Fannie-Freddie Report Likely to Be Late
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The Obama administration is likely to miss a deadline for issuing a long-awaited report about the future of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and what might replace them.

U.S. Bank Hints at Checking and Debit Card Fees
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The days of the free debit card may be coming to an end at some banks. On Wednesday, in an earnings conference call (see the transcript on SeekingAlpha.com) with analysts and investors, U.S. Bancorp executives hinted that later this year, debit cards might no longer be a free product at the bank. That would make it the first bank that we know of to adopt such fees.

More Banks Closed
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Regulators on Friday closed banks in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Colorado, bringing to seven the number of closures in 2011.

UPDATED: Mortgage Woes Lead to $2.2 Billion Loss at Bank of America
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Bank of America’s report Friday capped a series of earnings announcements by the nation’s biggest banks over the last week and a half, but it stands in sharp contrast to the resurgent profits recorded by its giant peers, like Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo.

Shamed Into Altering a Mortgage
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In physics, the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle states that the process of observing subatomic particles affects their behavior. We have a similar principle in journalism: the process of reporting a story can sometimes affect the behavior of those being reported on. Last Wednesday, the Heisenberg Journalism Principle was on full display in a courtroom at the Queens County Courthouse, in New York.

With Retirement Savings, It’s a Sprint to the Finish
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What would you do if your financial planner prescribed the following advice? Save and invest diligently for 30 years, then cross your fingers and pray your investments will double over the last decade before you retire. You might as well go to Las Vegas.

BofA loses $1.2B in 4Q on mortgage writedowns
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Bank of America Corp., the largest U.S. bank by assets, reported a second straight quarterly loss, driven by a $2 billion writedown of its mortgage business.

Mortgage Servicers Face New Fee System
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Federal housing regulators said they will develop a new payment system for mortgage-servicing companies, which have been battered by paperwork errors and widespread consumer complaints.

Lenders See Little Choice: Layoffs
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Wells Fargo and American Express said Wednesday that they would take action to reduce expenses and lay off employees to become leaner. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. and Fifth Third Bancorp said Thursday they too want to become more efficient.

Data Show Parts of U.S. Economy Stirring
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Sales of existing homes rose more than expected in December despite bad weather as sellers cut prices, but growth of factory activity in the mid-Atlantic region fell in January from December’s level.

Banks Want Pieces of Fannie-Freddie Pie
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Wells Fargo and some other large banks would like private companies, perhaps even themselves, to become the new housing finance giants helping to bundle individual mortgages into securities — that would be stamped with a government guarantee.

Banks say fewer consumer loans are going bad
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In an encouraging round of earnings reports, major banks say fewer mortgages are going bad, credit card defaults are down and more people are paying the bills on time.

2010 ends as second worst year for home construction
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Economists say it could take three more years before the industry begins building homes at a healthy rate. In the mean time, the housing downturn is dragging on the broader economy, with one-quarter of the jobs lost since the recession began in the construction field.

Housing Starts Slowed Sharply in December
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Groundbreaking on new homes fell more than expected in December to its lowest in over a year, suggesting the battered housing sector remained a roadblock to a recovery.

Wells Fargo Posts 21% Gain in Its Profit
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Wells Fargo, one of the nation’s biggest banks and the largest consumer lender, said Wednesday that its fourth-quarter earnings rose 21 percent, helped by an improving loan portfolio and withdrawals from its capital reserves.

From Struggling Owners to Stable Renters
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There are many factors behind the mortgage crisis, but there is only one simple explanation for why we have failed to solve it. Any effort to help homeowners by forgiving some of their loans is said to create a moral hazard, rendering it politically toxic. But without help, homeowners continue to struggle, foreclosures continue to mount and the housing industry continues to drag down the economy.

Banks’ Underlying Problem Is Revenue
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The nation’s banks are posting runaway profits for 2010, in a drastic reversal from 2009, when the prospect of widespread loan defaults forced them to set aside billions of dollars to cover losses.

In Wreckage of Lost Jobs, Lost Power
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Alone among the world’s economic powers, the United States is suffering through a deep jobs slump that can’t be explained by the rest of the economy’s performance.

10,000 GMAC Foreclosures Stopped in Maryland
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In a major ruling Friday, a coalition of nonprofit defense lawyers and consumer protection advocates in Maryland successfully got over 10,000 foreclosure cases managed by GMAC Mortgage tossed out, because affidavits in the cases were signed by Jeffrey Stephan, the infamous GMAC “robo-signer” who attested to the authenticity of foreclosure documents without any knowledge about them, as well as signing other false statements.

Survive long-term joblessness with tips from experts
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Those who have been unemployed for an extended period face two giant challenges: finding a job and making their finances last. And not necessarily in that order. Both require discipline and dedication. But you can do this.

Federal foreclosure funds trickling into neighborhoods
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The program doles out federal money to local governments, which help nonprofit organizations or municipalities buy the abandoned, foreclosed homes in targeted areas.

LETTERS: Better Approaches to Home Loans?
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Up north, Canadian banks hold more than two-thirds of their loans. And their rates are fixed for a statutory maximum of five years. During the recent recession, while about 14 percent of American mortgages were in arrears, fewer than 1 percent of Canadian mortgages were in foreclosure or delinquent.

Experts offer advice for surviving long-term joblessness
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"People are going to have to downsize like they never thought they would," said certified financial planner Lynn Lawrance, "and more people are going to have to downsize." Here's advice on how to stretch your finances and how to find a job.

Banks Loosen Purse Strings
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U.S. banks are making more loans to consumers for the first time since the credit crisis erupted, as lending standards begin to loosen and demand for new loans edges higher.

Stricter Lending Guidelines for Condos
For more: http://nyti.ms/e6c9Yd
Stellar credit and steady income will go a long way in helping borrowers secure a home mortgage, but they may not be enough when it comes to buying or refinancing in certain condominium buildings.