All posts in United States Government

Welcome to Tampa Real Estate News!

by Deborah Farmer on January 18, 2012 in Economy, Ethics, Events, Florida Realtors, Issues, Links, Local Real Estate, Media, Mental Health, MLS, NAR, Psychology, Remodeling, Decorating, Construction, Technology, Uncategorized, United States Government with 2 Comments

Thanks for visiting us at Tampa Real Estate News.  This is a blog developed by Realtors for Realtors, real estate agents and you, the general public.  We want you to feel free to express yourself here without worry for any political correctness.   We only ask that you keep it clean, truthful and within the confines of the NAR Code of Ethics (i.e., don’t badmouth other Realtors, etc.)  Hopefully we can share some insight into our local real estate, as well as our State and National Associations. Thanks for your participation.  Without you, there is nothing to say!

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Obama to step up housing reform

by TampaRENews on January 16, 2012 in Economy, Local Real Estate, NAR, United States Government with No comments

January 16, 2012

WASHINGTON (UPI) — After a push from Democrats and liberal activists, President Barack Obama is expected to take a more aggressive stance to protect homeowners, backers say.”There’s an understanding now in the administration that there needs to be a comprehensive strategy to diminish the foreclosure rate and clean up the housing problem,” said Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass.Frank said although the economy is showing good movement, the Obama administration needs to do something about housing, The Hill reported Sunday.

“There’s a lot of conversation going on,” Frank said.

Wade Henderson, president of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, a leader in advocating for homeowner relief, said the administration is gearing up for action.

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Medicaid opt-out possible

by TampaRENews on January 15, 2012 in Economy, Issues, United States Government with No comments

January 15, 2012

An issue that has received scant attention with all the uproar related to the individual mandate in the healthcare reform law is what will happen if a state decides against expanding Medicaid to comply with the law’s provisions.The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act was signed into law nearly two years ago but will not be fully implemented until 2014.The U.S. Supreme Court takes up the law in March, with the major focus on the constitutionality of requiring people to buy at least minimal healthcare coverage.But another aspect of the case is whether the federal government can force states to expand Medicaid. Refusal would end a state’s participation in the program, cutting off federal funds for healthcare coverage for the poor.

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The Nation’s Housing: Deductibility takes a hit …

by TampaRENews on January 14, 2012 in Economy, Issues, Local Real Estate, NAR, United States Government with No comments

Kenneth R. Harney

WASHINGTON — Though its demise drew little attention because of the partisan year-end brawl over the payroll tax cut extension in Congress, a key mortgage financing benefit disappeared at the end of December: The ability of large numbers of homebuyers and owners to write off the premiums they pay for mortgage insurance.

The loss of that tax deduction — plus mandatory new fees imposed by Congress on all new conventional and FHA loans — could effectively ratchet up the costs of homeownership this year.

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Raskin Urges Penalties on Mortgage Servicers

by TampaRENews on January 8, 2012 in Economy, Issues, Local Real Estate, Media, United States Government with No comments
Published: January 7, 2012 at 4:35 PM ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Federal Reserve Governor Sarah Bloom Raskin on Saturday said the Fed must impose monetary penalties on banks who entered into an April agreement with regulators over how to fix problems in their mortgage servicing businesses.
“The Federal Reserve and other federal regulators must impose penalties for deficiencies that resulted in unsafe and unsound practices or violations of federal law,” Raskin said in remarks to the Association of American Law Schools. “The Federal Reserve believes monetary sanctions in these cases are appropriate and plans to announce monetary penalties.”

Shadow inventory down 16% from a year ago

by TampaRENews on December 21, 2011 in Economy, Issues, Local Real Estate, United States Government with Comments Off

CoreLogic: 1.6M homes not yet on the market represent 5-month supply

By Inman News, Wednesday, December 21, 2011.

Inman News®

<img title=”Homes image via Shutterstock.com.” src=”http://www.inman.com/files/imagecache/article-photo/files/imagefield/shutterstock_60032393-shadow-inventory.jpg” alt=”Homes image via Shutterstock.com.” />Homes image via Shutterstock.com.

