A few months ago, I wrote about the U.S. real estate market changing from a “buyers’ market” to a “renters’ market.” This is evidenced by the fact that home prices, on average, have fallen by 32% since 2006, while rents have risen 20%, on average, since that time (source: Wall Street Journal ). Not only were potential new home buyers afraid to enter the U.S. real estate market after the collapse that occurred in 2007, opting to rent instead, but I also commented on the fact that private-equity and hedge-fund money was finding its way into the U.S. real estate market. The latter bought home foreclosures, contacted the families living in those homes, and attempted to sign a rental agreement with them. In this unusual U.S. real estate market, it presents a win-win situation, as the hedge-fund and/or private equity firm makes money on its investment, while the owner gets to keep his/her home, albeit as a renter. It has been shown that home foreclosures in the U.S. real estate market, if the property is left vacant, can further drag down the property values in the neighborhood. At the time, I mentioned that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were possibly going to begin a pilot program to convert homeowners to renters, as a way to stem the oncoming home foreclosure onslaught that will visit the U.S. real estate market this year. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York expects at least 1.8 million home foreclosures in the U.S. real estate market in 2012. Instead, Bank of America Corporation (NYSE/BAC) announced that it is launching a pilot program that will allow homeowners, who have exhausted other options, to exchange their deed for a lease. This new “Mortgage to Lease” program for the U.S. real estate market is starting small, with Bank of America targeting only a thousand homeowners, but it is a very radical shift for the bank as it attempts to deal with mounting home foreclosures. I have a feeling this type of program could expand and other banks could jump on the bandwagon, because it reduces the costs of the paperwork involved to evict a homeowner, to say nothing about the maintenance and reselling costs of the now empty home. As it stands today, homeowners cannot apply for the program. Only homeowners that receive a letter from the bank can participate. The 1,000 homeowners selected from the U.S. real estate market have to meet the criteria of no second mortgages and no other liens on their home. The homeowners would sign a different type of home foreclosure document, which is less costly to Bank of America than a typical home foreclosure document in the U.S. …