For at least the last six months or so, a lot of people were talking about a “new wave” of foreclosures threatening to smother the U.S. housing market in gloom once again.

The reasoning was that because of the “robo-signing” scandal, and the subsequent foreclosure freezes, a huge number of foreclosures had been put on pause, and that the banks would eventually have to deal with their delinquent borrowers, and foreclosures would re-start in a big way.

Full story is available on The Wall Street Journal

The Sunshine State’s shadow inventory of 550,000 distressed homes makes up a third of the nation’s unlisted foreclosures, raising the specter of a price crash in such hard-hit areas as South Florida.

But a Florida Realtors report that identified the more than a half-million troubled properties, said the homes are leaking onto the market in an “orderly fashion” that will prevent sinking values.

Full story is available on The Palm Beach Post

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) is hosting a free Home Preservation Workshop in Denver for Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, Wells Fargo Financial, and Wells Fargo Home Equity customers facing financial hardships. Wells Fargo has invited more than 3,500 mortgage customers from along Colorado’s Front Range to the free workshop which will be held on Thursday, May 10 from 9 a.m. – 7 p.m., at the Colorado Convention Center, Hall D, 700 14th St., in Denver. Parking and attendance are free.

Full story is available on sunherald.com

They are the backbone of a cottage industry thriving in the collapse of the housing market: independent contractors who can supply their own lawn mower, truck, weed whacker, tools, laptop, high-speed Internet access, cellphone, digital camera, generator and tape measure.

People willing to cut knee-high grass, haul trash from yards, change locks, hammer plywood over windows and pools — and, at times, clean foul-smelling refrigerators and toilets — are being sought by so-called “property preservation” companies hired by banks or real estate agents to tend to vacant foreclosed homes.

Full story is available on Sun-Sentinel

In the tsunami of South Florida home foreclosures, there’s an additional complication for authorities trying to deal with neighborhood squalor. It’s often hard to determine exactly who owns a house and is legally responsible for maintaining it.

A single mortgage may involve several banks or companies — one that made the loan; another that “services” the loan by collecting payments; and another that funnels payments to yet another bank, or “trustee,” that disburses proceeds from mortgage payments to investors of loans bundled together as mortgage-backed securities.

Full story is available on Sun-Sentinel

So-called HARP 2.0, the Obama Administration’s revamped Home Affordable Refinance Program, is yielding plenty of buzz as the Mortgage Bankers Association claimed that nearly a third of refinancing applications earlier this month was affiliated with the program.

But plenty of questions linger about the enhancement of a three-year-old program which most agree failed to reach sufficient “underwater” borrowers in need of assistance.

Full story is available on eCreditDaily

Joanne McCarn owns her home, but her homeowners association has taken it over and calls the sheriff’s office if she comes near the property.

What’s more, the Bridgewater Community Association evicted her tenant, changed the locks and moved in its own renter.

Full story is available on TBO.com

Kathy Lane envisioned a picturesque neighborhood with tree-lined streets when she moved to FishHawk Ranch in 2004.

These days, she stares at an eyesore.

Two doors away, the back yard of an abandoned home overflows with trash; rain pours in open windows; weeds have overgrown the lawn. The pool, filled with black muck, draws swarms of bugs.

Full story is available on Tampa Bay Times

The GSEs issued new guidelines that fall under the Servicing Alignment Initiative rolled out last fall and aim to bring greater transparency to the short sale process and expedite decisions related to these pre-foreclosure sales.

In Baltimore not only is a short sale an effective foreclosure alternative when home retention is no longer an option, but it keeps homes occupied and helps to maintain stable communities, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA).

Full story is available on examiner.com

Homeowners struggling to pay their mortgages found a place to turn for help Saturday: a special event at the Javits Center in Manhattan.

It attracted thousands of hardworking people, who are hoping they’ll get a second chance with their banks.

“I”m 59 today, and i’m working 3 jobs,” said Joanne Defeo.

Full story is available on abclocal