News

2007

May

14

• Fee-free mortgage: for real?. Home loan industry competitors are searching for hidden gimmicks, but Bank of America insists that its "no-fee mortgage plus" plan announced this week delivers exactly what the name implies - without raising interest rates to…

• Test the waters before choosing retirement locale. You'd think Warren Bland would have had a smooth transition to retirement. After all, he spent three years researching 60 places in the USA and Canada for his book Retire in Style. But no. At…

08

• Bank of America offers no fee home loans. Bank of America (BAC) said Monday it is offering no-fee mortgages nationwide for Americans buying homes. The second-largest U.S. bank said it won't charge for applications, appraisals, loan originations, title insurance and flood certifications. It…

07

• Katrina victims find storm is not over. For Gloria Vallery, the 20 months since Hurricane Katrina have brought a succession of financial agonies. Too little insurance money to cover her property damage. Delays in getting a state grant for hurricane victims. Personal…

06

• Lenders help homeowners catch up, stay put. Ernestine Witherspoon managed to hang onto her house in Northeast Washington even after she lost her job and fell far behind on her mortgage payments. Her lender, Countrywide Home Loans, was weeks away from seizing…

05

• IRS 'kick homeowners while they're down' rule. For homeowners who are seriously delinquent on their mortgages and hoping for relief, the Internal Revenue Service has bad news: If your lender agrees to modify your loan and forgive any of your debt, you…

04

• House panel passes FHA reform. A U.S. congressional committee on Thursday voted to reform a Depression-era housing program that could save many subprime borrowers from foreclosure. The House of Representatives Financial Services Committee approved by a vote of 45 to…

• Schumer takes aim at subprime lending. In a bid to stop a wave of foreclosures, Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Thursday urged Congress to approve $300 million for counseling and outreach efforts to help beleaguered borrowers hold onto their homes…

April

30

• Flippers flop as housing market cools. n the rampant real estate speculation of the Las Vegas valley three years ago, people lined up outside Pulte Homes sales offices overnight as if they were waiting for the release of the latest video…

• Title insurance costs: too high?. Title insurance typically is a large, mandatory cost for home purchasers and mortgage refinancers - often in the $1,000 to $2,000 range. But is the price too high for what you actually get? Equally important:…

26

• The three worlds of mortgage lending. There is a language of money, complete with its own vocabulary. It's in your interest to know as much of the terminology as you can, so don't be too embarrassed to ask what something means.…

25

• Home appliance purchases demand homework. You’ll probably spend a lot of time considering color and style when choosing a new home appliance. My wife and I did. Just don’t forget to find out about reliability. Trust me ... it’s important.…

• Property taxes up as house prices fall. Property taxes will keep rising nearly everywhere for homeowners even as house prices are falling in many parts of the country, according to a USA TODAY analysis of government data. A key reason: Despite the…

23

• Lenders criticized for role in foreclosures. Consumer advocates have begun criticizing major mortgage lenders, such as Countrywide Financial Corp. and GMAC Financial, that also have in-house foreclosure businesses. It is "mind-boggling" that in many states, people can lose their homes in…

• Electric deregulation's promise fails. BENTON, Ill. — This wasn't supposed to happen with deregulation. Electric bills were supposed to go down. Instead, Ellie Dorchincez can almost see the dollars evaporating every time she turns on the lights or opens…

21

• Negative impact of appraisal inflation. Have inflated appraisals helped fuel the surge in foreclosures on credit-strapped borrowers? Are such appraisals at the core of many mortgage-fraud schemes? The four largest trade groups representing appraisers say yes -- and they are…

20

• Home sellers end up owing in 'upside down' sales. Jeffrey Taylor and his wife bought their dream home in Purcellville for $538,000 last August. Now they have to sell it because they are getting divorced and neither one can afford the mortgage alone. The…

19

• Safeguard your home from flooding. Some parts of the Northeast are still swimming in water from the weekend storm. We're going to tell you what you can do to protect your home from flooding. Clean your gutters. The most important…

• Freddie Mac helps homeowners refinance subprime loans. Freddie Mac, one of the nation's largest mortgage investors, plans to buy about $20 billion worth of mortgages that would primarily refinance the loans of people in danger of losing their homes. The McLean company…

18

• Regulators urge cautious approach in foreclosures. Federal regulators Tuesday urged lenders to be flexible with borrowers who are behind on their home payments, as mortgage-finance giants Fannie Mae (FNM) and Freddie Mac (FRE) laid out initiatives to help strapped consumers refinance…