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Last year, the message was clear. Now it is murky.
The federal bank bailout watchdog is planning to scrutinize the formula used by mortgage companies to evaluate borrowers for the Obama administration $75 billion mortgage relief program.
A key lawmaker is working with banks, regulators and the Obama administration on a new way to boost the government's struggling foreclosure prevention effort by encouraging banks to reduce the total amount borrowers owe.
The government is giving homeowners another year to refinance their loans under a little-used program designed to help borrowers whose homes have plummeted in value.
Lawmakers are taking aim at the Obama administration's struggling mortgage assistance program, with Republicans calling it a worthless exercise and Democrats saying it doesn't go far enough.
Rates for 30-year home loans rose above the 5 percent threshold for the first time in three weeks, but remained near historically low levels.
The Obama administration is considering additional protections to ensure homeowners are treated fairly and consistently under its mortgage relief program.
A stronger-than-expected uptick in housing starts confirms that the housing market has bottomed out after its steepest slide since the Great Depression. But it’s going to have to do better than that if the economy is to have a sustainable recovery.
The economic numbers are certainly moving in the right direction. Both are up from last month. Other data show a slow but steady improvement from the depths of the recession.
Canada is tightening mortgage lending rules as historic low rates are raising fears of a potential housing bubble, the country's finance minister said Tuesday.
Rates on 30-year fixed mortgages fell slightly this week, dipping below 5 percent, the mortgage financier Freddie Mac said Thursday.
Government controlled mortgage finance companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac said Wednesday they will buy back troubled loans contained in securities they have already sold to investors.
The financial wizards who concocted the complicated mortgage-linked investments that nearly brought down the world economy are trying to come back from the dead.
Rates on 30-year fixed mortgages rose slightly this week, inching above 5 percent, Freddie Mac said Thursday.
The Treasury Department on Thursday plans to unveil changes designed to streamline burdensome paperwork required for its foreclosure relief plan, according to people briefed on the matter.
A top lawmaker on Capitol Hill is calling for the elimination of mortgage finance companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and the establishment of a new system to provide money for U.S. home loans.
Rates on 30-year mortgages remained almost flat this week as the Federal Reserve said it would keep rates near record lows to help the economy recover.
President Barack Obama's plan to fix the foreclosure crisis has been a dud, putting the housing market recovery at risk.
Rates for 30-year home loans edged lower for the second straight week, a report said Thursday, but remained above last month's record lows.
Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson and Democratic legislators said Wednesday that they will try again this year to enact a foreclosure mediation bill vetoed last year by Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty.
Memphis city and Shelby County officials have filed a federal civil lawsuit against Wells Fargo Bank alleging discriminatory mortgage lending practices.
Illinois is embracing a licensing database that officials say will help ensure the competency of mortgage loan professionals.
Attorney General Lawrence Wasden says Idaho homeowners who were duped into paying a New Jersey company to help them modify their mortgages will get more than $19,000 in a settlement.
The government has handed its ATM card to beleaguered mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
The housing market is in the midst of a rocky recovery, but it’s too soon to declare an end to the worst real estate slide since the Great Depression.
BBC News - Bank of America sued for seizing parrotApparently, a contractor employed at Bank of America went a little too far in what seemed to be a misunderstanding -- a little too far meaning "[entering] her house, [damaging] her furniture, and [confiscating] her parrot." As a result, they are now being sued.
The fake stress testsAbout a month ago I wrote a post called "The coming wave of second mortgage writedowns" the gist of which was that the big four banks (Citi, JP, BofA, and Wells) had a shed load of exposure to now worthless second mortgages.
Fannie, Freddie�s $125 billion tab still growing - Washington Post- msnbc.comIf the feds would stop buying the bad debt from boa,citi,jp morgan etc it could rein in the cost, but NO keep the money squids happy
Fannie, Freddie Ask Banks to Eat Soured Mortgages (Update1) Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac may force lenders including Bank of America Corp., JPMorgan Chase & Co., Wells Fargo & Co. and Citigroup Inc. to buy back $21 billion of home loans this year as part of a crackdown on faulty mortgages.
To walk or not to walk? Underwater homeowners face a dilemmaSome borrowers feel they have a moral obligation to pay the mortgage, but a growing number of homeowners and consumer advocates say walking away could be a smart business decision.
