Don't Sell, Rent - Alexandra Zendrian - Homeowners who don't want to lose money are renting out their houses rather than selling them. It could be a creative new income stream. - Forbes

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More than 15% Spend $2,000 in Monthly Housing Costs: US Census -  By JON PRIOR -  Of the more than 113m occupied homes covered in the US Census Bureau’s 2008 American Community Survey, 15.6% have more than $2,000 in monthly housing costs.  The survey provides a statistical snapshot of the characteristics of the US population in 2008, including the finances of housing consumers. The data collected by Census Bureau officials determines where more than $400bn goes to state and local governements each year. The Census surveyed roughly 250,000 addresses for the foundation of the data. - HousingWire ------------

Reverse Mortgage Liquidity - Reverse Mortgage Lenders Get Creative to Fund Ginnie Mae HMBS - Neil J. Morse - Reverse mortgage originators who fund loans through Ginnie Mae are turning to middle men in order to get needed liquidity. One of those facilitators is Knight Libertas, Jersey City, N.J., which describes itself as “the leading source of off-exchange liquidity in U.S. equities…with a greater share volume than any U.S. exchange.”  - Reverse Mortgage Daily

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MERS Lawsuit - could be a big problem - Has a MERShole Opened Up? - Karl Denniger - ... If state law requires an unbroken chain of recorded assignments in order to document ownership of a mortgage and thus standing to foreclose, MERS cannot override this state law by fiat. ... MERS has thus given cover to a tremendous amount of fraudulent conduct - the very conduct that predatory lending statutes, "wet signature" and "chain of title" laws are supposed to prevent.  The real bottom line here is that securitized bondholders may in fact be holding worthless pieces of paper. ... - Seeking Alpha
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PERSON OF THE WEEK: Glen Corso Introduces The Community Mortgage Banking Project - new policy issue group formed - MortgageOrb

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Alt-A Loans and Option ARMs meet Strategic Defaults: The Perfect Recipe for a Toxic California Housing Market in 2010. Behavioral Economics of Housing and Top 7 California Regions with Active Alt-A Loans. - hat tip to B - Dr. Housing Bubble Blog