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VISIT US ONLINE @ DSNEWS.COM The Cogsville Group Acquires 94 Chicago Properties from FHFA Bulk Sale equity firm based in New York with a focus on distressed sales, picked up 94 Fannie Mae foreclosures in Chicago through the Federal Housing Finance Agency's (FHFA) REO Initiative. FHFA said that all properties pur- chased through the program were sold near or above market value. The 94 properties sold included 111 units, The Cogsville Group, LLC, a private announced in February and included about 2,500 single-family Fannie Mae foreclosures in targeted metros such as Las Vegas, Phoenix, Chicago, Riverside, and Los Angeles. Through the program, the properties are sold in bulk to institutional investors who will convert the foreclosures to rental properties. Atlanta was the only metro that was part of the pilot sale but did not have a buyer for its properties. According to FHFA, Fannie Mae will FHFA's REO-to-rental pilot was first 68 of which were occupied. The third-party valuation for the properties was about $13.7 million, and the transaction value to Fannie Mae is $11.8 million, according to the transac- tion summary. Donald Cogsville, CEO of The Cogsville Group, said, "With the shifting fundamen- tals in the housing markets, single-family residential is fast becoming an important asset class and we believe our experience and knowledge of local dynamics will benefit us in achieving economies of scale in Chicago and other markets across the country." continue with bulk sales in markets with a strong demand for rental housing and a surplus of REO properties. The first winning bidder announced for the pilot was Pacifica Companies, LLC, which purchased 699 Fannie Mae properties in Florida. FirstService Residential Realty Inc., the often thrown into a kind of legal limbo, where their rights are either ignored or overtly violated. Having a legal advocate on their side will help ensure that tenants know their rights and have their rights enforced." Illinois' Foreclosure Rate Takes No. 1 Spot RealtyTrac issued its Foreclosure Market Report for August. For the first time since January 2005, which is when RealtyTrac launched the report, Illinois ranked No. 1 for its foreclosure rate. In August, one in every 298 Illinois hous- A new state took the spotlight when largest, residential single-family property management company in North America, was selected to manage the Cogsville Group's rental properties. FirstService manages more than 50,000 properties nationwide. Don Cogxville, CEO of the Cogsville Group, said, "We are extremely excited to be working with FirstService Residential Realty. They're a great fit for our investors based on their local experience in Chicago and their centralized management, billing, and report- ing systems." Illinois to Use $1.4M in Settlement Funds to Help Renters Listen closely to the beat of the industry. DS News—keeping you in sync with success. Subscribe today. lion from the national mortgage servicing settlement to provide legal representation for renters who reside in buildings that may go into foreclosure. Attorney General Lisa Madigan an- Illinois will set aside nearly $1.4 mil- ing units received a foreclosure filing. The state also saw foreclosure activity spike 29 percent from July, and on a yearly basis, fore- closure starts were up 18 percent, scheduled foreclosure auctions shot up 116 percent, and bank repossessions increased by 41 percent. Florida ranked second, where one in every pushed foreclosure rates in those states to the two highest in the country, supplanting the non-judicial states of Arizona, Cali- fornia, Georgia, and Nevada," said Daren Blomquist, RealtyTrac VP. "Previous to August, the nation's top two state foreclosure rates have been from those four non-judicial states every month since December 2010." KNOW THIS nounced the funds will go to Chicago's Lawyers Committee for Better Housing (LCBH). The $1,391,000 grant covers a three- year period and will go toward the Tenants in Foreclosure Intervention Project, focusing on issues tenants face when residing in buildings in foreclosure, in addition to helping LCBH hire staff members and lawyers while sup- porting current employees. A report from the LCBH reveals one out Call 214.525.6700 or visit DSNews.com. of every 10 rental units in Chicago has been impacted by foreclosure. Last year, 13,814 rental units were foreclosed on, which is about 5,000 more than the number of single- family homes and condominiums foreclosed on in 2011. Madigan said, "When an apartment building enters foreclosure, its tenants are Chicago is ranked as the No. 1 Buyer's Market by Zillow. The company says Chicago's housing inventory was down 17.6% year-over-year in September. 87 328 housing units had a foreclosure filing, followed by California, Arizona, and Nevada. "The increases in Florida and Illinois

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