News

2008

April

18

• Momentum builds for foreclosure relief. Congress isn't done debating how best to stem the foreclosure crisis, but one near-certainty has emerged: Lawmakers will pull together a housing bill that expands Washington's role in helping troubled borrowers. Key legislators, Bush administration

15

• House holds financial literacy hearing (Consumer Action statement added to the hearing record). The House Financial Services Committee, chaired by Rep. Barney Frank, today holds a hearing on financial literacy and education to examine the effectiveness of governmental and private sector initiatives. April is Financial Literacy Month. Consumer

• Poll: Housing woes won't end soon. A growing majority say they won't buy a home anytime soon, the latest sign of increasing pessimism about the nation's housing crisis, a poll showed Monday. The Associated Press-AOL Money & Finance poll found that more

14

• Foreclosure politics. With foreclosures running at about 20,000 per week, at least 100,000 more families are likely to lose their homes before Congress passes a relief bill. And even then, the measure may fail to stanch the problem unless

12

• Walking out of mortgage, into years of hurt. The country's two largest sources of mortgage money have a blunt warning for anyone thinking about joining the growing "walkaway" trend, in which homeowners stop making payments and months later send the house keys back

11

• Aprueban nueva ayuda con las hipotecas. El Senado aprobó ayer con amplio respaldo bipartidista un proyecto de ley que incluye exenciones tributarias y otros pasos diseñados para ayudar a empresas y dueños de vivienda a capear la crisis hipotecaria.

10

• Senate passes bill to ease housing crisis. The Senate today passed a bipartisan package of tax breaks and other steps designed to help businesses and homeowners weather the housing crisis. The measure passed by an impressive 84-12 vote, but even its supporters

• White House plan to aid subprime borrowers. The Bush administration yesterday unveiled a plan to rescue 100,000 homeowners at risk of foreclosure by relaxing eligibility standards for government-backed loans and encouraging lenders to forgive a portion of their debt. The proposal was quickly

09

• Bush to offer more mortgage aid. The Bush administration is expanding a government program to help homeowners head off foreclosure as it scrambles to counter Democratic calls for a broader federal housing rescue. The plan would let more low- to moderate-income

• Engatusados por agentes hipotecarios. Una investigación del Centro de Préstamos Responsables (CRL) dada a conocer ayer indica que los prestatarios que obtuvieron sus préstamos a través de agentes hipotecarios, especialmente tratándose de aquellos con

08

• U.S. House to offer housing plan. House Democrats are crafting a response to the nation's housing crisis that would offer tax breaks to homeowners, first-time home buyers and developers of low-income housing but would not provide tax relief to the struggling

07

• Embargos golpean las zonas rurales. El final llegó en un abrir y cerrar de ojos, afuera del tribunal del condado de Merced. Sólo seis personas se presentaron al remate de ejecuciones judiciales, incluyendo a Janice Pimentel y su hijo

03

• U.S. Senate ignores help for homeowners. Consumer Action joined other consumer, civil rights and housing groups in opposing the Senate's formula for homeowners on the brink of foreclosure. Consumer Action and others argue that loan modifications through bankruptcy should be part

• Wrong relief. Democrats and Republicans in the Senate have joined hands and are marching to rescue the U.S. housing market. Far be it from us to rain on this bipartisan parade, which would marshal such measures

• Housing accord puts builders first. Senate Democratic and Republican leaders rushing to address the nation's housing crisis reached agreement yesterday on a package that would provide billions of dollars in tax rebates to the slumping home-building industry while offering little

• Plan bipartidista de rescate hipotecario. Los líderes del Senado acordaron el miércoles una iniciativa de ley bipartidista diseñada para dar alivio al mercado de la vivienda y ayudar a millones de familias amenazadas con una ejecución

02

• Distressed owners frustrated by housing help. Every day more than 4,500 people call Hope Now, the White House-backed group formed to help struggling homeowners. But few of them appear to be getting the relief they are hoping for. One reason is that

• Senators agree to make deal on housing. Under pressure from voters to address the nation's housing crisis, Senate Republicans agreed yesterday to work with Democrats on a compromise plan to stimulate sagging home sales and help distressed homeowners avoid foreclosure. The agreement

March

31

• Repo man? More like repo Big Brother. When the light starts to flash, you had better have the cash. That's the reality for millions of subprime borrowers whose used car purchase is contingent upon having an unusual option: a little box

• State cutbacks felt by most needy. In Illinois' Cook County, women in poor neighborhoods no longer have access to free mammograms from two mobile vans testing for breast cancer. In Michigan, hikers will find about 20 campgrounds closed, and scientists are ending