February 2011

Issa’s first subpoena targets Countrywide VIP mortgage program

(Source: By Philip Rucker Washington Post Staff Writer ) – Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), the House’s newly empowered chief whistleblower, has issued his first subpoena. The chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on Wednesday sent a [...]


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Google Maps Kills Foreclosure and Real Estate Listings

(The Atlantic)- About two months ago, I pointed out a cool functionality of Google Maps that allowed users to look up foreclosure listings in a particular location. While this made it possible marvel at the incredible number of foreclosure listings [...]


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How the middle class became the underclass

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — Are you better off than your parents? Probably not if you’re in the middle class. Incomes for 90% of Americans have been stuck in neutral, and it’s not just because of the Great Recession. Middle-class incomes [...]


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How lenders train staff to deal with people in distress

(Source: Irish Times) – There is no industry protocol for dealing with the rising number of distressed homeowners. CAROLINE MADDEN reports THE FAMILY home has always had a special place in Irish society, but it is no longer sacrosanct. Whatever [...]


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Face-to-Face at Jpmorgan Chase

(Source: The New York Post) –Jamie Dimon’s JPMorgan Chase denied allegations that it turned a blind eye to telltale signs that Bernie Madoff was perpetrating a billion-dollar Ponzi operation. During an investors conference yesterday, the bank’s legal eagle Stephen Cutler [...]


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Egypt bank closures add strain on economy

(Source: Associated Press/AP Online) –CAIRO – The closure of Egypt’s banks for two of the past three weeks has added strain on an economy already reeling from the evaporation of tourism and a prolonged stock market closure caused by the [...]


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Wells CEO: Wachovia had cultural weaknesses

Source: The Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, N.C.) –In an interview with the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, Wells Fargo & Co. chief executive John Stumpf said Charlotte-based Wachovia Corp. had “weaknesses” in its culture that allowed it to make poor decisions. “Wachovia [...]


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Owning a home no longer part of the American dream?

(Source: By Patrice Hill, The Washington Times) – As Congress and the White House debate how to patch up the housing market after four years of crisis, one clear lesson has emerged: Political leaders for the first time in decades [...]


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Official defends US paying execs’ legal fees

(Source: Associated Press/AP Online By ALAN FRAM) WASHINGTON – The federal regulator overseeing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac stood by his approval of millions of taxpayer dollars for legal fees defending the housing giants and their executives after accounting scandals, [...]


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Better Business / Offer to help with credit card costs was fraudulent

(Source: Commercial Appeal, The) –I deal with the misrepresentations that companies make every day, but even I’m still surprised at the lengths some will go to in their attempts to separate us from our money. I was home watching TV [...]


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Arizonans receiving little help from mortgage program‎

(By Catherine Reagor – The Arizona Republic) – Even as Arizona’s share of federal money for a program designed to help homeowners avoid foreclosure has more than doubled, the program has been a failure, officials said. The program was meant [...]


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Critics: Goldman should give back $2.9 billion to taxpayers

(Source: McClatchy Washington Bureau) –WASHINGTON _ Irked that Goldman Sachs appears to have reaped a $2.9 billion taxpayer-aided windfall on an investment of a mere $20 million, some experts and watchdogs say the Wall Street giant should return the money [...]


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Dim view of housing market weighs on economy

(Source: Associated Press/AP Online By DEREK KRAVITZ and JANNA HERRON) WASHINGTON – Optimism is in short supply among U.S. homebuilders, a sign that the depressed housing market will slow the economy’s gains this year. The outlook by builders hasn’t improved [...]


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Regulators rein in Rochester bank HMN

(Source: Star Tribune, Minneapolis) –Shares of HMN Financial Inc. plunged 6 percent Tuesday after the Rochester-based banking company revealed that it is under tighter regulatory scrutiny. The money-losing company, which owns Home Federal Savings Bank of Rochester, has agreed to [...]


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Politicians focus on preventing foreclosures

(Source: By Robert Koch, The Hour, Norwalk, Conn.) NORWALK — Preventing home foreclosures is the goal of a series of free classes starting in Norwalk this week. Connecticut Fair Housing Center and Homes Saved by Faith, together with Congressman Jim [...]


