Despite the pandemic receding and a housing market cooldown, some housing markets at the county level are still susceptible to damage from the pandemic, according to a new report from ATTOM. The Q3 2021 Special Coronavirus Report showed that New Jersey, Illinois, and Delaware had the highest concentrations of at-risk markets, totaling 26 of the 50 counties whose housing markets might be most impacted by Covid-19. To determine risk to the market, the report looked at the percentage of homes facing possible foreclosure, the portion with mortgage balances exceeding property values, and the percentage of average local wages required to pay for homeownership expenses on median-priced houses or condos. Included on the list are eight counties in the Chicago metro…
The Federal Housing Finance Agency announced Wednesday that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will extend some temporary loan origination flexibilities through May 31, while allowing some to expire at the end of April. Originally enacted early in the Covid-19 pandemic, alternative appraisals on purchase and rate-term refinance loans are among the flexibilities that will now be extended through May 31, FHFA said. Flexibilities related to employment verification, condominium project reviews, and expanded power of attorney are being allowed to expire as scheduled on April 30. Additionally, FHFA expects to retire all temporary selling flexibilities on May 31, 2021. …
With the Covid pandemic stretching into its 10th month in the United States, more than a third of full-time America workers report having their pay cut, according to a survey released Monday. The survey of 1,000 workers by MagnifyMoney found: 34 percent of full-time workers had their pay cut, with 52 percent of men and 44 percent saying pay levels had been restored.54 percent of workers received a pay raise in the past year, down from 59 percent in last year’s survey.39 percent of Americans expect to get a raise next year, down from 47 percent in last year’s survey. The survey also found that 38 percent of millennials had their pay cut – the most of any generation. “It’s definitely…
Is the grass greener in another town during the Covid-19 pandemic? Americans increasingly think so, as 26 percent say their local government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic has made them want to move away from where they currently live or change where they want to move, according to a new survey released Thursday by Redfin. At the same time, 21 percent of respondents to the October survey said their local governments’ pandemic response has made them like where they live more. “2020 has made Americans realize just how much power their local governments have over their way of life,” Redfin chief economist Daryl Fairweather said. “If residents of a certain area feel their local rules are too lax or too…
Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson tested positive for Covid-19 on Monday, multiple news outlets reported. Carson, 69, attended a party at the White House on Election Night. White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows tested positive for Covid-19 last week. “Secretary Carson has tested positive for the coronavirus,” Carson’s chief of staff, Coalter Baker, told ABC News in a statement. “He is in good spirits and feels fortunate to have access to effective therapeutics which aid and markedly speed his recovery.”…
Roughly 11 million households fell behind on mortgage payments or rent, and 30 million Americans missed at least one student loan payment during the first three months of the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a report released Thursday by the Mortgage Bankers Association. The report, created by MBA’s Research Institute for Housing America, found that 5.88 million renters (or 11 percent) missed, delayed or reduced at least one payment, and 5.14 million homeowners missed or deferred at least one mortgage payment. “RIHA’s study shows that households were largely successful in navigating a difficult economic landscape and continued to make their housing payments during the first three months of the outbreak. In contrast, nearly half of student debt borrowers missed at least…
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a public health order Tuesday that bans residential evictions through the end of the year to prevent the spread of Covid-19. The CDC order, issued under the Public Health Service Act, covers renters of apartments or residential properties – but does not include a ban on foreclosures on home mortgages. It requires renters to certify to landlords that they would become homeless or forced to live with others “in close quarters” if they were to be evicted. “In the context of a pandemic, eviction moratoria—like quarantine, isolation, and social distancing—can be an effective public health measure utilized to prevent the spread of communicable disease,” the CDC said in the order posted in the…
Michigan state workplace safety officials on Friday issued a citation to United Shore Financial Services – where at least 84 employees have been diagnosed with COVID-19 – for “failing to implement necessary precautions to protect employees” during the pandemic. Pontiac-based United Shore, a major player in the mortgage industry, was fined $6,300 by the Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration (MIOSHA). United Shore was one of six companies cited by the state on Friday. “The MIOSHA investigations determined that these six employers were clearly not taking the appropriate steps to protect employees and their communities from the spread of COVID-19,” MIOSHA Director Bart Pickelman said. “These citations are meant to reiterate the employer’s duty. Precautions are necessary to establish and…
The number of United Shore employees who have tested positive for COVID-19 climbed to 84, according to the Oakland County Health Department – but CEO Mat Ishbia told the Detroit Free Press that the virus is “not being spread around here.” United Shore, a Pontiac, Michigan-based mortgage firm, was slapped with a county health order earlier this month after 53 employees tested positive for COVID-19. Since then, another 31 employees have tested positive, the Free Press reported Saturday. The first case at United Shore was recorded June 29 – and the company is believed to have the most cases of any Oakland County business, a county official told the Free Press. But Ishbia claims it has nothing to do with the…
When the Oakland County health department sent an emergency order to United Shore and United Wholesale Mortgage CEO Mat Ishbia about safety protocols during the pandemic, they cited “numerous complaints” about the company’s practices and more than 50 positive tests. Those complaints are reflected on the company’s Glassdoor reviews, with numerous current and former employees alleging that company leadership forces employees to work in the office too close to others and doesn’t take health concerns seriously. “I’m disappointed in the way that United Shore has handled themselves with Covid19. They were late to the party by sending their employees to work from home, then forced them back at the beginning of July. It doesn’t surprise me to hear that there…
