News

2011

September

30

• Big mortgages: Harder to get and more expensive. Starting Saturday, the beleaguered housing market will confront the latest hurdle to its recovery: The size of mortgages that the federal government can back will be drastically reduced in high-priced regions. When the bubble burst,…

29

• Home aid program won't hit its target. A $1 billion federal program to help financially strapped homeowners avoid foreclosure will help 10,000 to 15,000 people — not the 30,000 initially expected, a government official said Wednesday. The Department of Housing and Urban…

27

• Freddie Mac loan deal defective, report says. Freddie Mac used a flawed analysis when it accepted $1.35 billion from Bank of America to settle claims that the bank misled it about loans purchased during the mortgage boom, according to an oversight report…

25

• For homeowners in trouble, a tough decision. The time is limited for homeowners who want to ensure they aren’t hit with a big tax bill because they had to walk away from a mortgage obligation. At the height of the housing crisis,…

24

• 20-percent rule for mortgage down payments unlikely in near future. Remember the proposed requirement from six federal agencies that home buyers make down payments of at least 20 percent if they want the lowest interest rates? Remember the controversy that erupted over the plan last…

23

• Housing slump hits new mortgage loans. Mortgage lending declined last year amid weak demand and tight credit standards, with particularly sharp credit contractions in neighborhoods with many foreclosures, according to the Federal Reserve. In its annual analysis of mortgage data provided…

22

• Rising rents lessen affordability of housing. More renters found housing unaffordable last year as incomes declined, and more are likely to be squeezed this year, given rising rents. The share of renters paying 30% or more of their household income on…

21

• Consumer bureau readies its new financial rules. Raj Date, the former banker temporarily leading the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, outlined a timeline on Tuesday for the Wall Street watchdog to unveil a string of new regulations. The consumer bureau, according to Mr.…

• $1B foreclosure aid program helps fewer than planned. A $1 billion federal program to help financially strapped homeowners avoid foreclosure will not meet its goal of helping 30,000 homeowners, a government official said Tuesday. The Emergency Homeowners' Loan Program, run by the Department…

18

• Saving on mortgage taxes. Homeowners looking to refinance their mortgage will need to compare interest rates, loan terms and fees, but some who live in New York may also want to arrange for what’s known as a mortgage assignment,…

17

• Decoding the wide variations in house appraisals. I RECENTLY decided to refinance a condominium my wife and I owned in Florida and quickly got caught up in the frustrating and often baffling world of real estate appraisals. The appraisal for the condo initially…

16

• Banks ramp up foreclosures. The nation’s banks have ramped up foreclosure actions recently against delinquent homeowners, nearly a year after revelations of fraudulent filings and other questionable documentation practices slowed the number of foreclosures to a trickle, according to…

15

• Foreclosures surge in hardest-hit markets. Significantly more properties entered the foreclosure process during August in the nation's hardest-hit markets, including battered parts of inland California and other areas in the West, as Bank of America Corp. stepped up its activity…

• Tight standards make mortgages tough to get. Home buyers such as Bob and Janet Zych have fueled the U.S. housing market for decades. They have excellent credit with scores that top 800, life-long careers and investment portfolios that have set them up…

13

• Consumer Action updates its 'How to Complain' guide. Consumer Action has updated its free and comprehensive publication, How to Complain.

• Reclaiming your life from identity thieves. You can't know how big a hassle it is to have your identity stolen until some scammer enters your life and starts taking over. Michael Kalbs and his wife, Judy Rosen, learned this the hard…

• Reverse mortgages don't always work. Trusted celebrity pitchmen such as Henry Winkler, Robert Wagner and James Garner do a good job telling older homeowners about the benefits of a reverse mortgage. Here's what they don't tell seniors: Reverse mortgages are…

• College graduates driving increase in bankruptcy. College graduates are the fastest-growing group of consumers who have filed for bankruptcy protection in the past five years, according to a new study by a financial nonprofit, which underscores the broad reach of the…

09

• Mortgage rates fall to lowest level since 1950s, few qualify. Fixed mortgage rates fell this week to the lowest levels in six decades. But few Americans can take advantage of the rates to refinance or buy a home. The average rate for a 30-year fixed…

08

• MoneyWi$e train-the-trainer event for DC-based CBOs (Consumer Action and Capital One help 55 organizations boost their financial literacy training skills). Washington, DC — Consumer Action and Capital One Bank today announced that their joint MoneyWi$e financial literacy partnership is providing a free financial education training seminar for community-based groups in the Greater Washington, DC region.…