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Portrait of HAMP Failure: The Mother of All HAMP Nightmares

(Source: Firedoglake) – Months later, in June 2009, right when he was thinking about selling the home and downsizing into a more affordable residence, Citi called him unprompted. “They said ‘we see you asked about HAMP, and we’re giving you [...]


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PHA’s temporary chief making changes, promising more

(Source: By Jennifer Lin, The Philadelphia Inquirer) – It’s just after 10 Tuesday morning at the Wilson Park public-housing high-rise in South Philadelphia, and the new guy is running late. With their scooters and walkers parked outside a community room, [...]


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Homebuilders have grim view of housing market

(Source: By The Associated Press) WASHINGTON – Homebuilders have yet to see a turnaround in the housing market after the worst year for new-home sales in a half-century. The National Association of Home Builders said Tuesday that its index of [...]


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More Mainers filing for bankruptcy

(Source: By Mechele Cooper, Kennebec Journal, Augusta, Maine) – Personal bankruptcy filings in Maine are on the rise. Filings have gone up as much as 35 percent per year since Congress amended the bankruptcy code in 2005 to make it [...]


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Inside look at foreclosure decisions

(Source: AZ Central) – One Valley man says he doubts mortgage giant Fannie Mae’s pledges to help troubled homeowners, after he disputed his foreclosure. Some of the lender’s internal communications shed light on the way his home’s fate was decided. [...]


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Mortgage-market overhaul proposed / Obama offers options for reduced government role

(Source: Richmond Times – Dispatch) – The Obama administration laid out three broad options Friday for reducing the government’s role in the mortgage market. All three would almost certainly lead to higher interest rates and costs for borrowers. The administration [...]


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Protesters call for Chase to pay attention to homeowners’ plight

(Source: NC Times) – Some North San Diego County residents wearing and seeing red stood in front of an Escondido branch of Chase Bank on Monday to demand that the lender pay more attention to people in danger of losing [...]


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Fannie, Freddie Options Are Laid Out

(Source: The New York Post, By PAUL THARP) – The White House launched its first trial balloon yesterday on how Uncle Sam might wriggle out of its $11 trillion mortgage-market straitjacket without setting off a housing panic. The plan, presented [...]


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Frustrated homeowners confront Bank of America office

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – Tired of being ignored and desperate for action a group of homeowners charge into Bank of America’s loan office in Downtown Honolulu.  The homeowners turned activists weren’t sure what to expect as they barged in on the [...]


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EDITORIAL: A fresh start for Detroit’s public housing

(Source: By Detroit Free Press) – Until recently, the Detroit Housing Commission (DHC) had been in disarray for decades. A 2001 federal audit blasted the commission, charging that it had mismanaged millions of federal housing dollars. HUD placed the Housing [...]


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Housing Market Looks Sickest in Cities That Once Seemed Immune

(Source: NY Times) – SEATTLE — Few believed the housing market here would ever collapse. Now they wonder if it will ever stop The rolling real estate crash that ravaged Florida and the Southwest is delivering a new wave of [...]


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Already, concerns of ‘terrifying’ exuberance in CMBS

(Source: SNL.com) – Virtually dead only a matter of months ago, the CMBS market has roared back to the point where industry observers have started to raise concerns that irrational exuberance might be around the corner.


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Convention-al rental wisdom

(Source: By Kerry Hall Singe, The Charlotte Observer, N.C.) –Within hours of the Democratic National Committee picking Charlotte for its 2012 convention, eager entrepreneurs hit the online classifieds. A home available in Myers Park/Eastover for $145,000. Spend $12,000 for a [...]


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Armageddon for Home-Owners? 12 Facts That Show We’re in the Midst of the Worst Housing Collapse in US History

(Source: Alternet) – We are officially in the middle of the worst housing collapse in U.S. history – and unfortunately it is going to get even worse.  Already, U.S. housing prices have fallen further during this economic downturn (26 percent), [...]


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Help For Indiana Homeowners Exists

(Source: The Evening News and The Tribune/ by Daniel Suddeath) – Though millions of dollars in federal aid have been dedicated solely to rebuilding abandoned houses in the ailing neighborhood, there are funds available to assist existing S. Ellen Jones [...]


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