Headline News Archive

2008

May

05

• Mortgage investigation intensifies. Federal agencies are intensifying a criminal investigation of the mortgage industry and focusing on whether some lenders turned a blind eye to inflated income figures

• 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

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,

• 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,

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:

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

• 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

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,

• 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%

• 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

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

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

• 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

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

• 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,

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

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

• 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

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

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

• 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

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

15

• 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

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

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