INDUSTRY HEADLINES WITH KEVIN KAUFFMAN & FRED WEAVER

Citibank fined $30 million for holding onto foreclosures for too long

Citibank was fined $30 million by federal banking regulators after an investigation found that the bank was not selling foreclosed homes back into the market fast enough.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency announced Friday that it fined Citibank $30 million for “violations related to the holding period of other real estate owned.”

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.

 

House-flipping startup Curbio expanding into 8 additional metro areas

Curbio, a house-flipping startup that gives owners with homes that need renovation an alternative to selling “as is” to an iBuyer, is expanding into eight additional metro areas within the next few months.

Curbio describes itself as a “renovation partner” that uses its proprietary software to plan and complete a project. Curbio handles the renovation as the licensed and insured general contractor, using technology to ensure the process is quick and cost-effective. Clients don’t have to pay Curbio until the sale of their home closes.

The company will be in expanding into Minneapolis, Las Vegas, Boston, Portland, Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Charlotte within the next few months, Curbio said in a statement. It already serves Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington D.C., Northern Virginia, Atlanta, Houston, Dallas, Chicago, Phoenix and the Florida metro areas of Orlando, Tampa, Miami and Fort Lauderdale.

 

 

Opendoor partners with real estate software provider W+R Studios (Cloud CMA) to boost iBuyer reach

Listing options available in Phoenix and Atlanta with plans to expand in 2020

The partnerships will specifically make use of W+R Studios’ Cloud CMA, a platform that allows agents to create comparative market analysis reports, buyer tours, property reports and flyers.

According to the companies, Cloud CMA creates 260,000 listing presentations per month, and Opendoor purchases a home every 24 minutes. Through the partnership, the iBuyer and software provider aim to “enhance the selling experience for more consumers.”

“With the integration, agents can easily help sellers seamlessly line-up their home sale with a new home purchase—eliminating contingency risk, one of the biggest barriers to buying a new home,” Opendoor stated in a release.