Headline News Archive

2007

August

15

• Forms to explain adjustable rate mortgages. Federal bank regulators on Tuesday published a set of forms designed to give borrowers a better understanding of mortgages that can adjust to dramatically higher…

14

• A grass-roots effort to grow old at home. On a bluff overlooking the Potomac River, George and Anne Allen, both 82, struggle to remain in their beloved three-story house and neighborhood, despite the…

• Good old FHA loans make a comeback. The collapse of the subprime mortgage business has revived interest in federally backed Federal Housing Administration loans among low-income and first-time home buyers who have…

11

• Housing micro booms defy the downturn. Although real estate sales and prices are flat or down in dozens of metropolitan areas, micro-markets within them are performing differently, with prices and sales…

• Counselors give life to housing dreams. Akilah S. Owens spoke in a measured cadence about the importance of homeownership. Establishing stakeholders in black communities would build wealth, the housing counselor told…

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…

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…

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…

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…

• 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…

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…

• 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…

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…

20

• Foreclosure auctions get more homes (Many buyers find 'discounts' -- if they do their homework). More than 80 homes from Santa Rosa to Oakley will go on the auction block Saturday in another sign that the drooping Bay Area housing…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

• 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…

• 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…

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…

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…

• 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…