In numbers calculated from realtytrac, one out of every 558 single family households in the US experienced some form of foreclosure filing in March.

Between March 2007 and March 2008 there has been an increase of 129% for foreclosure filings.
In California, one in every 204 homes was subject to a foreclosure filing in March for a total of 64,711 properties.  March filings were up almost 21 percent from February and approximately 106 percent from a year ago March.
Analyst’s predict foreclosures to hit record levels during the third and forth quarter of 2008 based on the NOD (Notice of Defaults) the lenders are now mailing. It generally takes 3 -4 months in California from the NOD to complete foreclosure.

Such borrowers will not be able to get another mortgage through Fannie Mae for five years, unless there are documented extenuating circumstances. In that case, the prohibition is three years. Even after the prescribed time has elapsed, a borrower with a foreclosure in his file will have to make at least a 10 percent down payment and have a FICO credit score of at least 680 to qualify for a Fannie Mae loan.

Freddie Mac, which counts foreclosures as major credit black mark for seven years, is now aggressively pursuing walk-away borrowers where permitted under state law, a senior official said.

Federal legislation enacted last year allows home owners who negotiate loan modifications with lenders and have portions of their principal debt eliminated to escape income tax liability for the amount forgiven.

Walk-away borrowers, by contrast, have nothing forgiven, and the Internal Revenue Service may demand taxes on the balance they never paid, the IRS says.

Source: Washington Post Writers Group, Kenneth R. Harney (04/12/2008)

At the advice of an attorney, the council voted 10-5 to stop Las Lomas from pursuing plans to build it’s mini City in the foothills of the Newhall pass area of Santa Clarita.

More information on Las Lomas from Santa Clarita Real Estate News:
• Las Lomas - Land Application
• Las Lomas - Off The Calendar

On Wednesday, the government raised the mortgage loan limits in several high-cost California counties for home loans guaranteed by the Federal Housing Administration.
14 counties in California will be included and they are:

Alameda
Contra Costa
Los Angeles
Marin
Monterey
Napa
Orange
San Benito
San Francisco
San Mateo
Santa Barbara
Santa Clara
Santa Cruz
Ventura

A first for Meadows Elementary - a Valencia school acknowledged with the Blue Ribbon and California Distinguished School awards - will be competing at a regional spelling bee, at which children driven by competitiveness battle in a popular non-athletic competition.

On Friday, Meadows teachers, students and their parents were abuzz with spelling activity when the school hosted its first-ever spelling bee.

Alexis Block, 12, a sixth-grader, won first place after spelling “hippocampus” correctly. She will the official representative voice of Meadows Elementary School at the upcoming Los Angeles County regional spelling bee this spring.
Way to go Alexis! Santa Clarita will be wishing you success at the regionals!

The current real estate mortgage meltdown - fed by the american dream to own a home, unscrupulous lenders selling loans with many buyers not fully understanding or having the mortgage loan terms explained to them.  Mortgage rates resetting, option ARMs, paid too much for the home and now simply cannot make the payment.

• Late last year the Hope Now Alliance was in the news -
• Bush signed the Mortgage Debt Forgiveness Act -
• We have had several interest rate reductions which has slowed down the accelerated payments home owners in the adjustable rate mortgage were getting squeezed with the payments climbing each month as new interest was added to the loan.

Now Bernanke is suggesting banks reduce the principal of some loans, quoting from the speech today “Principal reductions that restore some equity for the homeowner may be a relatively more effective means of avoiding delinquency and foreclosure.”

Write-downs* are something that no banker wants to do … however faced with the current number of foreclosures rising at 50% -  1-1/2 million last year, and foreclosure starts are on track to rise further this year. More from the Bernanke, “We want to help borrowers in trouble, but we do not want borrowers who have avoided problems through responsible financial management to feel that they are being unfairly penalized.”
* A principal reduction also known as a write-down - a write-down is reducing the book value of an asset because it is overvalued compared to the market value.

Deputies have now killed a dog. Responding to a domestic dispute they arrived at the home, the dog - a german shepard was “barking excessively” The roommate was asked to control the dog - he tied it to a tree in the front yard where it contined to bark and howl.
When deputies came out from the home the dog lunged forward, broke the leash and deputy fired - killing the dog.
I understand the deputy may have felt he had no choice and he probably didn’t but in as much as this is the third sheriff related shooting in 2 weeks - it may appear the sheriff are getting a little trigger happy.

Be careful what you wish for Castaic … you may get it. A localized movement within Castaic has sprouted up again over the last couple of years in that approximately 1,500 homeowners want to become part of the City of Santa Clarita.
Of course the city will welcome this portion of Castaic with open arms, but what will become of the rest of the population you ask, now at around 27,000 people?

That my friends is the million dollar question.

A number of years ago the city made a claim for Castaic and at that time was countered back with a unanimous NO. Now the neighborhoods of Live Oak and a portion of Hasley Hills and North Bluff want in.

In January of this year the City council gave the go ahead to process the application for annexation of the 1,500 homes.

The West side town council has requested the City to hold off processing the application until residents can review results studies. The two studies - an Initial Feasibility Analysis and a Community Options Comparison Report - were set to be released at some point this month. However, the county is overwhelmed by data requests from consulting firms charged with compiling the reports, officials said. The reports are not expected until June of 2008 and perhaps not available for public comment until 2009.
Seems all the towns around Castaic sure have a lot to say about where they’d like to see Castaic! ‘The West Side’ as we are now referring to portions of Stevenson Ranch and Castaic combined. The west side would like to see a new brand new city formed. The City of Santa Clarita would sure like to see our tax dollar, the County currently has it. Proponents state that Castaic will have more police and fire protection, wont have to drive as far to get to council meetings and attend important civic meetings, and have a local voice in Santa Clarita for the goings on in their community.

Truly the one important factor here is that 1,500 homes certainly does not equate to all of Castaic, in fact many of the 27, 000 people who call Castaic home would just like to see this City-hood go away - they don’t want it - never did.

• The California Attorney General
• California Department of Real Estate
• Assemblyman Cameron Smyth
• Los Angeles City Councilman Greig Smith

1. I was never provided a home inspection report A list of repairs came from the buyer. I replaced and fixed what I could
2. At the buyers final walk thru, the buyers agent gave my agent an additional list for items needing repair. 2 of which were not on original request for repairs.

My wife and I went ahead and fixed the additional items that were listed on the second request. My house was on the market for a long time we just wanted to get it closed so we did the additional repairs. Is this a common practice for the buyer to add on more repairs after the fact?

Wow, sorry about the hassle you went through, it sounds like it was very frustrating for you to get this house sale closed. I’ll try to answer your questions;

• The home inspection report is something the buyer pays for, on the California Purchase Agreement there is fine print about buyer providing to seller complete copies of any and all reports buyer has performed. The final walk thru is NOT the time to discover and request additional items for repair. The verification of property condition is to insure the property is as it was when buyer first entered agreement to purchase. This walk-thru is to ensure that repairs were done from the original list from buyer.

It sounds like in order for you to close escrow you went ahead and did the repairs, as the buyer was holding up the close of escrow. That sounds like the best option for you but probably a frustrating one. Communication between the selling agent and the listing agent are key in this type of situation, many times it will be written into the contract about exactly what the seller will do in order to get the sale closed and if buyer is satisfied they sign and every body is going to escrow knowing what the other side will or wont do. You were up against a bad situation here in that buyer has a right to cancel, even at the last minute if the property is not in good repair and all items in working order as agreed upon.

This is not legal advice, I am not a lawyer. If you need legal council, contact a qualified professional