Headline News Archive

2008

March

15

• HUD wants costs made clear to borrowers. Mortgage lenders would be required to give better estimates of closing costs and improve disclosure of payments to mortgage brokers under rules proposed Friday by…

12

• Bancos exigen más para dar préstamos. El crédito que podía obtener el lunes quizás ya no esté a su alcance el martes, pues los banqueros y prestamistas en general están endureciendo…

11

• Countrywide probed for fraud. Federal authorities are investigating Countrywide Financial Corp. for securities fraud, according to newspaper reports. The FBI is in the early stages of an inquiry into…

• 401(k)s tapped to save homes. Struggling to save their homes from foreclosure, more Americans are raiding their 401(k) retirement accounts to pay their bills — and getting slammed with taxes…

10

• Mortgage lenders see borrowers give up. On the front lines in the mortgage foreclosure crisis, lender and loan servicer Dennis Lauria says his deepest losses are from borrowers who owe more…

• Cuídate de los rescates de 'foreclosure'. Si alguna vez te sentiste tentado por un anuncio que decía: "Podemos salvar su casa. Garantizado"; o quizás: "Tenemos contactos especiales en varios bancos que…

09

• A reverse mortgage mess?. With $4 trillion of home equity wrapped up in the houses of America's senior citizens, it's no coincidence that the market for reverse-mortgage loans is…

• Stimulus rebate is stimulus to complete taxes. You've heard it before, but this year the advice gains new import: Be sure to file. If you're hoping to get your rebate from the…

• Use your 'foolish' refund wisely. For years I've been begging people not to use tax withholding as a forced savings tool. I understand the reasoning. Times are tight and people…

• Costly where it counts. Stuff is cheap. Really. Yes, a gallon of gasoline is far more expensive than it was last year, but adjusted for inflation it costs about…

08

• Veterans loans left out of stimulus plan. When Congress and the White House put together the $150 billion economic stimulus package, they raised the maximum mortgage limits in high-cost areas for Fannie…

07

• El momento para comprar. Si está considerando comprar una propiedad o refinanciar, este es el mejor momento. ¿La razón? Aunque las reducciones en la tasa de Reserva Federal no…

06

• Health insurers get poor marks from hospitals. The nation's biggest health insurers lately have taken to rating hospitals on quality and cost, saying the information can help patients make better choices. Now,…

• Report: Minorities hit by foreclosures. Subprime lenders that went out of business with the industry's collapse targeted minority neighborhoods, leaving them to struggle disproportionately with foreclosures and crumbling home values,…

• Elevan límite de préstamos. El secretario del Departamento de Vivienda y Desarrollo Urbano (HUD), Alfonso Jackson, anunció ayer que el límite máximo de préstamos hipotecarios que pueden ser respaldados…

05

• Fed chair calls to prevent foreclosures. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke yesterday called on mortgage lenders to be more willing to renegotiate with borrowers who are at risk of losing…

04

• Fannie, Freddie agree to tighten appraisal rules. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, linchpins of the nation's mortgage system, yesterday promised to crack down on inflated home appraisals, which can take a toll…

• Merits of new mortgage aid debated. The U.S. Treasury said yesterday that its mortgage-assistance initiative helped 45,000 distressed subprime homeowners get new loans in its first month, but a veteran mortgage…

• En la mira la tasación de casas. Las firmas hipotecarias Fannie Mae y Freddie Mac, las mayores en Estados Unidos, se comprometieron ayer a cooperar con la procuraduría de Nueva York para…

03

• Activists target big lender in foreclosure fight. CLEVELAND — Folks on Humphrey Hill Drive were still waking up on the icy Saturday morning the shark hunters came to town. They rounded the…

• Número sin precedentes de casas vacías. Cuando Quinn Cuthbertson da una mirada a su vecindario de El Dorado Hills, California, ve filas de hogares vacíos y colinas yermas. La escuela y…

02

• Inside the mind of a debtor nation. As the director of a financial ministry at my church, I get an up-close and personal look at the spending habits of a lot of…

• Simple ways to build up your savings. re you saving enough? There's about a 50% chance that the answer is no, according to a recent survey. This lack of savings has left…

• Reverse mortgages requires sound advice. Foreclosures are up, and it looks like they won't be coming down anytime soon. Troubled homeowners have a few options to stave off foreclosure, and…

01

• Second mortgage lenders create roadblock to refinancing. Everybody wants to help keep people in their houses and out of financial stress and foreclosure, right? That's what the Bush administration says, and that's…