Home Prices in U.S. Drop Most on Record in Quarter
By Kathleen M. Howley
May 12 (Bloomberg) -- Home prices in the U.S. dropped the most on record in the first quarter from a year earlier, led by California and Florida, as banks sold foreclosed properties.
The median price fell 14 percent to $169,000, the National Association of Realtors said today. Prices dropped in 134 of 152 metropolitan areas, with the deepest declines in Cape Coral and Ft. Myers, Florida, followed by San Francisco and San Jose.
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The steepest price decline was in Cape Coral-Fort Myers, down 59 percent from a year ago, followed by Saginaw, Michigan, with a 54 percent drop. The next biggest decreases were Akron, Ohio, with a 48 percent decline; San Francisco, down 43 percent; and San Jose, California, with a 42 percent drop.
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Article continues: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?p...jx4zE&refer=us
Lies a new tool in foreclosure 
Lawyers, in rush to regain properties, can exploit judges' workload
By Todd Ruger
Published: Sunday, May 10, 2009 at 1:00 a.m.
Foreclosure lawyers want to take back property as fast as possible, and sometimes they do not let the facts slow them down.
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CORRECTION...
The original version of this story, which ran Sunday, May 10, 2009, has been corrected for the Web, as follows:
Gulfcoast Legal Services Inc. represents foreclosure defendant Betty Kellogg. A story in Sunday's Herald-Tribune about foreclosures misstated her legal representation.
Also, in the same story: Richard Kessler is a retired attorney from Washington, D.C., but is not a member of the Florida Bar.
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In case after case, lawyers representing banks are giving false statements in court about who owns mortgages, or whether the homeowner is willing to negotiate, or whether they have completed all the legal steps to put a foreclosed house back on the market.
The errors and fabrications in the court files are seldom caught by judges with hundreds of foreclosure cases before them.
The judges say they can only hope to catch a few of the offending lawyers in hopes of keeping the rest honest.
Article continues: http://www.heraldtribune.com/article...in-foreclosure
SOURCE for both articles: http://solari.com/blog/ Catherine Austin Fitts' Blog
Please also see this thread:
FORECLOSED Owners Should Squat In Their Own Homes ~ 1/30/2009
http://projectavalon.net/forum/showt...mortgage+squat