News

2008

May

10

• Appraisal reform faces resistance. A legal brawl is breaking out over how homes are appraised, at what cost and by whom. The outcome could directly affect how much you pay for your next piece of real estate and how…

09

• Mortgage bill passes House. The House yesterday approved an ambitious plan to rescue hundreds of thousands of homeowners at risk of foreclosure by helping them trade exotic loans with rapidly rising monthly payments for more affordable mortgages backed by…

08

• Fed, FTC propose new rules on poor-credit notices. Lenders would be required to tell consumers when they are being offered less favorable terms based on poorer credit scores under new rules proposed on Thursday by the Federal Reserve and the Federal Trade Commission.…

• Seeking a mortgage workout? Be patient. It seems that mortgage servicers aren't satisfying anyone these days. Homeowners get fed up when they try to work something out with their servicers, to no avail. Real estate agents complain that mortgage companies drag…

• Bush says he'll veto foreclosure relief bill. President Bush declared Wednesday that he would veto the foreclosure relief legislation under consideration in Congress, surprising Democrats who believed that they had administration support for key portions of the bills. In brief remarks after…

07

• MoneyWi$e goes to Louisiana (Capital One and Consumer Action sponsor free financial literacy trainings). New Orleans — National consumer advocacy group Consumer Action and Capital One Financial Corporation announced that their joint MoneyWi$e financial literacy partnership will provide two financial education training meetings this week to community groups in…

• Witnesses: Mortgage lenders abusing court system. Mortgage lenders are abusing the bankruptcy court system by pursuing unjustified foreclosures against struggling homeowners, piling on questionable fees and misstating the amounts owed, witnesses alleged at a congressional hearing on Tuesday. The result is…

• For FHA, a huge task and uncertain role. The Federal Housing Administration has a big new role to play in untangling the mortgage mess, but even the agency itself does not know whether it can or should handle some of the tasks it…

06

• Doubts raised on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. As home prices continue their free fall and banks shy away from lending, Washington officials have increasingly relied on two giant mortgage companies — Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — to keep the housing market…

• Bernanke: Let's fight foreclosures. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke warned late Monday that the federal government should do more to stave off home foreclosures that threaten credit markets and the economy, even as a Fed survey showed the percentage…

05

• Mortgage investigation intensifies. Federal agencies are intensifying a criminal investigation of the mortgage industry and focusing on whether some lenders turned a blind eye to inflated income figures provided by borrowers. The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the…

• Unlikely allies forge winning strategy. One is a free-market Republican from Wall Street with roots in the rural Midwest and a passion for bird-watching. The other is a rumpled, union-hall Democrat from Bayonne, N.J., who once famously described himself as…

04

• Not easy to find help on brink of foreclosure. Zena Collins knew she had a serious problem when she could no longer afford electricity. The mortgage payment on her Gaithersburg house had jumped about $500, to $2,000 a month, not counting taxes and insurance,…

• Paying online can weave web of problems. My friends tell me it's quick and painless. They say doing it makes life feel so much easier. They also swear that once you start, you won't be able to live without it. It sounds…

03

• Credit restrictions are now the rule. Like a spreading infection, restrictions on credit are moving into new and more specialized niches of the mortgage market. Among those now feeling the pinch: Cash-out refinancings. Loans with anything less than full documentation of…

02

• Nueva ley contra discriminación. Las compañías no podrían usar información genética para tomar decisiones sobre empleo o seguros, de acuerdo con un proyecto de ley aprobado casi por unanimidad por el Congreso y que ahora irá a la Casa…

• Ahora es el momento de comprar casa. Ahora podría ser el momento propicio para comprar en el caso de quienes deseen aprovechar una oportunidad en el mercado inmobiliario. Las posibilidades pueden ser especialmente lucrativas para los inquilinos que no tienen casa propia…

01

• Not all credit scores created equal. AS THE DIRECTOR of finance at a Spring Hill, Fla.-based Chrysler dealership, Marvin Hedrick has had his fair share of skeptical (and unhappy) clients, especially when he has to turn someone down for an auto…

• FDIC plan for home refinancing. A key federal regulator released a proposal to address the mortgage crisis Wednesday, calling on the Treasury Department to help troubled borrowers by lending them 20% of their mortgage principal to spur refinancing into more…

• Brokers in the fast-and-loose lane?. There are lots of proposed remedies to prevent another mortgage catastrophe like the one we're going through now. Most of the suggestions I've seen won't fix the loopholes that allowed so many borrowers to take…