March 2010

GLENDALE, Ariz. — Struggling homeowners from across the Valley made their way to Glendale on Thursday to try and save their homes. They attended a workshop designed to help homeowners on the verge of foreclosure.

Jon Daurio, chief executive officer of mortgage investor Kondaur Capital, recently offered a $4,000 check to Barry Culver for the deed to his Bryan, Ohio house.

A notorious Orange County, California loan modification law firm was raided by the FBI, Irvine Police and several other government agencies this afternoon in Irvine.  The law firm and lawyers are no strangers to trouble. The United Law Firm and [...]

Washington – Bankruptcy attorneys may be more careful about how they advise their clients after the U.S Supreme Court’s holding this week that the communication and disclosure rules that apply to debt relief agents also apply to them.

A Jersey City police officer was arrested yesterday by the FBI and charged in federal court with mortgage fraud for lying to a bank to secure a roughly $530,000 loan, authorities said. Brian Ragauckas, 36, of Secaucus, falsely claimed he [...]

In a lawsuit filed Wednesday, attorneys with the Asian Pacific American Legal Center accused a Los Angeles law firm, Trinity Law Associates Inc., of defrauding at least 28 Korean immigrants out of thousands of dollars by falsely promising that their [...]

In a letter to the CEOs of Bank of America, Wells Fargo, JP Morgan Chase and Citigroup, House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank wrote, “To save homes on a large scale, we must move past temporary modifications in interest [...]

NEW YORK (Dow Jones)–Commercial real estate owners are walking away from properties that have become untenable as investments, just as homeowners have walked away from houses they can no longer afford to pay off or sell. The latest commercial property [...]

Paying off your mortgage may negatively affect your credit score if it happens to be the only loan that you are paying by installment. However, the actual effect is very small and you could ignore it if you want the [...]

COLUMBUS, Ohio — The man who shot two co-workers inside an Ohio State campus building before committing suicide on Tuesday morning learned last week that he was getting fired. Nathaniel Brown was already struggling to keep his home from going [...]

The mother-and-son owners of the strip club where Sean Bell was killed were nabbed Tuesday in a $2 million mortgage fraud scam. Queens prosecutors say Martina Duran, 57, and Roger Arias, 36, used

The Treasury Department spent 2009 pushing banks to modify mortgage payments so that distressed homeowners would not be displaced. Next month, the government will start a program encouraging owners and banks to sell some of those same homes.

ELK GROVE, CA – A couple facing foreclosure from OneWest Bank has joined the growing number of homeowners, attorneys and real estate professionals who believe the bank would rather foreclose than modify a loan.

They’ve cropped up everywhere: Advertisements, fliers or even personalized letters promising “Stop Foreclosure Now!” or “We Can Save Your Home. Guaranteed.” According to the Federal Trade Commission, they’re probably scams. And

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 [...]

Real estate appraisers today announced their opposition to part of an Obama administration plan to pay homeowners in trouble to move if they agree to a short sale, saying the program will lead to mortgage fraud. . Under the plan, [...]

WASHINGTON – As Congress this week inches toward a new set of rules to avert another global financial collapse, it is focused on two conflicting goals: reforming the banking system to protect consumers while still giving lenders the freedom to [...]

“I don’t want to keep on paying when the house will never go back up to its value,” he said. “It’s better to cut our losses, get out of there and go rent.” The number of people similarly choosing to [...]

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — The jobless may not be getting much help from President Obama’s loan modification program, but those in Pennsylvania have another place to turn. The Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency offers the jobless and those suffering financial hardship [...]

PHOENIX (AP) – Some Arizonans whose homes have gone to auction under foreclosure have been told to move the same day their house is sold. Under Arizona law, owners have five days to vacate the property.

Jeane Keough — the retired “Real Housewives of Orange County” cast member — reports her 7-bedroom-9-bath Coto de Caza home has been saved from foreclosure through a loan modification. She writes: “I am happy to report the system works! There [...]

“It’s one of those things that hasn’t gotten a lot of attention, but the numbers are staggering right now, and I think they are going nowhere but up,” said Reggie Lloyd, director of the State Law Enforcement Division and a [...]

Michael Keigans is “underwater” on his mortgage, owing $80,000 more than his Deerfield Beach house is worth. Keigans figures it could take a decade or two to recover the lost equity, so he’s tempted to walk away, even though he [...]