Let’s face this fact; there are problems with housing in Arizona. To not acknowledge it would be disingenuous to the residents in this state.
That’s why we applaud the state legislature for trying to pass a new law which will allow homeowners who have lost their homes to foreclosure to have the option of renting the house for up to a year. This isn’t for everyone, though, just those homeowners who have lost their homes because the value of their home dropped drastically and is less than the median price of homes.
There are a few reasons for doing this. Arizona is one of those states with high unemployment, but high rates of foreclosure. That second fact sometimes makes it hard for people to find a place to live, since that goes on their credit report. Also, it stems the possibility that banks, who might feel as though this hampers them because what’s the point of foreclosing on a property if they’re forced to rent to the previous owners, might suddenly decide that loan modification is a good thing to do, something that federal government has tried to get them to do with limited success. And, since it was bad bank deals that put these homeowners into this position in the first place, it would give them a taste of what they put homeowners through whom they should have been trying to protect to begin with.
It was probably too much to hope that the banks would work this out on their own, but maybe there will be some kind of relief for those homeowners who have been beaten up to this point.
See also:
Improving Valley Housing Market
Options for First Time Home Buyers
Mitch writes on real estate, finance, and many other things.