Repossessions

First of three parts Tiffany Lee wanted a car. She was weary of the two-hour bus ride to her job at a UCLA Health System clinic. She hated having to ask friends to drive her 7-year-old son to his asthma treatments. But as a single mother with three children, bad credit and a $27,000-a-year salary, she couldn't find a bank or dealership willing to give her a loan. Then a friend steered her to Repossess Auto Sales in Hawthorne. Another buyer might have balked at the deal she was offered.

Legislation aimed at regulating controversial Buy Here Pay Here used-car dealers, which charge steep interest rates and are quick to repossess vehicles, was approved by the state Senate Banking and Financial Institutions Committee. The bill, by Sen. Ted Lieu (D-Torrance), classifies the dealerships, which finance most of their own sales, as state-regulated lenders. "This bill regulates an unregulated industry," Lieu said. The bill cleared the committee on a party-line vote Wednesday, with five Democrats voting aye and two Republicans nay. The proposal now heads to the Senate Appropriations Committee and then to the Senate floor.

In a potentially significant victory for tenants over their landlords, the Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that the Constitution forbids police from cooperating in an illegal seizure of a tenant's property. In a 9-0 ruling, the justices said that the Fourth Amendment not only shields citizens from an invasion of their privacy but also protects their property from being illegally repossessed.

Car dealers have found a new way to profit from people with money trouble: leasing them hand-me-down vehicles. The deals are pitched to customers as the cheapest way to drive a used car off the lot, with the added benefit of an easy escape for those who can't keep up with the payments. Few customers are told about the advantages on the other side of the trade. Leases can allow dealerships to sidestep interest rate caps, and there are fewer financial disclosures rules than with a conventional car loan.

Following the logic of simple demographics, a pair of real estate brokers this weekend will launch a novel approach to selling houses based on the presumption that the majority of potential home buyers in Los Angeles are Latino. Brothers Carlos and Alex Izbicki will offer houses for sale from a booth at the Panorama City Indoor Swap Meet.

A Van Nuys man was arrested Thursday morning after assaulting a repossession agent who attempted to tow away his car, police said. The suspect's wife was arrested on suspicion of concealing him after the alleged attack. Larry Crawford, 40, apparently became enraged when he saw his Ford Expedition being towed away, said Los Angeles Police Officer Justin Bergmann.

Time was when Kenny Dunkel was welcome in any textile factory in Southern California. Dunkel is an equipment mover. And during the 1990s he delivered hundreds of gleaming new knitting machines to the region's bustling fabric mills. Eager textile entrepreneurs tipped his crews, bought them lunch and gave them plenty of repeat business. These days, Dunkel and his employees are more likely to be shown the door than the welcome mat. They're still busy hauling textile equipment.

Lenders repossessed 9% fewer homes in October, an indication that the foreclosure freezes put in place by several major banks could be slowing the record pace of home seizures this year, if only temporarily. Whether the trend continues depends on how quickly the major banks correct their errors and resume foreclosing. Daren Blomquist, an analyst with real estate information site RealtyTrac of Irvine, which released the numbers, said the October data represented probably little more than a temporary slowdown.

California's foreclosure crisis eased significantly during the first three months of the year, with lenders pushing the lowest number of homeowners into the formal repossession process since just before the start of the credit crunch. Banks filed 68,239 notices of default on California residents during the first quarter, San Diego research firm DataQuick Information Systems Inc. said Tuesday. Such notices mark the start of foreclosure, and borrowers receiving such notices during the first quarter were on average six months behind on their payments.

Jim Schneider, 31, started working on cars in high school and after graduation he took a job repairing fleet vehicles for a telephone company. Soon, he was buying repossessed vehicles, repairing and refurbishing them and selling them to dealers. Last year, he started a company that obtains repossessed vehicles from financial institutions, then repairs and details them and sells them directly to the public.

