The Waiting Game - Portland's REO Constipation

The more things change the more they stay the same...

"The vast majority of repossessed Portland-area homes aren't up for sale. Instead, more than 80 percent of them are off the market, many vacant and developing maintenance problems that might ultimately take a toll on their resale value if and when they do sell."

And of course at its core, we have simple root cause analysis pointing directly at the behavior of the two legged rats running the banks, who have to make their blatant title/securities/balance sheet fraud legal and/or profitable before it's convenient for them to foreclose...

"In some cases, particularly after the robo-signing scandal that emerged in late 2010, lenders had paperwork issues to resolve before they could sell properties to third parties. Major banks put the brakes on foreclosures and foreclosure sales in the past couple of years while they audited the ones in progress and negotiated what became a $25 billion settlement with 49 states and the District of Columbia.

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McCredie, a broker with 30 years of experience in bank-owned properties, said the Portland foreclosure machine may be further slowed by the issue of the Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, an industry workaround for local recording laws that's headed to the state Supreme Court. Borrowers have challenged foreclosures involving MERS, and conflicting rulings have left banks skittish about proceeding with new foreclosures and sales, he said.

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And some of the delay is likely the result of a bookkeeping maneuver, said Rick Sharga, executive vice president of Carrington Mortgage Holdings. The homes haven't been marked down to their new, lower market value"

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Note the last paragraph with respect to balance sheet fraud. If bankers don't have to auction the bad collateral/loans, they don't have to realize a loss and can still pay themselves handsome bonuses.

Google "prompt corrective action" and see just how deep the fraud goes.

Too big to fail?

SOURCE: The Oregonian

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