America Is Waiting for the Economic Ripple Effect
For more: http://nyti.ms/fpGAPM
Fewer than 800,000 new housing units were built in 2009, and the number should be roughly the same this year. That’s the slowest pace by far in four decades. The glut should largely be history given such a glacial pace of construction. Yet rental and homeowner vacancies remain at elevated levels.

U.S. Unveils Plan to Sell Stake in Ally, Once GMAC
For more: http://nyti.ms/fRbPCr
The federal government said on Thursday that it was planning a complex transaction that would temporarily increase its ownership position in the former lending arm of General Motors to nearly three-fourths of the company while also paving the way to cash out its stake.

Major Banks Need Midsize Ones
For more: http://nyti.ms/fyomkE
If big banks start failing again, what will replace them? In the United States and Europe, that is a question with unsatisfactory answers in the aftermath of the financial crisis.

Mortgage Assistance Tapers Off
For more: http://bit.ly/dLgwZo
The number of troubled U.S. homeowners receiving assistance with their mortgages fell in the third quarter as the government's foreclosure-prevention effort tapered off.

House Appraisals Under Fire
For more: http://bit.ly/ep1oQx
Some homeowners say the valuation method is too stingy, preventing them from refinancing or borrowing against their houses.

2010 worst year for bank failures since 1992
For more: http://wapo.st/hNe0Hp
Amid high unemployment, a struggling economy and a still-devastated real estate market, the nation is closing out the year with 157 bank failures, up from 140 in 2009. As recently as 2006, before the bubble burst, there were none.

Housing Recovery Stalls
For more: http://bit.ly/hJ58yw
A new bout of declining home prices is threatening to hamper the U.S. recovery, just as consumers and the overall economy have been showing signs of healing.

GOP Shifts on Fannie, Freddie Overhaul
For more: http://bit.ly/em2Xap
As Republicans prepare to assume control of the House next week, they aren't in as big a rush to privatize mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, cautioning that withdrawing government support in the housing market should be gradual.

Hard Call for FDIC: When to Shut Bank
For more: http://bit.ly/gr8i2Q
More than 300 U.S. banks and savings institutions failed in the past four years. But there are huge differences in how sick they were when regulators seized them.

Consumer Confidence Slipped in December
For more: http://nyti.ms/hw9JeC
Consumer confidence in the United States unexpectedly deteriorated in December, while prices of single-family homes fell at almost double the expected pace in October, tempering growing optimism on the economy’s recovery.

‘Doubling Up’ in Recession-Strained Quarters
For more: http://nyti.ms/ezVhdL
For the three generations of the Maggi family crowded into a recession-beaten three-bedroom ranch house here, the tension from living on top of one another for the last 10 months sometimes erupts at unexpected moments.

Obama administration steps up monitoring of banks that miss TARP payments
For more: http://wapo.st/gH88X3
The moves come as the number of banks that failed to make at least one dividend payment to the government rose to 132 in the last quarter. These "deadbeats," as they are sometimes called, are virtually all community lenders and collectively received billions of dollars in taxpayer assistance.

U.S. Entices Big Banks in Canada
For more: http://nyti.ms/grvhda
Stephen Harper, the prime minister of Canada, is among the many Canadians who regularly remind the world that their country’s banking system was left largely unscathed by the global recession and credit market collapse because of its regulation and prudent management.

Ally to Pay Fannie Mae $462 Million
For more: http://nyti.ms/dSOFYS
Ally Financial said Monday that it would pay $462 million to settle buyback claims on $292 billion in home loans it sold to Fannie Mae before the industry tightened underwriting standards in the wake of the financial crisis.

Shoring Up Banks So None Fail
For more: http://nyti.ms/gUc1FZ
Global regulators are expected to reach an agreement that would make a select group of megabanks hold higher levels of capital. That requirement will make them safer, while removing some of the benefit they get from being big. But eliminating the taxpayer guarantee enjoyed by large lenders will require more fundamental measures, which will take years to achieve.

Prepping foreclosed homes for resale can be hazardous
For more: http://bit.ly/gd0LUJ
Stolen appliances, oceans of junk and even the occasional abandoned cat – it's all part of the business of securing and fixing up foreclosed homes.

Getting Your House Sold in 2011
For more: http://bit.ly/hlPkXz
If your New Year's resolution involves selling a home in 2011, you've got some work to do: There's lots of inventory out there. And in a buyer's market like this one, getting an offer on a home can be challenging.

New Rules of Finance: 'Thrift Is the New Black'
For more: http://bit.ly/gzVdMF
After a few brutal years, promises of easy wealth ring hollow. That won't stop some people from trying to guarantee an easy path to riches, but I'll let you in on a secret: "Slow and steady wins the race" has never been truer than it is today.

Arizona sues BofA for alleged mortgage fraud
For more: http://bit.ly/eBkOlA
Arizona's attorney general filed a lawsuit Friday against Bank of America, accusing the state's largest mortgage lender of deceiving borrowers who were trying to obtain loan modifications to keep their homes.

Officials Search for Fannie-Freddie Road Map
For more: http://bit.ly/eWviPO
Obama administration officials are struggling to reach consensus on a future path for mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, unable to agree on whether the government should provide a guarantee for new mortgages when the market stabilizes.

Pensions Push Property Taxes Higher
For more: http://bit.ly/f65JDT
Cities across the U.S. are raising property taxes, largely citing rising pension and health-care costs for their workers and retirees.

IRS says tax changes will cause some filing delays
For more: http://bit.ly/9qWTDa
Thanks to a December tax package that was hailed as a forerunner of a bipartisan spirit in government, the Internal Revenue Service needs to reprogram computers for new college tuition breaks, teachers who buy classroom supplies with their own money, and Americans who live where there's no state and local income tax to deduct.

Bank of Kentucky repays half of its bailout
For more: http://bit.ly/9qWTDa
The regional bank said Wednesday that it repurchased about $17 million of the preferred stock it had issued to the government in February of last year.

Home Sales Struggled Again in November
For more: http://nyti.ms/e3Ck3R
As analysts try to gauge the pace of the economic recovery, they inevitably take the pulse of the housing and job markets. And despite some upbeat trends like stronger retail sales and new reports that showed increases in personal spending, sales of new homes remained at historically low levels last month and the job market showed little sign of momentum.

Economists See Signs of Stronger Recovery
For more: http://nyti.ms/hmnBwy
There are significant caveats to the more positive outlook. The housing market remains weak, and another sustained drop in prices could badly undercut the economy. Financial markets and the banking system remain vulnerable to a new round of jitters in Europe over the debt burdens of countries like Ireland and Spain. There is mounting concern about the tattered balance sheets of state and local governments.

Debate on Reverse-Mortgage Risks Heats Up
For more: http://bit.ly/h2mp4x
A report by Consumers Union and other advocacy groups ignites a debate about whether reverse mortgages are too risky, just as the nation's new consumer agency looks at the issue.

More people fall out of Obama mortgage-aid program
For more: http://bit.ly/9qWTDa
More troubled homeowners are dropping out of the Obama administration's main foreclosure-relief program, which has been widely criticized for failing to help more people keep their homes.

Home Sales Edge Higher but Fall Short of Forecast
For more: http://nyti.ms/hPziJ5
Sales of existing homes rose in November, but analysts said increased employment and better access to credit were needed before the housing market could achieve a sustained recovery.

In a Sign of Foreclosure Flaws, Suits Claim Break-Ins by Banks
For more: http://nyti.ms/eRHyr6
When Mimi Ash arrived at her mountain chalet here for a weekend ski trip, she discovered that someone had broken into the home and changed the locks.

'Shadow' inventory of foreclosed homes could add to housing troubles
For more: http://bit.ly/dG0CQD
Shadow inventory homes are properties that have been foreclosed on or are in the process of foreclosure but are not currently listed for sale. Housing analysts say this pending supply will keep prices depressed in many cities.

Tax deduction for mortgage interest could be on the chopping block
For more: http://bit.ly/gBezMk
Scholars have long argued that the mortgage deduction and other tax subsidies supporting housing, including a deduction for property taxes and tax exemptions for profits on home sales, are neither equitable nor economically efficient. Some say they've helped skew the economy's reliance on an industry that has little export potential and often encourages over-consumption.

State orders court appearance for 6 mortgage lenders
For more: http://wapo.st/gxhd7G
Bank executives who were hoping for a quiet end to this fall's controversy over irregularities in the foreclosure process are facing a new threat: state judges.

Housing Pick Faces Opposition
For more: http://bit.ly/exLeZZ
The White House's pick to head the agency that oversees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac appears unlikely to win Senate confirmation before Congress adjourns.

Homes at Risk, and No Help From Lawyers
For more: http://nyti.ms/fCCuY0
Sharon Bell, a retiree who lives in Laguna Niguel, southeast of Los Angeles, needs a modification to keep her home. She says she is scared of her bank and its plentiful resources, so much so that she cannot even open its certified letters inquiring where her mortgage payments may be. Yet the half-dozen lawyers she has called have refused to represent her.

No shelter ahead from uncertain Louisville housing market
For more: http://bit.ly/9qWTDa
As in communities across the nation, Louisville's housing market is mired in a slump that started last summer — immediately after the expiration of the federal housing tax credit.

EDITORIAL: Borrowers as Prey, Again
For more: http://nyti.ms/dTPJy2
The Federal Reserve has been rightly criticized for not protecting borrowers — and the economy — in the years before the financial crisis. Under the law, it had the power and the obligation to curb bad lending. It was warned, by Fed insiders and by consumer advocates, of lender recklessness. It still failed to act.

