Uncategorized

Banks Encourage Homeowners to Sell at a Loss

Published

13 years ago

April 5, 2013

Oakland Post

Pam Hall

By Tanya
Dennis

Banks are encouraging underwater homeowners to short sale their properties, that is, sell their home at a loss rather than go through foreclosure.
In 2009, the Obama Administration designed a $75 billion “Making Home Affordable program, initially created to help distressed borrowers’ receive loans so they could stay in their homes.
Unfortunately, the plan also offers incentives for banks if they do not offer modifications for borrowers and allow homeowners instead to sell their home at a loss.
Lenders are increasingly using this program to receive government incentive payments by offering homeowners the opportunity to short sale their homes. Under the plan, the government also shares the cost of extinguishing second liens in the form of second mortgages.
“Banks push homeowners into short sales, and the houses go to investors,” said Pam Hall, chairwoman of the Home Defender’s League.
“In Oakland, investor-owned properties are transforming our neighborhoods, especially in communities of color, as homeowners lose their homes, and Section 8 tenants are pushed out as tenants.
“Mayor Quan is dedicated to stabilizing the Oakland housing market, but rampant short sales are undermining any attempt Mayor Quan, grass-root organizations and housing organizations are using to try and keep people in their homes.”
Over 25 percent of California borrowers were underwater between 2007 and 2010, and average Americans lost 40 percent of their wealth during the recent Great Recession
With banks quick to foreclose and slow to offer loan modifications, the loss of wealth in the middle class is likely to increase.
“The Multiple Listing Service show homes in foreclosure, and real estate agents are flooding homeowner with ‘deals’ to bail out of their homes,” said Hall. “The results are, investors are able to come in, revamp a home and boost the price or get permits to tear down and build other entities that aren’t a fit for the neighborhood.”
According to Bill Fricke, senior credit officer for Moody’s Investors Service in Manhattan, banks like these short sales. “Banks have decided the deals are faster and less costly than foreclosures, which have slowed in response to regulatory probes of abusive practices. Banks are nudging potential sellers by pre-approving deals, streamlining the closing process, and in some cases providing large cash incentives.”
Looking for ways to keep people in their homes, community organizers point to the multi-state agreement between the nation’s attorneys general and the banks and how the banks continue to benefit to the detriment of homeowners.
As part of the nationwide $2-billion agreement with Bank of America, Ally Financial, Citi Mortgage, JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo, forgiving short sale debt is one way lenders can meet their financial obligations.
Nationwide, about 60 percent of the debt forgiven through Sept. 30 has been through short sale deficiency waivers.
“If banks were committed to stabilizing the housing market, they would keep homeowners in their homes by offering across the board principal reductions rather than short sales. Unfortunately the bank makes more money with short sales. The results are that homeowners get sold out,” said Hall.
About 14 million homeowners are in foreclosure, behind on their mortgages or owe more than their properties are worth, said RealtyTrac Inc., a property-data company in Irvine. California.

Oakland Post

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Uncategorized

Oakland Housing and Community Development Department Awards $80.5 Million to Affordable Housing Developments

Published

8 months ago

June 17, 2025

Oakland Post

Special to The Post

The City of Oakland’s Housing and Community Development Department (Oakland HCD) announced its awardees for the 2024-2025 New Construction of Multifamily Affordable Housing Notice of Funding Availability (New Construction NOFA) today Five permanently affordable housing developments received awards out of 24 applications received by the Department, with award amounts ranging from $7 million to $28 million.

In a statement released on Jan. 16, Oakland’s HCD stated, “Five New Construction Multifamily Affordable Housing Development projects awarded a total of $80.5 million to develop 583 affordable rental homes throughout Oakland. Awardees will leverage the City’s investments to apply for funding from the state and private entities.”

In December, the office of Rebecca Kaplan, interim District 2 City Councilmember, worked with HCD to allocate an additional $10 Million from Measure U to the funding pool. The legislation also readopted various capital improvement projects including street paving and upgrades to public facilities.

