January 2011

The Trend Toward Rentals Shows No Signs of Easing—Even Among Those Who Could Easily Afford to Buy a Home (Source: WSJ By M.P. MCQUEEN) – Mortgage rates are near historic lows and homes are more affordable than they have been [...]

(Source: By Sandra Baker, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Texas) – The U.S. Housing and Urban Development Department said it is investigating the practices of some mortgage lenders to determine whether their home loan policies illegally denied qualified African-American and Latino borrowers [...]

SEATTLE (SOURCE: Keller Rohrback) – Attorney Advertising. Keller Rohrback L.L.P. (www.krclassaction.com) announces that a class action has been filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Washington on behalf of all mortgagors in the State of [...]

(Source: By Harriet Johnson Brackey, Sun Sentinel, Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) – -Government-owned mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are considering whether to force loan servicers in South Florida to go to mediation with some troubled homeowners before a foreclosure [...]

(For the Daily Journal) – Editor’s note: This is the first of three stories the Daily Journal will publish this week on home foreclosures in our community. “Please hold for an important call from Chase.” This recorded message and countless [...]

(Source: Record, The; Bergen County, N.J.) By KATHLEEN LYNN – Six mortgage lenders argued this week that there’s no need for New Jersey to freeze their foreclosure actions, arguing that they have already taken steps to clean up questionable legal [...]

(Source: By Courtenay Edelhart, The Bakersfield Californian) – After years of fighting for a home loan modification, Carlos Lovera has given up. The Bakersfield bookkeeper hasn’t had the means to make his $2,600 monthly mortgage payment since his pay was [...]

(Source: By Adam Van Brimmer, Savannah Morning News, Ga.) – The mortgage industry and distressed homeowners have what the captain of the prison guards in the movie “Cool Hand Luke” once called “a failure to communicate.” Lenders and government officials [...]

(Source: By Matt Tomsic, Star-News, Wilmington, N.C.) – Oyster Harbour Homeowners Association’s legal fees are destroying the neighborhood or saving it from rule-breakers and freeloaders, depending on who you ask. In 2008 and 2009, the homeowners association spent nearly 20 [...]

(Source: By Alex Bloom, The Eagle-Tribune, North Andover, Mass.) -  The state’s highest court sent ripples through the real estate industry yesterday ruling that banks and lenders must have proper documentation before foreclosing on a home. The Supreme Judicial Court [...]

(Source: NPR) – Laverl “Nick” Nicholson used to look out of his kitchen window at the weeping willows that mark the burial place of two of his daughters. Then a debilitating car wreck left him unable to pay the $220,000 [...]

(Source: By Marcus Rauhut, Public Opinion, Chambersburg, Pa.) – Tina Lindsey has been fighting for more than two years to keep her home, but she’s afraid there’s nowhere left to turn. Facing the foreclosure of her Fayetteville home, she has [...]

(Source: SF Gate) – Prosecutors say an Orange County couple squatted in a foreclosed home in a ritzy Newport Beach neighborhood more than three months before they were discovered and arrested. The district attorney’s office said Thursday that 42-year-old Chris [...]

Image by Getty Images via @daylife (Source: Bloomberg) – R. Allen Stanford’s criminal trial on charges he led a $7 billion investment fraud was postponed indefinitely by a U.S. judge while the Texas financier receives care for a prescription-drug addiction. [...]

(Source: By Scott Kraus, The Morning Call, Allentown, Pa.) – The State Department of Banking has prohibited an unlicensed Allentown firm from engaging in the mortgage modification business. In a consent order issued late last year, James Amelio, owner of [...]

(Source: The Californian) – QUESTION: I owe more on my home than the current market value and have heard that I may be able to sell my house using something called a “short sale.” What exactly is a “short sale” [...]

(Source: The Day) – A minor character in what prosecutors say was a multimillion-dollar mortgage fraud based in New London pleaded guilty Thursday to his part in the conspiracy, hours before pretrial motions in the case were set to begin [...]