Foreclosures Loom Large For Middle Class
As the foreclosure crisis expands, it's dragging down more middle-class Americans who are making less money because of the battered economy. Many are responsible homeowners who've been paying their mortgages for years. A family talks about their struggle.
NPR's All Things Considered - Friday, August 14, 2009

Nevada Tops in Foreclosure - Again
Three more reports show that the Las Vegas and Nevada real estate markets remain at or near the top of the nationwide lists for foreclosures, lower prices and homeowners being underwater in their mortgages.
By Steve Green, Las Vegas Sun - Thursday, Aug. 13, 2009

Dina Titus Wants To Hear Your Mortgage Story
Las Vegas-area homeowners struggling to have their mortgages modified are being invited to share their stories so the federal government can determine which lenders are helpful, and which are not.
By Lisa Mascaro, Las Vegas Sun - Aug 9, 2009

Underwater LV homeowners more likely to walk away, study says
Las Vegas is at greater risk than other cities that its homeowners will walk away from their mortgages even though they could afford them, according to a study by two Chicago universities.
By Brian Wargo, In Business reporter - Fri, Aug 7, 2009

Senator Harry Reid offers assistance
Nevada Senator Harry Reid announced that his offices will start taking on casework in an attempt to help struggling Nevada homeowners. While Reid won't be able to solve every homeowner's problem, he is able to help people get in touch with those who may be able to help with financial counseling, legal aid and other services. Reid's goal is to ensure Nevadans are able to access as much information as possible in order to prevent foreclosure whenever possible.
Nevadans looking for more information should call (702) 388-5020 in southern Nevada and (775) 686-5750 in northern Nevada.

Countrywide Settlement

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