Trying to Overcome the Stubborn Blight of Vacancies
For more: http://nyti.ms/hrYdOM
In its heyday in the 1930s, this Rust Belt town called itself the City of Homes, a place where a working-class man could be master of his own castle.

Hiring a Lawyer for Loan-Modification Help
For more: http://nyti.ms/f21llX
Carefully vetting lawyers to weed out the good from the bad can mean the difference between saving tens of thousands of dollars in fees and actually having a loan modified — and being out the cash, with your home in foreclosure and a radioactive credit score.

Opening the Bag of Mortgage Tricks
For more: http://nyti.ms/eOt1Zq
ALL the revelations this year about dubious practices in the mortgage servicing arena — think robo-signers and forged signatures — have rightly raised borrowers’ fears that companies handling their loans may not be operating on the up and up.

Two States Sue Bank of America Over Mortgages
For more; http://nyti.ms/e9iwic
The attorneys general of Arizona and Nevada on Friday filed a lawsuit against Bank of America, accusing it of engaging in “widespread fraud” by misleading customers with “false promises” about their eligibility for modifications on their home mortgages.

Protecting Your Credit Score From the Medical Bill Maze
For more: http://nyti.ms/dVzck7
IF there is one place where your health and your finances collide, it is on your credit report. That is something Darryle Watson learned the hard way.

Be Cynical About the Refinance Process
For more: http://nyti.ms/g55gxR
As least until recently, we’ve been in the midst of a refinancing boom. So consumers applying for refinancings should at least expect some delays.

U.S. Housing Starts Rise; Jobless Filings Steady
For more: http://nyti.ms/hGSnpT
Housing starts in the United States rose slightly more than expected in November, but permits for future home construction fell to an 18-month low.

In Marketing of a New Mortgage Fund, Pimco Lists Former Bush Officials
For more: http://nyti.ms/eRBmKM
When Pimco, the huge bond manager, approached investors recently to raise money for a new fund that would buy soured mortgage securities from ailing banks, it promoted its expertise by listing several former top Bush administration officials and Alan Greenspan, the former Federal Reserve chairman.

Financial Bailout May Cost Less Than Thought
For more: http://nyti.ms/f6TRAU
The Treasury secretary, Timothy F. Geithner, said Thursday that the $700 billion financial bailout would end up costing taxpayers less than Congressional analysts had estimated.

Fed Proposes Rules to Cut Debit Card Fees
For more: http://nyti.ms/gOR94H
The Federal Reserve, fulfilling a Congressional order to examine whether merchants were being charged excessive fees to process debit card transactions, proposed new rules on Thursday that analysts said could cut those fees as much as 90 percent.

Govt trying to keep people in homes: Geithner
For more: http://wapo.st/gJLtPa
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said Thursday the government is trying to keep as many struggling borrowers as possible in their homes in several programs. Geithner told a congressional oversight panel that although the Treasury Department's ability to spend new bailout funds for the central foreclosure-prevention effort expired in October, it is running other programs for borrowers in certain situations such as those who are unemployed.

Homeowner Perks Under Fire
For more: http://bit.ly/dW1Di3
The U.S. government has long subsidized homeownership through tax deductions and loan guarantees. Now, it is re-examining whether it can afford to underwrite the American Dream.

Bank of America Starts Talks on Soured Mortgages
For more: http://nyti.ms/h7hs32
In a bid to turn down the temperature in what promises to be an extended legal battle, Bank of America has opened a dialogue with investors who want the bank to buy back tens of billions in soured mortgages.

Rising Interest Rates and the Fed’s Red Ink
For more: http://nyti.ms/hYqHij
If Ben Bernanke were an investor, he’d be disappointed . The first chunk of the Federal Reserve’s $600 billion Treasury bond purchase program is in the red, thanks to rising yields. The central bank’s cheap financing makes outright losses unlikely, but Mr. Bernanke, the Fed chairman, could still face an image problem.

Debate on Reverse-Mortgage Risks Heats Up
For more: http://bit.ly/gACNuY
A report by Consumers Union and other advocacy groups ignites a debate about whether reverse mortgages are too risky, just as the nation's new consumer agency looks at the issue.

Fewer Homes 'Underwater' as Foreclosures Increase
For more: http://bit.ly/hDCym3
The number of U.S. homeowners who owe more on their mortgages than their homes are worth fell in the third quarter, but the decline stemmed from banks getting more aggressive on foreclosures, not from home values going up, according to trade-industry data.

Louisville home sales down 30 percent as slump continues
For more: http://bit.ly/9qWTDa
Louisville Realtors sold 30 percent fewer homes in November, marking the fifth-straight monthly double-digit decline from a year earlier. The slump started in July immediately following the expiration of the federal housing tax credit, which encouraged many potential buyers to accelerate their purchases.

The Real Estate Collapse? It’ll Be in the Final
For more: http://nyti.ms/hvaPgb
In recent years, the real estate industry’s reputation has faltered as it shoulders much of the blame for causing the deepest recession in decades. Despite this drubbing, and the fact that jobs are still hard to come by, students like Mr. Mann are flocking to master’s programs in real estate, where the recession is seen as a teaching tool and a rich source of case studies.

Panel Is Critical of Obama Mortgage Modification Plan
For more: http://nyti.ms/dKPrQZ
Only about 750,000 households will be helped by the Home Affordable Modification Program, which pays banks to modify loans under Treasury guidelines. That is far fewer than the three million or four million modifications promised in early 2009 by the Obama administration, the Congressional Oversight Panel said.

Housing Shaky as Lenders Tighten
For more: http://bit.ly/f5qdW5
Economists are worried that the housing sector may be heading into another downdraft as mortgage lenders continue to tighten already restrictive lending standards.

In Tax Benefits to the Middle, Political Lift for Obama
For more: http://nyti.ms/gdKKal
With the Senate poised to hold a key vote on Monday on the tax cut deal between President Obama and Republicans, the political jousting has focused on what the agreement does for the wealthy by extending all of the Bush-era tax rates, and for the unemployed, by continuing jobless aid.

Risky Borrowers Find Credit Available Again, at a Price
For more: http://nyti.ms/g2wPR9
Credit card offers are surging again after a three-year slowdown, as banks seek to revive a business that brought them huge profits before the financial crisis wrecked the credit scores of so many Americans.

Batting Cleanup at Bank of America
For more: http://nyti.ms/hO11T3
BRIAN MOYNIHAN isn’t one to look back. And as the chief executive of Bank of America, he has plenty of reasons not to.

The Nerve to Say No
For more: http://nyti.ms/dX5y8W
DECIDING what to do with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the taxpayer-owned mortgage giants that helped set the financial crisis in motion, will be a huge job for Congress next year.

Two More Banks Fail; Total at 151
For more: http://bit.ly/enUxim
Regulators seized two small banks in Michigan and Pennsylvania, marking 151 failures for 2010.

Mortgage Rates, at Six-Month High, Threaten Refis and Fed
For more: http://bit.ly/i6AoAU
Home-mortgage rates have surged to their highest level in six months, yanked higher by the recent sudden rise in Treasury yields, making refinancings less attractive and potentially hurting the Fed's efforts to maintain low rates.

BofA Restarts Some Foreclosures
For more: http://bit.ly/hdCuWS
Bank of America said it restarted about 16,000 foreclosure cases across the U.S. on Monday, but it may be weeks before it is known whether the bank's submission of new documents will pass muster with local judges.

Fannie, Freddie Pressed on Mortgages
For more: http://bit.ly/e0XCCp
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are in talks with Obama administration officials to join fledgling government programs aimed at reducing loan balances of mortgages where borrowers owe more than their homes are worth, according to people familiar with the situation.

U.S. Mortgage Delinquency Rate Could Fall to 5% in '11
For more: http://bit.ly/fmmkJe
The percentage of U.S. consumers who are delinquent on their mortgages could fall to about 5% by the end of 2011, from an expected 6.2% at the end of this year, according to a leading credit bureau. But it would still be well above historical levels.

Citi Could Get Another Boost
For more: http://nyti.ms/gTBEO2
Shares of Citigroup, which is nearly free from Uncle Sam, are up — and index fund managers may push them even higher.

What the Fed Is Still Owed by Wall Street
For more: http://nyti.ms/eOy9lf
The Federal Reserve has a story and is sticking to it: We didn’t lose taxpayer money, and we won’t. But several emergency programs and credit lines still exist, and the path to profitability on them remains uncertain.

Dr. Doom Predicts Another $1 Trillion in Housing Losses
For more: http://nyti.ms/i7ZQzN
The drumbeat of bad news grows louder. Sales of existing homes fell more than expected in October, down 2.2 percent to an annual rate of 4.43 million, the lowest level in more than a decade, according to the National Association of Realtors. After rising in the second quarter, Standard & Poor’s Case-Schiller home price index fell 2 percent in the third quarter.

Banks May Face Rating Cuts, Analyst Says
For more: http://nyti.ms/gx4LCH
In a new report, Glenn Schorr, who covers brokerage firms and banks at Nomura, says that while “it’s not a done deal, at present, Bank of America, Citigroup and Morgan Stanley appear most at risk of being downgraded to Tier 2 status.”

Pulling Back the Curtain on Fraud Inquiries
For more: http://nyti.ms/gFUPAg
To hear Eric H. Holder Jr. tell it, the Justice Department is aggressively cracking down on financial fraud.

Treasury to Sell Last of Its Stake in Citigroup
For more: http://nyti.ms/f0fCZM
Citigroup is finally wriggling free of Uncle Sam. Two years after the financial giant was bailed out by the federal government, the United States Treasury is selling its remaining shares in the company.

