For Georgina Johnson, a financially-struggling, recently-widowed senior citizen whose husband took care of all the maintenance issues at their home in Leisure Lake Mobile Home Park, a chance meeting with Tim Silva last October seemed like a “godsend.”

Mobile homes set on adobe soil such as Johnson’s and the other homes at Leisure Lake require periodic leveling. Johnson met Silva when she spotted him coming out from under her neighbor’s home, ostensibly doing the same leveling work as her home needed. Silva offered to do the job for $350, a price far lower than is typically charged for the service.

But the experience quickly turned into a “nightmare” when Silva took Johnson’s payment of $350, tore apart portions of the underside of her mobile home and then never showed up again. “I called him so many times. I finally reached him at 3 a.m. and said ‘I am going to have to call the police,’” Johnson recalls. “I didn’t want to cause him any harm but he brought it on himself.”

Johnson is one of 13 families at the mobile home park from whom Silva took money and either started or promised to do repairs and then never completed the work. He was arrested on January 5 by the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Department.

On January 24, Silva pleaded guilty to three misdemeanor counts of elder financial abuse, contracting without a license and felony diversion of construction funds in exchange for a one-year jail sentence. He also agreed to pay $12,850 in restitution to 12 victims, plus an additional still-undetermined amount to a 13th victim that came forward recently.

“The administration is committed to a multi-pronged effort to support American homeowners to help heal our nation’s housing market,” said a statement from the Treasury Department.

The Home Affordable Modification Program will also be extended through 2013.

Obama signaled the move in his State of the Union address on Tuesday.

“While government can’t fix the problem on its own, responsible homeowners shouldn’t have to sit and wait for the housing market to hit bottom to get some relief,” Obama said.

Mortgage applications increased 23.1 percent from one week earlier

The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, increased 23.1 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier.  On an unadjusted basis, the Index increased 38.1 percent compared with the previous week.  The Refinance Index increased 26.4 percent from the previous week to its highest level since August 8, 2011.  The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased 10.3 percent from one week earlier to its highest level since December 12, 2011. The unadjusted Purchase Index increased 28.4 percent compared with the previous week and was 2.2 percent higher than the same week one year ago.

The four week moving average for the seasonally adjusted Market Index is up 5.99 percent.  The four week moving average is up 1.96 percent for the seasonally adjusted Purchase Index, while this average is up 7.00 percent for the Refinance Index.

The refinance share of mortgage activity increased to 82.2 percent of total applications from 80.8 percent the previous week.  This is the highest refinance share since October 22, 2010. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity increased to 5.6 percent from 5.4 percent of total applications from the previous week.

“Interest rates dropped last week due to continuing anxieties regarding the fragile economic situation in Europe,” said Michael Fratantoni, MBA’s Vice President of Research and Economics.  Fratantoni continued, “With mortgage rates reaching new lows, refinance volume jumped and MBA’s refinance index reached its highest level in the last six months.  Purchase activity also increased as buyers returned to the market after the holiday season.”

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($417,500 or less) decreased to 4.06 percent from 4.11 percent, with points increasing to 0.48 from  0.41 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent loan-to-value (LTV) ratio loans.  This is the lowest 30-year fixed rate in the history of the Survey. The effective rate also decreased from last week.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with jumbo loan balances (greater than $417,500) increased to 4.40 percent from 4.34 percent, with points decreasing to 0.37 from 0.47 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent loan-to-value (LTV) ratio loans.  The effective rate also increased from last week.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages backed by the FHA  decreased to 3.91 percent from 3.96 percent, with points decreasing to 0.59 from 0.72 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent loan-to-value (LTV) ratio loans. This is the lowest 30-year FHA rate in the history of the Survey.  The effective rate also decreased from last week.

Addresses previously unregulated sector

The move brings under federal authority various nonbank financial businesses that previously had gone unregulated, including payday lenders, debt collectors, student loan companies and the like. It has particular significance for the mortgage industry – and mortgage borrowers – because the term also includes mortgage brokers, nonbank mortgage lenders, mortgage brokers, loan modification companies, mortgage servicers and credit reporting agencies, among others.

“This is an important step forward for protecting consumers,” Cordray said in a statement. “Holding both banks and nonbanks accountable to consumer financial laws will help create a fairer, more transparent market for consumers. It will create a better environment for the honest businesses that serve them. And it will help the overall economic stability of our country.”

Loan modification fraud among concerns

The nonbank sector of the consumer financial services industry has drawn more than its share of criticism and complaints of consumer abuses. The CFPB is currently working with the Treasury Department to investigate reports of widespread fraud in the for-profit loan modification industry.

Payday lenders are often accused of taking advantage of people in tight financial straits by charging excessive interest rates. And mortgage brokers and nonbank lenders have been blamed for playing a major role in the subprime mortgage crisis by encouraging borrowers to take out risky subprime mortgages they didn’t understand and were unlikely to be able to afford over the long term.

