Consumerist
subprime meltdown
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Mortgages
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subprime meltdown
personal finance
Consumer Bankruptcies Up Nearly 50% From A Year Ago
The number of people filing for bankruptcy continues to increase, as bad mortgages and the rising price of [insert noun here] squeezes every last penny out of debt-laden consumers. The American Bankruptcy Institute says the number of filings was up 47.7% in April from a year ago, and up 7.1% from March '08. More »
securitization
Why Few Seem To Be Able To Work Out Better Loan Terms
Call it what you will, the borrower bailout/rescue/whatever does not seem to be working. Foreclosures are still on the rise along with defaults and sad stories. And while those numbers go up, the economy continues to worsen. More »
subprime meltdown
No Help For 70% Of Homeowners Facing Foreclosure
A new study shows that despite the best efforts of lawmakers and mortgage-service companies, little is actually being done to help homeowners facing foreclosure, says the Wall Street Journal. More »
data breach
LendingTree Data Breach: Former Employees Were Sharing Passwords With Unapproved Lenders
LendingTree announced today that several former employees are suspected of sharing passwords with lenders that were not approved by LendingTree, and that this may have exposed customer data including: name, address, e-mail address, phone number, Social Security number, income and employment information. More »
mortgages
Is Your HELOC In Danger Of Being Frozen?
If you have an open home equity line of credit you were counting on for renovations or other projects, you might want to read CNN Money's article about how lenders are freezing them around the country. The main triggers for HELOC freezing are credit score changes and a rapid drop in home value in your area. The freeze may also be a computer-determined action, so if your HELOC suddenly goes away and you don't think it was justified, it may be worth checking your FICO score and then contacting the lender to reopen the line or renegotiate it. More »
Apparently, buying a house you can afford and fixing it up with a modest loan and money that you earned through gainful employment is rare enough to warrant a 3-page profile in the NYT. [NYT]
explainers
A lot of blame has sloshed around for the sub-prime meltdown, from greedy borrowers to greedy mortgage brokers to Alan Greenspan, but if you want the real culprit, it was the repeal of the Glass-Stegall Act. On November 12, 1999, the champagne must have been shooting from the walls at Citigroup, which had worked behind the scenes for over 30 years to get the act overturned. After recovering from their hangover, they and their banking buddies went on a sub-prime lending orgy. But what was Glass-Steagall and how did it use to protect us?
More »
Blame The Subprime Meltdown On The Repeal Of Glass-Steagall
A lot of blame has sloshed around for the sub-prime meltdown, from greedy borrowers to greedy mortgage brokers to Alan Greenspan, but if you want the real culprit, it was the repeal of the Glass-Stegall Act. On November 12, 1999, the champagne must have been shooting from the walls at Citigroup, which had worked behind the scenes for over 30 years to get the act overturned. After recovering from their hangover, they and their banking buddies went on a sub-prime lending orgy. But what was Glass-Steagall and how did it use to protect us?
More »
2:47 PM on Thu Apr 17 2008
By Ben Popken
18,602 views,
88 comments
Latest by mookiemookie: CRA had very little to do with why we're in the mess we're in. Robert Gordon goes into it all here: [www.prospect.org] more »
ask the consumerists
Having Trouble Getting A Conforming Loan?
A reporter for a major national newspaper is looking for people to talk to for a story about new government guidelines that were supposed to make it easier for people to get or refinance jumbo loans (mortgage loans traditionally greater than $417,000). Under the new guidelines, some loans that are greater than $417,000 have been re-classified as "conforming" loans. This was supposed to make it easier for borrowers to qualify, but the reality, mortgage brokers say, is that very few people are. The reporter is looking to speak with consumers who have looked into the new guidelines, had hoped they would help, but discovered they are not helping after all. Email ben@consumerist.com with "jumbo" in the subject line and I'll put you in touch.
subprime meltdown
Life In A Subprime Ghost Town: Not Paying The Mortgage Feels "Great!"
We've been hearing tales of suburban McGhost-Towns that were submerged by a tidal wave of foreclosures at the height of the subprime meltdown and are now just sitting there, the lawns turning brown one by one. More »
real estate
Zillow Offers Anonymous Mortgage Shopping
Zillow has a new tool for those of you who wish you could do your mortgage shopping while wearing a ski mask and speaking through one of those things that makes you sound like Darth Vader — the Zillow Mortgage Marketplace. More »
shady
Justice Department Will Investigate Countrywide's Lending Practices
A judge has authorized an investigation into Countrywide's lending practices, says the NYT.Judge Thomas P. Agresti of the Federal Bankruptcy Court in Pittsburgh on Tuesday approved an inquiry into "the impact of Countrywide's bankruptcy procedures on the integrity of the bankruptcy process" by the Office of the United States Trustee, a Justice Department arm that polices bankruptcy filings.More »
sub-prime business opportunities
How To Get An "Iffy" Loan Approved
Sometimes when you're trying to get a borrower approved for a mortgage the system will tell you something stupid like "this person is not qualified." Luckily, this internal document from Chase shows a few tips and tricks you can use to tweak a borrower's profile so they can get a stated-income asset loan (which recently has received the unfair pejorative of a "liar's loan" by the sensationalist media apparatchik) a piece of The American Dream. It's specific to Chase's internal loan approval system. Irregardless, many of the principles have universal application, no matter what level of the fast-paced exciting field of sub-prime mortgages you work. Highlights:
1. Bundle all compensation as base income, don't break it down to commissions, bonuses and tips
2. Add gift funds to the base income
3. And if that still doesn't work, just top off the income with an extra $500!
Full document as leaked to The Oregonian (turns out journalists are good for something other than reprinting our press releases, at least now the rest of us can learn from these advanced tips), inside...
More »
New trend: organized bus tours of foreclosed properties for potential buyers. [AP]
scams
Identity Theft + Mortgage Fraud = Home Stealing
Scammers are combining identity theft and mortgage fraud to steal people's houses right from under them, the FBI warns. A few cases have been reported where thieves find house, figure out who owns it, assume their identity, then forge signatures on the paperwork, get the deed transferred over to themselves, and then quickly sell it and run off. In some cases, victims were left paying the mortgage on a house they no longer own. To combat it, the FBI recommends:* If you receive a payment book or information from a mortgage company that's not yours, whether your name is on the envelope or not, don't just throw it away. Open it, figure out what it says, and follow up with the company that sent it.Thankfully they also say that "home stealing" so far does not appear to be very common. More »
* From time to time, it's also a good idea to check all information pertaining to your house through your county's deeds office. If you see any paperwork you don't recognize or any signature that is not yours, look into it.
The Minnesota Financial Crimes Task Force has given up on investigating mortgage fraud. "We don't have the staff or funding to address it," said Mike Siitari, Edina police chief and oversight council chairman. "We have hundreds of cases of backlog." [Pioneer Press via Caveat Emptor]
Some ex-Countrywide executives are starting a new company that will buy mortgages, restructure them, and sell them at a profit. [Martketwatch]