Jobless Claims Rise, Housing Perks Up
For more: http://bit.ly/hf4qkm
New jobless claims climbed last week, damping hopes for a quickening improvement in the labor market. But a sharp gain in an indicator of future home sales offered a positive sign for the beleaguered housing market.

The 25-Year 'Foreclosure From Hell'
For more: http://bit.ly/gBjRYb
The last time Patsy Campbell made a mortgage payment on her house was October 1985. The 71-year-old Florida retiree has been fighting off the lenders ever since.

When Borrowers Default on Second Homes
For more: http://nyti.ms/e9tJQ8
In July, a study by researchers from the European University Institute, Northwestern University and the University of Chicago concluded that the strategic default trend was “large and rising” among homeowners with an equity shortfall of $100,000. As of last March, it said, strategic defaults accounted for 35.6 percent of all foreclosures, compared with 23.6 percent a year earlier.

LETTERS: Banks’ Growing Mess
For more: http://nyti.ms/frOW3n
If the right of banks to foreclose is questionable, what of the right of banks to accept even garden-variety mortgage payoffs?

So That’s Where the Money Went
For more: http://nyti.ms/fQs535
Not that we should expect to receive any thank-you notes from these institutions for rescuing them from themselves. Still, it’s good to know who got what at the bailout banquet. This helps us understand how expensive it is to live in a nation where big, politically interconnected financial institutions are not allowed to fail — even after they mess up in the most catastrophic of ways.

Value Sinking Fastest on Homes Priced Low to Start
For more: http://nyti.ms/grOpKc
DURING the great housing bubble, it was the least expensive homes whose prices went up the most. And now it is those homes that are suffering the most.

A Happy Ending to a Raw, but Common, Tale
For more: http://nyti.ms/hHVL6n
Lilla Roberts is a 73-year-old retired physical therapist, a pleasant, engaging woman who moved to this country from Jamaica 46 years ago. In 1988, she bought a small house in Jamaica, Queens, putting down $25,000, and taking out a mortgage for around $120,000. For many years, she religiously made her mortgage payments.

How to Improve Your Financial Willpower
For more: http://nyti.ms/g7WwKT
So here’s how to turn a few powerful psychological principles in your favor and save more, pay off debt and live a richer life.

Why Savings Account Rates Are So Pathetic
For more: http://nyti.ms/goPE2q
Savers just can’t catch a break. Because of persistent low interest rates, anyone looking for decent returns that are also safe has had a tough time this year. Most of the best savings accounts, for instance, don’t even top a 1.5 percent annual yield.

Pending Home Sales Rose 10.4% in October
For more: http://nyti.ms/eDOZWT
The number of people who signed contracts to buy homes rose in October, the third gain since contract signings hit a decade low.

Luxury Home Contracts Fall
For more: http://nyti.ms/eHcrA5
Toll Brothers, the nation’s largest builder of luxury homes, said on Thursday that its new-home contracts fell 27 percent in its most recent quarter from the year-earlier period.

Housing Still Awaits Its Happy Ending
For more: http://on.wsj.com/dMyuv8
October new-home sales sank 8.1% to a seasonally adjusted annual pace of only 283,000, just off record lows, while existing-home sales slid 2.2% in October to a 4.43 million annual rate. On Tuesday, S&P/Case-Shiller home-price index data through September is expected to show a 0.5% month-on-month fall, while pending home sales figures Thursday are also expected to remain weak.

Slump in Housing Prices Deepens
For more: http://on.wsj.com/i4Lgwy
The U.S. housing market is showing signs of falling deeper into a slump that could weigh on the nation's economic recovery. Home prices nationwide were down 1.5% in the third quarter, compared with a year ago, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller home-price index released Tuesday. The drop reflects the sharp fall in home sales after government home-buying tax credits expired earlier this year. Prices fell even more, by 2%, in the third quarter, compared with the second quarter.

What Happened to the Government’s Short Sales Program?
For more: http://on.wsj.com/fZSsdX
In April, the Obama administration formally rolled out a new program, called Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives, that was designed to spur more short sales, where banks allow homeowners to sell their homes for less than the mortgage debt outstanding. Like other foreclosure-prevention initiatives, this one appears to be off to a slow start — just 342 sales have been completed through September.

Refinancing Plunges as Mortgage Rates Rise
For more: http://on.wsj.com/hjavf5
Refinance activity plunged last week as mortgage rates rose for the third straight week to the highest level since August, the Mortgage Bankers Association said on Wednesday.

Foreclosure Probe: Big Banks Told Not to ‘Fix Fraud’
For more: http://on.wsj.com/f6bak5
Ohio’s attorney general threw a wrench into the banking industry’s push to quickly restart foreclosures by fixing faulty paperwork, and pressed them to modify mortgage loans.

Home Prices Falling at Faster Rate, New Report Shows
For more: http://nyti.ms/eoUCAk
The decline in home prices is accelerating across the nation, according to a new report, and a record number of foreclosures is expected to push prices down further through next year.

For Fannie, a Glimmer of Light in the Gloom
For more: http://nyti.ms/e3NsPO
The housing market just earned a much-needed moral victory. Although more than 4 percent of loans held by Fannie Mae are still delinquent, the rate declined recently as banks and the government refined their foreclosure prevention programs, Fannie’s monthly housing summary showed.

Foreclosures Bank Owned Risks Decline in the U.S.
For more: http://bit.ly/eyGr4A
The risk posed by foreclosures, including government-related and foreclosures bank owned, has diminished in the U.S. for the 2010 third quarter. However, housing market experts stated that the decline is not much as to merit a conclusion that the housing industry crisis is at its end.

The Fed and Foreclosures
For more: http://nyti.ms/eLx4f4
There are two sides to every delinquent loan — a lender who made a bad lending decision and a borrower who cannot repay. Yet, banks have never acted as if they bear responsibility for the mortgage mess.

F.H.A. Rule Changes for Mortgage Borrowers
For more: http://nyti.ms/h22leV
HOME buyers with sketchy credit who are unable to qualify for conventional mortgages may now find it more costly and difficult to obtain loans insured by the Federal Housing Administration.

Don’t Just Tell Us. Show Us That You Can Foreclose
For more: http://nyti.ms/hPr6G2
Some in the industry believe that questions about this issue — known as “legal standing” — are trivial. They say it’s just a gambit by borrowers’ lawyers to throw sand in the foreclosure machine. Nine times out of 10, bankers say, the right institutions are foreclosing on the right borrowers.

Maybe so. But the United States Trustee Program, the unit of the Justice Department charged with overseeing the integrity of the nation’s bankruptcy courts, is taking a different view. The unit is stepping up its scrutiny of the veracity of banks’ claims against borrowers, and its approach is evident in two cases in federal bankruptcy court in Atlanta.

Banks Start to Dig Out From Troubled Loans
For more: http://nyti.ms/hZ92D7
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation reported this week that the proportion of troubled loans on bank books fell to 9.1 percent at the end of September, down by more than a percentage point from the record 10.3 percent figure posted at the end of 2009.

How to Get a Home Buyer’s Discount
For more: http://nyti.ms/h2EVeg
With the home buyer’s tax credit now expired, here’s one way to still get an equivalent discount of sorts: ask your real estate agent to take it out of his or her commission.

How Can I Stop Foreclosure with a Forensic Loan Audit?
For more: http://bit.ly/hgBq5z
A Forensic Loan Review or Forensic Loan Audit, sometimes also called a Mortgage Audit is a complete investigation of the loan that the bank gave you. The audit is done specifically to find all the Federal Laws that the lender violated.

Countrywide’s mortgage fraud could threaten Bank of America
For more: http://bit.ly/fdXKEt
Problems with mortgage documents Bank of American acquired when it purchased the mortgage provider Countrywide Financial in 2008 could cost the bank billions, if a testimony in a New Jersey foreclosure case proves accurate.

F.D.I.C. Says Many Small Lenders Are Still at Risk
For more: http://nyti.ms/hj7aDx
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation said on Tuesday that its list of “problem banks” — those with the highest risk of failing — had grown to 860, or nearly one in nine lenders. Most are small community banks, saddled with bad real estate loans.

Large Banks Still Have Financing Advantage
For more: http://nyti.ms/gcJ36E
What happened to ending “too big to fail?” That was one objective of the financial overhaul bill, the Dodd-Frank Act, that was passed this year. Central to the legislation were rules intended to make big banks less exciting and safer. It also created an authority meant to smoothly wind down even the largest institutions without greatly disrupting the financial system.

U.S. Home Sales Fell Sharply in October
For more: http://nyti.ms/gKocLf
In some parts of the country, it was the worst October in at least 20 years, according to separate regional sales reports. Sales were down 41 percent in Minneapolis, 28 percent in Massachusetts and 34 percent in Illinois.

Introduction to Hope for Homeowners
For more: http://bit.ly/gfXykm
With the help of Hope for homeowners, the lender basically willingly volunteers in refinancing a mortgage into 30 years fixed period and thereby, results with reducing the mortgage payments at large. At the same time, there are certain terms and conditions to this program that evaluates the eligibility of one applying for it.

Nine charged in mortgage fraud scheme
For more: http://bit.ly/hOpbeP
A federal grand jury in Kansas City has indicted nine people in an $11 million mortgage fraud scheme that touched properties in half a dozen local communities.

Deposition: Countrywide Never Sent Mortgage Notes to Trust
For more: http://bit.ly/dpZyFr
Now we have documented evidence, beyond anecdote, that Countrywide, one of the largest subprime lenders, which securitized almost all of the loans they made, never sent the notes to the trust.

