Hathaway Duke

From the Strib: With the number of boarded homes increasing because of foreclosures, Minneapolis city leaders are encouraging neighbors and block clubs to “adopt” a vacant property on their block. It is incredibly difficult to restrain our sarcastic streak here, so we’ll just say: Good Luck! City Asks People to Adopt Vacant Houses [Strib]

Justin D. Barker, 31, Jacksonville, Florida, to seven years’ imprisonment for his participation in a mortgage fraud scheme. After his release from prison, Barker will be on supervised release for five years. Barker entered a plea of guilty to con…

Stephen Rowe, 48, was arrested outside his El Monte, California residence regarding felony charges connected to real estate fraud.  Rowe was arrested for several counts including grand theft, forgery, and filing forged documents with the County Re…

The 2007 Residential Real Estate Activity Report, from the Minneapolis Area Association of Realtors: Mark it, dude. 2007 will go down as one of the most interesting years in the history of residential real estate. - Jeff Allen, MAAR Research Manager Though 2007 can definitely be characterized as an interesting year, our feeling is that by the end of 2008, we’ll be looking back at 2007 as a pretty good year, relatively speaking. Here’s why: It’s all about supply right now. There is simply too much, and too much to come, and with some estimates showing upwards of 35% of existing for-sale inventory in some stage of foreclosure, we find it hard to imagine the market achieving anything resembling price stability in 2008. Also worth noting, if you haven’t the stamina to wade through the entire report, is that despite the swoon we’ve seen since 2006, total appreciation since 2001 has still been fairly robust. Though some may take that as another sign that we have further to fall, these figures are only slightly higher than the historical average annual appreciation rate of 5-6%.

Nazzara Bernardo, 60, Manlius, New York, pleaded guilty in United States District Court in Burlington, Vermont, to a charge that he conspired to commit wire fraud. The Judge released Bernardo on conditions pending sentencing, which has not been schedul…

Sharon Chamberlain, 39—Wire Fraud Conspiracy Colleen Chiavetta, 35—Wire Fraud Conspiracy, Money Laundering Conspiracy John Chiavetta, 68—Wire Fraud Conspiracy Erika Stanford, 34—Wire Fraud Conspiracy, Money Laundering Conspir…

Daniel Mann, Arnold, Missouri, was sentenced to 15 months in prison for his participation in a mortgage fraud scheme.  Mann pled guilty to a one-count information filed by the U.S. Attorney on November 28, 2007.  At that time, he admitted t…

Anthony Fields, 38—Wire Fraud Conspiracy Alice Fields, 28—Wire Fraud Conspiracy Lisa Fields, 33—Wire Fraud Conspiracy Raymond Fields, 26—Wire Fraud Conspiracy Randy Carretta, 44—Wire Fraud Conspiracy Jason Jester, 38&…

Last Week: Since Feb 5th, mortgage rates have increased approximately 50bps, or one-half of one percentage point. An economic stimulus package signed by the president, further rate cuts by the Fed as a foregone conclusion, and a smattering of not-great-but-not-as-bad-as-expected economic reports have led many market players to conclude that the economic slowdown we are experiencing will be relatively short lived. Put another way, rates rising at this point can be taken as sign that the market believes the economy will recover quickly, perhaps stirring up a little inflation along the way. This Week: The holiday shortened week sports an economic calendar with high-impact reports that will be scrutinized for signs of economic weakness. The two big reports to watch: On Wednesday the 20th: We have inflation data in the form of the CPI (consumer price index.) A hot number here could push rates up. Thursday the 21st: brings the minutes from the last Fed meeting, which will be parsed as always for clues as to the Fed’s views on the economy, rate cuts, and inflation. Look also for some insight into the emergency 75bp rate cut. And of course, the market has the Philly Fed index, Leading Economic Indicators and a raft of housing related data (NAHB index, building permits, housing starts) to sort through, so we could be in for a volatile week.

Leslie Rector, 35, Atlanta, Georgia, was sentenced to federal prison for his participation in a massive mortgage fraud scheme that targeted the Atlanta, Georgia metro housing and condo market from 2000 through part of 2003.  Based upon convictio…