Lenders had a “shadow inventory” of 1.6 million distressed properties and repossessed homes they hadn’t yet put up for sale at the end of October, down 16 percent from a year ago, loan data and analytics provider CoreLogic reported today.

Six states account for half of the shadow inventory: Florida, California, Illinois, New York, Texas and New Jersey.

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Mortgage Fees Would Rise Under Payroll Tax Cut Deal

by TampaRENews on December 20, 2011 in Economy, Florida Realtors, Issues, Local Real Estate, United States Government with Comments Off

This is a post of a real estate article written by Lenn Harley.

SMOKE AND MIRRORS AGAIN ON CAPITOL HILL.  Read more HERE.

If you’re a real estate agent, a real estate broker, a loan officer, a home buyer or a home owner,

YOU HAVE A TARGET ON YOUR BACK.

Congress has done it again.  The government has targeted one group of Americans to benefit another.  This is what Congress calls “paid for” when they design legislation to benefit one group of voters and sticks their hands in the pockets of another group to “pay for it”.  In most cases of course, the group to benefit are expected to vote for the politician(s) who sponsor the legislation.  In this case it’s an extension of the so called “payroll tax cut”.  This is not a “payroll tax cut”.  Never was and never will be.  It is a clear reduction in the withholding for FICA contribution to fund Social Security benefit recipients.  Of course, as usual, the benefit is immediate and the “pay” for it will be a charge to American home owners and buyer for the next ten years.  Have we ever seen Congress buy any votes by cutting one single $Dollar of

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The $8,000 housing credit ‘swindle’

by TampaRENews on November 20, 2011 in Economy, Issues, Local Real Estate, United States Government with Comments Off

Pity anyone who took the tax credit to buy a house in 2009 or 2010.

By MSN Money partner on Tue, Nov 8, 2011 2:09 PM

This repost comes from Brent Arends at partner site MarketWatch.

Call it the Great Rock & Roll Real Estate Swindle. Call it a $26 billion Bait & Switch. Call it the Mother of All Boondoggles.

Call it whatever you want.

But as foreclosures surge again and house prices continue to slide, new data out this week reveal more of the grim verdict on the $26 billion federal program in 2009 and 2010 to offer tax credits to home buyers.

You may remember that between spring 2009 and September 2010 the government handed out credits of up to $8,000 to induce people to buy a new home. It was supposed to gee up the housing market.

How’d that work out?  Click here ~ http://on-msn.com/tfgQYD

 

They Walked Away … And Are Glad They Did …

by TampaRENews on November 19, 2011 in Economy, Issues, Links, Local Real Estate, United States Government with Comments Off

http://nyti.ms/tVz2CA

They Walked Away, and They’re Glad They Did

By TESS VIGELAND (The New York Times)

JON WITTENBERG and Bill Sawyer have never met. One lives in Walnut Creek, Calif., the other in Wilsonville, Ore. But if they did, the conversation might be littered with exclamations like, “That’s exactly what happened to me!”

Their stories start with a mid-decade home purchase and turn sharply as they simply walk away from those homes and the mortgages that accompany them. What was supposed to happen next was that their financial lives would crash and burn for years.

Or so the dire warnings went. In reality, both men said, walking away turned out to be the best financial decision they made.

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The Nation’s Housing: Major condo headache

by TampaRENews on October 22, 2011 in Economy, Issues, Local Real Estate, United States Government with Comments Off

Kenneth R. Harney

WASHINGTON — Is a little-publicized switch in federal mortgage policy causing huge problems for condominium sellers, buyers and homeowner association boards across the country — even depressing prices and blocking refinancings?

Condo industry leaders, from the 30,000-member Community Associations Institute to individual unit owners and realty agents, are emphatic that the answer is yes. They say a series of rule revisions by the Federal Housing Administration has caused thousands of condo projects to become ineligible for FHA mortgages. This, in turn, has abruptly shut off loan money for would-be condo buyers and refinancers, forcing them to pursue conventional bank loans requiring much higher down payments — sometimes 20 percent and higher versus the FHA’s 3.5 percent minimum — that they often cannot afford.    Continue reading →

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