The following Oakland affordable housing developments have been awarded in the current round:

Mandela Station Affordable

238 Affordable Units including 60 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $15 million + previously awarded $18 million
Developer: Mandela Station LP (Pacific West Communities, Inc. and Strategic Urban Development Alliance, LLC)
City Council District: 3
Address: 1451 7th St.

Liberation Park Residences

118 Affordable Units including 30 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $28 million
Developer: Eden Housing and Black Cultural Zone
City Council District: 6
Address: 7101 Foothill Blvd.

34th & San Pablo

59 Affordable Units including 30 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $7 million
Developer: 34SP Development LP (EBALDC)
City Council District: 3
Address: 3419-3431 San Pablo Ave.

The Eliza

96 Affordable Units including 20 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $20 million
Developer: Mercy Housing California
City Council District: 3
Address: 2125 Telegraph Ave.

3135 San Pablo

72 Affordable Units including 36 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $10.5 million
Developer: SAHA and St. Mary’s Center
City Council District: 3
Address: 3515 San Pablo Ave.

The source of this story is the media reltations office of District 2 City Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan.

Oakland Post

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Activism

Oakland Housing and Community Development Department Awards $80.5 Million to Affordable Housing Developments

Published

12 months ago

January 30, 2025

Oakland Post

Rebecca Kaplan, interim District 2 city councilmember. File photo.

Special to The Post

The following Oakland affordable housing developments have been awarded in the current round:

Mandela Station Affordable

238 Affordable Units including 60 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $15 million + previously awarded $18 million
Developer: Mandela Station LP (Pacific West Communities, Inc. and Strategic Urban Development Alliance, LLC)
City Council District: 3
Address: 1451 7th St.

Liberation Park Residences

118 Affordable Units including 30 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $28 million
Developer: Eden Housing and Black Cultural Zone
City Council District: 6
Address: 7101 Foothill Blvd.

34th & San Pablo

59 Affordable Units including 30 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $7 million
Developer: 34SP Development LP (EBALDC)
City Council District: 3
Address: 3419-3431 San Pablo Ave.

The Eliza

96 Affordable Units, including 20 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $20 million
Developer: Mercy Housing California
City Council District: 3
Address: 2125 Telegraph Ave.

3135 San Pablo

72 Affordable Units including 36 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $10.5 million
Developer: SAHA and St. Mary’s Center
City Council District: 3
Address: 3515 San Pablo Ave.

The source of this story is media reltations office of District 2 City Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan.

Oakland Post

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Alameda County

Oakland Acquisition Company’s Acquisition of County’s Interest in Coliseum Property on the Verge of Completion

The Board of Supervisors is committed to closing the deal expeditiously, and County staff have worked tirelessly to move the deal forward on mutually agreeable terms. The parties are down to the final details and, with the cooperation of OAC and Coliseum Way Partners, LLC, the Board will take a public vote at an upcoming meeting to seal this transaction.

Published

1 year ago

January 11, 2025

Oakland Post

Alameda County Board of Supervisors Chairman David Haubert. Official photo.

Special to The Post

The County of Alameda announced this week that a deal allowing the Oakland Acquisition Company, LLC, (“OAC”) to acquire the County’s 50% undivided interest in the Oakland- Alameda County Coliseum complex is in the final stages of completion.

Oakland has already finalized a purchase and sale agreement with OAC for its interest in the property. OAC’s acquisition of the County’s property interest will achieve two longstanding goals of the County:

The Oakland-Alameda Coliseum complex will finally be under the control of a sole owner with capacity to make unilateral decisions regarding the property; and
The County will be out of the sports and entertainment business, free to focus and rededicate resources to its core safety net

In an October 2024 press release from the City of Oakland, the former Oakland mayor described the sale of its 50% interest in the property as an “historic achievement” stating that the transaction will “continue to pay dividends for generations to come.”

The Board of Supervisors is pleased to facilitate single-entity ownership of this property uniquely centered in a corridor of East Oakland that has amazing potential.

“The County is committed to bringing its negotiations with OAC to a close,” said Board President David Haubert.