Banks Start to Dig Out From Troubled Loans
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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
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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?
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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?”