Homeowners' vs Title Insurance
For more: http://bit.ly/9EEqiM
Both homeowners' and title insurance can provide you with protection when it comes to owning a home. While they may be similar, the protection that each type of insurance provides is very different. Here are the basics of homeowners' and title insurance.

New Lending Guidelines From Fannie Mae
For more: http://nyti.ms/bQyCJZ
The rules, effective on Dec. 13, will allow buyers to use gifts and grants from nonprofit groups for their minimum 5 percent down payment, which is the threshold set by Fannie Mae, the government-owned company that sets lending standards and buys mortgages from lenders.

Trying to Put a Price on Bank Errors
For more: http://nyti.ms/bk8QG3
Since mortgage paperwork flaws became front-page news this fall, the banks caught in the glare have characterized the problems as technicalities that are easily remedied. Their responses sound a lot like Mike Wazowski, the assistant scarer in “Monsters, Inc.,” who is reprimanded for not turning in his daily reports. “Oh, that darn paperwork,” he tells his supervisor. “Wouldn’t it be easier if it all just ... blew away?”

A Wave of Bank Prosecutions Is Unlikely
For more: http://nyti.ms/bL7idw
The inspector general of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation told The Wall Street Journal recently that the agency had opened criminal investigations into about 50 banks that had failed since the financial collapse in 2008. While that makes it sound like prosecutors will soon be filing charges against a number of bank executives, do not hold your breath waiting for a flood of prosecutions.

Fewer Fall Delinquent in Paying Mortgages
For more: http://nyti.ms/9P5jOf
Even as the fight over foreclosures continues, the high tide of delinquency among homeowners has begun to recede.

EDITORIAL: It’s Not Over
For more: http://nyti.ms/dnYRXC
The recession that began in late 2007 ended officially in June 2009, but much of the country is still suffering.

5 must-knows about title insurance
For more: http://bit.ly/bCCNgY
Myriad issues can complicate legal ownership of a property

Foreclosure Fix Is Seen as Distant
For more: http://nyti.ms/9ubC6S
“The large banks say they are doing everything they can to avoid foreclosure, but that is not the reality on the ground,” said Patrick Madigan, an assistant attorney general in Iowa who is a lead figure in the investigation. “The question is, Why?”

Obama's veto and mortgage fraud
For more: http://bit.ly/9lyVBz
A law that would basically make mortgage fraud by interstate banks legal. Let me rephrase that: a law that would make documents notarized out of state immune to challenge no matter how they were notarized, meaning the criminal shenanigans that mortgage servicers have gotten up to, such as swearing under oath to the accuracy of documents they've never seen, would become both legal and practically unassailable.

Finding a Niche in the Mortgage Mess
For more: http://nyti.ms/dvAV9s
In the spring of 2007, as the financial markets roared, David J. Grais, a journeyman New York trial lawyer, was searching for new cases to bring. More than three years and billions of dollars in investor losses later, Mr. Grais is among a handful of lawyers at the center of the latest chapter of the mortgage mess.

Foreclosures Raise New Concerns About Banks, Panel Says
For more: http://nyti.ms/bbSLto
In the worst case, the banks will choke on the volume of bad loans they could be forced to reabsorb, leading to another financial crisis, the panel said. But the panel, which was set up after the financial crisis two years ago, also allowed for the possibility that concerns over paperwork irregularities will prove overblown and the crisis will recede.

Voices of Foreclosure Speak Daily About Desperation and Misery
For more: http://nyti.ms/bQfZib
If the mortgage mess had an address, it could be 450 American Way. This enormous white building, nestled among the hills about 40 miles north of Los Angeles, used to be a warehouse for Bugle Boy jeans. Today, it contains a sea of beige cubicles that seem to stretch on forever.

Former Loan Officer and Document Forger Plead Guilty
For more: http://bit.ly/97NPUH
Edivaldo dos Santos and Rosa Damasceno each pleaded guilty today to conspiring to commit mortgage fraud, admitting that they attempted to use false documents to secure a fraudulent mortgage loan, U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey Paul J. Fishman announced.

Can I Get Title Insurance With a Quitclaim Deed?
For more: http://bit.ly/cYZmaq
The function of a quitclaim deed is to transfer the interest a purported owner of real estate may have in that property. Unlike a warranty deed, a quitclaim deed does not carry with it a guarantee that the title to the real estate is free and clear of any liens or encumbrances. The person conveying an interest in real estate with a quitclaim deed essentially is doing so in an "as is" condition.

Mortgage Preapproval Is Harder to Get
For more: http://nyti.ms/bhkZFK
Many lenders are reluctant to be locked into closing costs amid declining property values, and therefore fewer of them, especially the big banks, are providing preapproval letters for a certain loan amount on a property that often has yet to be formally appraised. The problem is particularly acute for buyers who have not yet decided which property they want.

"Re-Foreclosure" Hits Massachusetts
For more: http://bit.ly/a7mX5v
Homeowners in Massachusetts are now facing "back-to-back foreclosures," due to problems with property titles. When lenders are unable to get title insurance for the property on which they have foreclosed, they are now opting to try the whole process again. In Massachusetts, where the issue has affected at least hundreds, and "possibly thousands," of homeowners, it has become common enough to merit its own name: "re-foreclosure."

Nominee to Oversee Fannie and Freddie Is Named
For more: http://nyti.ms/93iobp
The nominee, Joseph A. Smith Jr., who is North Carolina’s banking commissioner, would take charge of the Federal Housing Finance Agency as the administration and Congress prepare to determine the fate of Fannie and Freddie and overhaul the government’s role in housing finance.

Taking Aim at the Mortgage Tax Break
For more: http://nyti.ms/dxQ1XD
The home mortgage deduction is one of the most widely used and expensive tax subsidies. More than 35 million Americans claim it, and the federal government estimates it will cost the Treasury $131 billion in forgone revenue in 2012. Its size, popularity and link to the emotionally charged American notion of homeownership has made it so politically sacrosanct that there are serious doubts whether Congress will even entertain the idea.

Bank of America forecloses home without a mortgage
For more: http://bit.ly/awhvEs
When Jason Grodensky bought his modest Fort Lauderdale home last December, he paid cash. But seven months later, he was surprised to learn that Bank of America had foreclosed on the house, even though Grodensky did not have a mortgage.

Legal twist forces foreclosure redos
For more: http://bit.ly/bkWtEz
The prospect of going through a foreclosure all over again may seem nightmarish for homeowners, but in a growing number of cases the do-overs are creating opportunities for them to repossess their homes.

Ohio challenge to foreclosure papers moving ahead
For more: http://bit.ly/bSS7oT
An Ohio challenge to the validity of lender foreclosure documents will be heard in court early next year in Cleveland.

US homes lost to foreclosure drops 9 pct in Oct.
For more: http://bit.ly/b5JD7d
The number of U.S. homes repossessed by lenders last month fell by the sharpest margin this year, as several major lenders temporarily halted most or all of their foreclosures amid allegations thousands of foreclosures were handled improperly.

Negotiations With Banks Begin for Troubled Assets
For more: http://bit.ly/ciCdqX
Two years after Washington rescued Wall Street, hundreds of billions of dollars of bad investments — in many cases, the same ones that poisoned banks and then the economy — are going up for sale.

Latest Mortgage Fraud Crisis May Help Homeowners Keep Their Homes
For more: http://bit.ly/b6whuX
Not everyone agrees that the errors are mere technicalities, however. It could be that the banks are trying to circumvent the law. Currently, there is a joint investigation by all 50 State Attorneys General as well as a federal probe into the extent of the documentation fraud. Some bankruptcy judges have refused to allow foreclosures to continue, telling the banks that they have not been able to sufficiently prove ownership of the mortgage and, until they do, they are not entitled to repayment of the debt.

Further investigations into mortgage fraud
For more: http://bit.ly/dc703N
JP Morgan and Chase have announced it will resume the processing of foreclosures in a few weeks. This comes after the probing of lender's practices, in how they were foreclosing on property. Bank of America and Ally Financial (GMAC) have already resumed the foreclosure process and have already stated they have found no fault in how they have been processing homes that have gone into foreclosure.

Loan modifications are a joke -- and it's on you
For more: http://bit.ly/dje5J6
According to the latest data from the Federal Reserve “approximately 3 percent of the seriously delinquent borrowers received a concessionary modification in the year following their first serious delinquency, while fewer than 8 percent received any type of modification,” at all! Nonetheless, everyone is hawking loan mods these days.

At Legal Fringe, Empty Houses Go to the Needy
For more: http://nyti.ms/amUSKg
Save Florida Homes Inc. and its owner, Mark Guerette, have found foreclosed homes for several needy families here in Broward County, and his tenants could not be more pleased. Fabian Ferguson, his wife and two children now live a two-bedroom home they have transformed from damaged and abandoned to full and cozy.

About Title Insurance Coverage and Prices
For more: http://bit.ly/bkzEHZ
You might just be wondering, "What does title insurance cover," or "What are reasonable title insurance prices?" This article takes the time to answer these and other important questions.

Lawmaker Questions Power to Foreclose
For more: http://on.wsj.com/aJrTT9
A Virginia lawmaker asked the state's attorney general to launch an investigation of Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, the middleman firm in millions of court filings that helps keep the mortgage-securitization machine moving.

Title insurance providers: 90% profit?
For more: http://bit.ly/d4osnj
When you learn that title insurance companies pay out less than 10 cents in claims out of every dollar they collect in premiums, as a homeowner, you are inclined to think that you ought to stop whatever you’re doing and become a title insurer yourself, whatever it is title insurers do.

