Americans struggling through the foreclosure process will experience even more difficulty modifying their loans after Ally Financial’s Residential Capital filed for bankruptcy last Monday, the New York Post reported. Declaring Chapter 11 bankruptcy put an automatic freeze on the government-backed lender’s loan negotiations with consumers. [more]

Trump International and Terrell Owens

NFL star Terrell Owens’ condominium at the Trump International Beach Resort in Sunny Isles is in foreclosure, Gossipextra.com reported. Owens, who is currently a free agent after sitting out the entire 2011-2012 season, is the target of a foreclosure action by Deutsche Bank. The receiver, who has played in Dallas, Buffalo and Cincinnati, purchased the property for $1.75 million in 2006. [Gossip Extra]

A growing number of foreclosed homeowners are discovering that the road back to homeownership isn’t so steep, thanks to loans from the U.S. government, MSNBC reported.

“We were resigned to the fact that we were going to be in a rental property for a while,” said Jennifer Anderson, who lost her home less than two years ago and has now qualified for a government-backed mortgage. Although no hard data exists, many Americans seem to be quickly reentering the housing market, especially since rising national rents are beginning to close the gap between the price of a lease and a monthly mortgage payment. [more]

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is proposing a new set of rules for lenders to follow that intend to help homeowners avoid foreclosure, the Associated Press reported. The proposal comes in the wake of Congress demanding changes to the problematic industry. [more]

North Miami Mayor Andre Pierre

After trying to negotiate a mortgage modification, North Miami Mayor Andre Pierre’s home is now in foreclosure, the South Florida Business Journal reported. “We were in the process of negotiating and getting into some kind of loan modification,” Pierre said. “We have been sending documents back and forth.” The Mayor said the foreclosure came as a surprise to him and that the bank had not notified him. [SFBJ]

(source: CoreLogic)

About 11.1 million, or 22.8 percent, of all U.S. residential properties with a mortgage were in negative equity at the end of the fourth quarter of 2011, according to statistics released today by analytics firm CoreLogic, an increase from 10.7 million properties, or 22.1 percent of mortgaged U.S. homes in the third quarter of 2011.

Combined, negative equity and near-negative equity mortgages accounted for more than a quarter of residential properties with a mortgage nationwide in the fourth quarter. [more]

Amadeus Center

Doral’s Amadeus Center office complex is in foreclosure after a lawsuit by U.S. Bank, the South Florida Business Journal reported. The property, which was purchased by the borrower for $23.1 million in 2006, is located at 9250 NW 36th Street and has just under 215,000 square feet. Amadeus left for a new facility in 2011, which is currently undergoing a $5 million tenant buildout by Stiles Construction. The new facility is located at 3470 NW 82nd Avenue. [SFBJ]

Rep. Kathleen Passidomo

Florida’s House Economic Affairs committee approved a proposed bill, HB 213, that would speed up Florida’s foreclosure process and shorten the amount of time banks have to pursue homeowners for unpaid debts. The bill would only apply to certain cases: where homeowners abandon their homes, when there is a default (the action is not challenged) and if no legitimate defense to the foreclosure is raised. Sponsor Rep. Kathleen Passidomo said the bill would not remove foreclosure from the courts. [more]

A Versailles home and Vanilla Ice

The homeowners association in Wellington’s Versailles neighborhood has filed suit against former rapper Vanilla Ice claiming he owes $4,100 in assessments, the Palm Beach Post reported.

Ice, whose legal name is Robert Van Winkle, uses homes in the neighborhood for a home renovation television show that airs on the DIY Network. He said the assessment is related to replacing trees at a 5,000-square-foot home on Trianon Place that fell during Hurricane Wilma in 2005. [more]

Jose Mallea, chief of Gingrich’s Florida campaignPerhaps the foreclosure Newt Gingrich’s recently anointed Florida chief is enduring will soften the Republican presidential candidates stance on the foreclosure crisis.

Miami New Times reported that Jose Mallea, who rose to fame as campaign chief of Tea Party U.S. Senator Marco Rubio, is in foreclosure for the house he bought in Miami at the height of the real estate bubble. Malleo paid $290,000 for the home, at SW 27th Avenue and 13th Street, in February 2008. Now it’s valued at just $159,000 and he’s severely underwater. [more]