Headline News Archive

2008

January

14

• Housing scams more than double. Federal mortgage fraud convictions have more than doubled in the past year, and the FBI expects a growth in foreclosure scams as the crisis over

13

• Lenders compete for those with good credit. Remember trying to refinance during the real estate boom? You were lucky if your broker or lender returned your calls within two weeks. How that

12

• Few lifeboats for people with mortgage troubles. The rolling tsunami of home-loan delinquencies and foreclosures is exposing serious problems in the mortgage industry's capacity to quickly handle borrowers' requests for help --

• Cleveland sues 21 banks for home loans gone bad. The city of Cleveland, an epicenter of the nation's home foreclosure crisis, has sued 21 banks, claiming their subprime lending practices created a public nuisance that

11

• Underwater mortgage? How to stay afloat. There's hardly a homeowner out there who doesn't cringe at the thought of how far their home's value has sunk over the past year. But

• Bank of America to buy Countrywide. Bank of America (BAC) said Friday it has agreed to buy Countrywide Financial (CFC) for $4 billion in stock, a deal that both rescues the country's

09

• Baltimore sues subprime lender over race. The city of Baltimore yesterday sued a major national lender for engaging in what it describes as abusive practices that have created a foreclosure crisis

• Forecasters: No quick end to housing ills. It could be a long slump. Housing prices in Massachusetts and the nation likely will keep falling through next year and beyond, according to a

• Bush mulling boost for the economy. President Bush said Tuesday that he is watching very carefully to see if the struggling U.S. economy needs a short-term boost from the federal

08

• Countrywide tells judge it 'recreated' letters. The Countrywide Financial Corporation fabricated documents related to the bankruptcy case of a Pennsylvania homeowner, court records show, raising new questions about the business practices

• Foreclosure hotline looks for help. A month after the Bush Administration announced a plan to help troubled homeowners, one foreclosure counseling agency is looking for some help of its own. "

05

• Too good to be true tax myths. Every year at this time, I write a series of tax-related columns. The goal is to provide guidance for homeowners preparing to file income tax

04

• Ways to cope despite real estate's dire outlook. If you'd asked housing economist David Seiders at this time last year to forecast the real estate industry's future, he would have told you to

01

• Your money: A gaze back, a look ahead. Los Angeles Times Business columnists share resolutions and admonitions for a rewarding 2008. From Kathy Kristof, David Lazarus and Tom Petruno.

2007

December

31

• How a bank fell victim to loan fraud. Kathy Moore's loan application sailed through the mortgage desk at Lehman Bros. Bank, and little wonder. With sterling credit, deep pockets and two appraisals pegging

30

• Reverse mortgages hit by deceit. With the housing market in decline, unscrupulous sales agents are popping up in the booming reverse-mortgage industry, where reports of deceptive and high-pressure sales tactics

• New California borrower, buyer protections. When the calendar turns to Jan. 1, several new real estate-related laws will come into effect, the most notable of which include state measures requiring greater

29

• More hoops for borrowers. If you hope to get a mortgage this coming year, look beyond your credit score, because that's what lenders will be doing. The mortgage mess

• Reason for hope next year. Queen Elizabeth II once famously referred to her "annus horribilis," a horrible year during which almost everything went badly, from royal-family scandals to a fire

27

• Mortgage probes face big hurdles. he nation's largest banks are losing billions of dollars from the mortgage debacle. But will pain from bad housing bets be compounded by government investigations?

24

• Mortgage mess has government scrambling. After a slow and stumbling start, Washington is scrambling to prevent the unfolding mortgage crisis from pushing the country into recession during an election year.

• Homeowners with forgiven debt get timely tax break. Families who lost their homes to the foreclosure crisis this year will have at least one reason for cheer this holiday season: They won't have

21

• Allegations WaMu sought inflated appraisals. Federal regulators are looking into allegations that mortgage lender Washington Mutual Inc. pressured First American Corp. of Santa Ana to inflate appraisals of homes nationwide.

• Mortgage crisis may require a guardian angel. I knew it was the Christmas season. There on television was Henry F. Potter, the mean banker, quizzing Pa Bailey, the idealist from the building

• The Pain of foreclosure. Joyce Griffin pulled out the sparkly white artificial Christmas tree she stores in the basement of her Anne Arundel County duplex, draped it with blue