What happened to all the HUD houses for sale?
Anyone who is shopping for a HUD home has noticed that the listings for Arkansas properties on hudhomestore.com have all but disappeared. It happened suddenly, around mid-November, much to the dismay of bargain hunters throughout White County and around the state.
Here’s what seems to be going on.
A bankruptcy case filed in the Jonesboro area has caused a temporary suspension of many HUD transactions in the state of Arkansas. According to a story published Nov. 14 on The City Wire (www.thecitywire.com), a Chapter 13 bankruptcy judge in the Eastern District/Jonesboro Division found that a lender who was not authorized to do business in the state failed to comply with the Arkansas’s non-judicial foreclosure laws when taking back properties there. That Sept. 29 court decision has caused title companies in Jonesboro and elsewhere to balk at issuing title insurance until they can be assured that foreclosed homes were taken in compliance with state law. Evidently, only Arkansas foreclosures are affected. A search for Arkansas listings on hudhomestore pulls up one but a search for Alabama houses pulls up 292 and California pulls up 329. (11/22/2011)
Without title insurance, loans can’t be written, and HUD has taken the properties off the market until the legal issues can be resolved. That’s why home shoppers who have been watching HUD properties on the MLS listings and at www.HUDHomestore can no longer find the listings. The good news is, that HUD house you’ve been watching hasn’t been sold to someone else. But the bad news is, you can’t buy it, either. It is too soon to know how the court ruling will affect properties that have already been foreclosed, or when the HUD transactions in Arkansas will be allowed to resume. HUD has briefed all its real estate brokers and will continue to keep us informed as the situation progresses. We don’t know when the properties will be re-listed for sale, but we hope it’s very soon.
Barbara Duncan is an associate broker and registered HUD broker for RE/MAX Advantage. For any questions about buying HUD homes, contact her at 501-278-6817 or e-mail her at Barbara@barbarasduncan.com
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