Foreclosure Crisis

Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto announced this week a $550 million joint state-federal settlement with mortgage lender and servicer SunTrust Mortgage Inc. to address mortgage origination, servicing, and foreclosure abuses. It is estimated that eligible Nevada homeowner’s will receive approximately $2.8 million in loan modifications as part of the settlement.

Lyon County, Nevada was the fastest-growing county in the United States prior to the 2008 economic collapse took one of the biggest hits statewide in the foreclosure crisis. The state overall was one of the hardest hit nationally and the housing market is still in recovery.
A glimmer of hope was seen in 2013, as home values headed up while foreclosure rates headed down, according to a report from the Lied Institute for Real Estate Studies at the University of Nevada Las Vegas.

CARSON CITY – A televised debate today between the two candidates for the state Senate seat in district 9 in Las Vegas  - viewed as critical by both major parties – got off to a rocky start for Democrat Justin Jones.

CARSON CITY – Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval had his moment in the national spotlight today at the Republican National Convention in Tampa, using his six minutes at the podium to talk of his humble beginnings and the need for change in the White House.

CARSON CITY – Several lawmakers raised questions today about a proposal put forth by Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto to spend $33 million over three years on outreach, counseling and legal assistance to homeowners who are facing foreclosure.

CARSON CITY – Assembly Speaker and 3^rd Congressional District candidate John Oceguera, D-Las Vegas, declined today to say whether he supports the federal health care law now under review by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Oceguera, who is termed out of office in the Assembly, said it is premature to comment on the law given the fact that it is awaiting a decision on its constitutionality by the nation’s high court.

Event at Obama for America Campaign Office, March 15, at the Carson City Democratic Central Committee Headquarters
at 502 E. John Street (& Roop St.) behind Bank of America

On Thursday at Noon, Occupy Carson City demonstrators, MoveOn.org members and homeowners in crisis will rally at the local Obama for America (OFA) office in Carson City, NV to demand that government-controlled mortgage lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac provide relief to ten million underwater homeowners by adjusting their mortgages to reflect the true value of their home.

The state's Interim Finance Committee questioned Corrections Director Greg Cox over contradictory plans for running the license plate shop at the Nevada State Prison once the facility closes down. The original plan was for the shop to stay where it is and be run by minimum security inmates. But Cox had also been looking at moving the plant to either the Northern Nevada Correctional Center on the south side of Carson City, or to High Desert State Prison near Las Vegas. He said they didn't currently have the money to make that move.

The IFC also got the final $521,904 bill for the special election to fill Nevada's Second Congressional District seat after Gov. Brian Sandoval appointed Dean Heller to the U.S. Senate seat vacated by John Ensign.

The IFC also approved funding for 20 of the 30 new positions for the Department of Motor Vehicles approved by the 2011 Legislature. The new positions are supposed to help cut the wait time at DMV offices, which have increased since 85 positions were eliminated due to budget cuts.

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A coalition of organizations is urging the Attorney General's office to reject a multi-state settlement with the banking industry over allegations of widespread falsifying loan documents and other wrongdoing in the wake of the mortgage foreclosure crisis. New York and California have already signaled that they will not sign onto the agreement, and the Attorneys General of Nevada and California recently announced that they will work together to investigate allegations of wrongdoing by the banks.

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The Carson City Board of Supervisors approved an agreement with the Nevada Small Business Development Center at UNR to work together to operate the city's Business Resource Innovation Center, under the leadership of its new director Michael Salogga.

Attorneys General Kamala D. Harris of California and Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada today announced that their states have entered into a joint investigation alliance designed to assist homeowners who have been harmed by misconduct and fraud in the mortgage industry.

By forging this alliance, California and Nevada will combine investigative resources, including litigation strategies, information, and evidence gathered through their respective ongoing investigations, assisting each state as it pursues independent prosecutions.

I have a friend here in Carson City who will soon be losing her home. She's not the first, and probably not the last.

She bought her house back near the height of the boom. It's a fairly small, modest home, but fits her needs almost perfectly. At the time, her income from her sales job easily covered her mortgage and expenses. Times were good.

LAS VEGAS – President Obama will today announce he is expanding a federal aid program to allow more homeowners to refinance their mortgages at today’s low interest rates, said White House officials this morning.

State Treasurer Kate Marshall and former state senator Mark Amodei sparred over Medicare reform, campaign ads and even the uprising in Libya in an hour-long debate airing on the statewide news program Face to Face on Monday and Tuesday.

As overgrown yellow lawns and unlit windows dot vast suburban neighborhoods in Nevada, legislators hope new laws they passed this session will make a dent in a foreclosure crisis that is still hitt...

By Sean Whaley / Nevada News Bureau
CARSON CITY – Long-time Nevada resident Art Cooke says he is now officially a disenfranchised voter.
After voting in every primary and general election in Carson City for a decade, Cooke sold his Bodie Drive home and became a full-time recreational vehicle resident upon retirement five years ago. Cooke and his wife Rita spend time out-of-state every year, wintering in Yuma, Ariz. and visiting other states in their luxury recreational vehicle.

By Sean Whaley / Nevada News Bureau
CARSON CITY – Nevada’s worst in the nation 14.3 percent unemployment rate for July does not even begin to tell the real story of the state’s dismal job situation, a state agency reported today.

Sean Whaley / Nevada News Bureau
CARSON CITY – Democrat gubernatorial candidate Rory Reid told the Nevada News Bureau yesterday there are other options for moving the state out of its current budget crisis besides increasing taxes and cutting programs.

CARSON CITY – Nevada officials are racing the clock to get their full share of federal foreclosure relief dollars.
Some states and local governments elsewhere around the country are at risk of losing millions in foreclosure relief funds. But officials with the state of Nevada and local government entities who are managing the programs say they are on track to obligate their full allotments by September deadlines.
Even so, several Nevada officials said the funds are only a drop in the bucket to address Nevada’s foreclosure crisis.

WASHINGTON - Relentlessly rising unemployment is triggering more home foreclosures, threatening the Obama administration's efforts to end the housing crisis and diminishing hopes the economy will rebound with vigor.