January 2011

(Source: By Wanda Freeman, Times Record, Fort Smith, Ark.) – Arvest Bank in 2010 originated more than $1 billion in new mortgage loans for the eighth consecutive year, according to a news release. Refinanced mortgages made up 70 percent of [...]

(Source: California Watch) – Lydia Prado, my parents’ housecleaner, began crying as soon as she saw me a few days after Christmas. “I lost the house,” she said, wiping her tears. In November, I had written a story about how [...]

(Source: By Kimberly Miller, The Palm Beach Post, Fla.) – Jan. 19–South Florida’s short sale market heated up in 2010 with a 49 percent increase in purchases of the discounted properties compared to the previous year. Driven by new government [...]

(Source: Sacramento Bee) – For nearly five years, from 2000 to 2005, Vera Jackson drove every workday from her home on a well-manicured street near Sacramento to the hair salon she owned and operated in a San Francisco suburb. It [...]

(Source: Comercial Appeal) – A loan processor for a Memphis mortgage company was sentenced to five months in prison today and was ordered to make $2,400 in restitution to five customers who paid for home appraisals that were never done. [...]

(Source: By Bruce Vielmetti, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel) – Former Greenfield lawyer Thomas Koch stole about $2.5 million from his corporate client and blew most of it gambling. He finally got caught, convicted and disbarred, but he also got divorced and [...]

(Reuters) – The Obama administration on Tuesday stepped up efforts to make it easier for struggling homeowners to renegotiate the terms of their mortgage, although it could be more than a year before such efforts pay off. The way mortgage [...]

Stuttgart, Ark. — In today’s money-troubled economy, homeowners are being encouraged to talk to their lenders and avoid the pitfalls of some mortgage relief service offers. Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel is warning homeowners of mortgage “rescue” services or loan [...]

(Source: By Garth Stapley, The Modesto Bee, Calif.) – Jan. 18–New variations on bogus mortgage elimination schemes are claiming victims throughout Stanislaus County, a fraud authority says. Con artists seem to be targeting Latino homeowners facing foreclosure, and some real [...]

(Source: Belfast Telegraph) – FORMER Anglo Irish bank chief executive David Drumm maxed out a Pounds 8,700-limit credit card through spending on furniture, entertainment, fine wines and eating out in the weeks before he filed for bankruptcy. The splurge included [...]

(Source: By Alan Zibel, Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES) WASHINGTON -(Federal housing regulators said Tuesday they will develop a new payment system for mortgage servicing companies, which have been battered by paperwork errors and widespread consumer complaints.

(Source: Post & Courier) – A North Charleston nonprofit agency that gets millions of dollars in federal money to help financially struggling homeowners avoid foreclosure is now purchasing distressed properties. Family Services Inc. bought a foreclosed West Ashley home at [...]