Freedom Law Firm Las Vegas Foreclosure Round-up 12.4.09

Freedom Law Firm takes a look at the latest Las Vegas foreclosure news:

1.  Tackling Foreclosure:  Mediation program shows signs of helping homeowners, lenders (Las Vegas Sun)
Key quote:  Robert Noggle, a Las Vegas real estate attorney with Black & LoBello, said the anecdotal evidence he has heard from mediators suggests that 60 percent of the mediations have resulted in deals that prevented foreclosure. Noggle said those deals have included principal reduction, lower interest rates or short sales.

2. Las Vegas Home Prices Fall 34% on Foreclosure Sales (Bloomberg)
The headline sums it up, along with this quote from the article:  “Builders can’t compete with discounted foreclosure resales,” MDA DataQuick said.

3. With Las Vegas business slow, Molasky goes to Missouri (Las Vegas Sun)
Quote:  “There is no more private work that’s going to happen in Southern Nevada for three or four years,” Chairman Irwin Molasky says. “We started looking outside of the state for federal jobs.”

4. Report: Nearly 70 percent of LV homeowners underwater on mortgage (Las Vegas Sun)
This quote sounds grim but contains a glimmer of hope–that things are starting to stabilize and may turn positive by later in 2010:  “The new First American CoreLogic HPI Forecast anticipates continued declines in most markets, albeit at a slowing rate, for the next six months, followed by a rebound in the spring. Above-average levels of foreclosures, inventories and unemployment will continue to take their toll in many major metropolitan markets in the short term. As the economy continues to improve and these factors improve, the forecast calls for housing prices to bottom for most markets by March 2010 and then turn positive,” the company said in a statement.”

5. Many ‘underwater’ mortgage holders really aren’t, data firm says (Los Angeles Times)
“First American CoreLogic says its new methodology shows that the owners of 23% of all mortgaged homes had negative equity in the third quarter. Under the old formula, it would have been 33.8%.”

Positive news?  Or just a change in the formula?  See the justification:

“First American CoreLogic said it changed its methodology to take into account two things that the firm’s previous data hadn’t reflected: how much of a loan’s principal had been paid down, and how much of a home equity line of credit was actually being used.”

Help Stop Foreclosure Las Vegas
If you’re facing foreclosure in Las Vegas and seeking good Las Vegas bankruptcy lawyers to help you figure out all of your options–from loan modification to foreclosure mediation to Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 help in Las Vegas–please contact us for a free foreclosure consultation.

We’ll answer all of your questions, make sure you get the full benefit of the legal protections available to you and help you get your financial life back in order.