From the category archives:

Lenders

Bankers Fighting Attempts in Washington for New Regulations

by Moe Bedard

WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)–Industry lobbyists are raising red flags over a measure that would require mortgage lenders and securitizers to retain a portion of the credit risk of loans for sale to investors.
The proposed requirement is meant to ensure lenders adhere to solid underwriting standards and don’t fraudulently underwrite loans they don’t intend to hold on [...]

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Massachusetts Judge ruling may put kink in foreclosure machine

by Moe Bedard

Apparently, banks and investors did not file necessary paperwork when they traded home loans with each other.  This becomes a bigger question as to who legally owns the loan.  Apparently Wells Fargo and U.S. Bank tried to fix the paperwork after the fact but this Judge would have none of that!

This new ruling clears the [...]

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Banks in deep trouble

by Moe Bedard

But it’s not a simple case of flourishing banks versus ailing workers: banks that are actually in the business of lending, as opposed to trading, are still in trouble. Most notably, Citigroup and Bank of America, which silenced talk of nationalization earlier this year by claiming that they had returned to profitability, are now — [...]

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Banks slow to pay back TARP money

by Moe Bedard

Citigroup is the only large bank still using the FDIC’s program. Two weeks ago, the bank sold another $5 billion worth of guaranteed debt, bringing its total issued under the program to $49.6 billion.
The bottom line is that the government still stands behind the banking sector. While the cost of this “no more Lehmans” policy [...]

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Despite Housing Slump, Mortgage Lenders Making Record Profits From Fees

by Moe Bedard

Never ones to let an opportunity go unexploited, mortgage lenders are taking advantage of a market fueled by low interest rates and massive government subsidies to turn record profits. Their secret: The return of “junk fees.”
The Mortgage Bankers Association recently announced that independent mortgage lenders made an average profit of about $1,100 per loan originated [...]

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JPMorgan, Credit Suisse, Morgan Stanley agree to pay $100 million to settle suit over lender

by Moe Bedard

JPMorgan Chase&Co. and two other investment banks have agreed to pay $100 million to settle a lawsuit over their contribution to investor losses in the collapse of American Business Financial Services Inc., the bankruptcy trustee’s lawyer said Friday.
The banks, including then-independent Bear Stearns, Credit Suisse Group and Morgan Stanley, deny any wrongdoing in settlement documents [...]

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Banks get billions to assist homeowners who don’t get help

by Moe Bedard

Several companies in the Treasury program have been cited by judges or regulators for having engaged in improper behavior with their customers.
They include Select Portfolio Servicing Inc., a Utah-based company formerly known as Fairbanks Capital Corp.; Countrywide Home Loans Inc., now a unit of Bank of America Corp.; Carrington Mortgage Services LLC, based in California; [...]

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Chase and Bank of America Revise Fee Policies

by Moe Bedard

Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase, two of the nation’s biggest banks, announced plans on Tuesday to drastically overhaul their debit card programs by lowering or eliminating fees, changing the way they credit transactions and allowing customers to opt out of overdraft protection.
The moves come as lawmakers and regulators in Washington push proposals to reform [...]

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Bank of America CEO Lewis Issues Statement Regarding President Obama’s Speech

by Moe Bedard

CHARLOTTE, N.C., Sept. 15 /PRNewswire/ — Bank of America Chief Executive Officer Ken Lewis issued the following comments regarding President Barack Obama’s September 14 speech regarding financial regulatory reform.
“A year ago this week, the U.S. economy was on the brink of disaster. Large and important financial institutions were failing, as was confidence in our financial [...]

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Frank, regulator urge suspension of foreclosures

by Moe Bedard

“I would ask all of you now to please make sure that we have a moratorium in effect,” said House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank, D-Mass., at a hearing where the CEOs of eight major banks testified about how they were using money from a $700 billion bank bailout fund.

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The Economic Cartel: CEO’s Involved in the World Economic Melt Down

by Moe Bedard

Paid to Fail? An Inside Look At Compensation and Bonuses for Wall Street’s Worst
Since 2000, home mortgage lenders have made more than $2.5 trillion in “toxic” subprime loans and most all these mortgages are failing miserably. In fact, millions of homeowners, tax payers and investors around the entire world are losing billions (possibly trillions) and [...]

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Wachovia Option-ARM Mortgage Losses May Force Merger

by Moe Bedard

Sept. 29 (Bloomberg) — Wachovia Corp., under increasing pressure after shares of the sixth-biggest U.S. bank by assets plunged 47 percent last week, may be forced to seek a buyer or merger partner as losses from mortgage defaults mount.
Three days after Chief Executive Officer Robert Steel told employees Wachovia was “strong and performing well,” the [...]

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New Study Shows Wells Fargo Offers Very Little Help to Struggling Homeowners

by Moe Bedard

I had the privilege of receiving a new study done on Wells Fargo via email by Valparaiso University law professor and member of the Federal Reserve Board’s consumer advisory council, Alan M. White this past week.  The study concentrated on a pool of Wells Fargo mortgages and gives us all a not too common look under the hood [...]

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GOP: Probe Countrywide’s Sweetheart Mortgages

by Moe Bedard

House Republicans want the House Ethics Committee to investigate whether House members and aides received sweetheart deals on their home mortgages.
 
According to The Hill, Reps. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., and Mark Souder, R-Ind., told the Committee in a letter that the “serious and broad allegation that members of Congress, congressional staff, and other officials were given [...]

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Countrywide Home Preservation Foundation to Modify Billions in Loans

by Moe Bedard

CALABASAS, Calif., Oct. 23 /PRNewswire/ — Countrywide Financial Corporation today announced a comprehensive home preservation program to reach out to borrowers at-risk of default. Countrywide will launch an outbound calling initiative to refinance or modify up to $16 billion of Countrywide loans for borrowers who are facing an adjustable-rate mortgage reset through the end of [...]

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