Private Lending For Real Estate
For more: http://bit.ly/cbuDPl
In today’s uncertain market, homeowners, investors, borrowers, and brokers are quickly learning that private real estate lending is an excellent alternative to traditional bank loans to obtain a quick, hassle free private loan or refinance.

Homeowners say loan mods led them to foreclosure
For more: http://bit.ly/9UrOxV
Some struggling homeowners say they're being unfairly foreclosed on despite making all their payments under trial mortgage modification programs.

Recessed | Helping owners hang on to homes
For more: http://bit.ly/dBR0dd
Free clinics are held twice a week at the Louisville Legal Aid Society and provide homeowners with a timeline of foreclosure proceedings and possible alternatives.

Taking 2nd Mortgage to Pay the Foreclosure Lawyer
For more: http://nyti.ms/aEj5aK
The new mortgage, which takes effect only if the foreclosure is dismissed and the homeowner’s debt to the bank is reduced, is controversial among defense lawyers, some of whom call it “creepy” and “crass.” Yet even they acknowledge it offers a solution to a vexing question: How do they get paid?

Mistakes First-Time Home Buyers Make
For more: http://nyti.ms/bo9L4F
My husband and I are in the market to buy our first home. After looking for months, we were convinced last week that we had finally found a property that fit our requirements. We made an offer and, after a bit of negotiating, it was accepted. But a few days later, we were celebrating for a different reason: We had just backed out of the deal before any penalties kicked in, thankful it was just a learning experience.

Banks Brace for Costly Fights Over Mortgage Mess
For more: http://nyti.ms/aQgZUD
Even as investors put aside their worries on Friday about the effect of the foreclosure mess on bank stocks, new signs emerged of what is likely to be a long and expensive legal battle for the financial services industry over mortgages gone bad.

Dividends From Fannie and Freddie Surpass Aid
For more: http://nyti.ms/cWCS7X
Fannie Mae reported Friday that it lost $3.5 billion in the third quarter and that it would require an additional $2.5 billion from the Treasury Department to balance its books. Freddie Mac, the smaller of the two, said earlier this week that it lost $4.07 billion in the third quarter and that it would need an additional $100 million in aid from taxpayers.

EDITORIAL: Learning to Love Foreclosures?
For more: http://nyti.ms/czGBKy
In the most recent mortgage mess, the Obama administration has — oddly and disturbingly — been arguing that foreclosures are, in effect, good for the economy and should proceed apace as banks get their snarled paperwork in order.

Buying time on foreclosures -- Louisville man hangs on
For more: http://bit.ly/b11HBE
Earl W. Nelson doesn't dispute that it's been nearly a year, maybe longer, since he made a mortgage payment on his house in the Taylor-Berry neighborhood off Algonquin Parkway.

Making Mortgage Lending a Family Affair
For more: http://nyti.ms/988d4Q
With all the news about faulty foreclosures, “even a dysfunctional family could look like a financial refuge right now,” said Deborah L. Jacobs, author of the book “Estate Planning Smarts.”

Bank of America Fights Pressure on Mortgages
For more: http://nyti.ms/a3c8F4
Bank of America on Thursday rebuffed claims by a lawyer for several big investors, including the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, that it should buy back troubled mortgages because the loans were made improperly.

Let's Set the Record Straight on Bank of America: Open the Books!
For more: http://huff.to/aDvkxg
While we welcome Bank of America's response to our two-part essay, "Foreclose on the Foreclosure Fraudsters," it does not actually respond to any of the facts or analytical points we made. Indeed, it does not engage the issues we raised. Bank of America's response contains some useful data on foreclosures that supports points we have made in prior articles, but overwhelmingly it is a plea for sympathy; Bank of America says it is beset by deadbeat borrowers and it is distressed that it is criticized when it forecloses on their homes. Bank of America portrays itself as the victim of an ungrateful public.

Foreclosure limbo grinds down potential buyers
For more: http://bit.ly/aNikTJ
Josh and Tayla Thomforde thought they had a deal to buy a three-bedroom house with a fenced-in backyard and room for their family to grow. But the nation's latest foreclosure quagmire scuttled their plans.

FBI continues search for couple behind mortgage scam
For more: http://bit.ly/b4Zeqe
The couple persuaded distressed homeowners to sign over their properties, promising to invest the proceeds of the home sales. Instead, they spent the money on themselves.

Title Insurance Companies Initiate Move to Protect Industry
For more: http://bit.ly/aAD5UN
Fidelity National Financial is reportedly leading the campaign launched by title insurance companies in the U.S. to demand that the industry be indemnified from any potential fallout that will be caused by the ongoing nationwide probe on lenders' foreclosure processing methods.

Foreclosure Investigation by States to Stay on Track
For more: http://nyti.ms/b4mZNX
Though some of the players will change, the coordinated effort by attorneys general across the country to investigate — and ultimately reshape — foreclosure procedures is not expected to lose momentum because of Tuesday’s election.

Fannie and Freddie Face Uncertain Future
For more: http://nyti.ms/aNeM97
House Republicans have made punching bags of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, criticizing the federal bailout of the mortgage giants and promising to end the government’s longstanding use of the companies to reduce the cost of mortgage loans.

An Effort to Adapt a European-Style Tool to U.S. Mortgages
For more: http://nyti.ms/aSpynk
Covered bonds, a financing tool that has been popular in Europe since the 18th century, are winning converts here as a new way to finance residential and commercial mortgages.

Fannie and Freddie Drop Florida Law Firm
For more: http://nyti.ms/bnYq4S
The government-sponsored companies, which own or guarantee more than half of the nation’s mortgage market, ended dealings with the firm, David J. Stern PA, after it came under scrutiny from the Florida attorney general’s office amid claims that documents used in home seizures were fraudulent or improperly prepared.

Banks Versus Title Insurers On Liabilities Regarding Foreclosure Errors
For more: http://bit.ly/9Mm9Mb
It’s a great risk that banks are taking by refusing to cooperate with title insurers. Title insurance is helping wipe out the bloated inventory of distressed properties in the market. If title insurers decide to withdraw from protecting distressed properties, a lot of foreclosed homes in the United States may remain unsold.

How Can the Foreclosure Crisis Eventually Affect All of Us?
For more: http://bit.ly/awYxVk
The foreclosure crisis engulfing the real estate market has far reaching implications for all of us. In fact, many of us might not have realized the havoc this fiasco could wreak upon not only upon those whose houses were wrongly foreclosed, but also upon those of us owning a house and those of us thinking about purchasing one.

Foreclosure Mess Takes A Turn For The Worse!
For more: http://bit.ly/bbXEyj
Title insurance is no longer issued on Washington DC Foreclosures of formerly owner occupied properties!

Four plead guilty to mortgage fraud
For more: http://bit.ly/97GA3y
Four South Florida residents pleaded guilty Monday to charges they engaged in a mortgage fraud scheme involving properties in the Wellington subdivision of Versailles.

Bank Pushback May Doom Title Insurance Deal
For more: http://bit.ly/9Hg0de
Banks are reluctant to sign a sort of model industry agreement to take on insurers' legal costs, because it could expose them to the suggestion they did something wrong, industry representatives said.

How the Banks Put the Economy Underwater
For more: http://nyti.ms/aPlvOQ
In Congressional hearings last week, Obama administration officials acknowledged that uncertainty over foreclosures could delay the recovery of the housing market. The implications for the economy are serious. For instance, the International Monetary Fund found that the persistently high unemployment in the United States is largely the result of foreclosures and underwater mortgages, rather than widely cited causes like mismatches between job requirements and worker skills.

EDITORIAL: More on the Mortgage Mess
For more: http://nyti.ms/9KUMd3
Consumer advocates, the press, investors and homeowners have already compiled a compelling list of transgressions: conflicts of interest that have banks pushing foreclosures, without a good-faith effort to modify troubled loans. Dubious fees that inflate mortgage balances. The hundreds of thousands of flawed foreclosure affidavits that violated homeowners’ legal protections. The misplaced documents. And it goes on.

Debt Collectors Face a Hazard: Writer’s Cramp
For more: http://nyti.ms/9TxTra
When Michael Gazzarato took a job that required him to sign hundreds of affidavits in a single day, he had one demand for his employer: a much better pen. “They tried to get me to do it with a Bic, and I wasn’t going — I wasn’t having it,” he said. “It was bad when I had to use the plastic Papermate-type pen. It was a nightmare.”

Opinion letter to NYT: Steps by Bank of America
For more: http://nyti.ms/bRj8xX
We initiated a nationwide suspension of foreclosures to clear the air of industrywide concerns that were raised about how mortgage servicers have managed the process. We made improvements that we believe will help ensure confidence that the underlying basis for foreclosure, and the associated paperwork, is appropriate.

Title Insurance No Longer an Issue in Foreclosure-Gate
For more: http://bit.ly/bpkRPb
Elizabeth Razzi of the Washington Post reports that three big title insurers, First American Financial, Old Republic International and Stewart Information Services, are no longer demanding indemnifications from banks and servicers on foreclosed properties. Those three firms make up more than half of the title insurance market.

Focus On The Foreclosure Mess: Title Insurance, Robo-Signing, & Ibanez
For more: http://bit.ly/apo6Tu
Initially, the press reported that some major title insurers had temporarily stopped insuring foreclosure titles from JP Morgan Chase, Ally Financial, and Bank of America. All title insurers have resumed insuring all foreclosure properties in the wake of several major agreements between national title insurance companies and lenders.