Investigators with the California attorney general's office have subpoenaed information from mortgage titans Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as part of a wide-ranging inquiry into lending and foreclosure practices in the state. The subpoenas ask the government-controlled finance companies to answer a series of questions about their activities in California, including their roles as landlords who own thousands of foreclosed properties. The attorney general's office is also seeking details of Fannie and Freddie's mortgage-servicing and home-repossession practices, according to a person familiar with the matter.

First of three parts Tiffany Lee wanted a car. She was weary of the two-hour bus ride to her job at a UCLA Health System clinic. She hated having to ask friends to drive her 7-year-old son to his asthma treatments. But as a single mother with three children, bad credit and a $27,000-a-year salary, she couldn't find a bank or dealership willing to give her a loan. Then a friend steered her to Repossess Auto Sales in Hawthorne. Another buyer might have balked at the deal she was offered.

The number of Californians entering foreclosure dropped steeply in the second quarter to the lowest level since 2007, a sign the foreclosure crisis in the Golden State could be easing as the housing market stabilizes and regulators increase scrutiny of lenders. Notices of default filed against California homes dropped 17% from the previous quarter and 19.2% from the same period last year, according to San Diego research firm DataQuick. A total of 56,633 homes received a notice of default, which is the first formal step in the foreclosure process.

The number of U.S. foreclosure actions by banks fell in June as investigations into repossession and mortgage servicing practices continued to slow the country's foreclosure machinery, a real estate firm reported. Banks filed actions against 222,740 U.S. properties in June, a 29% decrease from the same month a year earlier. That marked the ninth consecutive month that foreclosure actions — notices of default, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions — fell on a year-over-year basis, according to RealtyTrac of Irvine.

Who is going to lead the housing market out of the doldrums? Certainly it won't be move-up buyers. People who already own homes are not likely to be venturing forth to find another one until they can sell their current residences. And with all those foreclosures gumming up the works, it's tough to stand out in the crowd unless you're willing to give your place away. It probably won't be first-time buyers, either. Despite the most affordable prices and loan rates in ages, rookies have shown a marked propensity to remain on the sidelines.

Increased scrutiny of how lenders foreclose on Americans has dragged the repossession process out to unprecedented lengths, driving down the pace at which banks are taking back homes. Big banks are taking longer not only to push borrowers into foreclosure, but also to move homeowners through each stage of the process than in previous years, according to a report by Irvine-based RealtyTrac. The extended timelines have meant a reprieve for troubled borrowers. But economists said the delays could hold back a national housing rebound if foreclosures remain a significant part of the market for years to come.

Signs are emerging that a much-feared escalation of California home foreclosures may not happen, as banks respond to government pressure and scale back their repossessions of troubled properties. Statewide, the number of homes taken back by lenders dropped sharply in the three months ended Sept. 30, falling 37% over the same period a year earlier, when foreclosures were at an all-time high. If the trend continues, it will give momentum to the fledgling recovery in the housing market.

In gold chains and driving a white Jaguar, Jeff Friedman travels in style through a world of deception and fear. Under cover of night, he is out there on the streets--an unseen marauder looking for automobiles. He breaks in, jiggers the ignition, disables the alarms--whatever it takes--and scrams. On good weeks, he and his underlings get away with 50 to 75 cars--Porsches, Ferraris, you name it.

California's foreclosure crisis eased significantly during the first three months of the year, with lenders pushing the lowest number of homeowners into the formal repossession process since just before the start of the credit crunch. Banks filed 68,239 notices of default on California residents during the first quarter, San Diego research firm DataQuick Information Systems Inc. said Tuesday. Such notices mark the start of foreclosure, and borrowers receiving such notices during the first quarter were on average six months behind on their payments.

Question: I recently rented a car from Ace Rent a Car in Los Angeles for two days to attend a convention in Anaheim. On the second day, when I returned to the car, it was gone. At first I thought it had been stolen or towed, but eventually I found out that the car had been "returned," even though I wasn't the one who returned it, and even though my rental period wasn't due to end until the following morning. The car had been repossessed. I thought I'd rented it from Ace, but my key ring said Blue Oval.