News

2008

August

31

• Greater risk, higher mortgage rates. Mortgage rates aren't what they used to be - and not just because they're higher. You can normally predict the going rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage by looking at the yield on 10-year Treasury

• Mortgage fraud up sharply. You might assume that with home purchases and new mortgage volume off by 30% or more in many markets during the last year, loan fraud would be down as well. Wrong. A benchmark quarterly study released

28

• California pay-as-you-drive policies. California drivers could be offered a new -- and often cheaper -- kind of car insurance next year under a voluntary pay-as-you-drive plan proposed Wednesday by Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner. His plan would base annual

• Wake-up call on home equity loans. An increase in consumer complaints over the cancellation or reduction of home equity lines of credit has prompted one federal banking regulator to remind financial institutions about the laws governing this type of loan. The

26

• Communities become home buyers to fight decay. As a wave of home foreclosures courses through the United States, some of the nation’s hardest hit cities think they have found a way to ease the blight left on their communities by the

• Foreclosures ensnare low-income renters. Ruth Cordoba has never owned a home, but she is feeling the effects of the mortgage meltdown acutely. Cordoba, 28, rented a three-bedroom home in Riverside for six months with the help of so-called Section 8 funds,

• Heating bills may burn through wallets. Consumers may be enjoying some relief at the gasoline pump, but another energy shock likely is just around the corner. Winter bills for heating oil, natural gas and electricity are expected to soar to records,

25

• FBI saw threat of mortgage crisis. ong before the mortgage crisis began rocking Main Street and Wall Street, a top FBI official made a chilling, if little-noticed, prediction: The booming mortgage business, fueled by low interest rates and soaring home values,

• Markets need more regulation, Fed told. Financial markets need to be more tightly regulated to prevent financial crises and quash perceptions that some firms are too big to fail and will be rescued by the government, central bankers and economists suggested

• Heating bills may burn through wallets. Consumers may be enjoying some relief at the gasoline pump, but another energy shock likely is just around the corner. Winter bills for heating oil, natural gas and electricity are expected to soar to records,

24

• When cutting home price, take one big bite. Cutting the price to get your home sold isn't quite as simple as it seems. When to cut? How much to cut? One big reduction or gradual discounts? Price high and negotiate down? Price low

21

• FDIC throws IndyMac homeowners a lifeline. Federal regulators yesterday announced a plan to systematically modify the loans of at least 25,000 homeowners with mortgages held by failed lender IndyMac in an attempt to create an industry model for assisting troubled borrowers. Throwing

• Keeping the IRS in check. Nina E. Olson, the official appointed to speak out on behalf of U.S. taxpayers, has a few major gripes about the Internal Revenue Service. Among them, she believes the agency needs to better protect

19

• Property tax reduced for Bay Area homeowners (Chinese). 【明報專訊】樓市泡沫過後，物業業主承受著房價下跌、供樓負擔上升的艱苦過渡期，灣區業主向地方估值官辦公室，申請重估物業稅求助個案驟增。上周五為重估物業估值申請截止期限，有地方估值官辦公室預測，今年有超過3萬個物業單位可獲扣減物業稅。 在經濟不景及次貸危機陰霾籠罩下，不少物業業主苦不堪言，供樓負擔令生活百上加斤，地方政府能提供的協助，最直接的相信是提供審核物業估值免費服務，倘符合資格可調低業主應繳付地稅，算是紓解燃眉之急的一途。除了與銀行商討重整貸款或債務，業主不妨向地方估值官辦公室申請調減物業稅之審核，或有助紓緩個人或家庭財務壓力。

• "Préstamos mentirosos". En la industria hipotecaria, se les llama "préstamos mentirosos" - hipotecas aprobadas sin requerir prueba de los bienes e ingresos del solicitante. El vapuleado mercado de viviendas en Estados Unidos, ahogado ya en ejecuciones

17

• Insurers avoid getting soaked in subprime storm. The one financial industry that seems to be dodging the subprime bullet is insurance. Only a handful of companies have had their safety ratings knocked down because of an excessive exposure to Wall Street's toxic

• Before you take the housing credit. Part of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 authorizes a tax credit of up to $7,500 for qualified first-time home buyers. Based on the questions I'm getting from readers, many people are ready to jump

• Fannie, Freddie will raise some fees, lower others. The two biggest sources of mortgages for American home buyers plan to raise their base fees to counter what they see as continuing "adverse conditions" in the real estate marketplace. At the same time, however,

15

• Less than golden years. Even before the housing bubble, the country was facing a retirement crisis, with most Americans saving too little, if anything, for their post-working years. The housing bubble — and subsequent bust — have made that bad situation

14

• Think of tax credit as 15-year loan. Lots of folks have been asking me whether the much-touted first-time homebuyer tax credit is worth taking. "I'd like to see you write a follow-up on who should take advantage of this credit," wrote Liz