Headline News Archive

2008

May

10

• Moving: Beware of 'furniture ransom'. Leah Moore and her husband, Colby Nichols, assumed they would be in their new Chicago home in time for dinner. Why would they think otherwise?…

• Walkaway homeowners: Urban myth?. Bankers and housing market analysts are warning of a chilling new trend in the mortgage world: Homeowners voluntarily defaulting on their loans even though they…

• 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…

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…

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…

• 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…

• 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…

07

• 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…

• 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…

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…

• 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…

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…

• 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…

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…

• 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,…

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:…

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…

• 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…

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…

• 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…

• 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…

April

30

• Foreclosures double, home prices tumble. The most severe real estate recession in decades appears far from over, with the pace of foreclosures rising, the fall in home prices accelerating and…

29

• Experts, consumers share home market views. The spring home-buying season is kicking off in the midst of the most painful real estate recession in decades, with prices tumbling and many Americans…

• Bank of America vows help for Countrywide debtors. Bank of America will expand efforts to help Countrywide Financial borrowers avoid foreclosure on troubled mortgages, a top bank executive said Monday. The announcement came…

• Homes facing foreclosure more than doubled in Q1. The number of homes heading toward foreclosure more than doubled in the first quarter from a year earlier, as weakening property values and tighter lending…