Headline News Archive

2011

December

22

• Bank of America to pay $335M to settle claims of unfair Countrywide loans. Bank of America agreed Wednesday to pay $335 million to settle federal claims that its Countrywide Financial unit charged black and Hispanic borrowers higher mortgage…

15

• Mortgage aid program stumbled from the start. "Congratulations" began the letter, dated Sept. 27. Lorraine and Jude Austin, who had battled against foreclosure for two years, were "approved" for $48,113 in federal…

• 7 secrets to super customer service. Even pros are suckers for flattery Front-line phone reps are cursed at, threatened or belittled seven times a day on average, according to researchers at…

13

• Steps you take now can boost tax refund. Your tree is trimmed, your gifts are wrapped and your plane ticket home has been booked. Now you just have to figure out how you're…

12

• Consumer protection bureau opens mortgage complaint hotline. Got a beef with your mortgage lender? Is your bank unresponsive when you complain that your escrow account is fouled up and making your monthly…

09

• A dream of homeownership, still beyond reach. Like many young married people, Steve and Logan Kinney dream of owning a home. So after several years of diligent saving, the couple, both teachers,…

08

• U.S. targets mortgage servicers for poor performance. The Obama administration said on Wednesday it will keep the pressure on two big U.S. banks to help more troubled borrowers from losing their homes…

• White House pushes vote on consumer agency chief. The White House has undertaken an extraordinary push this week to promote the confirmation of a director for the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, despite…

07

• Stealth commercials masquerade as TV news. Alison Rhodes is passionate about child safety, and in hundreds of TV news interviews, the self-styled “Safety Mom” has talked up products designed to increase…

01

• Foreclosure crisis isn’t even halfway over. A new analysis suggests that the tide of home foreclosures isn’t going to recede soon. The report from the Center for Responsible Lending, “Lost Ground,…

November

30

• A new shot at mortgage relief. Like millions of other homeowners, William D. Compton would like to refinance his mortgage so that he pays less each month for his three-bedroom house…

27

• Higher loan limits transform FHA into key source of financing. After a year characterized by grumpy partisan gridlock, Congress came up with a Thanksgiving compromise that could change the mortgage choices of buyers and refinancers…

23

• Financial finger-pointing turns to regulators. In the whodunit of the financial crisis, Wall Street executives have pointed the blame at all kinds of parties — consumers who lied on their…

22

• Whistleblowers say ignored, punished by lenders. Darcy Parmer ran into trouble soon after she started her job as a fraud analyst at Wells Fargo Bank. Her bosses, she later claimed, were…

• $1B homeowner loan program mainly benefited 3 states. A $1 billion federal program to help distressed homeowners in much of the country mainly helped people in just three states and very few in…

19

• Flawed real estate appraisals create problems for buyers, sellers, refinancers. How do you fight back when an appraiser — often from another city and working for a small fee on behalf of a big bank…

18

• Two indicted in 'massive' Nevada robo-signing case. A Nevada grand jury has indicted two people allegedly involved in a "massive" robo-signing scheme, the state's attorney general said Thursday. A spokeswoman for Attorney…

• Congress votes to raise FHA mortgage limits to $729,750. The U.S. Congress approved higher limits for mortgages backed by the Federal Housing Administration, bypassing the objections of Republicans who said the increase could threaten…

17

• As graduates return to nest, economy feels the pain. Like most of her friends, Hollis Romanelli graduated from college last May and promptly moved back in with her parents. Add to Portfolio As a…

• California attorney general subpoenas Fannie, Freddie. Investigators with the California attorney general's office have subpoenaed information from mortgage titans Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as part of a wide-ranging inquiry into…

13

• Follow these five tips for selling your home in winter. Just your luck — you have to sell your home in winter, the slowest and dreariest sales season of all. But cheer up. You can…

10

• Judge chafes over Citigroup fraud settlement. A federal judge Wednesday challenged the SEC’s plan to settle a fraud case against Citigroup for $285 million, saying that the deal would recoup only…

• Foreclosure backlogs could take decades to clear. Foreclosure sales are moving so slowly in half the states that at the current pace, it will take more than eight years on average to…

08

• Credit scores to add more consumer data. Many consumers applying for a mortgage are going to start sharing more personal information with lenders next year, like it or not. FICO scores, the…

02

• 4 million borrowers eligible for foreclosure review. More than 4 million borrowers who have faced foreclosure since early 2009 will have the chance to have their cases reviewed for potential wrongdoing, federal…