A report from the Washington Independent. "To great fanfare, mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac announced last month they would temporarily halt foreclosures and evictions from Thanksgiving to Jan. 9. But it’s not working out that way for everyone. And certainly not for Julio Angulo of suburban Virginia, another victim of a foreclosure machine that seems to be almost unstoppable. The eviction was officially over, less than a half hour after it began. But Angulo still was allowed to wait a few more hours for his friend to help him move. He said his troubles began last spring, when he told his renters they had to leave because 'they didn’t have their papers.'"

"At the same time, Angulo’s monthly mortgage payment on an adjustable-rate loan jumped from $1,400 a month to $2,600. He earns about $500 a week as a housepainter. 'I didn’t know what happened,' he said. 'I got charged. I can’t pay that.'"

The Arlington Connection from Virginia. "A few years ago, it would have been unthinkable for any home in Arlington, regardless of size or location, to sell for less than $300,000. In October, 33 Arlington homes, most of them condominiums, sold for $300,000 or less. In the same month, at least 13 homes sold for more than $1,000,000. Which begs the question: Where is the ceiling in the Arlington real estate market and where is the floor?"

"'The ceiling has not changed that much,' said Nicholas Lagos, broker in Arlington. 'We still have a tremendous disparity in pricing in Arlington.'"

"During the housing boom of the first part of this decade, Lagos said that condo constructions and conversions were occurring rapidly. 'There were a lot of builders who jumped in and started building condos,' he said. 'When they were built, a lot of people built them on speculation. There were a lot of investors who went into them as opposed to owner occupants.'"

"There was an 'overbuilding' of condos during this period, Lagos said, and now prices in the Arlington condo market have plummeted."

"'Right now if you’re listing the home you have to make it show well,' Lagos said. 'Just slapping it together and putting a sign up is no longer working.'"

"He also said that Arlington has been fairly immune to the collapse of the Northern Virginia housing market. 'We’re affected absolutely, but not like the outer areas,' Lagos said. He did say that the housing market collapse has had an effect on the county’s real estate community. 'Realty is now a career,' Lagos said. 'There’s not a lot of people dabbling in it [anymore].'"

The Falls Church News Press from Virginia. "While the Falls Church area has managed to escape the severity of the foreclosure crisis that plagues much of Northern Virginia today, the foreclosure market in the Greater Falls Church area still remains lucrative."

"Stacy Hennessey of Long and Foster Realty and Shaun Murphy of Remax Allegiance shared their knowledge of the area market. 'The owners overpaid in 2005, 2006 for these big homes, and now prices have dropped, so they were foreclosed,' says Hennessey, who represents buyers looking for homes, including many foreclosures across Fairfax County, where she says the markets are 'inundated' with foreclosed homes. 'I've seen houses in the $150,000 - 200,000 range or less. That's a big drop from $500,000 and up.'"

"For Murphy, the market is even busier, as he doubles his role as a real estate agent for buyers and as a listing agent for IndyMac Bank. 'There are a lot of foreclosed homes and a lot of buyers purchasing them,' he says. 'Two-thirds of the homes I've dealt with are bank-owned homes.'"

"Foreclosures remain one of the current economies greatest steals, and if economic conditions continue to deteriorate, Hennessey says, 'there are going to be more great deals' for home buyers."

"Foreclosures may be a sign of hard times in the economy, but as Hennessey and Murphy can attest, it's a ripe time to snatch a beautiful home at a bargain price. 'Foreclosures are an awesome investment,' says Hennessey. Both agents agree it is 'the best time to buy.'"

"Hennessey adds that the buyers market also translates to a renters opportunity, as well. 'Buy a home for a little, rent it out: that makes for a great investment,' she says."

The Virginian Pilot. "Real estate appraisers in Hampton Roads and across the nation say they have felt intense pressure from lenders, mortgage brokers and real estate agents to deliver inflated valuations - a serious ethical breach that may have played a role in puffing up the real estate bubble and promoting mortgage fraud."

"The problem has been around for some time, says Woody Fincham, a Chesapeake-based appraiser. For several years in the mid-2000s, Fincham said, his company did steady business with a Virginia Beach mortgage brokerage but faced escalating pressure to deliver inflated appraisals."

"'They would get on the phone and scream at me to inflate values,' he said. 'They said, 'If you keep coming in low, we're not going to work with you anymore.'"

"Finally, the brokerage delivered on the threat, cutting off business with Fincham's company. 'They said, 'You're not hitting the numbers we need you to hit,' Fincham said."

"That brokerage is now out of business, dragged down by the collapse of the subprime mortgage market. One of its former loan officers, Aretha Smiley, has been named in two civil lawsuits alleging mortgage fraud."

"It's not as if there was no warning. Back in 2001 the Appraisal Institute, a worldwide association of real estate appraisers, told Congress that members were facing increasing pressure from lenders, brokers and realty agents to inflate property values. Such pressure can enable lenders to make loans larger than the actual value of the house, the institute warned. Moreover, those inflated transactions can later be cited as comparable sales in appraisals of nearby properties, creating a multiplier effect."

"'Such a cycle of ever escalating values adds unnecessary risk to our mortgage finance system' and 'can contribute to mortgage fraud,' the institute warned."

"Since 1999, more than 10,000 appraisers nationwide have signed an online petition urging the federal government to clamp down on lender pressure to inflate values. Such pressure is pervasive, the petition says, and includes blacklisting appraisers who refuse to go along. Some local appraisers were unwilling to discuss the issue on the record, saying they feared losing business."

"One willing to talk was Suzanne Shannon, an appraiser in Hampton. 'I've been told numerous times, right flat-out in plain English, 'If you don't do what I want you to do, you'll never work for me again,' Shannon said."

"The deflation of the housing bubble has prompted some lenders to look more critically at appraisals, Shannon said. Occasionally over the past few months she has been asked to review high valuations turned in by other appraisers. In one instance, a waterfront property in Gloucester County had been appraised at $2.1 million; Shannon's review put the value at only $1.2 million."

"A 2007 national study found that 90 percent of appraisers reported being pressured to raise property valuations to enable deals to go through. The prime culprits, according to the survey, were mortgage brokers. Mortgage brokers, on the other hand, put the onus back on appraisers."

"'The appraisers have to step up here and take the high ground,' said Marc Savitt, president of the National Association of Mortgage Brokers. 'I understand a lot of them have been threatened with loss of business and so forth. I'm not saying it didn't happen. If they get pressured, they need to report it to the appropriate regulator. That's the first thing. The second thing is, if they do commit fraud, then they have to understand there's consequences for that, and just because somebody tried to influence or pressure them, that's not an excuse for committing fraud.'"

"The trouble is, when coercion occurs, appraisers have little recourse, said Glenn James, a Norfolk appraiser and a member of the Virginia Real Estate Appraiser Board. 'Mortgage brokers are totally unregulated' in Virginia, James said, so there's no one to complain to."

"Pressure on appraisers to pump up the numbers was particularly intense during the run-up in prices during the early and mid-2000s, said Bill Garber, director of government relations at the Appraisal Institute. 'Good appraisers said no to it and went about their business and did their jobs professionally,' Garber said. 'But there are institutionalized conflicts of interest that exist - pressure points in the lending process - that can allow people with a vested interest in the transaction to control the appraisal process.'"

"Such coercive tactics are a violation of federal banking regulations. Earlier this year, the Federal Reserve Board adopted a rule barring mortgage brokers and lenders from coercing appraisers. The new rule is a positive step, Garber said, but the proof will be in the pudding."