The Fed Bought Fraud
For more: http://bit.ly/dkjp2s
In the wake of the financial meltdown of 2008, the Federal Reserve announced it would buy mortgage-backed securities, or MBS. We now know the Fed definitely bought valueless MBS because it has joined other ripped-off investors to demand Bank of America buy back billions in sour home debt.

Louisville home sales plunge 29 percent as slump continues
For more: http://bit.ly/9qWTDa
Members of the Greater Louisville Association of Realtors sold 29 percent fewer houses and condos last month than last September as the local market continued to struggle following the expiration of federal housing tax credits.

Wells Fargo to Amend About 55,000 Foreclosures
For more: http://nyti.ms/bs89x7
Wells Fargo said that current reviews found that bank employees had failed to “strictly adhere” to its required procedures during a final step in its documentation processes. It also acknowledged that “some aspects of the notarization process” had not always been properly followed, creating the potential for paperwork errors.

Homeowners Facing Foreclosure Demand Recourse
For more: http://nyti.ms/bhqVGI
Thomas and Charlotte Sexton, of Kentucky, were successfully foreclosed upon by a mortgage trust that, according to court records, does not exist.

Treasury Sees Escalating Risk to Home Prices
For more: http://nyti.ms/aT59EF
The uncertainty over the legal status of foreclosed homes in the nation could further depress home prices and delay the recovery of the housing market, the Obama administration said on Wednesday.

Owners of foreclosed homes face risk due to banks' practices
For more: http://bit.ly/bTtYe0
Major banks are accused of mishandling foreclosure procedures in a hasty effort to reclaim thousands of homes. The latest mortgage crisis raises questions for people who bought foreclosed homes. Can someone who bought a bank-owned property be affected by mistakes in the foreclosure process? You might be OK, but it depends on a few variables.

Adviser to Consumer Agency Had Role in Lending
For more: http://nyti.ms/cRLYmU
A senior adviser to Elizabeth Warren, hired to help start the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, is an investor in and, until recently, served as a director of a company that helps to arrange low-documentation loans for consumers with often-spotty credit histories.

Title Insurance Companies Initiate Move to Protect Industry
For more: http://bit.ly/aezeiz
Fidelity National Financial is reportedly leading the campaign launched by title insurance companies in the U.S. to demand that the industry be indemnified from any potential fallout that will be caused by the ongoing nationwide probe on lenders' foreclosure processing methods.

NYT Editorial: The Mortgage Morass
For more: http://nyti.ms/aPVup2
The mortgage mess just keeps getting messier. Last week, Bank of America announced that it had performed a “thorough review” of its processes, found nothing amiss and would soon restart 102,000 pending foreclosures. On Sunday, the bank acknowledged that it had in fact found errors in its filings, and would resume foreclosures only in a deliberate manner as new and corrected paperwork was submitted to the courts.

Foreclosures Had Errors, Bank Finds
For more: http://nyti.ms/ad8yR3
Even as Bank of America begins to restart foreclosure proceedings in 23 states on Monday, the bank confirmed that it had discovered errors, including incorrect data and misspelled names, in the paperwork it has reviewed.

Owners Seek Short Sales as Banks Push Foreclosure
For more: http://nyti.ms/bIvksf
“Banks are historically reluctant to do short sales, fearing that somehow the homeowner is getting an advantage on them,” said Diane E. Thompson, of counsel to the National Consumer Law Center. “There’s this irrational belief that if you foreclose and hold on to the property for six months, somehow prices will rebound.”

Foreclosures: A Paperwork Fiasco
For more: http://nyti.ms/bkZRYW
After months of horror stories, it seemed that the real estate mess could not get any worse. But now, the nation is in the middle of yet another foreclosure crisis.

One Mess That Can’t Be Papered Over
For more: http://nyti.ms/bEFVRv
Is the banks’ sloppy paperwork a matter of simple technicalities that are relatively easy to cure, as the banks contend? Or are there more far-reaching consequences for banks and the institutions that bought mortgage-backed securities during the mania? Oddly enough, the answer to both questions may be yes.

Big Problem for Banks: Due Process
For more: http://nyti.ms/aZpuYT
Earlier this week, Bank of America, the nation’s largest consumer bank, reported its third-quarter earnings. It was a very good quarter; putting aside an accounting charge — a very large, $10.4 billion accounting charge, admittedly — the bank reported $3.1 billion in profits. It was the third consecutive quarter that Bank of America had earned more than $3 billion.

Plunging Mortgage Refinancing Rates Aid the Thrifty
For more: http://nyti.ms/dtGZtR
Now, at last, the frugal are celebrating. With a leg up on their less creditworthy neighbors, they are qualifying for refinanced home mortgages at interest rates that in any other recent era would have been considered stealing. And unlike in late 2008, when rates started their plunge to historic lows, many lenders say they are rushing to accommodate the influx in applications.

Mortgage fraud will go to court
Fore more: http://bit.ly/dDkZFO
Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller and a team of his attorneys fanned across nine counties to sue 10 so-called foreclosure counselors Thursday.

Louisville-based Republic Bank earnings up 29 percent in third quarter
For more: http://bit.ly/9qWTDa
Republic’s profit is up to $60 million this year, a 58 percent increase from a year earlier.

Stock Yards Bank profits up 45 percent in third quarter
For more: http://bit.ly/9qWTDa
Profits at Louisville-based S.Y. Bancorp, parent company of Stock Yards Bank & Trust, rose 45 percent to $6.3 million in the July-September period compared to the same period a year earlier, the bank said Wednesday.

PNC Financial Services reports soaring profits in third quarter
For more: http://bit.ly/9qWTDa
The Pittsburgh-based company, which is the largest bank in Kentucky in terms of deposits, has earned net income of $2.6 billion for the first nine months of this year, compared with $1.3 billion for the first nine months of 2009.

Fannie and Freddie May Need Infusion
For more: http://nyti.ms/d6OaLw
The troubled mortgage companies are likely to require about $19 billion in additional federal aid over the next three years, according to a projection by the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

Careful Approach Works for Wells Fargo, as Earnings Rise 7%
For more: http://nyti.ms/cJ88uT
Even though Wells Fargo is the nation’s biggest lender to consumers, its losses on bad loans have been lower than the rest of the industry. Wells Fargo officials attribute that divide to prudent lending standards — like requiring higher down payments — and being quicker to restructure problem loans from the start.

Foreclosures Profit Some Equity Firms
For more: http://nyti.ms/a6UDXe
With a surge in lawsuits against law firms specializing in foreclosures, a case in Mississippi is casting light on another aspect of the mortgage mess — the connection between Wall Street private equity firms and those law firms, often known as foreclosure mills.

Battle Lines Forming in Clash Over Foreclosures
For more: http://nyti.ms/clFAba
That clash — expected to be played out in courtrooms across the country and scrutinized by law enforcement officials investigating possible wrongdoing by big lenders — leaped to the forefront of the mortgage crisis this week as big lenders began lifting their freezes on foreclosures and insisted the worst was behind them.

AP Mobile: Wells Fargo profit rises 19 pct, tops forecasts
For more: http://apne.ws/bqJCo5
The San Francisco bank says income after paying preferred dividends was $3.15 billion, or 60 cents per share, in the three months ending in September. It earned $2.64 billion, or 56 cents per share, during the same period a year earlier.

Questions Rising Over Fannie’s and Freddie’s Oversight of Foreclosures
For more: http://nyti.ms/bCTsvH
Employees of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac descended on the law offices of David J. Stern seven or eight times during 2008 to scrutinize the Florida firm’s processing of foreclosures. They made one major demand, according to a former employee. “Pick up the speed.”

Fed Wants Banks to Buy Back Some Bad Mortgages
For more: http://nyti.ms/cbar2Z
To the long list of those picking fights with banks over bad mortgages, add the Federal Reserve. Two years after the Fed bought billions of dollars in mortgage securities as part of the financial bailout, its New York arm is questioning the paperwork — and pressing banks to buy some of the investments back.

Intermission, at Best, in Battle Over Foreclosures
For more: http://nyti.ms/bOr1zs
Bank of America may be trying to bring down the curtain on the foreclosure furor, but there were numerous indications Tuesday that the problems would not move off-stage so quickly.

Citi’s Good News Proves Reassuring
For more: http://nyti.ms/bzJMbg
Vikram Pandit, chief executive of Citigroup, has snatched some of Jamie Dimon’s market momentum. Mr. Dimon, who runs JPMorgan Chase, has lately been setting a comforting tone for the sector’s earnings. But growing foreclosure-related fears overshadowed his bank’s latest decent results. Now, his counterpart at Citigroup seems to be the one reassuring investors.

Largest Bank Will Resume Foreclosure Push in 23 States
For more: http://nyti.ms/biMkDg
Bank of America, the nation’s largest bank and the servicer of roughly one in five American mortgages, insisted that it had not found a single example where a foreclosure proceeding was brought in error.

Foreclosure Moratorium – Does it Affect Me?
For more: http://bit.ly/cfYVd4
When today’s mortgage servicing company believes it has cause to foreclose on a homeowner due to nonpayment, that servicing company may have a devil of a time proving it actually owns the mortgage instrument and has the legal standing to enforce it.

Former Washington Loan Officer Sentenced to Over 11 Years for Mortgage Fraud
For more: http://bit.ly/aLi5M6
A former resident of Washington state who worked as a loan originator was sentenced to 11 years and three months in federal prison and more than $4 million in restitution for his role in mortgage fraud scheme uncovered by agents with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Office of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

White House Urges Calm on Foreclosures
For more: http://nyti.ms/98bNvj
Amid a rising uproar over slipshod bank foreclosure practices, members of the Obama administration on Sunday expressed anger about the revelations, but urged caution as multiple investigations into the crisis unfold.

