Each year, fraudsters target vulnerable, trusting Americans by claiming that they can make their lives better. But when all the chips have fallen, these seemingly legit businesses often turn out to be just the opposite. While some of these operations will face the wrath of federal or state regulators, their victims are often left with little. [More]
mortgage
Federal, State Agencies Accuse Ocwen Of Mortgage Errors, Illegal Foreclosures
By 4.20.17 — Updated: 5.9.17
We may be years removed from the robo-signing, foreclosure free-for-all that ensued following the collapse of the housing market, but mortgage servicers continue to screw things up. Today, federal and state regulators sued one of the nation’s largest home loan companies, alleging widespread errors that caused borrowers to lose money, and in some cases their homes. [More]
Bank Of America Ordered To Pay $46M Over Improper Foreclosure
By 3.29.17 — Updated: 5.10.17
Bank of America must pay $46 million for improperly foreclosing on a California couple’s home in 2010. [More]
Airbnb Hosts Having Difficulty Refinancing Homes
By 8.30.16
Until recently, home loans generally covered two types of properties: primary residences or investments. That was before services like Airbnb allowed anyone with an extra room to make a bit of extra money by renting it out for short periods of time. This blurred line between “my house” and “my investment” is causing trouble for some homeowners when they go to refinance their mortgages. [More]
Some Banks Offering Tech Employees Mortgages With No Down Payment
By 7.28.16
Usually when you hear about banks offering home loans with low down-payment requirements, it’s intended to attract first-time homeowners who may not have the tens of thousands of dollars it can take to make the full 20% upfront payment. However, some banks in high-priced areas in and around Silicon Valley are using 0% down-payment loans in an attempt to attract well-heeled tech employees. [More]
4 Things We Learned About Why Mortgage Servicers Continue To Stink
By 6.22.16
More than two years ago, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau enacted rules about the ways mortgage servicers could operate and interact with borrowers, but a new report finds that many of these servicing companies continue to go about (bad) business as usual, using failed technology that has already harmed American homeowners.
[More]
Goldman Sachs To Pay $5B To Settle Charges Of Selling Troubled Mortgages Ahead Of The Financial Crisis
By 4.11.16
Federal and state prosecutors are closing yet another chapter in its investigation related to banks’ roles in the financial crisis. To that end, Goldman Sachs has agreed to pay $5.06 billion to settle claims it misled mortgage bond investors during the period leading up to the crisis. [More]
HSBC Must Pay $470M For Alleged Abusive Loan Practices
By 2.5.16
Thousands of homeowners who lost their homes or had their loans modified will receive a portion of a $470 million federal-state settlement with mortgage lender and servicer HSBC to settle allegations the bank engaged in origination, servicing, and foreclosure abuses. [More]
West Virginia Woman Sues Wells Fargo Over Alleged Home Loan Modification Misrepresentations
By 2.1.16
When you’re going through the often-tedious process of refinancing your mortgage, getting some bad information can only serve to make things worse. That’s why a West Virginia woman is suing Wells Fargo, alleging that the bank told her to stop making loan payments then put her into collections and foreclosure.
[More]
Four Years After Reaching Deal With Regulators, Six Banks Still Haven’t Fixed Foreclosure Problems
By 6.17.15
Back in 2011, several of the nation’s largest banks entered into a settlement with federal regulators that required the institutions to correct widespread foreclosure abuses that helped to trigger the housing crisis. While the agreement was revised in 2013 to make things a bit easier for the offending banks, regulators today announced that six of the lenders – including JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo – still haven’t met requirements and face new restrictions on their mortgage operations. [More]
Consumers Can’t Void Second Mortgage In Bankruptcy, SCOTUS Rules
By 6.1.15
Consumers taking out a second mortgage will now have to consider the fact that if they encounter financial difficulties and file for bankruptcy, they won’t be able to strip off the additional loan obligation. [More]
Mortgage Servicer Must Refund Consumers $48M For Array Of Deceptive Practices
By 4.22.15
Every once in a while government agencies team up to take down unscrupulous operations that prey on financially vulnerable consumers. Such was the case this week when the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Federal Trade Commission took action against a mortgage servicer that engaged in a assortment of deceptive practices often resulting in consumers losing their homes. [More]
Citigroup Forgot To Compensate 23,000 Consumers For Abusive Foreclosure Practices, Sending Checks Now
By 3.4.15
Several years ago, Citigroup reached a deal with federal regulators that required the company to provide compensation for nearly 380,000 people affected by foreclosure abuse. Only the lender didn’t exactly follow through, failing to send checks to 23,000 consumers. [More]
Supreme Court Rules Homeowners Don’t Have To Sue Lenders To Rescind Mortgage Under Truth In Lending Act
By 1.13.15
A ruling by the Supreme Court on Tuesday made it a little easier for consumers to back out of mortgages under the Truth In Lending Act when lenders fail to disclose full terms of the deal. [More]
Report: Older Americans Facing Significant Increases In Mortgage Debt Load
By 5.7.14
Once upon a time reaching retirement age meant consumers would have less on their plates and more time to enjoy their golden years. Part of that included no longer holding a mortgage. But a refinancing boom during the 2000s and a trend of buying homes later in life has left many older Americans with a substantial amount of mortgage debt. [More]
Hope No One Minds If I Just Plunk Down 62,000 Pennies To Pay Off This Mortgage
By 7.6.12
Money is money, which is why one man figured the bank wouldn’t mind all that much if he finally paid off his mortgage with around 62,000 pennies he’d saved over the last 35 years. He said he just wanted his last payment on the house he bought in 1977 with his wife to be “memorable.” At two 400-pound boxes, we’d say that penny payment isn’t going to be forgotten soon. [More]
Renting Doesn't Necessarily Protect You From Inept Mortgage Servicers
By 12.6.11
Whenever I bring up the ongoing mortgage and foreclosure fiasco (and yes, this topic does come up often in my casual conversation; which is probably why I’m single), at least one of my renter friends cavalierly states that he or she is happy to not have to worry about having a bank wrongly foreclose on them, or mistakenly seize their stuff. But as the following story shows, that just isn’t so. [More]
Protesters Take Trash From Foreclosed House To Bank Of America Branch
By 9.20.11
Protesters chanting, “Bank of America, bad for America” tried to dump ten plump black garbage bags of trash in a BofA branch in Malden, Massachusetts. The bags contained refuse collected from the yard of a house the bank foreclosed on and let fall into disrepair, becoming a blight in the neighborhood and threatening to drag down property values. [More]
