News

2008

May

05

• Unlikely allies forge winning strategy. One is a free-market Republican from Wall Street with roots in the rural Midwest and a passion for bird-watching. The other is a rumpled, union-hall Democrat from Bayonne, N.J., who once famously described himself

04

• Not easy to find help on brink of foreclosure. Zena Collins knew she had a serious problem when she could no longer afford electricity. The mortgage payment on her Gaithersburg house had jumped about $500, to $2,000 a month, not counting taxes and insurance, after her

• Paying online can weave web of problems. My friends tell me it's quick and painless. They say doing it makes life feel so much easier. They also swear that once you start, you won't be able to live without it. It sounds

03

• Credit restrictions are now the rule. Like a spreading infection, restrictions on credit are moving into new and more specialized niches of the mortgage market. Among those now feeling the pinch: Cash-out refinancings. Loans with anything less than full documentation of

02

• Nueva ley contra discriminación. Las compañías no podrían usar información genética para tomar decisiones sobre empleo o seguros, de acuerdo con un proyecto de ley aprobado casi por unanimidad por el Congreso y que ahora

• Ahora es el momento de comprar casa. Ahora podría ser el momento propicio para comprar en el caso de quienes deseen aprovechar una oportunidad en el mercado inmobiliario. Las posibilidades pueden ser especialmente lucrativas para los inquilinos que no tienen casa

01

• Not all credit scores created equal. AS THE DIRECTOR of finance at a Spring Hill, Fla.-based Chrysler dealership, Marvin Hedrick has had his fair share of skeptical (and unhappy) clients, especially when he has to turn someone down for an

• FDIC plan for home refinancing. A key federal regulator released a proposal to address the mortgage crisis Wednesday, calling on the Treasury Department to help troubled borrowers by lending them 20% of their mortgage principal to spur refinancing into more affordable

• Brokers in the fast-and-loose lane?. There are lots of proposed remedies to prevent another mortgage catastrophe like the one we're going through now. Most of the suggestions I've seen won't fix the loopholes that allowed so many borrowers to take

April

30

• Foreclosures double, home prices tumble. The most severe real estate recession in decades appears far from over, with the pace of foreclosures rising, the fall in home prices accelerating and the pain spreading to nearly every major U.S. city,

29

• Experts, consumers share home market views. The spring home-buying season is kicking off in the midst of the most painful real estate recession in decades, with prices tumbling and many Americans losing their homes to foreclosure because they can't pay their

• Nuevo récord de viviendas vacías. El porcentaje de viviendas vacías a la venta en Estados Unidos alcanzó un nuevo récord en el primer trimestre del año, anunció el gobierno el lunes . El informe de la Oficina del

27

• Prosecute the mortgage sharks. When Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson released the government's blueprint for overhauling the nation's financial regulatory structure, he promised to direct more attention toward the front-line people who arrange mortgage loans. "Simply put, that process

• Best investment: Homes or stocks?. Jason Gerbsman and his wife, Lauren, began thinking about buying a home just as the housing market began to slump two years ago. The couple, who were renting an apartment in the District, had saved

26

• 'Declining markets' and self-fulfilling prophecies. Could designations of Zip codes, metropolitan areas and entire states as "declining markets" hinder a real estate recovery and hurt minority groups and moderate-income buyers disproportionately? Growing ranks of critics say yes. Since late 2007, most

22

• Lenders derail plan for judges to modify mortgages. Sherrie Floyd says she was able to handle the first reset on the $505,000 mortgage she had taken out to refinance her Vallejo, Calif., home. And the second. But this month, when the mortgage reset for

• Renters can't escape foreclosure crisis. On a chilly night after work last November, Christopher and Jenell Chow relaxed, watching the evening news while their children scampered around their rented two-story stucco home. Someone knocked at the door. An officer was

21

• Debt may be a factor in suspicious fires. Some folks celebrate their last home mortgage payment by setting fire to their loan agreement. Lately, some people behind on their mortgages are simply setting fire to their homes. In what appears to be the

20

• Homebuilders: Walk away, expect to pay. If you thought buying a new home was expensive, wait until you see how much it costs you to back out of the deal. Some buyers have compelling reasons to want out of a home

• Putting a big squeeze on condo loans. If you own or plan to buy a condominium, an ominous new phase of the mortgage-credit squeeze could be looming for you. As a result of underwriting changes by the giant mortgage investors Fannie Mae