News

2011

April

05

• Wells Fargo, NAACP open financial literacy center. The NAACP and Wells Fargo opened a financial literacy center in the District on Monday, a project that stemmed from the settlement of a lawsuit that accused the lending giant of steering black borrowers into

02

• Concern expressed on FHA loans. Could the federal government’sbooming FHA mortgage program be forcing homeowners to pay tens of millions of dollars of extra interest charges when they sell their houses or refinance loans? Critics say yes. The government

01

• Flaw in new rules for mortgages. If you want to get the government out of financing normal home mortgages, you have to find a way to bring in private capital — and on terms that do not make government-guaranteed mortgages a clearly

• Los préstamos FHA siguen siendo la primera fuente de financiamiento para compradores de casa. Gracias a ser uno de los pocos patrocinadores de las hipotecas que requieren un pago inicial bajo en una época de estrictas garantías de préstamos, la Administración Federal de Vivienda (FHA, por

March

31

• Predictions of long process in foreclosure talks. Little was settled in the first round of foreclosure settlement talks. The nation’s top mortgage servicers met Wednesday in Washington with the attorneys general from five states as well as Obama administration officials, beginning

30

• Foreclosure aid fell short, and is fading. Last summer, as President Obama’s premier plan to save millions of Americans from foreclosure foundered, the administration tossed a new life preserver to homeowners. Officials unveiled a $1 billion program to offer loans to help

• Best mortgage rates only with 20% down?. If you want to buy a $300,000 house, you’ll need $60,000 as a down payment to get the best interest rate on your home loan, according to a proposal released Tuesday by federal regulators. A group

• Consumer bureau’s Richard Cordray. The tall, soft-spoken man pad ding around the fifth floor of 1801 L St. — often not wearing shoes and occasionally quoting Shakespeare — seems at first more like a college professor than a hard-charging enforcer. But he

29

• Regulators to set rules on mortgage risk. Banks will be forced to retain some risk when they securitize all but the most conservative mortgages under rules that regulators are expected to vote on Tuesday. But the banks are likely to be given

• You insured for the 'big one'?. The massive earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan will cost insurance companies billions of dollars. In seismically active California, though, just 12% of homes with fire insurance also have earthquake coverage, according to the California Earthquake

• AT&T internet service contract is changing. All eyes might be on AT&T's pending acquisition of T-Mobile, but AT&T Internet customers shouldn't overlook some significant changes the company has just made to their service contract. Perhaps the most noteworthy addition

• GOP's plan to wind down Fannie, Freddie. A month-and-a-half after the White House announced its plan to wind down Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, House Republicans on Tuesday plan to introduce their own. According to congressional sources familiar with the matter, a

27

• Tax changes you should know about. Welcome to tax season — the most dreaded time of year. It's not just that preparing a tax return is time-consuming and costly — although it's clearly both. The Internal Revenue Service estimates that it takes roughly 23

• Builders, banks offer free job-loss insurance to home buyers. Insurance programs that make borrowers' mortgage payments for up to six months if they lose their jobs during an initial one- to two-year coverage period are gaining popularity. Home builders are offering it to new

25

• Balancing act for best insurance rates. When money is tight, it’s tempting to skimp on insurance coverage and hope that nobody sideswipes your car or breaks into your home. If disaster strikes, though, going without insurance could make it even

• Tax refund: Save, invest or fritter it away. The IRS says the average tax refund for the 2011 filing season is a not-too-shabby lump sum of $2,985. So what should you do with this new-found pile of cash? Treat it as mad money and blow

• Consumer bureau foes should look at banks. Elizabeth Warren, the Obama administration adviser assigned to set up the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, said lawmakers looking to limit the agency’s authority should focus instead on the Wall Street “behemoths” aiming to undermine

24

• Appealing solution to health-care denials. Say what you want about health-care reform, but as with many other pieces of legislation that have been passed during the country’s recent economic hard times, we are getting some much-needed transparency on a

21

• The war on Warren. Last week, at a House hearing on financial institutions and consumer credit, Republicans lined up to grill and attack Elizabeth Warren, the law professor and bankruptcy expert who is in charge of setting up the

20

• More borrowers opt for adjustable rate mortgages. In the years since the financial crisis, adjustable-rate mortgages, or ARMs, with their low initial interest rates that changed over time, have been considered riskier than fixed-rate loans and shunned by most buyers. But these