June 2010

If there are two things that middle-class taxpayers who behave responsibly don’t like, they are (1) having their money go to irresponsible people, and (2) having their money go to richer people.OPPOSING VIEW: It’s still the American Dream  Federal housing [...]

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) — As the economy forces more and more people out of their homes, scam artists are finding new ways to take advantage of unsuspecting homeowners.  Earlier this week, California attorney general Jerry Brown issued a warning about [...]

People who may be seeking a short sale on their home will find new rules that will require lenders to respond more quickly to their requests. Beginning Aug. 1, the requests on mortgages under Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac would [...]

CHICAGO – With the state of Illinois rated fourth highest in the nation in foreclosures, con artists continue to find ways to prey on people about to lose their homes. That’s why Illinois has joined a nationwide crackdown on mortgage-related [...]

San Francisco, CA —  An Orange County lawyer who signed retainer agreements with homeowners facing foreclosure but then did little or nothing to help them has been placed on involuntary inactive enrollment effective Sunday. “The Chief Trial Counsel’s office continues [...]

After the last entry on foreclosure activity, a couple of readers sent in articles with more data relevant to the topic of “shadow inventory.” A commenter at my own site linked to a May Union-Tribune article about mortgage delinquencies.  Delinquencies [...]

A credit rating agency says homeowners who get a mortgage modification are likely to redefault within 12 months because they have other debts they can’t afford, according to a report that Mortgage Lending News wrote about in an e-mail that [...]

Short sale can help a troubled homeowner avoid credit damage, but there are downsides, too. Missi Lucabaugh dusts furniture before putting it in place at her new home in Spring Grove earlier this month. Missi and her husband, Heath, bought [...]

From industry insiders to straw buyers, nearly 500 people have been arrested in a nationwide mortgage fraud takedown that reflects the coordinated efforts of law enforcement to address the growing problem of crime in the housing industry.  “Mortgage fraud ruins [...]

WASHINGTON DC  FTC – Defendants Nabile (“Bill”) Anz, Federal Loan Modification Law Center LLP, Anz & Associates PLC, Venture Legal Support PLC, and Jeffrey Broughton settled FTC charges that they hawked their so-called “Federal Loan Modification program” in a national [...]

New Hope Modifications. Brian Mammoccio and Donna Fisher have settled charges that they falsely claimed they could obtain mortgage loan modifications for consumers in all or virtually all cases, falsely promised a money-back guarantee, and masqueraded as part of the [...]

Derek R. Oberholtzer, Apply2Save Inc., and Sleeping Giant Media Works, Inc. allegedly charged consumers up to $995 in advance for promised mortgage loan modification services. Once they were paid, they often failed to answer or return consumers’ telephone calls and [...]

The $11.4 million contempt order against Bryan D’Antonio and three companies he controls, The Rodis Law Group Inc., America’s Law Group Inc., and The Financial Group Inc., came at the request of the FTC, which charged that operators of the [...]

The FTC settled with the following defendants, all of whom charged consumers up-front fees and made false promises that they could get their loans modified or prevent foreclosure: Making Home Affordable. The FTC alleged that the defendants impersonated MakingHomeAffordable.gov, a [...]

DENVER — Colorado Attorney General John Suthers announced today that his office has taken action against three firms engaged in fraudulent business practices in Colorado as part of his office’s efforts to crack down on mortgage and foreclosure fraud. “The [...]

Florida’s struggling homeowners could get an 18-month reprieve on mortgage payments under a state plan to spend $418 million in federal foreclosure prevention aid. The Treasure Coast would receive $13.46 million, from the proposal, which was discussed last week during [...]

Allison Rinehart’s best hope for saving her home isn’t the massive federal effort to stem foreclosures.

The Senate approved an amendment Wednesday to create an advocacy office within the Treasury Department that would investigate complaints from homeowners that lenders have unfairly excluded them from the government’s foreclosure prevention program.

A McKenzie, Tenn., construction worker claimed a $1 million lottery prize Monday that he said will save his home from foreclosure. Glenn Smith won the Tennessee Lottery’s “Millionaire Jumbo Bucks” instant ticket game Friday, lottery officials said. Smith said he [...]

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Most borrowers who have had their mortgages modified through a government-sponsored program will redefault within 12 months, according to a report released Wednesday.

KATY, Texas—The American dream has become a nightmare for a Katy family struggling to avoid foreclosure; a family that thought they had found a way out of their trouble. Houston BBB’s Leah Napoliello advises KHOU 11

Earlier this week a top executive at Bank of America told an REO conference in Dallas that the lender would be focusing more on short sales than ever before.  At first hearing this, I assumed it was because of the [...]