According to RealtyTrac the number of foreclosures in America has risen 21 percent in September from the same time last year, although the figure fell by double digits from the previous month in some states as the slowed down the foreclosure process. RealtyTrac the company who did the report are a research firm who provide monthly reports on the different stages of foreclosures in the US property market.

Bank repossessions, auction sale notices and default notices fell to 265,968 in September that’s a drop of 12 percent from August. This counts for a one in every 475 US household in September receiving a foreclosure filing according to the RealtyTrac report, which is still extremely alarming.

It was reported that the decrease of 12 percent was mainly due to some states changing their laws to help homeowners who had trouble with their mortgage repayments by slowing down the process.
The report showed that California saw a decrease of 51 percent of foreclosure filings in September from the previous month and that was due to the a new law in California law stating that lenders are require to contact the borrower at least 30 days before filing a Notice of Default (NOD).

California wasn’t the only place to be helped by a new law; in North Caroline a new law slowed the rate of default notices by 66 percent. Although this is not expected to last, as the laws changing over was the reason the foreclosures slowed.

Source: cnbc

The New York’s National Debt Clock, which has been tallying up the US governments debt since 1989 is running out of space, this probably doesn’t come much as a surprise taking into account financial fiasco America and the rest of the world are in.

The US national debt is currently running at $10.2 trillion, in September 2008, the national debt clock had to have the digital dollar sign eliminated to make space for an extra digit the “1″ in $10 trillion. According to the Associated Press there is now a new National Debt Clock being made to allow for a quadrillion dollar debt, it’s reported to be completed early 2009.

For those who are not familiar with the clock it was created in 1989 by Seymour Durst a Manhattan real estate developer to make public the nation’s escalating national debt, when it was created in 1989 the national debt was at $2.7 trillion.

The national debt as grown more than $500 billion a year since fiscal year 2003 according to the Treasury. It’s thought that the national Debt Clock could reach more than $11 trillion due to the $700 billion bailout.

Source: usnews

President George W. Bush signed the law legislation at the White House just after 7am today, the new legislation helps more than 400,000 homeowners foreclosure and extends a lifeline to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

The foreclosure prevention measure is aimed at stopping a free-fall in housing prices and stemming foreclosures, this is to be done by providing a federal insurance for refinanced 30-year mortgages for homeowners who are finding it difficult to meet their monthly mortgage payments. The Treasury secretary will also be injecting capital into Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in a bid to restore confidence in the two biggest U.S. mortgage providers.

The goal is to stop a collapse of Washington-based Fannie Mae and Virginia-based Freddie Mac and buy almost 50 percent of the $12 trillion U.S. mortgages.

The lead lobbyist for the White house, persuaded President Bush to not go ahead with a veto over part of the legislation that provides $3.9 billion in grants to states to buy and repair foreclosed properties. Democrats said it would stabilize neighborhoods but Bush said that it seemed like a bailout of lenders to him.

Frannie Mae and Freddie Mac would both have to stick to a minimum capital requirement, limit the size of portfolios and supervise executive pay for the two government-sponsored enterprises under the new independent regulator which is called the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

Under the law, the FHA can now insure higher loan limits, up to $625,500 from $417,000 in high-cost areas. The law also raises the nation’s debt limit to $10.6 trillion from $9.816 trillion to accommodate the Paulson plan.

A new FHA program, a unit of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, would insure up to $300 billion in refinanced 30-year fixed loans for about 400,000 borrowers struggling with their monthly payments after loan holders agree to cut their mortgage balance.

The new measure would offer $15 billion in tax breaks, including provisions offering the equivalent of interest-free loans worth up to $7,500 for first-time homebuyers. States would be able to offer an additional $11 billion in mortgage revenue bonds to refinance subprime loans.

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Source: Bloomberg.

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