Foreclosures hit Important Milestone; Concerning Trends in Some States

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It has been a long eight years, but foreclosure activity appears to have returned to levels last seen before the housing downturn was born in 2006.  RealtyTrac said today that the 2 percent decrease in the various types of foreclosure filings in June brought overall activity down to the lowest it has been since July of that year.  The company released its Midyear Foreclosure Market Report which contains data on both June foreclosure filings and those that occurred during the first half of 2014.

June filings, including default notices, scheduled auctions, and bank repossessions or completed foreclosures, were filed on a total of 107,194 properties, down 2 percent from May and 16 percent from June 2013.  For the first half of the year there were 613,874 filings, a decrease of 19 percent from the last half of 2013 and 23 percent from the first six months of that year.  Filings at mid-year equate to one filing for every 214 housing units in the U.S.

"Nationwide foreclosure activity in June reached an important milestone, dropping to levels not seen since before the housing price bubble burst in August 2006," said Daren Blomquist, vice president at RealtyTrac. "Over the next six to nine months nationwide foreclosure numbers should start to flat line at consistently historically normal levels.

Ten states also were at the lowest level of foreclosure activity in June since the housing bubble burst in August 2006.  These include Texas, Georgia, Colorado, Tennessee, Arizona and Nevada.  Activity was down during the first half of the year compared to the first six months of 2013 in all but nine states.  Among those with the larger increases were New Jersey which was up 54 percent, Maryland (+18 percent), Iowa (+10 percent), and Massachusetts and Connecticut, each with 4 percent increases.

Overall foreclosure rates during the first half of the year were highest in Florida with one filing for every 74 housing units, Maryland with one in 107, Illinois, one in 123; New Jersey, one in 134; and Nevada, one in 138.

There were 47,243 first-time foreclosure starts in June, down 4 percent from May and 18 percent from a year earlier and the lowest number since November 2005.  Foreclosure starts for the first six months numbered 315,895.  At the current pace foreclosure starts will probably exceed 630,000 by the end of the year compared to a finally tally of 747,728 for all of 2013.

Foreclosure starts in June increased from the previous month in 15 states and were up from a year ago in 20 states.  States will large annual increase include Massachusetts (+105 percent), New Jersey (+70 percent), Nevada and Indiana (+65 percent), and Oregon (+50 percent).

There were 26,889 completed foreclosures in June and 174,691 during the first six months of the year.  June's foreclosures were down 5 percent from May and 24 percent from June 2013 and represented an 84 month low.  Based on the midyear number RealtyTrac estimates there will be 350,000 foreclosures this year, down from 462,970 in all of 2013. 

Completed foreclosures in June were higher than in May in 16 states and higher than a year ago in 12.  Both Iowa and Maryland had 86 percent more foreclosures in June than a year earlier, New York was up 49 percent and Oregon 22 percent. 

Foreclosure auctions were scheduled for the first time on 46,743 U.S. properties in June, 1 percent fewer than in May and down 13 percent from a year ago to the lowest level since July 2006 - a 95-month low.  Scheduled auctions increased from May in 12 states and from a year ago in 17 with the largest increases of 68 percent and 62 percent respectively in Connecticut and Pennsylvania.

"There continue to be concerning trends in some states and local markets that clearly indicate those markets are not completely out of the woods when it comes to the lingering foreclosure problem left over from the housing bust," Blomquist said. "While it's important that any remaining foreclosure infection is addressed promptly to keep it from festering, foreclosures are no longer a widespread contagion threatening to derail the housing market's return to full health."

Despite dwindling numbers of foreclosure filings the timeline to complete a foreclosure continues to lengthen.  The average time to complete a foreclosure in the second quarter of 2014 was 577 days, up from 572 days in the first quarter and 526 days in the second quarter of 2013 while in New Jersey it currently takes nearly twice as long, an average of 1,098 days.  The process is also extremely lengthy in New York (930 days), Hawaii (915 days), Illinois (850 days) and Massachusetts (784 days.

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Foreclosures hit Important Milestone; Concerning Trends in Some States

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It has been a long eight years, but foreclosure activity appears to have returned to levels last seen before the housing downturn was born in 2006.  RealtyTrac said today that the 2 percent decrease in the various types of foreclosure filings in June brought overall activity down to the lowest it has been since July of that year.  The company released its Midyear Foreclosure Market Report which contains data on both June foreclosure filings and those that occurred during the first half of 2014.

