Foreclosure filings — default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions — were reported on 13,777 Michigan properties in November, a 14 percent decrease from October and 10 percent below the level reported for November 2010, according to the latest RealtyTrac® U.S. Foreclosure Market Report. Complete Story

Foreclosure filings were reported on 1,887,777 U.S. properties in 2011, a decrease of 34 percent in total properties from 2010, according to the RealtyTrac Year-End 2011 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report. Foreclosure activity in 2011 was the lowest since 2007. The report also shows that 1.45 percent of U.S. housing units (one in 69) had at least one foreclosure filing during the year, down from 2.23 percent in 2010, 2.21 percent in 2009, and 1.84 percent in 2008. Total U.S. foreclosure activity and the U.S. foreclosure rate in 2011 were both at their lowest annual level since 2007. Complete Story

The term "cramdown" used to be a dirty word in real estate, an expression meaning that a court would change loan terms — and not in a way that lenders liked. Complete Story