March 2010

A Washington, D.C. lawyer, accused late last year of collecting more than $1.2 million from homeowners with false promises to arrange loan modifications, has been charged with bank fraud after depositing $2.4 million in counterfeit checks at several banks.

Can Florida banks be held financially accountable for purposely delaying condo bank foreclosure sales? A new South Florida circuit court ruling says yes. Amid a growing clamor for Florida banks to bear more of the financial burden caused by widespread [...]

“My mortgage payment is so high I have tried since last year talking to them lower it and they won’t,” Snook said. If the bank takes her to court for foreclosure, a test program operating only in the Big Island’s [...]

The complaints about the success — or lack thereof — of the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) are getting louder. By all accounts, the program is far less successful than government officials had hoped. Out of 1 million homeowners who [...]

In the last five years, the number of foreclosure lawsuits filed in federal court in California has ballooned — like an exploding adjustable-rate mortgage — from only 29 statewide in 2005 to nearly 1,400 last year. Many such lawsuits also [...]

U.S. District Judge Vanessa Gilmore made it clear she disapproved of the short sentence and said prosecutors had tied her hands by reindicting Lapin on a count that carried a maximum sentence of three years. She also fined Lapin $60,000. [...]

DORA stated the defendants focused their advertising in traditional Spanish media markets and used affinity marketing techniques, such as using bilingual sales staff to lure buyers to specific properties that they were not financially qualified to buy, according to a [...]

NEW YORK CITY-With $4.5-billion rise in volume during the fourth quarter, the default rate on commercial mortgages reached 3.82% at the end of 2009, the highest since the 4.1% default rate last seen in 1993, said Real Capital Analytics in [...]

With bills mounting and four mouths to feed, the single mother started to fall behind on her mortgage. Her disability checks and what little child support she was getting weren’t enough to pay all the bills. She spent 18 months [...]

Florida’s been hit so hard, foreclosure cases are clogging up the court system. So, state officials have created a new mediation program for borrowers and lenders to streamline the residential foreclosure process. Borrowers and lenders will sit down with a [...]

WEST PALM BEACH — More than 100 hours into an epic mortgage modification marathon at the Palm Beach County Convention Center, the procession of homeowners had not abated. This afternoon, they filled thousands of folding chairs in the waning hours [...]

A disgraced Toronto realt-estate agent faces four charges in a murder-for-hire plot that allegedly targeted two of his business associates and a friend. Pietro Castelluzzo, 58, was arrested on four charges of counsel to commit murder, authorities announced yesterday.

It’s been 16 months since Eugene and Patricia Harrison last paid the mortgage on their Perris home. Eleven months since the notice got slapped on their front door, warning that it would be sold at auction. A terse letter from [...]

Millions of Americans are now deeply underwater on their mortgage. If you’re among them, you need to stop living in a dream world and give serious thought to walking away from the debt. No, you shouldn’t feel bad about it, [...]

There is no official count on just how many of these illegal firms are out there. The Attorney General’s Office said it usually only investigates a company if it notices deceptive advertising or if a consumer has filed a complaint. [...]

“I work hard every day to keep Richard Davis’ office clean, but my family and I need help to save our home,” she said. “I am glad a representative of U.S. Bank has decided to meet with me because everyone [...]

The government, convinced that the fraud and foreclosure problem here is worse than expected, has formed a Mortgage Fraud Task Force to uncover civil and criminal wrongdoing among brokers, lenders and buyers. “It’s a much larger problem than first forecast,” [...]

The biggest hurdle to this new plan is that banks have no efficient way to account for a mortgage when its balance is reduced. The result would normally be a write-off, which few banks can afford even if they were [...]

But homeowners who are underwater and struggling to offload their homes through a short sale may get relief soon through Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives (HAFA). Part of the government’s Making Home Affordable program, HAFA is designed to incentivize borrowers and [...]

Today, U.S. Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) witnessed first-hand just how severe the crisis is as he toured the Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America’s loan turnaround sessions at a packed Palm Beach County Convention Center. Frank is good friends with Bruce [...]

The complaints have a common tune. Homeowners say the banks are giving them the runaround — either by pledging to modify loans and then not following through, as with the Davis family, or by signing them up for the trial [...]

The Foderas thought a loan modification company called Choice National Loan Consulting in Gilbert would offer hope. Vito said Choice claimed they would work with the bank to reduce the family’s mortgage payment by at least 10% — guaranteed.