Foreclosure News

Glenview (Illinois) hotel loan set to sell at big discount
By Alby Gallun
Crain's Chicago Business
August 19, 2009

(Crain’s) — A Georgia hotel investor has agreed to buy a loan on a Wyndham hotel in Glenview at a 60% discount as the property’s lender moves forward with a foreclosure suit.

Foreclosures rise 7 percent in July from June
By ALAN ZIBEL, AP Real Estate Writer
August 12, 2009

WASHINGTON – The number of U.S. households on the verge of losing their homes rose 7 percent from June to July, as the escalating foreclosure crisis continued to outpace government efforts to limit the damage.

Maguire Properties' Loss Widens
By KERRY GRACE BENN
Wall Street Journal
Agust 10, 2009

Maguire Properties Inc.'s second-quarter loss widened on write-downs as the developer's revenue was flat.

Maguire Properties Warns of Loan Defaults
Creditors to Get Seven Buildings With $1.06 Billion in Debt; Vacancies and Falling Rents Pressure Landlords
By CHRISTINA S.N. LEWIS, Wall Street Journal
August, 10, 2009

Maguire Properties Inc., one of the largest office-building owners in Southern California, is planning to hand over control of seven buildings with some $1.06 billion in debt to creditors, the latest sign that rising vacancies and falling rents are causing stress in the commercial real-estate sector.

Go-to guy on Fla. foreclosure cleanups sees it all
By TODD LEWAN
Business Week
August 8, 2009

393 Ed Douglas Road was a hot potato now, not a home -- just another ghost property in the resale pipeline with curtainless windows, a yard populated by fire ants and weeds, and the telltale flier taped to the front door: "U.S. Government Property."

Nick Hazel shoved a key in the lock. "Don't look now, but we got company." Above his head, and along the eaves, dangled nests in plump, grapelike clusters. "Hornets," he muttered, then with a forced grin, "I looooove hornets."

Bank of America gets Kona Hotel on the Big Island of Hawaii)
Maui News
August 3, 2009

KAILUA-KONA (AP) - The Sheraton Keauhou Bay Resort and Spa on the Big Island has been sold to Bank of America Corp. after the resort's owner defaulted on its mortgage with the giant lender.

The bank's winning bid was $8 million. Koa Hotel LLC defaulted last year with about $60 million remaining unpaid on its loan.

The default on payments for the 521-room resort is being blamed on the global recession's effect on Hawaii's struggling tourism industry.

Mortgage modifications moving at snail's pace
Bank of America, Wells Fargo get low marks on plan to help homeowners
The Associated Press
Tues., Aug 4, 2009

WASHINGTON - The government's $50 billion program to ease the foreclosure crisis is helping only a tiny fraction of struggling homeowners.

As of July, only 9 percent of eligible borrowers had seen their mortgage payments reduced. And a progress report on the plan Tuesday showed that 10 lenders had not changed a single loan.

FHA Loans With Nothing Down, Will They Change The Foreclosure Picture
By Peter G. Miller
June 30, 2009

The headlines are brimming with good news for first-time homebuyers. They can now purchase with FHA loans and little or nothing down. It sounds great, but is this really a smart idea? Isn’t the lack of down payments one of the reasons we have so many owners being foreclosed?

In the usual situation buying with nothing down is not good public policy, not good for lenders, dangerous for mortgage investors and risky for borrowers. That said, let’s look at some realities.

Crain's Chicago Business
July 30, 2009

Chicago area suffers highest home foreclosure rate in Illinois

(AP) — The Chicago area’s foreclosure rate rose more than 30% in the first half of 2009 compared with the same period last year, according to a report.

More than 63,500 properties got a foreclosure filing from January through June, according to Irvine, Calif.-based RealtyTrac Inc., a foreclosure listing service.

July 30, 2009

By Alby Gallun

Westin O'Hare at risk of default: report

(Crain’s) — The owner of the Westin O’Hare is in danger of defaulting on a $101-million loan because of falling occupancy levels and room rates at the 525-room hotel, according to a recent report.