March 2010

William Negron, in his mid-70s, lost his job in car sales two years ago. The possibility of losing their home put “so much stress on him,” said son Carlos Negron. “My mother has been to the hospital twice because of [...]

In January, counselors at Neighborhood Housing Services of Chicago started processing applications electronically in a pilot project that’s akin to TurboTax for loan modifications. It won’t mean more homeowners will qualify for loan modifications, but they would know sooner whether [...]

MIAMI — Four South Florida residents have been charged in a $6 million mortgage fraud scheme. The U.S. Attorney’s Office made the announcement Tuesday. Arrested were 53-year-old Carlos Cano of Delray Beach; 34-year-old Robyn Colon of Boynton Beach; 52-year-old Jose [...]

“Green Credit Solutions had a loose affiliation with a few lawyers. Never really had a lawyer on staff handling the loan modifications. And the one lawyer they did hire to work with them was a suspended Tennessee attorney,” said state [...]

8. If all else fails? There are not always easy answers. If there really is no way to make use of Chapter 7 or Chapter 13, you may indeed decide just to walk away from your mortgage and let the [...]

More Phoenix-area homeowners are walking away from their mortgage payments, and many more are likely considering it. These are not people losing homes due to severe financial problems. “Walking away” now also describes people who can make their payments but

Tara Blackwell and her husband sold their Fairfield house in December for about half of its original $825,000 price as a short sale, in which the bank agrees to accept less than is owed on the mortgage.

“All these scams are like viruses or bugs — they adapt and modify,” Baker said. The FTC says the new scam is the offer of a home audit or lawsuit to get the lenders off your back.

A lifelong banking-industry executive was arrested Monday on numerous charges, including allegations of defrauding regulators in connection with what prosecutors said was his desperate effort to save his New York bank from failing.

A Haitian man was sentenced Monday to nearly 17 years in prison for leading a mortgage fraud scheme in Phoenix that authorities say cost banks about $9.5 million. Federal prosecutors say 51-year-old Mario G. Bernadel was convicted last

Ocwen offered the couple a minor modification, but they couldn’t afford it. They were told if they couldn’t make payments, their house would be foreclosed. “You feel like there’s no way out,” Jack said.

CLEVELAND (AP) – The sheriff in Cleveland plans to bar the 36 appraisers working for his office from buying homes that have gone through public foreclosure. The move by Cuyahoga County Sheriff Bob Reid is meant to avoid any conflict [...]

Signs of financial stress are multiplying. His shop is often nearly empty. The landlord has put his building up for sale, after buying it less than two years ago. The small office building next door is under a foreclosure notice. [...]

A Potomac man who fled to Iran after embezzling millions of dollars from Washington-area banks was sentenced to nine years in prison. A federal judge also ordered 49-year-old Michael Milan to pay more than $4 million in fines and restitution. [...]

Cage bought this Tudor mansion in Bel Air, Calif., in 1998 from Tom Jones for $6.47 million. The house, which Dean Martin owned before Jones, has six fireplaces, including one in a bathroom. Cage put it on the market at [...]

Pricey distressed properties are just a slice of the overall housing market, but a growing one, according to national reports and local real estate agents. They say the pain just took longer to penetrate that sector.

Ben Mayfield believed he had a deal that would save his dream home from foreclosure. His mortgage servicer, GMAC, slashed his monthly payment about 70 percent last July after he asked for a loan modification. Mayfield, who is 57

Homeowners are desperate and when desperation sets in, mistakes in judgement are made. Mistakes that may cost them their home. A Bakersfield, California woman, Zuleyka Ruiz had to find this out the hard way. Not only did Ruiz end up [...]

A little–noticed law could soon result in smaller Social Security checks for hundreds of thousands of the elderly and disabled who owe the U.S. money from defaulted loans and other debts more than a decade old.

TUNKHANNOCK – A New Jersey woman who claimed to help people with potential foreclosure problems was sentenced in Wyoming County on Thursday for theft by deception.

James B. Duncan, accused of masterminding a $142 million mortgage and securities fraud based in Murrieta, Thursday was denied a reduction of his $5 million bail by a judge who said Duncan poses a threat to public safety.

With the Obama administration and private lenders actively considering mortgage principal-reduction programs to help financially distressed homeowners, the Internal Revenue Service has issued a new advisory to taxpayers who receive — or seek to receive — such assistance.

Donna McCartney made phone call after phone call and wrote letters about her family’s deteriorating financial predicament and their inability to make their mortgage payments.