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More US states to join foreclosure-abuse deal (AP)
Tue, 07 Feb 2012 22:38:25 GMT
AP - Arizona, Michigan and Florida, three of the states hit hardest by the housing crisis, will join a nationwide settlement over foreclosure abuses, officials with direct knowledge say. They will join more than 40 other states in approving a deal that would benefit many Americans who lost their homes or can't afford their mortgages.
AP Enterprise: Brown bank regulator an insider (AP)
Tue, 07 Feb 2012 19:51:19 GMT

In this photo taken Monday Jan. 9, 2012, Jan Owen, Gov. Jerry Brown's appointee to head the Department of Corporations, testifies before the Assembly Banking Committee in Sacramento, Calif. Consumer groups say Owen's background working for companies that were at the heart of the mortgage meltdown raises questions about her approach at the department that oversees California banking, financial and consumer regulations. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)AP - Gov. Jerry Brown's appointee to head the department that oversees banking, financial and consumer regulations in California led a trade association that fought against tighter lending restrictions before the subprime mortgage crisis exploded and was an executive with Washington Mutual when the now-failed bank was among the most aggressive marketers of loans to high-risk borrowers.


Analysis: Banks largely reserved for U.S. mortgage pact cost (Reuters)
Tue, 07 Feb 2012 19:32:19 GMT
Reuters - As the nation's five largest mortgage lenders edge close to a $25 billion settlement over foreclosure abuses, it's becoming clear that the deal will have little or no impact on their future bottom lines.
Delaware officials wrestle over mortgage deal (Reuters)
Tue, 07 Feb 2012 16:38:23 GMT
Reuters - Delaware stands to leave up to $40 million in homeowner relief on the table, if it does not join a multi-state mortgage settlement, according to a letter from the state's banking commissioner seen by Reuters on Tuesday.
More than 40 states agree to foreclosure deal (AP)
Tue, 07 Feb 2012 02:26:36 GMT
AP - More than 40 U.S. states have agreed to a nationwide settlement over foreclosure abuses.
Mortgage deal faces setbacks, again (Reuters)
Tue, 07 Feb 2012 00:11:21 GMT
Reuters - A multi-state mortgage settlement in the works for more than a year will likely be pushed back again as dissident U.S. states continue to press specific concerns and ignore a Monday deadline to decide whether they will sign it.
Housing plan helps nearly 1 million homeowners (Reuters)
Mon, 06 Feb 2012 22:26:24 GMT

Txera Alonso (L) and Juan Carlos Bezarra, volunteers from the pressure group Berri-Otxoak walk towards the town hall during a Reuters - Nearly 1 million U.S. homeowners have won permanent reductions on mortgage payments since the Obama administration launched its foreclosure prevention program in 2009, the U.S. Treasury said on Monday, only a fraction of the total it aimed to reach.


Convicted NY fraudster sentenced in hit plot (AP)
Mon, 06 Feb 2012 21:26:54 GMT

This pool July 8, 2009, file photo, shows Aaron Hand, the president of AFG Financial Group., Inc., appearing in a New York courtroom after he was indicted on charges of enterprise corruption and grand larceny in connection with a mortgage fraud scheme. Hand was sentenced Monday, Feb. 6, 2012, to an additional eight to 16 years in prison for a contract-killing scheme, on top of the eight years and four months to 25 years he's serving for the mortgage fraud. (AP Photo/Pool, Mariela Lombard)AP - Convicted of engineering a $100 million mortgage-fraud scheme, Aaron Hand was yearning for vengeance and stuck in prison, prosecutors said.


Romney focuses on Obama, Gingrich on Romney in NV (AP)
Fri, 03 Feb 2012 23:35:33 GMT

Republican presidential candidate, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich speaks at Stoney's Rockin Country, Friday, Feb. 3, 2012, in Las Vegas, Nev. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)AP - A confident Mitt Romney accused President Barack Obama of failing to do enough to create jobs as he campaigned Friday ahead of GOP presidential caucuses this weekend in a state with sky-high unemployment and foreclosure rates. Newt Gingrich, who is fighting for a respectable showing here, rolled out a fresh line of criticism by comparing the former Massachusetts governor to Obama.


 New York sues banks over electronic mortgage system (Reuters)
Fri, 03 Feb 2012 22:54:10 GMT
Reuters - New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman on Friday sued three major U.S. banks, accusing them of fraud for using an electronic mortgage database that resulted in deceptive and illegal practices.
NY's Schneiderman sues banks in foreclosure effort (AP)
Fri, 03 Feb 2012 22:53:51 GMT
AP - New York's attorney general on Friday accused some of the nation's largest banks of deceit and fraud in using an electronic mortgage registry that he said puts homeowners at a disadvantage in foreclosures while saving banks over $2 billion.
Goldman to face mortgage debt class-action lawsuit (Reuters)
Fri, 03 Feb 2012 17:37:51 GMT
Reuters - Goldman Sachs Group Inc was ordered by a federal judge to face a securities class-action lawsuit accusing it of defrauding investors about a 2006 offering of securities backed by risky mortgage loans from a now-defunct lender.
Analysis: Obstacles high for more mortgage prosecutions (Reuters)
Fri, 03 Feb 2012 02:09:16 GMT
Reuters - Despite the determination of President Obama to take Wall Street to court for the financial crisis, prosecutors face an uphill struggle to win more convictions like the two they scored on Wednesday against former Credit Suisse Group AG mortgage traders.
Homebuilders see stable housing market ahead (AP)
Fri, 03 Feb 2012 00:54:55 GMT
AP - The CEOs of some of the nation's biggest homebuilding companies said Thursday that they feel the housing market has stabilized.
Rate on 30-year mortgage falls to record 3.87 pct. (AP)
Fri, 03 Feb 2012 00:01:17 GMT
AP - The average rate on the 30-year fixed mortgage fell this week to a record low, the ninth time that has happened in the last year. Even with the cheapest rates in history, the housing market remains depressed.
Woman who stole mortgage money and gambled it away, gets prison (Reuters)
Thu, 02 Feb 2012 23:02:54 GMT
Reuters - A former foreclosure counselor who gambled away more than $300,000 she stole from her upstate New York clients was sentenced on Thursday to six years in federal prison.
Illinois accuses mortgage firm of robosigning (Reuters)
Thu, 02 Feb 2012 19:24:46 GMT
Reuters - The attorney general in Illinois on Thursday sued a mortgage document firm and said it filed "faulty" documents with local governments in a rush to process mortgages and foreclosures.
Mortgage rates for the past 52 weeks, at a glance (AP)
Thu, 02 Feb 2012 15:25:55 GMT
AP - Mortgage rates for the past 52 weeks, at a glance
Credit Suisse exec charged in NY mortgage probe (AP)
Thu, 02 Feb 2012 01:37:13 GMT
AP - The desire to fatten year-end bonuses motivated a Credit Suisse executive and two of his employees to conspire to hide the deteriorating condition of the U.S. housing market in 2007 to keep the value of bonds based on subprime mortgages artificially high, authorities said Wednesday.
Obama plan to lower mortgage payments could help, but how much? (The Christian Science Monitor)
Thu, 02 Feb 2012 00:13:17 GMT
The Christian Science Monitor - President Obama fleshed out a new mortgage-relief plan Wednesday, saying the steps he outlines would "help millions of responsible homeowners" and the US economy.