The action doesn’t create any new regulations immediately, but simply extends to nonbank financial institutions the same authority that the CFPB already had over banks. Those authorities were given to the CFPB under the Dodd-Frank Act creating the agency.

The CFPB generally defines a nonbank financial institution as a company that offers consumer financial products or services, but doesn’t offer checking or savings accounts or have a bank, thrift or credit union charter.

Household finances might be in the doldrums but property prices still managed to creep up by 1% in 2011, according to the latest figures from the Nationwide. The building society said that, while prices had dropped by 0.2% in December, over the year the value of the average house has risen to £165,798.

Meanwhile separate data from the Land Registry showed house prices in England and Wales increased by 0.3% in November, but were down by 1.9% year-on-year. Its index, which is based on completed transactions, put the average price of a property at £160,780.

“The 1% rise in house prices recorded over the past 12 months could hardly be described as a strong performance, but against a backdrop of anaemic economic growth and a deteriorating labour market, UK house prices were surprisingly resilient in 2011,” Robert Gardner, Nationwide’s chief economist, said.

“Resilience was less evident in other areas of housing market activity in 2011. For example, the number of mortgage approvals remained low, at just over half the long-term average.”

The London housing market continued to show a life of its own, with prices rising by 5.5% over the course of the year. By contrast, prices in Northern Ireland fell by 8.7%. The only English regions to see prices fall were the north and north-west, with average prices down 1% and 1.2% respectively.

“This is the second time in three years that London has topped the regional house price performance table,” Gardner said. “Prices in the capital are now just 1.6% below their all-time highs, while in the UK as a whole prices are still 10% below their peak.”

The Land Registry figures also showed a stark north-south divide in the housing market, and confirmed that London is still seeing price rises.

The price of homes in the capital was up by 0.8% over the month and is now 1.4% higher than in November last year, and the annual rate of change has not dropped below zero since September 2009. The average price of a property in London is now £342,749.

In the south-east prices have fallen by just 0.9% year-on-year, but in the north-east homes changed hands for 5.4% less than in November last year, despite a 0.3% increase in prices over the month. In Hartlepool prices fell by a massive 19.8% in the 12 months to November, with the average dropping to £76,663.

David Newnes, director of LSL Property Services, said 2011 had been a tough year for the property market as mortgage lending remained constrained.

However, he added: “The second half of the year has provided some positives. Mortgage finance is currently highly affordable as lenders have dropped their rates in line with the Bank of England’s commitment to the ultra-low interest rates policy.

“This means those who can put together a decent-sized deposit are currently able to lock themselves into cheap deals and can obtain properties at relatively affordable prices.”

Nationwide said it expected prices to “move sideways or moderately lower” by the end of 2012 – but other house price pundits have been more candid. Buying agent and former estate agent Henry Pryor recently predicted a 10% fall in prices next year, believing homes are currently being overpriced by those trying to sell.

“Asking prices from Rightmove and sold prices both from Halifax and Land Registry since the credit crunch show sellers have little appreciation of what has happened to deal prices,” he said. “Estate agents contribute to this as some of them will give optimistic valuations in the hope of getting the business.”

Rightmove, however, has predicted a 2% rise in prices in 2012, while Nationwide’s main rival for mortgage business, Halifax, has predicted little change in house prices next year. It has said movement could be anywhere between -2% and +2%.

Recent figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders showed that first-time buyers have continued to shy away from the property market. The number of loans approved for those taking their first foray on to the housing ladder fell by 10% in October from the month before. The CML said it believed there could be a flurry of activity in the early months of 2012, as the stamp duty holiday comes to an end. Currently first-time buyers of a property valued up to £250,000 are exempt from stamp duty. This exemption ends on 24 March 2012, from which time only properties under £125,000 will be exempt.

Fifteen-year, fixed rate home mortgages averaged 3.21 percent with an average 0.8 point this week, down from 3.27 percent a week ago, according to the weekly survey by mortgage giant Freddie Mac. The previous low of 3.26 percent was set the week of Oct. 6. A year ago, 15-year, fixed mortages averaged 4.17 percent.

The average for 30-year, fixed residential mortgages averaged 3.94 percent, with an average 0.8 point — matching the previous record low also reached the week of Oct. 6 — down from 3.99 percent a week ago. A year ago, 30-year, fixed home loans averaged 4.83 percent.

The slide in mortgage rates came amid discouraging reports for the housing market, including the Federal Reserve’s observation that the housing market remains depressed and that households nationally lost almost $400 billion in property values in the first nine months of 2011, Freddie Mac said.

In addition, Freddie Mac noted that seriously delinquent mortgages, which are 90 or more days past due, increased slightly between June 30 and Sept. 30 of this year, breaking a six-quarter consecutive decline, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

One in five baby boomer couples have already given at least one of their children the means to purchase a home — either buying it outright, furnishing the down payment or co-signing the loan, according to a survey from Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate.

And more than two-thirds (68%) of respondents said they expect to provide financial support to their children or grandchildren in the future to help them afford homeownership.