Title Insurance and Why It Is A Must
For more: http://bit.ly/bj1GgO
The owner's policy assures a purchaser that the title to the property is vested in that purchaser and that it is free from all defects, liens and encumbrances except those which are listed as exceptions in the policy or are excluded from the scope of the policy's coverage.

How Countrywide Covered the Cracks
For more: http://nyti.ms/aSf50g
ON June 27, 2006, Countrywide Financial, the nation’s largest mortgage lender, was about to close its books on a record-breaking six-month run. The housing market was on fire and Countrywide’s earnings were soaring. Despite all the euphoria inside the company, some executives noticed that Angelo R. Mozilo, the company’s brash and imperious chief executive, seemed subdued.

Father, son charged with fraud in South Bend
For more: http://bit.ly/9MAbKM
Federal prosecutors have charged a father and son with running a mortgage fraud scheme that preyed upon the naiveté of immigrants who were looking to become real estate investors in South Bend.

Connecticut Man Sentenced for Role in Mortgage Fraud Scheme
For more: http://bit.ly/byl1QA
John Jackson, 42, of Hamden, was sentenced today by United States District Judge Christopher F Droney in Hartford to six months of home confinement and two years of probation for participating in a mortgage fraud scheme. Judge Droney also ordered Jackson to pay restitution in the amount of $100,000.

Avoid Foreclosure Market Until the Dust Settles
For more: http://nyti.ms/8ZrE8w
For years, Todd Phelps and Paul Whitehead had been living in a rent-controlled apartment in Santa Monica and waiting out the housing bubble in hopes of buying a weekend getaway in the Palm Springs area. And on Sept. 10, they thought they had finally done it, getting a house for $137,000.

Foreclosure Mess Draws in the Lawyers Who Handled Them
For more: http://nyti.ms/aOamWq
With the rash of foreclosures across the country in recent years, many lawyers have specialized in the lucrative business of handling cases for banks and loan servicers. And now that flaws are being acknowledged by big lenders in the processing of foreclosures, some of these lawyers are finding themselves in the cross hairs of investigators — and scorned by their former clients.

NYT Opinion: Giving Foreclosures Closer Scrutiny
For more: http://nyti.ms/auaoU4
It isn’t surprising that in GMAC Mortgage’s rush to foreclose, it failed to do its due diligence. If the scrutiny of the banking industry after the start of the current financial crisis told us anything, it is that any trust we may have in the responsible behavior of the banking industry is folly.

Lending Magnate Settles Fraud Case
For more: http://nyti.ms/bXFjCB
Angelo R. Mozilo, the former chief executive of Countrywide Financial, once the nation’s largest mortgage lender, agreed to pay $67.5 million on Friday to settle a civil fraud case brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission last year.

Mortgage Mess May Cost Big Banks Billions
For more: http://nyti.ms/diFs2w
“I don’t see how it can be cleared up in a short period of time,” said Richard X. Bove, an analyst with Rochdale Securities. “The moratorium won’t last that long but the problem will last at least four or five years, maybe a decade.” In the short term, he said, “it could easily cost $1.5 billion per quarter.”

Settlement May Be Near in Countrywide Case
For more: http://nyti.ms/b24PFh
Countrywide’s fall was as spectacular as its rise. After nearly collapsing into bankruptcy as its financing dried up, the company was acquired by Bank of America in 2008. It later agreed to pay $108 million to settle federal civil charges that it overcharged customers. And in August, the company agreed to pay $600 million to settle shareholder lawsuits over its mortgage losses.

NYT Editorial: The Foreclosure Crises
For more: http://nyti.ms/bZian8
There is plenty to worry about. But amid all this roiling, neither Congress nor the administration has found a way to address an even more fundamental problem: What government and banks need to do to finally stanch the flood of foreclosures wreaking havoc on the lives of millions of Americans and threatening the recovery.

Maine House set off National Foreclosure Freeze
For more: http://nyti.ms/dkdMhn
The house that set off the national furor over faulty foreclosures is blue-gray and weathered. The porch is piled with furniture and knickknacks awaiting the next yard sale. In the driveway is a busted pickup truck. No one who lives there is going anywhere anytime soon.

FBI Reports a Nationwide Increase in Mortgage Fraud Investigations
For more: http://bit.ly/cuwFpf
The FBI report draws attention to one type of fraud that has grown considerably since the bubble burst: borrowers on the brink of foreclosure who hope to avail themselves of financial assistance related to federal stimulus legislation.

Foreclosure Process : What Happens after Foreclosure
For more: http://bit.ly/ar6sLn
A lot of people are wondering what happens after foreclosure. Although you may be inclined to think of anything negative, such as having to leave your home or your property for good, this is not always the scenario. It is very much possible for you to redeem your home, especially if you currently reside in specific states.

Mortgage broker fined, sentenced
For more: http://bit.ly/aKDrlb
The 188-month sentence is a clear sign that those responsible for mortgage fraud are being held accountable, Robert O’Neill, United States Attorney for the Middle District of Florida, said in a press statement.

Kentucky, Indiana join foreclosure fraud investigation
For more: http://bit.ly/d2pska
Kentucky and Indiana have joined the other 48 states in a coordinated investigation of foreclosure fraud, attorneys general for the two states announced Wednesday.

Chase Acts to Broaden Foreclosure Reviews
For more: http://nyti.ms/cHU85U
On the same day that all 50 state attorneys general announced that they would investigate foreclosure practices, JPMorgan Chase & Company became the first big lender to acknowledge that it had stopped using Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, or MERS, for foreclosures. This bank-owned registry, which eliminates the need to record changes in property ownership in local land records, has been criticized for sloppy practices.

Bankers Ignored Signs of Trouble on Foreclosures
For more: http://nyti.ms/cx3Goy
At Citigroup and GMAC, dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s on home foreclosures was outsourced to frazzled workers who sometimes tossed the paperwork into the garbage.

GMAC Mortgage Expands Review of Its Foreclosures
For more: http://nyti.ms/aePNMl
Amid growing inquiries by law enforcement into dubious paperwork by home lenders, one of the nation’s largest, GMAC Mortgage, said Tuesday that it was expanding its review of foreclosures to all 50 states. The company said it was hiring legal and accounting firms to conduct “independent reviews of the foreclosure process."

Across the U.S., Long Recovery Looks Like Recession
For more: http://nyti.ms/aSGoVL
Less than a month before November elections, the United States is mired in a grim New Normal that could last for years.

Title Insurers in Talks With Lenders on Foreclosure Warranties
For more: http://bit.ly/aHxYzS
“Everyone sort of sees the same risks, and that’s the good part,” Pfotenhauer, chief executive officer of the American Land Title Association, said today in a telephone interview. “You just have to craft a solution that’s acceptable to all the parties, and we’re making progress.”

FBI Reported that 80% of Mortgage Fraud is committed by Lenders
For more: http://huff.to/djrNLG
When most people think of mortgage fraud, they think of a clever borrower conning an unwitting banker into extending him a loan he cannot afford. But this isn't really how fraud usually works in the mortgage business. According to the FBI, 80% of mortgage fraud is committed by the lender.

NYT: A Foreclosure Tightrope for Democrats
For more: http://s.nyt.com/u/moyf
While senior Congressional Democrats join the calls for a national moratorium on foreclosures, the White House once again is arguing against punishing the industry, just as it did in 2009 amid the outcry over the unbreakable habit of paying large bonuses.

Wells Fargo will not join BofA in foreclosure suspension
For more: http://bit.ly/dfmOL5
Wells Fargo will not suspend foreclosures and stands by the accuracy of its affidavits, Jason Menke, a spokesman for the San Francisco-based bank, told HousingWire.

White House doubts need to halt foreclosures
For more: http://nyti.ms/cYODF1
A top White House adviser questioned the need on Sunday for a blanket halt to home foreclosures, even as pressure grows on the Obama administration to do something about growing evidence that banks have used inaccurate documents to evict homeowners.

Helping homeowners to refinance
For more: http://nyti.ms/bNNwx9
Here is the catch: Millions of people who are current in their payments cannot qualify for low-rate refinancing because their home values or credit scores have declined during the recession. That is bad news for everyone. But there is a way out.

NYT: After Foreclosure, a Focus on Title Insurance
For more: http://s.nyt.com/u/m3Ty
What would happen if scores of people who had lost their homes to foreclosure somehow persuaded a judge to overturn the proceedings? Could they somehow win back the rights to their homes, free and clear of any mortgage?

NYT: Bank of America Halts Foreclosure Sales
For more: http://s.nyt.com/u/m3VQ
The plan swept states with some of the highest foreclosure levels, including California, Nevada and Arizona, into a swelling crisis over lenders’ flawed paperwork that had been mostly confined to 23 other states [including Kentucky] that require judicial review of foreclosures.

Obama to veto bill that could speed foreclosures
For more: http://nyti.ms/c7Q4GL
As slipshod bookkeeping by some big mortgage lenders continued to rattle the housing market on Thursday, another major lender indicated it would suspend sales of foreclosed homes and White House officials said President Obama would not sign a bill that critics suggested could facilitate foreclosure fraud.

Feds hold mortgage fraud summit in Fresno
For more: http://bit.ly/bvNZVh
Assistant U.S. Attorney General Tony West says the most common fraud right now involves loan modifications. "That is the typical loan modification scam people who are asked to pay an upfront fee and then never hear from them again and before they know it their home his foreclosed." West said.

