A report from Reuters. "Citibank has agreed to pay a $30 million fine to settle charges of repeated violations of real estate holding rules and for failing to meet its commitment to take corrective actions, the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) said on Friday. Federal law limits the time a national bank may hold foreclosed and 'other real estate owned' (OREO) assets."

"In 2015, Citi said it lacked adequate processes to effectively monitor the holding period, and committed to developing and taking corrective actions, but it did not do so, the OCC said. As a result, between 2017 and 2019, the bank committed over 200 violations in South Dakota related to the statutory holding period for OREO assets."

From Dow Jones Newswires. "Under federal banking regulations, there is a two-year limit on banks maintaining possession of a foreclosed property. The rules stipulate that banks can apply for an annual exemption that can push their ownership of a property to as much as five years. But after that, the bank is supposed to sell the property back into the market to prevent available housing inventory from being kept away from would-be homebuyers."

"And according to the OCC, Citibank violated that rule by holding onto hundreds of foreclosures for longer than the five-year limit. 'Following additional efforts to correct the root cause of the continued OREO holding period violations, the Bank recommitted to implementing corrective actions by August 31, 2018,' the OCC said. 'The Bank failed to meet its commitment, resulting in additional violations.'"

From Staten Island Live in New York. "While the number of foreclosures decreased across most of the city over the last year, they saw a spike of 183% during the third quarter of 2019 on Staten Island, according to Property Shark. The report revealed an increase in Manhattan foreclosures of 118%."

"'Ten plus years ago the foreclosure rate was high due to higher mortgage (and) cap rate, thus jumbo mortgage amounts,' said Neila Nuzzi, associate real estate broker with Neuhaus Realty, Inc. in Richmond. 'The cost of living is up. The prices for some amenities are up. Thus, the number of bills a person has to take on is substantially higher. When paying bills some folks (say), ‘Next month,’ and next month becomes plural, and you are (now) behind and the foreclosure process is a process that can take years. So if a person is not concerned about their credit, they live for free and then save a little more and buy something smaller in someone else’s name,' she added."

From News 5 Cleveland. "Cleveland Housing Court Judge Ron O'Leary is getting tough on bank-owned problem homes that have numerous code violations and could jeopardize neighborhood safety. O'Leary said too often homes obtained by banks through foreclosure aren't being maintained properly and turn into problem properties. In many cases the banks are hiring third party property management companies that aren't getting the job done."

"'These properties are wide open with a lot of code violations,' O'Leary said. 'Grass cutting, garbage—the probation officer did tell me that the properties were open meaning anyone could just walk in. Banks have the responsibility to maintain the property and they largely have the resources to do it.'"

"Cleveland homeowner Maurice Smith lives across the street from one of the homes owned by U.S. Bank that he said used to be a neighborhood nuisance. 'It was really bad, to the point that is was an ugly sight for this neighborhood,' Smith said. 'I think they should do a better job, whichever bank or mortgage lender or whatever, take their responsibility also.'"

The Dallas Morning News in Texas. "After several years of ever-increasing sales, there are signs that North Texas’ million-dollar home market has hit a ceiling. The latest sales numbers show that purchases of million-dollar properties have leveled off. For the last few years, million-dollar home sales in the Dallas-Fort Worth area have grown at double-digit percentage rates."

"But through the first nine months of 2019, million-dollar home purchases have been flat, with no change from 2018 levels. So far this year, 1,382 million properties have traded. Another 1,526 of these high-priced houses are still up for sale — about 5% more than a year ago. 'The inventory is mostly at the upper end,' said George Ratiu, senior economist with Realtor.com. 'That’s not where the most demand is.'"

From Mansion Global. "The Washington, D.C., home owned by the founder and CEO of sportswear brand Under Armour has a new, slimmed down price of $24.5 million. Kevin Plank, who founded the company in 1996, first listed the property in February 2018 for $29.5 million, according to The Wall Street Journal. It’s not clear when or if the home was taken off the market, but its new asking price has been in place since last week. Despite the price cut, the property remains the most expensive on the market currently in Washington, D.C., according to listing records."

The Hollywood Reporter in California. "How did the expansive property, known as The Mountain, list for 10 figures and end up selling for $100,000 in a Pomona courtroom? Infighting, a Hollywood wannabe and a big bluff caused America's all-time trophy property to end up in legal chaos.In recent years, Victorino Noval and his business partner, a Southerner named Charles "Chip" Dickens, had been marketing the property with a goal of selling it for $1 billion. They had hired premier real estate broker Aaron Kirman — who has sold more than $6 billion in real estate in his career and hosts a CNBC show about flipping distressed luxury properties. Kirman was going to rebrand the property as The Mountain (it was previously known as The Vineyard) and spend $1 million marketing it to the world's richest people."

"When it was listed in July, the media ate it up worldwide. Stories appeared on CNBC and in The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, among many others (including THR). If the tenor of Noval's April 2018 fete was any indication, the expectation was that things were only going to get better. The Mountain looked ready to move."

"Meanwhile, thanks to L.A.'s overheated real estate market, the property's value soared, sometimes by as much as $500,000 a week. The appreciation was a blessing and a curse. Several legitimate offers were made, though nothing close to $1 billion. Noval and Dickens held out. But there was trouble on the horizon. Starting in 2018, L.A.'s luxury real estate market was showing signs of cooling after its historic seven-year run."

"The region's most high-profile trophy properties were being hit the hardest. The price of British heiress Petra Ecclestone's Holmby Hills mansion, The Manor, was slashed from $200 million to $160 million (in July, the home would sell for $120 million, still a record for L.A. County). In 2017, 924 Bel Air Road, offered by megadeveloper Bruce Makowsky, had come on the market for $250 million. That price has been chopped to $150 million — and still no takers. 'I think if they had priced [The Mountain] around $500 million, it would have sold for around $300 million, but they didn't pivot fast enough,' says a source who worked on the project. 'It could've been a slam-dunk, but people got greedy.'"

"'It backfired on them big-time,' says attorney Ronald Richards, who represented Noval's son, Victor Franco Noval. (In 2016, Victorino Noval's holding company, Tower Park Properties, technically transferred ownership of The Mountain to his son's holding company, Secured Capital Partners.)"

"Over the years, Dickens had borrowed a reported $45 million from the Hughes estate to develop the property. The trust's lawyers claimed that the sum had ballooned to $200 million after accounting for fees, penalties and interest. Noval and Dickens believed it was closer to $80 million. On May 31, sensing another legal assault by the Hughes team, which was attempting to initiate a foreclosure on the property, Richards filed for Chapter 11 on behalf of his clients — a day before the trust could foreclose on the property."

"The auction took place on a quiet morning in Pomona's Civic Center Plaza. Lawyers for the Mark Hughes Trust, dressed in impeccable suits, milled around waiting for the attorney in charge of the sale to open the bids. Within minutes, The Mountain, which just months before was still being touted as the country's first and only billion-dollar parcel, went on the auction block for a paltry opening bid of $100,000. The Mark Hughes Trust bid unopposed, paying that amount, and more significantly, assuming the property's $200 million in outstanding debt. Dickens was there that day and watched silently as the property for which he'd fought for 16 years was sold back to his rivals for 1/10,000th his original asking price."