Goldman's offshore deals deepened global financial crisisMcClatchy has obtained previously undisclosed documents that provide a closer look at the shadowy $1.3 trillion market since 2002 for complex offshore deals, which Chicago financial consultant and frequent Goldman critic Janet Tavakoli said at times met "every definition of a Po …
Recently Discovered Flaw in Recording System Clouds Titles on Previously, Fraudulantly Foreclosed PropertiesUntil the 1980's, most mortgages were loans between the homeowner and a bank, who lent the money directly.
When It's OK to Walk Away From Your HomeMillions of Americans are now deeply underwater on their mortgage. If you're among them, you need to stop living in a dream world and give serious thought to walking away from the debt.
Consumer Complaints Soar On Mortgage 'Rescue' Schemes (VIDEO)As many Americans sank deeper into financial trouble last year, a record number reported that they fell victim to schemes seeking to profit from their misfortune, according to a federal report released Wednesday.
FDR's superb fix for our housing crisis. "The government response to the financial crisis has been a spectacular success for the financial industry. Big banks are now solvent—on paper at least—and have returned to paying bonuses that strike most Americans as, well, vulgar.
I don't know about you folks, but as far as I'm concerned it's long past time for the Dems to do at least one of the jobs for which they were elected and sent to Washington to do.
Growing Number of Candidates Campaigning for State-owned Banks"If we had used the $700 billion to create a new financial institution, allowed it to lever 10 to 1, which is very modest compared to the 30 to 1 that we were doing, 10 to 1 would have generated $7 trillion of new lending capacity, far in excess of what our country needs.
Could It Be That the Best Chance to Save a Young Family From Foreclosure is a 28-Year-Old Pakistani American Playright-slash-Attorney who Learned Bankruptcy Law on the Internet?This story, which is hilarious and reads like a thriller, concerns Ali's efforts (as a self-taught, foreclosure attorney) to save a family from foreclosure. It's a must-read, for anyone interested in how banks work—and don't work.
Better Off Deadbeat: Craig Cunningham Has a Simple Solution for Getting Bill Collectors Off His Back. He Sues Them. While most Americans with unpaid bills dread the collector's call, Cunningham sees them as lucrative opportunities.
Meltdown madness: the Human cost of the Economic CrisisThe body count is still rising. For months on end, marked by bankruptcies, foreclosures, evictions, and layoffs, the economic meltdown has taken a heavy toll on Americans.
Home Underwater? Walk Away from Geithner's Perverse 'Homeowner Relief' Plan"The homeowner relief plan adopted by President Obama and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has not been working for a full year now.
Can Anyone Stop Predatory Lenders?NO ONE TOLD Deanna Walters she was about to lose her home. Not when her mortgage servicing company foreclosed on it, nor when it landed on the county auction block and sold to the highest bidder.
False Profits: We Will Be Suffering from Greenspan and Bernanke's Ineptitude for a Long Time "As the nation struggles to recover from the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, the people who got us here are desperately working to rewrite history. The basic story of this economic collapse is very simple.
Quiet Conflict With Goldman Helped Push A.I.G. to Precipice - NYTimes.comGreat reporting on behind the scenes intrigue and numerous smoking guns indicating that some who have reaped huge profits from the economic collapse actually helped cause it, perhaps intentionally.
Mortgage bankers group sells D.C. offices to Bethesda company - washingtonpost.comEven the pros are taking a beating. The Mortgage Bankers Association, its membership expert in real estate, sold its $90 million headquarters in downtown Washington on Friday for $41 million.
New wave of foreclosures coming?This is a part of the next "bubble" that every reputable investor and economist has been warning about since the first one burst almost two years ago.
Liz Pulliam Weston: Lenders secretly calculate your income - MSN Money"New federal rules are driving lenders to estimate your income based on credit reports. But the tools they're using aren't precise, and mistakes might be hard to correct." (Weston, L. P.)
Housing crunch has human toll - Sacramento News - Local and Breaking Sacramento News | Sacramento BeeTwo weeks ago, a retired telephone company worker named Ethelda Lopez watched as her dream retirement home was auctioned off on the lawn outside a county courthouse in downtown Merced.
Scam artists lurking to take advantage of mortgage crisisEveryday people being mislead into thinking that they are saving their homes while in reality they are being scammed out of their last savings and the very homes they had tried to save in this horrific economy fall prey to foreclosure leaving the property owner homeless and broke …
Report says Government Land policies and rules making homes unaffordable to drive prices/taxes higher - Yahoo! FinanceNew report says urban land policies and rules making homes unaffordable. Mon Jan 25, 3:44 PM The Canadian Press Email StoryIM StoryPrintable ViewBy The Canadian Press A report says urban land use policies are making homes almost unaffordable in markets around the world inclu …
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