News

2008

March

11

• Countrywide probed for fraud. Federal authorities are investigating Countrywide Financial Corp. for securities fraud, according to newspaper reports. The FBI is in the early stages of an inquiry into whether executives with the Calabasas-based company misrepresented its financial position

• 401(k)s tapped to save homes. Struggling to save their homes from foreclosure, more Americans are raiding their 401(k) retirement accounts to pay their bills — and getting slammed with taxes and penalties in the process, according to retirement plan administrators. Rather

10

• Mortgage lenders see borrowers give up. On the front lines in the mortgage foreclosure crisis, lender and loan servicer Dennis Lauria says his deepest losses are from borrowers who owe more than their homes are worth and simply mail in the

• Cuídate de los rescates de 'foreclosure'. Si alguna vez te sentiste tentado por un anuncio que decía: "Podemos salvar su casa. Garantizado"; o quizás: "Tenemos contactos especiales en varios bancos que pueden acelerar la aprobación de casos como

09

• A reverse mortgage mess?. With $4 trillion of home equity wrapped up in the houses of America's senior citizens, it's no coincidence that the market for reverse-mortgage loans is finally taking off. Reverse mortgages allow homeowners 62 and older to turn

• Stimulus rebate is stimulus to complete taxes. You've heard it before, but this year the advice gains new import: Be sure to file. If you're hoping to get your rebate from the economic stimulus legislation, you must file a tax return this

• Use your 'foolish' refund wisely. For years I've been begging people not to use tax withholding as a forced savings tool. I understand the reasoning. Times are tight and people want some financial security, even if it means letting the

• Costly where it counts. Stuff is cheap. Really. Yes, a gallon of gasoline is far more expensive than it was last year, but adjusted for inflation it costs about what it did in 1981. In fact, lots of things, such

08

• Veterans loans left out of stimulus plan. When Congress and the White House put together the $150 billion economic stimulus package, they raised the maximum mortgage limits in high-cost areas for Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Housing Administration. But lawmakers neglected

07

• El momento para comprar. Si está considerando comprar una propiedad o refinanciar, este es el mejor momento. ¿La razón? Aunque las reducciones en la tasa de Reserva Federal no se ha reflejado aún en las tasas hipotecarias

06

• Health insurers get poor marks from hospitals. The nation's biggest health insurers lately have taken to rating hospitals on quality and cost, saying the information can help patients make better choices. Now, hospitals are giving insurers a dose of their own medicine.

• Report: Minorities hit by foreclosures. Subprime lenders that went out of business with the industry's collapse targeted minority neighborhoods, leaving them to struggle disproportionately with foreclosures and crumbling home values, according to a new report. These companies' high-risk loans made

• Elevan límite de préstamos. El secretario del Departamento de Vivienda y Desarrollo Urbano (HUD), Alfonso Jackson, anunció ayer que el límite máximo de préstamos hipotecarios que pueden ser respaldados por la Oficina Federal de Vivienda (FHA)

04

• En la mira la tasación de casas. Las firmas hipotecarias Fannie Mae y Freddie Mac, las mayores en Estados Unidos, se comprometieron ayer a cooperar con la procuraduría de Nueva York para hacer más claro y transparente el proceso de

03

• Activists target big lender in foreclosure fight. CLEVELAND — Folks on Humphrey Hill Drive were still waking up on the icy Saturday morning the shark hunters came to town. They rounded the suburban traffic circle in a pair of rented school buses after

• Número sin precedentes de casas vacías. Cuando Quinn Cuthbertson da una mirada a su vecindario de El Dorado Hills, California, ve filas de hogares vacíos y colinas yermas. La escuela y el centro comunitario prometidos no se han materializado. Cuthbertson

02

• Inside the mind of a debtor nation. As the director of a financial ministry at my church, I get an up-close and personal look at the spending habits of a lot of people. And year after year, I am stunned by the

• Simple ways to build up your savings. re you saving enough? There's about a 50% chance that the answer is no, according to a recent survey. This lack of savings has left a substantial number of Americans in economic peril, either because they've

• Reverse mortgages requires sound advice. Foreclosures are up, and it looks like they won't be coming down anytime soon. Troubled homeowners have a few options to stave off foreclosure, and Congress is looking at creating others. But older homeowners, age 62

01

• Second mortgage lenders create roadblock to refinancing. Everybody wants to help keep people in their houses and out of financial stress and foreclosure, right? That's what the Bush administration says, and that's what top executives of major banks, mortgage companies and Wall