News
2007
August
09
- Seniors tap equity with reverse mortgages. Even in the midst of a housing recession, one segment of the mortgage market has been booming: reverse mortgages, which provide a line of credit or monthly payments to seniors 62 or older, using an…
08
- Fannie, Freddie aim to ease mortgage-market crunch. For Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the chronically embattled companies chartered by the government to make homeownership more attainable, the recent upheaval in the mortgage market presents financial and political opportunities. After accounting scandals and…
06
- Home loans are harder to get. Wake-up call! If you're ready to buy or refinance a home, the turmoil on Wall Street may be further hurting your chances of getting a loan. In a huge sell-off Friday, investors reacted to a…
05
- Capital One will report high credit limits. A major credit card company is ending a long-standing practice that critics have said raised many of its customers' borrowing costs when they applied for mortgages and home-equity loans. Capital One Financial, based in McLean,…
- Credit scores will change for authorized users. Potentially millions of consumers will soon see a change in their credit score, and in some cases it might disappear altogether. It's not because of anything they've done. Rather, the formula for the widely used…
July
27
- With tools on web, amateurs reshape mapmaking. On the Web, anyone can be a mapmaker. With the help of simple tools introduced by Internet companies recently, millions of people are trying their hand at cartography, drawing on digital maps and annotating them…
- Study: Consumers don't grasp credit scores. Not paying attention to your credit score can cost you a lot of money. Many people don't know that their score - a three-digit number derived from an analysis of how they handle debt -…
26
- Consumer group blasts insurance ‘trapdoor’. The Consumer Federation of America wants to prevent insurers from denying payment for damage covered by homeowners policies on the grounds that damage from other causes, such as flooding, occurred about the same time. It…
20
16
- Solar power wins enthusiasts but not money. The trade association for the nuclear power industry recently asked 1,000 Americans what energy source they thought would be used most for generating electricity in 15 years. The top choice? Not nuclear plants, or coal…
13
- State issuing Ameriquest refund forms. Eligible California customers who took out loans with Ameriquest Mortgage Co. from 1999 to 2005 will soon be receiving forms to claim a share of $51 million the company has agreed to pay to settle…
12
- Lawmakers unveil lending reform bill. House Republicans introduced a bill Thursday designed to protect borrowers from abusive lending practices - the second major piece of legislation introduced in Congress on the issue this year. The GOP proposal comes amid new…
11
- High end housing market surviving slump. Given that the real estate market is supposed to be in free fall, some strange things have been happening recently in Mill Valley. It is one of the expensive suburbs of San Francisco just over…
07
- Subprime lenders are on notice. It won't mean the end of high-risk mortgages for subprime home buyers, but new guidance from federal financial regulators will almost certainly cut sharply the availability of some such loans. In a policy statement June…
03
- Scheme preys on desperate homeowners. With the housing market in decline, financial predators are finding yet another way to take advantage of people who fall behind on their payments. The schemes take various forms and often involve promises to distressed…
- Home equity loan late payments rise. Late payments on home equity loans climbed to a 1 1/2-year high in the opening quarter of this year, while delinquencies on credit card bills fell, painting a mixed picture of how people are…
- Good credit score helps your mortgage rate. Sales of existing homes fell to a four-year low last month, and the supply of homes for sale was up, which is happy news for house hunters. But unless you're sitting on a mountain of…
02
- Mortgage guidance is tightened. Federal bank regulators Friday issued tougher standards for higher-cost adjustable rate subprime mortgages, going after common but controversial practices such as penalties for early prepayment of loans, mortgages based on stated rather than documented income…
June
30
- Alarms sound on dangerous loans. There's a marketing blitz underway aimed at the homeowner in denial -- the one missing mortgage payments, dodging calls from the lender and hoping for the best. This month, several groups have launched initiatives to…
- Regulators call for better mortgage underwriting. The Federal Reserve Board and other regulators urged lenders yesterday to more closely assess the ability of borrowers to repay certain types of home mortgages linked to an alarming rise in delinquencies and foreclosures. The…
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