January 2010

The main change is how lenders communicate fee information to borrowers. Under the old system, there was no standardized format. “Fees were communicated in multiple ways, which adds to the confusion when comparing costs,” says Keith Gumbinger, a vice president [...]

Crooks play off the news for scams Crooks and opportunists read the headlines and gauge the economy just as you do, consumers. Then they think up new scams, rip-offs and shady deals. Others stick to tried-and-true cons that find new [...]

The National Association of Realtors says nearly 25 percent of its members have reported clients losing a sale due to botched appraisals. The National Association of Home Builders, meanwhile, said low appraisals were sinking a quarter of all new home [...]

One of the many obstacles to resolving the housing mess is that so many people during the boom used their houses as piggybanks, taking out second mortgages and helocs that were often originated by different banks from the originator of [...]

“Welcome to Foreclosureville, U.S.A.” wrote the Los Angeles Times. “America’s Most Miserable City,” declared the London Independent. That headline was inspired by Forbes’ “most miserable cities” index, which ranked Stockton No. 1.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Eight South Florida men who allegedly burglarized a million-dollar home in foreclosure didn’t leave much behind. The major appliances were taken, of course, but the thieves even swiped toilets, cabinets, tiles and copper wire. The men [...]

Is Anthony Hsieh a visionary entrepreneur, a gritty salesman or a huckster? That’s what I set out to determine after learning this week that the former president of LendingTree.com and founder of other online mortgage companies is back in action [...]

 White has argued that the government should stop perpetuating default “scare stories” and, indeed, should encourage borrowers to default when it’s in their economic interest. This would correct a prevailing imbalance: homeowners operate under a “powerful moral constraint” while lenders [...]

If the couple’s relationship with their home was like a bad love triangle, it was clear which partner needed to go. Eighteen months after moving in, Mr. Berks and his wife took drastic action: They dumped their house (managing to [...]

PASADENA — Attorneys representing five people who were charged with beating and torturing two loan modification agents asked for more time Thursday to reach a potential settlement. Attorney Stephen Wegman and three other defense attorneys asked Los Angeles County Superior [...]

For the record, mortgage lenders aren’t required by law to cut mortgage principals as part of loan modification deals. Principal reductions are only one item on the government loan modification menu, along with extending the term of the loan and [...]

“Hotels are being foreclosed on and reselling at very low, low prices. A lot of people question if they should keep paying. As bad as the numbers look right now, it’s going to get a lot worse.” Jan. 7 (Bloomberg) [...]

January 7, 2010 -  The USMAC Law Group is prohibited from doing loan modifications in Oregon and must pay $28,857 under a settlement with the Oregon Department of Justice Oregon Attorney General John Kroger today announced a settlement that will provide [...]

Infinity Groups Services of California who has operated under the name, Hope to Homeowners has been ordered to shut down their loan modification operation for failing to comply with the state laws. The designated broker is Kahram Zamani. Below is the [...]

8 Damac January 3, 2010 at 10:03 pm Interesting… came across our family name ‘Kubat’ and was surprised to find this out about Curtis… here is the link we found to the court document. http://s3.amazonaws.com/iehi-ad-images/GREEN-CREDIT-ORDER.pdf He recently vacationed in Italy [...]

Most analysts believe that the commercial real estate loan market is about to reach the place that the residential part of the market was a year ago. “Losses from commercial real estate will be quite high by historic standards,” the [...]

JPMorgan Chase is opening a Cleveland office to meet with people who need to modify their mortgage agreements. The office, in the M.K. Ferguson Building at Tower City Center, is the bank’s first face-to-face home ownership center in Greater Cleveland [...]

Banks may be forced to resort to a remedy they’ve been trying to avoid — principal reductions — as another wave of foreclosures looms and payments on risky loans rise, Bloomberg BusinessWeek magazine reports in the Jan. 18 issue. While [...]

WILMINGTON, N.C. (AP) — A federal judge has sentenced two North Carolina men for their roles in a $6 million mortgage fraud scam. The Star-News of Wilmington reports Wednesday that Daniel Rooks was sentenced to 7 1/4 years in prison, [...]

Detroiter sentenced for church sale scam: A Detroit man involved in a church mortgage scam has been sentenced to 11 years in prison, the Associated Press reported. Tracy Carmichael, 46, was convicted last month of 11 counts of fraud. Officials [...]

The State of Nevada has issued Cease & Desist orders against6 loan modification firms for failing to comply with state law. The new law issues last month by The Division of Business & Industry requires that firms who offer mortgage modification [...]

A lot of the resistance I’ve gotten for saying that people ought to pay their debts comes from people angrily declaring that after all, the banks are vicious predators.  In some cases this is true . . . certainly, in [...]