Headline News Archive

2007

June

03

• Option ARM rife with pitfalls for borrowers. For Los Angeles newlyweds Joseph and Jamie Horton, the deal looked too good to pass up: a mortgage with an initial 1.75 percent interest rate…

02

• Reprisals on property appraisals. A federal class-action lawsuit is focusing attention on an issue that's important to homeowners nationwide: Who - or what - tells you how much your…

May

30

• How insurance scores affect premiums. How is the credit score that insurance companies use when setting premiums different from the one that lenders use when determining your rates on a…

27

• Don't let movers take you for a ride. Few things in life match the stress and expense of a big move -- just ask anyone who has recently changed addresses. "Moving is a…

26

• Can FHA bill save the day?. With more credit-stressed mortgage borrowers falling behind on their payments, will Congress step in and throw them a lifeline? Will legislators transform the most consumer-friendly…

23

• Mortgage banker blames brokers for loan woes. The heads of trade groups representing mortgage bankers and brokers traded barbs Tuesday over who's to blame for the housing market's woes. The head of…

• Bill would tighten reigns on Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac. Legislation to tighten federal oversight of the two biggest buyers of home mortgages, Fannie Mae (FNM) and Freddie Mac (FRE), sped toward adoption by the…

22

• Bankers groups back certain mortgage reforms. Banking industry trade groups endorsed mortgage reform principles Monday as the troubled market for high-risk home loans worsens and Congress ponders whether to intervene. The…

• Reverse mortgages: Some drawbacks exist. If you're still watching your favorite nature programs on a 25-year-old RCA console, perhaps you've considered buying one of those snazzy high-definition TVs that let…

19

• Discriminating lenders—or discrimination?. When mortgage lenders refuse to write loans on central-city rowhouses, does that violate federal fair-housing rules? What about refusing to write mortgages on houses in…

15

• California groups seek foreclosure delay. A coalition of California consumer groups sent letters Monday urging six major mortgage lenders to suspend foreclosures on home loans for the next six months…

14

• Fee-free mortgage: for real?. Home loan industry competitors are searching for hidden gimmicks, but Bank of America insists that its "no-fee mortgage plus" plan announced this week delivers exactly…

• Test the waters before choosing retirement locale. You'd think Warren Bland would have had a smooth transition to retirement. After all, he spent three years researching 60 places in the USA and…

08

• Bank of America offers no fee home loans. Bank of America (BAC) said Monday it is offering no-fee mortgages nationwide for Americans buying homes. The second-largest U.S. bank said it won't charge for…

07

• Katrina victims find storm is not over. For Gloria Vallery, the 20 months since Hurricane Katrina have brought a succession of financial agonies. Too little insurance money to cover her property damage.…

06

• Lenders help homeowners catch up, stay put. Ernestine Witherspoon managed to hang onto her house in Northeast Washington even after she lost her job and fell far behind on her mortgage payments.…

05

• IRS 'kick homeowners while they're down' rule. For homeowners who are seriously delinquent on their mortgages and hoping for relief, the Internal Revenue Service has bad news: If your lender agrees to…

04

• House panel passes FHA reform. A U.S. congressional committee on Thursday voted to reform a Depression-era housing program that could save many subprime borrowers from foreclosure. The House of Representatives…

• Schumer takes aim at subprime lending. In a bid to stop a wave of foreclosures, Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Thursday urged Congress to approve $300 million for counseling and…

April

30

• Flippers flop as housing market cools. n the rampant real estate speculation of the Las Vegas valley three years ago, people lined up outside Pulte Homes sales offices overnight as if…

• Title insurance costs: too high?. Title insurance typically is a large, mandatory cost for home purchasers and mortgage refinancers - often in the $1,000 to $2,000 range. But is the…

26

• The three worlds of mortgage lending. There is a language of money, complete with its own vocabulary. It's in your interest to know as much of the terminology as you can,…

25

• Home appliance purchases demand homework. You’ll probably spend a lot of time considering color and style when choosing a new home appliance. My wife and I did. Just don’t forget…

• Property taxes up as house prices fall. Property taxes will keep rising nearly everywhere for homeowners even as house prices are falling in many parts of the country, according to a USA…

23

• Lenders criticized for role in foreclosures. Consumer advocates have begun criticizing major mortgage lenders, such as Countrywide Financial Corp. and GMAC Financial, that also have in-house foreclosure businesses. It is "mind-boggling"…