June filings, including default notices, scheduled auctions, and bank repossessions or completed foreclosures, were filed on a total of 107,194 properties, down 2 percent from May and 16 percent from June 2013.  For the first half of the year there were 613,874 filings, a decrease of 19 percent from the last half of 2013 and 23 percent from the first six months of that year.  Filings at mid-year equate to one filing for every 214 housing units in the U.S.

"Nationwide foreclosure activity in June reached an important milestone, dropping to levels not seen since before the housing price bubble burst in August 2006," said Daren Blomquist, vice president at RealtyTrac. "Over the next six to nine months nationwide foreclosure numbers should start to flat line at consistently historically normal levels.

Ten states also were at the lowest level of foreclosure activity in June since the housing bubble burst in August 2006.  These include Texas, Georgia, Colorado, Tennessee, Arizona and Nevada.  Activity was down during the first half of the year compared to the first six months of 2013 in all but nine states.  Among those with the larger increases were New Jersey which was up 54 percent, Maryland (+18 percent), Iowa (+10 percent), and Massachusetts and Connecticut, each with 4 percent increases.

Overall foreclosure rates during the first half of the year were highest in Florida with one filing for every 74 housing units, Maryland with one in 107, Illinois, one in 123; New Jersey, one in 134; and Nevada, one in 138.

There were 47,243 first-time foreclosure starts in June, down 4 percent from May and 18 percent from a year earlier and the lowest number since November 2005.  Foreclosure starts for the first six months numbered 315,895.  At the current pace foreclosure starts will probably exceed 630,000 by the end of the year compared to a finally tally of 747,728 for all of 2013.

Foreclosure starts in June increased from the previous month in 15 states and were up from a year ago in 20 states.  States will large annual increase include Massachusetts (+105 percent), New Jersey (+70 percent), Nevada and Indiana (+65 percent), and Oregon (+50 percent).

There were 26,889 completed foreclosures in June and 174,691 during the first six months of the year.  June's foreclosures were down 5 percent from May and 24 percent from June 2013 and represented an 84 month low.  Based on the midyear number RealtyTrac estimates there will be 350,000 foreclosures this year, down from 462,970 in all of 2013. 

Completed foreclosures in June were higher than in May in 16 states and higher than a year ago in 12.  Both Iowa and Maryland had 86 percent more foreclosures in June than a year earlier, New York was up 49 percent and Oregon 22 percent. 

Foreclosure auctions were scheduled for the first time on 46,743 U.S. properties in June, 1 percent fewer than in May and down 13 percent from a year ago to the lowest level since July 2006 - a 95-month low.  Scheduled auctions increased from May in 12 states and from a year ago in 17 with the largest increases of 68 percent and 62 percent respectively in Connecticut and Pennsylvania.

"There continue to be concerning trends in some states and local markets that clearly indicate those markets are not completely out of the woods when it comes to the lingering foreclosure problem left over from the housing bust," Blomquist said. "While it's important that any remaining foreclosure infection is addressed promptly to keep it from festering, foreclosures are no longer a widespread contagion threatening to derail the housing market's return to full health."

Despite dwindling numbers of foreclosure filings the timeline to complete a foreclosure continues to lengthen.  The average time to complete a foreclosure in the second quarter of 2014 was 577 days, up from 572 days in the first quarter and 526 days in the second quarter of 2013 while in New Jersey it currently takes nearly twice as long, an average of 1,098 days.  The process is also extremely lengthy in New York (930 days), Hawaii (915 days), Illinois (850 days) and Massachusetts (784 days.

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UPA’s land acquisition law likely to be overhauled with many states seeking recast

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The " land acquisition law" bearing Rahul Gandhi's imprint, enacted by the UPA government last year, came under all-round attack from states, including those ruled by Congress, raising the prospect of drastic changes in its provisions.

The meeting of state revenue ministers called by Union rural development minister Nitin Gadkari on Friday saw Congress-ruled states joining those under BJP and others to unanimously seek changes in the law, dubbed as a hurdle in acquisition and industrialization. West Bengal was the sole exception as it maintains that forcible acquisition should not be allowed even for government projects.

While the vociferous demand of BJP-ruled states like Goa, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Gujarat to repeal the law was unlikely to be met, sources said there could be significant changes in the existing act.

The meeting may put Congress in a cleft-stick, given that its own state governments opposed important provisions that UPA had projected as a "fair deal" for farmers who have been at the receiving end of the outdated acquisition law of 1894.

Maharashtra and Haryana opposed the retrospective application of the law as laid down while Karnataka, Kerala, Meghalaya, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh protested against specific clauses.

Uttar Pradesh, Odisha and West Bengal, ruled by regional parties, expressed serious reservations against the law. Delhi lieutenant governor Najeeb Jung opposed key provisions and sought exemption for the capital.

