A Wave of Bank Prosecutions Is Unlikely
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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
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Even as the fight over foreclosures continues, the high tide of delinquency among homeowners has begun to recede.

EDITORIAL: It’s Not Over
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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
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Myriad issues can complicate legal ownership of a property

Foreclosure Fix Is Seen as Distant
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“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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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?
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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
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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."