foreclosure

VARN will be hosting a free legal aid fair in Carson City on Saturday, November 2 from 9am to 4pm at the Carson City Community Center, 851 E. William St., in the Sierra Room. Ask a lawyer about a legal problem and find out what legal resources are available to help you. Attorneys and/or paralegals will be available to talk to you concerning:General Civil LawFamily LawBankruptcyWills & EstatesForeclosure & Other Real Property MattersLandlord/TenantDebt CollectionGovernment BenefitsImmigration

Nevada Sen. Harry Reid said he's pleased the Obama Administration has provided a second extension of the Making Home Affordable Program.

“Nevada has been hit the hardest by the housing market crisis. It is imperative that we work to help struggling homeowners who have lost so much in something that they have worked so hard to keep," said Reid in a press statement.

While the nation saw a decrease in foreclosure activity in April, Nevada’s distressed home filings increased, according to a report released by national real estate and foreclosure tracker RealtyTrac.

Nevada retains the nation’s highest foreclosure rate for a second month, according to the report.

Nevada had the highest foreclosure rate in the country again last month despite having fewer distressed homes.

One in every 360 housing units statewide had a foreclosure-related filing in April, down 17 percent from a year earlier, according to a report out Wednesday by Irvine, Calif., research firm RealtyTrac.

Analysts say the number of Nevada properties entering the foreclosure process has almost doubled compared with a year earlier.

Foreclosed homes and short sales made up almost 70 percent of home sales in Nevada in 2012, according to a report released today by national foreclosure tracker RealtyTrac.

Friday, Jan. 18 is the deadline for qualified borrowers who lost their homes in foreclosure to file claims for a one-time payment under the $25 billion national mortgage foreclosure settlement, Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto said.

RBS Financial Products will pay a $42 million settlement to resolve an investigation into the firm’s role in purchasing and securitizing subprime and payment option adjustable rate mortgages in Nevada.
The assurance of discontinuance, filed in Eighth Judicial District Court, requires RBSFP to commit to certain changes in its practices to the extent it securitizes Nevada mortgages and to pay the State $42 million to be used for payments to affected borrowers, mortgage fraud enforcement, and foreclosure prevention, and attorney’s fees and costs.

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 – U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid today defended President Obama’s record of accomplishments in his first term, citing his preservation of the nation’s auto industry, the elimination of Osama bin Laden as a threat to America and his push to regulate the banking industry as examples of why he deserves a second term in office.

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.

Talk about a “dog with a bone”!

The Republican House of Representatives has once again voted to eliminate the Corporation for National and Community Service (“CNCS”). The first time they did this, the Senate voted it down and you would have thought that’s that.

RENO – President Obama told members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars today that he has fulfilled the promises he made four years ago to make America safer, strengthen jobs programs for returning military personnel and fight homelessness, suicide and posttraumatic stress disorder among the nation’s veterans.

CARSON CITY – The deadline for a free, federal independent foreclosure review for Nevadans whose homes were in foreclosure in 2009 or 2010 has been extended to Sept. 30, 2012, Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto said today.

The previous deadline was July 31.

Dear Editor:

It's time to make it easier for millions of homeowners around the country to refinance their mortgages and save hundreds of dollars each month.

Cutting through the red tape will be good for families, good for communities, and good for the country at large. Interest rates are at historic lows, yet millions of homeowners have not taken advantage of these rates, either because it's too expensive, or because banks and regulations make it hard or impossible. This month, Congress has a chance to pass real home mortgage relief.

RENO – President Barack Obama made a brief stopover here today, visiting with a couple who refinanced their home through a White House initiative helping underwater homeowners who have government-backed loans.

After meeting with Paul and Valerie Keller, Obama urged Congress to expand the Home Affordable Refinancing Program (HARP) to other mortgages as well.

Nevada Legal Services is offering a free Foreclosure Information Class available to any homeowner in Nevada. The class will focus on the foreclosure process including mandatory mediation and the government sponsored loss mitigation options. The class will be held on Tuesday, May 15, 2012 at the Dayton Library, 321 Old Dayton Rd., Dayton. Nevada Legal Services is a nonprofit HUD Certified Housing Counseling organization providing free legal services to low income Nevadans. Nevada Legal Services is a statewide organization assisting every county in Nevada.

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.

CARSON CITY – Nevada’s top state administrators gathered together in meeting rooms and via the internet today to hear first-hand about Gov. Brian Sandoval’s initial plans for his 2013-15 budget.

The all-day meeting called “Budget Kickoff” was intended to provide instructions to state administrators on how to begin preparing their spending plans for the new two-year budget that will take effect on July 1, 2013.

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.

CARSON CITY – A national Republican official said today Nevada’s economic landscape has changed dramatically since the state went for President Obama in 2008, and increasing GOP voter registrations in the battleground state are evidence of dissatisfaction with his administration.

CARSON CITY – When state Sen. Greg Brower asked the Attorney General’s office earlier this month about the $6 million in outside legal costs incurred so far in defending the state in a freeway construction dispute, he said his motives were purely fiscal in nature.

RENO – Republican presidential contender Newt Gingrich told a cheering crowd here today that he is the only GOP candidate with the knowledge and experience to get the U.S. back on track after what will be four years of failed policies by President Barack Obama.

Gingrich, a former speaker of the House, is in Nevada ahead of Saturday’s First in the West Republican caucus.

Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto announced today a lawsuit against Lender Processing Services, Inc., DOCX, LLC, LPS Default Solutions, Inc. and other subsidiaries of LPS (collectively known “LPS”) for engaging in deceptive practices against Nevada consumers.

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.

The Office of the Nevada Attorney General announced today that complaints have been filed against three more notaries in the State’s ongoing massive robo-signing investigation. Meghan Shaw, Jennifer Lowe and Joseph Noel have all been charged with notarization of the signature of a person not in their presence.

Tracy Lawrence, the notary public who blew the whistle on a massive foreclosure fraud scheme, was found dead in her Las Vegas home on Nov. 28, MSNBC reported.

Earlier this month, Lawrence came forward and admitted to the Nevada Attorney General's Office that she notarized 25,000 fraudulent documents for Lender Processing Services, a Florida company used by most major banks to process home repossessions. The documents were filed with the Clark County Recorder's Office between 2005 and 2008, The Los Angeles Times reported.

CARSON CITY — A group seeking to evaluate the state’s foreclosure mediation efforts has been told it will be charged nearly $1 million to review records of the negotiations between banks and homeowners.

Civil Rights for Seniors, a California nonprofit group, wants access to the records to see how cooperative banks have been and to independently verify how successful the mediation program is.

The state argues privacy is key to the program’s success: If people believe information they present could become public, some might not participate.