Many real estate agents around the country have observed this trend gain steam since the housing bust began.

“Parents want to see their kids in a stable living situation,” said Chayah Masters, a Coldwell Banker Residential agent in Los Angeles. “Plus, property values have come way down. Why not help the kids while they are so low?”

The typical U.S. home now costs about the same as it did back in 2003. In some markets, like Phoenix, Orlando and Las Vegas, prices haven’t been this reasonable since the late 1990s. And low interest rates make homebuying an even more affordable investment.

In New York City, according to real estate agent Chazz Levi, many foreign nationals are buying apartments for kids going to college in town.

“I think it’s a smart thing to do right now,” she said.

At the end of the daylong symposium of brokers, developers, lenders and academics, Fed officials wound up with plenty of ideas but no silver bullets.

“We’ve witnessed over the last few years, especially in the … Southeast … some pretty severe stress in the both the residential and commercial real estate markets. That stress spilled over inside financial institutions and in the overall health of the economy of the Southeast,” Lockhart said as the session began. “… The recovery has been slower in the region, and a lot of that has been connected to the recovery in the real estate markets.”

At the wrap-up, Brian Bowling, the Fed’s senior vice president summed up not only the conference but also private meetings on the topic the bank held in recent days.

“The key thing we’re hearing all week is confidence,” he said. “People want leadership. They want clarity to change the psychology in the near term to maybe sustain some kind of recovery.”

Panels of experts on residential and commercial real estate and homeowner’s insurance gave their own arguments for letting the economy work out its own balance between supply and demand.

“I think the cure is time,” said Walter Mercer, executive vice president with SunTrust, a regional bank based in Atlanta.

Mercer predicted that the values of what he called trophy commercial properties would begin increasing but said he and other lenders would be very picky about where they invested. They can afford to with the collapse of the mortgage-backed securities funding source that commanded the majority of commercial development between 2005-07, developments that are mostly under water and maturing in the next three years.

On the residential side, negative equity is also the chief problem, according to the experts.

“You can drop rates as low as you want, but people aren’t going to be able to pass the underwriting,” said Mark Fleming, chief economist with CoreLogic, a firm that compiles property data for lenders.

Reducing the principal owed for homeowners at risk of default may help the overall economy by preventing foreclosures but it is not the remedy for mobility, the ability to take a new job out of town or retire in a new state like Georgia or Florida, Fleming said.

States in the South enjoyed an economic boom since the 1950s fueled by people moving to them from other parts of the country for work or retirement. That flow stopped because homeowners lost their mobility when they couldn’t sell their homes.

But that is, of course, the bottom line and the thing most people know about. Get the house listed, get it sold and move on.

The Calgary Real Estate Board is the front line, acting as the main point of contact between the industry and consumers. But the industry goes much deeper than that in this province — to the Real Estate Council of Alberta (RECA).

Newly-installed RECA chair Wayne McAlister says the agency goes about its serious business in obscurity — at least from a consumer perspective.

A practising realtor with Re/Max Landan in Calgary, McAlister and RECA executive director Bob Myroniuk have made it their business to raise the council’s profile. They have started with a series of focus groups aimed at boosting the provincial group’s recognition.

“We needed a baseline of input from consumers to assist us in setting our strategic plans for the coming five-year period,” says Myroniuk.

The main reason for the focus groups was to find out if people had heard about RECA, and if so, what its purpose was, says McAlister.

“The results of the consumer focus groups were not altogether surprising,” he says. “It confirmed to us that consumers are unaware of the existence of RECA, either as a source of information or a body to address complaints.”

So, what is the Real Estate Council of Alberta?

Simply put, it is an independent, non-government agency that is the licensing body for Alberta real estate — as well as mortgage brokers and brokerages, and real estate appraisers — setting standards of practice for all industry members.

To obtain a licence, individuals have to complete educational requirements and provide a certified criminal record check using fingerprint comparison.

Every year, industry professionals apply to renew their licence, where their suitability to be in the industry is reviewed.

Every second year, those working in the industry have to complete re-licensing education courses set out by RECA.

It also has established the standards of business practice expected of professionals through the Real Estate Act, as well as investigating complaints made by the public or industry professionals — much like the Law Society of Alberta does for lawyers and the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta does for doctors.

RECA isn’t alone in the acronym business when it comes to real estate. There is CREB, the Calgary Real Estate Board; AREA, the Alberta Real Estate Association; and CREA, the Canadian Real Estate Association.

This family of three groups makes up an optional trade association — but everyone involved in selling real estate, brokering mortgages, or providing real estate appraisal services in Alberta must be licensed by RECA.

From a consumer perspective, there was an overall understanding in the focus groups that the industry had to have some type of regulatory body.

But the focus groups were unsure whether it was local, provincial, or federal.

When prompted to name the regulator, some people generalized by saying “some real estate board or association,” and some even mentioned CREB by name — but not one response mentioned RECA.