Flawed foreclosure documents thwart home sales
For more: http://nyti.ms/dxLUlo
Major mortgage lenders say they are reviewing their operations after disclosures that employees signed documents without determining the accuracy of the material, as is required by law. Those reviews are throwing into limbo hundreds of thousands of foreclosures and pending home sales, analysts estimate, though the lenders and Fannie Mae have been mostly silent about precise numbers and other specifics.

PNC Said to Be Latest Lender to Suspend Foreclosed Sales
For more: http://nyti.ms/9ZuXPI
PNC is alerting title insurance companies that it is postponing the closings effective immediately, according to the insurer who received the memo.

Foreclosure halts not likely to significantly impact title insurers
More from Morningstar: http://bit.ly/agfP1N
Recent reports that certain large national lenders have brought their foreclosure proceedings to a halt have cast a shadow on the title insurance industry. We conclude that although the title insurers may not emerge completely unscathed, the chance of a major hit is extremely remote.

Senator demands lenders reveal foreclosure errors
For more: http://bit.ly/9FDAfU
A key lawmaker is demanding more than 100 mortgage companies determine whether foreclosure documents they approved contain errors, and reveal their findings.

Foreclosure mess could last for years
For more: http://bit.ly/cg9N5D
A lawsuit filed in federal court in Louisville on behalf of all Kentucky homeowners claims that MERS was part of a conspiracy to create false promissory notes, affidavits, and mortgage assignments to be used in mortgage foreclosures.

Payment to end Wells Fargo inquiry into risky option loans
For more: http://nyti.ms/aazK27
Wells Fargo & Company is paying $24 million to end an investigation by eight states into whether lenders acquired by the bank made risky mortgages to consumers without disclosing their perils.

Mortgage help for Kentucky's unemployed
For more: http://exm.nr/bcoueu
Gov. Steve Beshear, along with Kentucky Housing Corporation (KHC) Chief Executive Officer Richard L. McQuady, announced last week that Kentucky will receive additional funding from the U.S. Treasury Department to help unemployed and underemployed homeowners pay their mortgages as they seek work. Kentucky originally expected to receive $55.6 million, but received notification Friday that that state will receive an additional $93.3 million for a total of $148.9 million.

Kentucky homeowners file racketeering case against Ally and Citigroup
For more: http://bit.ly/a27EmC
Homeowners in Kentucky have filed a lawsuit against Citigroup Inc. and Ally Financial Inc., alleging that the two have conspired with Reston, Virginia-based Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems Inc. in falsely foreclosing on loans.

Foreclosure Furor Rises; Many Call for a Freeze
http://nyti.ms/awtq5h
The uproar over bad conduct by mortgage lenders intensified Tuesday, as lawmakers in Washington requested a federal investigation and the attorney general in Texas joined a chorus of state law enforcement figures calling for freezes on all foreclosures.

Flawed Paperwork Aggravates a Foreclosure Crisis
For more: http://nyti.ms/dyaKB2
Judges may dismiss the foreclosures altogether, barring lenders from refiling and awarding the home to the borrower. That would create a loss for the lender or investor holding the note underlying the property. Almost certainly, lawyers say, lawsuits on behalf of borrowers will multiply.

NYT Opinion: On the Foreclosure Front
http://nyti.ms/bAJa1T
Now we learn that foreclosures, the end of the mortgage pipeline, have also been handled with a disregard for rules and standards. There is a pattern here — one that lawmakers and policy makers must change.

NYT: Company Stops Insuring Titles in Chase Foreclosures
For more: http://s.nyt.com/u/mBri
The company, Old Republic National Title Insurance, told its agents Friday that it would not write policies on foreclosed Chase properties until “the objectionable issues have been resolved,” according to a memorandum sent out by the firm’s underwriting department.

NYT: In Mortgage Ad, Two Wrongs Don't Make a Right
For more: http://s.nyt.com/u/meT7
The ING Direct loan is called a 5/1 Orange Mortgage, and as of early September, it came with a 3.25 percent interest rate for the first five years and a projected interest rate of 3.375 percent for the 25 years after that. But that is not right, in any number of ways.

NYT: Changes on Reverse Mortgages Will Alter Fee Structure
For more: http://s.nyt.com/u/meTo
Starting Monday, the program will introduce a reverse mortgage product known as the Saver, which will nearly eliminate one of the biggest upfront fees that borrowers are required to pay. But the program will also make changes in its standard reverse mortgages that will significantly increase certain costs but, in some cases, make more money available.

NYT: Bank of America to Freeze Foreclosure Cases
For more: http://s.nyt.com/u/meTD
It is the third major lender in the last two weeks to freeze foreclosures in the 23 states [including Kentucky] where the process is controlled by courts.

NYT: Foreclosures Slow as Document Flaws Emerge
For more: http://s.nyt.com/u/meEb
Even lenders with no known problems are expected to approach defaulting homeowners more cautiously and look more aggressively for resolutions short of outright eviction.

NYT: JPMorgan Suspending Foreclosures
For more: http://s.nyt.com/u/mtqZ
In a sign that the entire foreclosure process is coming under pressure, a second major mortgage lender said that it was suspending court cases against defaulting homeowners so it could review its legal procedures.

Fannie Mae offers a break to service people
For more: http://bit.ly/aN9Utd
Injured members of the military can reduce or suspend their mortgage payments for up to six months through a new program with Fannie Mae.

NYT: Raters Ignored Proof of Unsafe Loans, Panel Is Told
For more: http://s.nyt.com/u/mrbZ
Details of what Wall Street firms knew about the loans they were selling to investors, and when they knew it, are still trickling out in regulatory actions and private lawsuits.

Amid mountain of paperwork, shortcuts and forgeries mar foreclosure process
Washington Post story: http://bit.ly/9OvaSe
The nation's overburdened foreclosure system is riddled with faked documents, forged signatures and lenders who take shortcuts reviewing borrower's files, according to court documents and interviews with attorneys, housing advocates and company officials.

Louisville home sales down, but slump slows
Courier-Journal story: http://bit.ly/9U9j59
Members of the Greater Louisville Association of Realtors sold 13 percent fewer houses and condos in August than a year earlier. That comes after a 22 percent drop in July from the previous July.

Housing Starts in August Exceeded Analysts' Forecasts
For more: http://nyti.ms/9mh1gv
Housing starts in the United States increased more than expected in August, to their highest level in four months, and permits for residential construction also rose, government data showed on Tuesday, suggesting that the embattled market was starting to stabilize after the end of a tax credit.

NYT: GMAC Halts Foreclosures in 23 States for Review
For more: http://s.nyt.com/u/mi6f
States where the moratorium is being carried out include New York, Connecticut, New Jersey, Illinois, Florida and 18 others [including Kentucky - editor], mostly on the East Coast and in the Midwest. All of the affected states are so-called judicial foreclosure states, where courts control the interactions of defaulting homeowners and their lenders.

NYT: Layoffs Said to Be Near for Bank of America Unit
For more: http://s.nyt.com/u/mi1T
Echoing the slowdown in activity that has hit Wall Street’s biggest institutions, Bank of America plans to cut several hundred jobs in its investment banking unit this week, according to employees.

NYT: Reasons Not to Refinance a Mortgage
For more: http://s.nyt.com/u/miwr
As with most financial matters, this decision involves a bit of math. At the very least, homeowners will need to determine their closing costs and monthly savings. Divide closing costs by savings; that tells you how many months it will take to break even. If you plan to stay put that long, a refinance might work.

NYT: Citigroup to Sell Unit That Lends to Students
For more: http://s.nyt.com/u/mCVj
Citigroup will take a $500 million loss on the deals, resulting in a write-down for the third quarter, but in the process it will unload nearly $40 billion in student loans from its books.

Home mortgage modification snags spark lawsuits
USA TODAY for more: http://bit.ly/9dg15c
Most of the lawsuits allege that the three- or four-month trial payment plans are contracts, and that Bank of America and other servicers broke them by not giving permanent modifications to homeowners who made their trial payments on time and provided the necessary documentation.

NYT: Housing Woes Bring New Cry: Let Market Fall
For more: http://s.nyt.com/u/mwx6
“Housing needs to go back to reasonable levels,” said Anthony B. Sanders, a professor of real estate finance at George Mason University. “If we keep trying to stimulate the market, that’s the definition of insanity.”

NYT: Bernanke Blames Self For Not Seeing Sub-Prime Mortgage Flaws
For more: http://s.nyt.com/u/mdCj
“This is my own fault, in a sense,” Mr. Bernanke said, adding that he was worried at the time about contributing to panic in the markets. “I regret not being more straightforward there.”

NYT: More Banks in Trouble, but Profits Are Rising
For more: http://s.nyt.com/u/mXXo
Even as the economy remains weak and the number of troubled banks creeps higher, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation’s quarterly report card on Tuesday showed that the banking sector is slowly starting to recover.

NYT: 2 New Federal Programs to Help Borrowers Pay Their Mortgages
For more: http://s.nyt.com/u/9-Ju
The Obama administration plans to take two new steps in the next few weeks to help struggling homeowners pay their mortgages, said Shaun Donovan, the secretary of Housing and Urban Development.

20m Borrowers Could Be Underwater before 2012: Deutsche Bank
For more: http://bit.ly/aY1DsY
The presence of negative equity goes hand-in-hand with an increased likelihood of strategic default, as borrowers sometimes may not be willing to pay when the house has lost substantial amounts of value.

NYT: Rethinking Adjustable-Rate Mortgages
For more: http://s.nyt.com/u/9-zj
With mortgage rates and many financial indexes low, and the economy showing no signs of a quick recovery, current ARM borrowers face an interesting choice. If they keep their loans, they may well have lower payments in the next year than those who have fixed-rate loans.