News

2010

July

21

• Financial reform bill to assist unemployed homeowners. Nylton Andrade hopes that a federal bill President Obama was expected to sign today will help him and his wife keep their home. Andrade lives on the city’s West Side in a white, two-story

• Wall Street reform law's starting line. As soon as President Obama's name shows up on the Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform law Wednesday, there will be some changes in the way the financial industry does business. Immediately, regulators will get new powers

• About 40% of federal mortgage modifications cancelled. The number of homeowners dropped from the Obama administration's signature program to modify mortgages for cash-strapped homeowners is larger than the number of those receiving permanently lower monthly payments under the program. The program puts

• Next focus of reform: Housing finance. After President Obama signs into law an overhaul of financial regulation at a ceremony set for Wednesday, his administration will turn to reforming an area at the root of the financial crisis: the U.S.

19

• Fannie Mae gets tough on 'strategic' mortgage defaults. Borrowers who walk away from mortgages they can afford to pay — making "strategic defaults" — are running increasing risks that they'll be penalized for doing so. Starting in October, Fannie Mae says, strategic defaulters will be

17

• Three auto dealer tactics the overhaul missed. Sometime next week, President Obama will finally sign a financial reform bill. Plenty of banks will have to deal with messy new rules, but one big winner in the “spare me from further regulation” sweepstakes

• Short list emerges for consumer guardian. The Obama administration, savoring Congressional approval of a far-reaching financial regulation bill, now faces a crucial choice over who will lead the powerful new consumer guardian created by the legislation. With an estimated budget of $500

16

• El Senado aprueba reforma financiera en nuevo triunfo para Obama. El Senado de Estados Unidos confirmó este jueves un nuevo y crucial triunfo político para el presidente Barack Obama a pocos meses de elecciones legislativas, al aprobar la más amplia reforma de la

15

• U.S. Senate stands with consumers on financial reform. U.S. Senate passes comprehensive financial reform

• Passage of financial reform is only half the battle. The Senate's expected approval of financial regulatory reform this week closes more than a year of partisan wrangling over how to prevent a future economic meltdown. But the signing ceremony in the coming days by

• Foreclosures could top 1 million homes in 2010. More than 1 million U.S. households could lose their homes to foreclosure this year, as lenders work their way through a huge backlog of borrowers who have fallen behind on their loans, according to RealtyTrac,

13

• Wall Street reform and the price of milk. Congress is expected to finally pass the massive Wall Street reform bill later this week. And the lobbyists have already moved on to their next line of attack: The regulators who will issue the hundreds

• Financial regulation bill nears finish line. Two key Republicans said Monday that they plan to support a far-reaching bill to overhaul financial regulations, all but ensuring that the landmark legislation will sail through the Senate in coming days. GOP Sens. Olympia

• Smaller cable TV packages good for consumers. Looks like the cable industry is finally responding to the threat of cut-rate online alternatives such as YouTube and Hulu. No, that doesn't mean cable companies will at last allow people to pay only for

12

• More Americans' credit scores sink to new lows. The credit scores of millions more Americans are sinking to new lows. Figures provided by FICO Inc. show that 25.5 percent of consumers — nearly 43.4 million people — now have a credit score of 599 or below, marking them

11

• Mortgage investors turn to state courts for relief. Investors who lost billions on boatloads of faulty mortgage securities have had a hard time holding Wall Street accountable for selling the things in the first place. For the most part, banks have said they

10

• Fannie Mae calls for experienced appraisers. Picture this: You've signed a contract to sell your house. Your buyers say they have nailed down the right mortgage. All is well. But then the appraisal comes in low - $25,000 to $50,000 under what was

05

• Loan giants opt to block energy loans. Two government-chartered mortgage finance companies are unlikely to accept loans on homes that are part of a special program that lets homeowners repay the cost of energy improvements through a surcharge on their property tax

04

• The hard work falls to the regulators. Robert Temple doesn't look obscenely rich. He's got big glasses and a thick walrus mustache. He does not wear bling. And the fact of the matter is that Robert Temple is not obscenely rich. But

03

• Changes in mobile home lending. Mobile homes may not be a staple of the New York City housing market, but nationally last year they made up nearly a quarter of all new homes sold for less than $200,000, according to an