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A Presidential Victory Lap

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84 Georgia RANK: 35 90+ Day Foreclosure Unemployment Delinquency Rate Rate Rate NOVEMBER 2014 2.86% 0.88% 7.2 YEAR AGO 3.30% 1.35% 7.6 YEAR-OVER-YEAR CHANGE -13.3% -34.6% -0.4 Top County SEMINOLE COUNTY 90+ Day Foreclosure Delinquency Rate Rate NOVEMBER 2014 3.69% 2.67% YEAR AGO 2.75% 1.89% YEAR-OVER-YEAR CHANGE 34.2% 41.3% Top Core-Based Statistical Area CEDARTOWN, GA 90+ Day Foreclosure Delinquency Rate Rate NOVEMBER 2014 4.47% 2.14% YEAR AGO 4.51% 2.39% YEAR-OVER-YEAR CHANGE -0.8% -10.5% 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 November 2014 foreclosure rate. All fi gures are rounded to the nearest decimal. The unemployment rate refl ects preliminary November 2014 fi gures released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. All other data courtesy of LPS Data & Analytics. Georgia Marc Oppenheimer Associate Broker, CDPE / BPOR Serving REO Since 1987 5920 Roswell Rd Suite B-118 Atlanta,Ga. 30328 Phone: (770) 668-0063 Cell: (678) 296-6550 oppy@atlantareo.com www.atlantareo.com e information charges that Herbert operated his business from a strip mall in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and recruited victims by way of unsolicited telephone calls in which he portrayed himself as a "federal loan officer" and his fraudulent program as being operated and approved by the federal government. Herbert told the victims that they qualified for a loan modification under his program due to either financial hard- ship or illegal activities on the part of their servicer or lender. Herbert then mailed information to those who expressed inter- est, congratulating them on qualifying for the program, quoting them a new monthly mortgage rate, and instructing them where to begin sending the payment. e two addresses to which Herbert in- structed victims to send money was located in Washington, D.C., where it was delivered to UPS mailboxes rented by Herbert and re-rout- ed to him in Florida, according to the criminal information. None of the money went toward helping victims reduce their home loan debt; instead, Herbert put the money toward his own personal expenses and toward perpetuat- ing the scam. e information estimates that the fraud scheme resulted in approximately $750,000 in losses for the victims. Herbert was convicted today of operating a nationwide mortgage modification fraud scheme that he falsely claimed was affiliated with federal housing aid programs, includ- ing the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP)," Romero said. "Fraud perpetrated at the expense of struggling homeowners and under the guise of HAMP or other TARP programs is reprehensible, and SIGTARP and our law enforcement partners will ensure that justice is served for perpetrators of these crimes." Since Herbert's wire fraud scam involved telemarketing and many of the victims were over the age of 55, he could receive up to 30 years imprisonment and/or a fine of $250,000, with up to five years of supervised release. He is being held without bond until his sentencing in March, according to SIGTARP. "e criminal conduct involved in this case is truly despicable," Wigginton said. "Herbert preyed upon people who were already vulnerable due to financial hardship. By pretending that he was acting on behalf of the government and calling to help them, he stole their money and made their situa- tions worse. e U.S. Attorney's Office for Southern Illinois will aggressively prosecute individuals who commit these types of frauds." Florida Regains Nation's Highest Foreclosure Rate e highest foreclosure rate of any state once again belonged to Florida in November after being displaced by Maryland in Octo- ber, according to RealtyTrac's U.S. Foreclo- sure Market Report for November 2014. Florida has now had the nation's highest foreclosure rate in 13 of the last 14 months, according to RealtyTrac. Prior to Maryland posting the highest foreclosure rate for Oc- tober, Florida had the top rate for 12 straight months. Both month-over-month and year-over- year declines could not keep Florida from regaining the nation's highest foreclosure rate. Overall, one in every 462 residential properties in Florida had a foreclosure filing (which includes default notices, sched- uled auctions, and bank repossessions) in November, marking a 4 percent decline from October and a 15 percent decline from November 2013, according to RealtyTrac. It was the 16th consecutive month that the "Sunshine State" saw a year-over-year decline in foreclosure filings. While foreclosure activity has been de- clining in Florida for many months, things have been going in the opposite direction for New Jersey. e Garden State has seen a year-over-year increase in foreclosure activ- ity for 11 of the last 12 months, including a surge of 196 percent in November, according to RealtyTrac. e huge increase pushed New Jersey from ninth in October to second in November in foreclosure rate. In all, one in every 478 residential housing units had a foreclosure filing in New Jersey in Novem- ber, RealtyTrac reported. In Maryland, foreclosure activity declined month-over-month from one in every 400 units in October to one in every 581 units for November, dropping the Old Line State from first to third among states for the highest foreclosure rate, according to RealtyTrac. However, Maryland saw a 93 percent year-over-year increase in foreclo- sure completions. Delaware, which had the sixth highest foreclosure rate in October, saw increases month-over-month in both foreclosure starts (24 percent) and foreclosure auctions (34 percent), pushing the First State into the fourth position for the highest foreclosure rate, according to RealtyTrac. One in every 693 residential housing units in Delaware had a foreclosure filing in November, Real- tyTrac reported. A spike in foreclosure activity in Utah in November pushed the Beehive State from 12th to fifth for the highest foreclosure rate. REO activity surged by 83 percent month- over-month and 20 percent year-over-year in Utah in November, according to RealtyTrac. November marked Utah's first year-over- year increase in REO activity since June 2011, ending a string of 41 consecutive months with a decline. Utah's foreclosure rate in November was one for every 750 residential housing units.

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