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Article: housingwire.com “It’s official. Confirming plans that HousingWire brought to light late last year and further revealed earlier this year, Nationstar Mortgage will indeed be launching a massive rebranding later this year and changing its name to Mr. Cooper. Nationstar CEO Jay Bray confirmed the company’s plan to rebrand as Mr. Cooper during a callRead more

Tampabay.com Article: “ST. PETERSBURG — This Friday’s foreclosure auction of the much-maligned Mosley Motel has been canceled because its owners have filed for bankruptcy. A nuisance for some of its Historic Kenwood neighbors, the Mosley has racked up more than $40,000 in city fines. Residents had hoped a new owner would improve the property. TheresaRead more

Article via: CBS, wtsp.com: “With Goldman Sachs recently agreeing to pay $5.1 billion to settle claims related to its role in the 2008 mortgage scandal, the firm became the latest big Wall Street bank to reach a deal with the U.S. government. As part of the settlement, $1.8 billion is to be set aside for programs toRead more

By Nicholas Nehamas “Federal authorities on Wednesday announced a temporary anti-money-laundering crackdown on pricey homes bought secretly with cash in Miami-Dade County and New York City. The new policy will require title insurance companies to identify the true owners of shell companies that pay $1 million or more in cash for homes in Miami-Dade andRead more

Little-known program gives up to $2,000 a year to people buying their first homes. By Donna Gehrke-White | Sun Sentinel “little-known state program that pays first-time homebuyers up to $2,000 a year has more than tripled its number of participants in a year.Administrators expect an even higher surge of homebuyers applying this year as theRead more

Mary Shanklin | Orlando Sentinel | “More than 5,200 Orlando-area houses in foreclosure sat vacant during the second quarter, making the region one of the leading “zombie” foreclosure markets in the country, a new report shows. In Orange, Seminole, Lake and Osceola counties, 22,700 houses and condos were in some stage of foreclosure during theRead more

SUSAN TAYLOR MARTIN | Tampa Bay Times | “In February, a new company in Tampa called RE-710 got a terrific deal. It paid $5,700 for a five-bedroom home valued at $311,000. The same month, RE-710 acquired control of dozens of other houses and condos throughout the Tampa Bay area for just cents on the dollar.Read more

By Marcie Geffner of Bankrate.com “Buying a home is a challenging goal for most hopeful homeowners. But for those who have experienced a bankruptcy, foreclosure or short sale, the hurdles are even higher. Still, it’s not impossible to buy a home after financial difficulties, says Dan Keller, a mortgage banker with Hometown Lending in Everett, Wash. In fact,Read more

Staff | Tampa Bay Business Journal | “Tampa socialites Jill and Dr. Scott Kelley have avoided losing their mansion on Bayshore Boulevard to foreclosure. Under a mortgage modification with , the Kelleys have agreed to pay $9,747 per month until they repay the $1.7 million still owed on the house, the Tampa Bay Times said. According to documents filedRead more

Mamta Badkar | Business Insider | “112,498 U.S. properties received foreclosure filings in February, according to RealtyTrac. This was down 27% from a year ago and was the lowest monthly total since December 2006. In fact, one in every 1,170 U.S. homes received a foreclosure filing in February. But the headline number can be misleading. “Cold weather andRead more