The consensus will encourage the Centre to go ahead with its plan to change the law about which BJP and other parties had serious reservations. However, they went along with UPA since they were chary of opposing an initiative which Congress aggressively touted as 'pro-farmer'. The build-up against the act across the entire political spectrum will fortify the government against any charge of betrayal of farmers' interests.

However, while the stand of Congress governments at the meeting on Friday bolsters its case for amendments, it is likely to avoid any cut in compensation and rehabilitation package to pre-empt attacks from the civil society.

Coming just ahead of the budget, the consensus against the bill should bode well for the effort of the Modi government to revive investment climate. Industry has criticized the bill as "impractical" and a "stumbling block".

The widespread opposition to the bill became evident as soon as the Tamil Nadu government complained that there had been no acquisition in the state since the last six months when the law came into force. The lament was endorsed by other states..

Now, it may be up to the Congress leadership to decide if to flow with the tide or to up the ante to make a political point by accusing the Centre of "putting industry ahead of farmers".

But the outcome of the meeting has clearly emboldened those who seek major changes in the law. As a government source said, "Our amendments to the law would be based on what Congress states have demanded. Now, let the Congress decide for itself what it wants."

Report to PM Modi in 10 days

Nitin Gadkari told reporters that he would send a report to the Prime Minister within ten days on the changes sought by the states, making clear that the Centre is in a hurry to seal the issue. Thus, whatever the political reaction would be evident in the budget session of parliament starting on July 7.

The brunt of the attack was borne by the clause on Social Impact Assessment (SIA), mandatory consent of gram sabhas (up to 80%) to acquisition, urgency clause, restriction on acquisition of cultivable land.

Most states demanded scrapping of SIA, claiming it would put off any acquisition by two years. The same reason was cited against the 'consent clause' that states that an acquisition for a private project should be approved by 80% of affected families and for Public Private Partnership by 70% families.

Congress-ruled Kerala was the most vociferous in its opposition, questioning virtually every important section ranging from consent to fixing of compensation, social impact assessment and the urgency clause.

Uttarakhand and HP said the restriction on acquisition of cultivable, multi-cropped land was unfair since most of it in these states was notified forest land. Uttarakhand said that it be allowed to treat degraded forest land as wasteland so that it could be acquired or developed in lieu of acquisition of cultivable land as the law requires.

The hill states as well as UP demanded that the states be allowed to determine "urgency" that allows them to acquire land without following the elaborate procedures. As of now, any urgency other than national defence and calamity would have to be cleared by Parliament.

Union territories like Andaman Nicobar, Lakshdweep, and Daman and Diu lamented that the interests of the small states were ignored in drafting the bill. Lakshdweep said it was just 32 sq km.

The call for changes to "right to fair compensation and transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013" started with the very title of the law that was said to be unnecessarily long and unwieldy.

UPDATE 2-Moscow accuses United States of "kidnapping" Russian hacker

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(Adds statement from his lawmaker father)

WASHINGTON/MOSCOW, July 8 (Reuters) - Russia accused the United States on Tuesday of violating a bilateral treaty and "kidnapping" a Russian accused of hacking into U.S. retailers' computer systems to steal credit card data.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security on July 5 arrested Roman Valerevich Seleznev, the son of a Russian lawmaker, for what it said were crimes carried out from 2009 to 2011.

The 30-year-old's father Valery Seleznev, a deputy in Russia's lower house, said in a statement he "intends to take all necessary steps to protect his lawful interests."

Roman Seleznev was apprehended in an airport in the Maldives, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

"We consider this as the latest unfriendly move from Washington," it said in a statement on its website.

"This is not the first time the U.S. side, ignoring a bilateral treaty ... on mutual assistance in criminal matters, has gone ahead with what amounts to the kidnapping of a Russian citizen."

Seleznev was indicted in Washington state in March 2011 on charges including bank fraud, causing damage to a protected computer, obtaining information from a protected computer and aggravated identity theft, the U.S. agency said in a statement.

The indictment said Seleznev hacked into websites ranging from those run by the Phoenix Zoo, a branch of Schlotzsky's Deli and many other small restaurants and entertainment venues around the country.

Relations between Russia and the United States are at a low ebb in Vladimir Putin's third term as president, with the former Cold War enemies divided over the conflicts in Syria and Ukraine as well as on human rights, democracy and defence matters. (Reporting by Doina Chiacu and Julia Edwards; Additional reporting by Alessandra Prentice; Editing by Jeremy Gaunt)