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» VISIT US ONLINE @ DSNEWS.COM 83 and Fort Lauderdale, Florida, bringing the 2014 bank failure tally to 11. In Illinois, FDIC announced a purchase and assumption agreement with Great Southern Bank, operating in Reeds Spring, Missouri. e bank has agreed to assume all of Valley Bank's $360 million deposits as of Q1 and to purchase approximately $375.4 mil- lion of its assets. e remaining $81 million will be retained by FDIC for later disposition, the agency said. Meanwhile, in Florida, Landmark Bank, N.A., struck an agreement with FDIC to take on all of the local Valley Bank's $66.5 million in deposits and to purchase all of its $81.8 million in assets. Together, FDIC estimates the two col- lapses will cost its Deposit Insurance Fund $59.1 million, with most of that coming from the Illinois bank. e announcements should come as no surprise, given the difficulties faced by the two operations. Local newspapers report both were classified as "under-capitalized" by regulators as a result of bad loans and soured securities investments. Watt Blames Homeowner Skepticism for HARP Slowdown In a town-hall-style meeting in Chicago, Mel Watt, director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), blamed fear of be- ing taken in by a scam for eligible homeown- ers' reluctance to take advantage of the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP). "We are down to the people who don't believe this is a credible program," Watt said in a meeting with community groups and housing counseling agencies at a Chicago Public Library branch. "We've got approxi- mately $72 million that we'd like to give away in this metropolitan area. People won't come in and say I want that money." According to an FHFA report, the number of homeowners refinancing monthly through HARP has dropped nationally, to just under 20,000 loans this April, down year- over-year from almost 107,000 in April 2013. HUD contends that on average, home- owners who refinance through HARP are saving $191 per month by lowering their inter- est rates. HARP allows homeowners to refi- nance regardless of whether or not they owe more on the home than it is actually worth. e Chicago event was anticipated because there was some speculation that Watt could announce an extension for the program, which is currently set to expire in December 2015. e speculation proved fruit- less, however, with no such announcement taking place. Instead Watt announced that Chicago was going to be the second city admitted into the federal government's pilot Neighborhood Sta- bilization Initiative intended to assist home- owners who are behind on their mortgages, help neighborhoods recover, and reduce the inventory of REO properties held by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Detroit, the first city in the program, was admitted in May. HUD estimates that hundreds of thou- sands of citizens nationwide, including 36,000 in the city of Chicago alone, are eligible to benefit from HARP but have yet to step forward. Officials have noted that as interest rates rise, the incentive to participate fades. With more promotional events scheduled in the coming months in cities around the nation, the push is on to get as many eligible homeowners as possible into a refinance before an interest rate increase shrinks the eligibility pool. Indiana RANK: 18 90+ Day Foreclosure Unemployment Delinquency Rate Rate Rate MAY 2014 2.59% 1.96% 5.9% YEAR AGO 2.65% 3.05% 7.6% YEAR-OVER-YEAR CHANGE -2.6% -35.9% -1.7% Top County CLAY COUNTY 90+ Day Foreclosure Delinquency Rate Rate MAY 2014 3.64% 4.31% YEAR AGO 4.00% 4.06% YEAR-OVER-YEAR CHANGE -9.2% 6.1% Top Core-Based Statistical Area NEW CASTLE, IN 90+ Day Foreclosure Delinquency Rate Rate MAY 2014 2.89% 3.58% YEAR AGO 2.91% 5.09% YEAR-OVER-YEAR CHANGE -0.9% -29.7% note: The 90+ day delinquecy rate is the percentage of outstanding mortgage loans that are seriously delinquent. The foreclosure rate is the percentage of outstanding mortgage loans currently in foreclosure. State rank is based on the May 2014 foreclosure rate. All fi gures are rounded to the nearest decimal. The unemployment rate refl ects preliminary May 2014 fi gures released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. All other data courtesy of LPS Data & Analytics. Iowa RANK: 25 90+ Day Foreclosure Unemployment Delinquency Rate Rate Rate MAY 2014 1.47% 1.47% 4.4% YEAR AGO 1.40% 2.26% 4.8% YEAR-OVER-YEAR CHANGE 5.3% -34.8% -0.4% Top County LOUISA COUNTY 90+ Day Foreclosure Delinquency Rate Rate MAY 2014 1.85% 3.90% YEAR AGO 2.73% 4.05% YEAR-OVER-YEAR CHANGE -32.1% -3.8% Top Core-Based Statistical Area SPENCER, IA 90+ Day Foreclosure Delinquency Rate Rate MAY 2014 1.84% 2.92% YEAR AGO 2.35% 2.50% YEAR-OVER-YEAR CHANGE -21.6% 17.1% note: The 90+ day delinquecy rate is the percentage of outstanding mortgage loans that are seriously delinquent. The foreclosure rate is the percentage of outstanding mortgage loans currently in foreclosure. State rank is based on the May 2014 foreclosure rate. All fi gures are rounded to the nearest decimal. The unemployment rate refl ects preliminary May 2014 fi gures released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. All other data courtesy of LPS Data & Analytics. Kansas RANK: 31 90+ Day Foreclosure Unemployment Delinquency Rate Rate Rate MAY 2014 2.01% 1.05% 4.9% YEAR AGO 1.95% 1.56% 5.6% YEAR-OVER-YEAR CHANGE 2.8% -32.8% -0.7% Top County NEOSHO COUNTY 90+ Day Foreclosure Delinquency Rate Rate MAY 2014 1.25% 2.83% YEAR AGO 1.96% 2.94% YEAR-OVER-YEAR CHANGE -36.2% -3.9% Top Core-Based Statistical Area COFFEYVILLE, KS 90+ Day Foreclosure Delinquency Rate Rate MAY 2014 3.50% 2.47% YEAR AGO 1.90% 2.71% YEAR-OVER-YEAR CHANGE 83.9% -8.8% note: The 90+ day delinquecy rate is the percentage of outstanding mortgage loans that are seriously delinquent. The foreclosure rate is the percentage of outstanding mortgage loans currently in foreclosure. State rank is based on the May 2014 foreclosure rate. All fi gures are rounded to the nearest decimal. The unemployment rate refl ects preliminary May 2014 fi gures released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. All other data courtesy of LPS Data & Analytics.

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