July 2010

Serious delinquencies of U.S. prime-rated residential mortgages rose in June from May, the 37th-straight month of sequential gains, though subprime and Alt-A loans extended a recent trend of declines, according to Fitch Ratings. While noting the continued drops are “noteworthy,” [...]

Some struggling homeowners have fallen prey to companies that promise to lower their mortgage payments. These fraudulent businesses bilk homeowners by requiring an upfront payment and then don’t fix the mortgage. This practice is happening all around the country. Here [...]

The Obama administration’s latest effort at foreclosure prevention couldn’t come at a better time for Florida, where foreclosed properties made up nearly 40 percent of home sales in early 2010. It will help, however, if this program actually works.

POLSON, Mont. — A trial is under way for a man charged with trying to steal a house in foreclosure by removing “for sale” signs, changing the locks and filing strange paperwork with the county claiming he purchased the house [...]

Hey i have noticed lately that houses across from my neighborhood have recently been selling at 50 – 75% discount from where they have been selling the past few months, but at the same time the average zestimate in the [...]

Eddie Patrick thought he had a deal with Kondaur Capital Corp. to restructure the mortgage on his Baltimore house after he fell behind on his payments. The 54-year-old taxi driver dropped a lawsuit against the company after he says it [...]

I was in Aspen last week when this New York Times article on strategic defaults among the wealthy went up.  I wanted to respond to it then, but I was too busy running from panel to panel.  Meanwhile, I see [...]

Norton Helton, a former Chicago attorney who once offered personal-finance advice on the radio, was found guilty Friday of bilking distressed homeowners through a fraudulent foreclosure rescue program.

(NECN: W. Bridgewater, Mass.) – A mother from West Bridgewater, Massachusetts is accused of faking the death of her own son. 52-year-old Donna Larson said her son died — to delay the foreclosure of her home. The divorced mom was [...]

“Well, at least I won’t lose money.” That was my conclusion in the fall of 2006 as I considered buying a condo in Fort Lauderdale. My wife and I were moving from New York to South Florida for my new [...]

It’s a warning you’ve heard before, but it bears repeating: Beware of scammers offering to save you from foreclosure.

The Fifth Judicial Circuit has formally adopted a mediation program meant to address the large number of foreclosure cases flooding the court docket. In effect since July 1, the order signed by Chief Judge Daniel B. Merritt, Sr. requires that [...]

Cambridge Place Investment Management is suing 15 Wall Street of banks for misleading investors about a total of $2.4 billion in mortgage-backed securities that they sold, The Daily Telegraph reported.

In general, “homeowners” of modest means who walk away from their housing debt are viewed as dead beats while the wealthy that do the same are presumed to be making a good financial decision. In this way, a person’s prior [...]

Pitches by companies offering auto or vehicle loan modification services are springing up online, in classifieds and in commercials. They claim they have lender connections and expertise to negotiate dramatically lower interest rates, or extended payments, on vehicles or watercraft [...]

He did not know about the help available for free from the Colorado Foreclosure Hotline. Shannon Peer, the Director of Housing Counseling at Brothers Redevelopment, an agency within the hotline network, says the organization is there to help people like [...]

The Painesville family is swept up in a new phenomenon: the rise of eBay-style auctions of nonperforming loans, a wrinkle in the way some lenders are trying to deal with nonperforming loans. Ads in local newspapers teased the online auction [...]

A year ago, Nevada’s Foreclosure Mediation Law went into effect as a way to keep families in their homes by mandating mediation between lenders and borrowers who believed they could avoid foreclosure if the terms of their mortgages were modified. [...]

A government program meant to help people thrown out of work save their homes is stuck in slow gear. Fewer than five-thousand people in Missouri and Arkansas have permanently cut their interest rates under, Making Homes Affordable. One Republic, Missouri [...]

Fewer than five-thousand people in Missouri and Arkansas have successfully cut their interest rates under, Making Homes Affordable. Some… Fearing delays and a deluge of government paperwork turn to outside companies for help.

LOS ALTOS, Calif. — No need for tears, but the well-off are losing their master suites and saying goodbye to their wine cellars. The housing bust that began among the working class in remote subdivisions and quickly progressed to the [...]