Chase is proceeding full steam ahead with foreclosing on a 90-year-old woman’s condo even though her son has offered to pay it off. Rather than get the full amount of the mortgage paid in full, they prefer to incur the expenses of a foreclosure and sell it at a loss. [More]
mortgage meltdown
Self-Styled Robin Hood Banker Pleads Guilty
By 8.16.10
An ex-vp at a bank plead guilty last week to modifying over 100 loans to make it look like the customers were still current on their loans instead of overdue. This was not a money-making scheme, he was trying to help them. Nevertheless, it was fraud, and he could face up to 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine. [More]
Oops, You Didn't Buy A House, You Bought Its Worthless 2nd Mortgage, And Now It's In Foreclosure
By 8.2.10
A couple thought they were snagging a $97,606 foreclosure fixer upper at a courthouse sale, only to find out months later they had actually bought its worthless second mortgage. The original was in arrears, and now the house would be sold at another courthouse auction. [More]
Foreclosure Prevention Program Still Having Trouble Preventing Foreclosures
By 7.21.10
The government program that is supposed to stop 4 million foreclosures continues to have trouble keeping homeowners in the program. [More]
So, What's In The Financial Reform Bill?
By 6.25.10
Our leaders were up late hashing out a version of the new financial reform bill and yes, apparently they have come to some agreement. But what’s in there? [More]
New Home Sales Down 33%, A New Record
By 6.23.10
The Commerce Department has released figures that show that new home sales have dropped to a record low — down 33% from April. The drop isn’t unexpected, but it does show to what extent the market was being propped up by the tax credit for new home buyers. [More]
VIDEO: Angry Homeowners Rally Outside BofA Exec's House
By 5.24.10
Embittered homeowners and activists packed the yard of a Bank of America executive on a recent weekend, and they brought their bullhorn. [More]
265,000 Homeowners Stuck In "3 Month" Trial Loan Period For 6+ Months
By 5.21.10
Newly released data shows 265,000 homeowners are trapped in loan mod limbo, stuck in “3 month” trial loan periods for over 6 months, reports ProPublica. [More]
Some Homeowners Worse After Getting Rushed Into Gov't Loan Mod Program
By 5.14.10
Despite fulfilling every obligation under trial government-sponsored loan modification programs, some homeowners can end up far worse off than if they had never joined up at all, Propublica reports. That’s because if they’re denied a permanent modification, they have to pay the entire amount that was being discounted, often within a very short period of time. This pushes already strapped families past the breaking point. [More]
Cops Break Down Door To Foreclosure Protest House, Carry Away Homeowner
By 5.7.10
The cops in Wood County, Ohio have broken down the door to the foreclosure protest house and arrested the homeowner and several protesters who had spent the week barricaded inside. As you can see here, the homeowner was literally carried off the property by the authorities. [More]
Senate Agrees To Ban Taxpayer-Funded Bailouts
By 5.6.10
An amendment to the financial overhaul bill banning the use of taxpayer funds for bank bailouts has been agreed upon in the Senate, says the LA Times. [More]
Banks Gone Amok, Unlawfully Foreclosing
By 5.5.10
“Darnit, where was that mortgage modification paper? I knew I put it somewhere. Oh well, let’s just foreclose on these people’s house. STAMP! Whoo, that was tough. Time to treat myself to a Diet Coke.” That’s an imaginative reenactment at what’s going on inside the mortgage departments of the biggest banks in America: total disorganization, the right hand not knowing what the left is doing, a bureaucratic and document-strewn nightmare that can swallow up people’s homes right from under them. [More]
SEC Charges Goldman Sachs With Fraud
By 4.16.10
The SEC today announced civil fraud charges against Goldman Sachs and VP Fabrice Tourre. The chargea allege that Goldman ripped off investors by allowing a client who bet against the housing market to pick the mortgage securities being sold to other investors who were also investing in the housing market. [More]
Chase Sued For Telling People To Stop Paying Mortgage, Then Foreclosing
By 4.7.10
We hear stories all the time about people who are having trouble paying their mortgage, call the bank for help, and are then told there’s nothing the bank can do unless they stop paying their mortgage. Well, one couple is suing Chase after they followed that advice, and then got foreclosed on. [More]
New Record! 9.64% Of All Mortgages Delinquent!
By 11.19.09
The Mortgage Bankers Association has announced that 9.64% of all mortgages are now delinquent, and this delinquency rate breaks the record set last quarter. The records are based on MBA data dating back to 1972.
100 Bank Failures And Counting!
By 10.23.09
“More banks have failed in 2009 than the rest of the decade combined,” writes Ariel Nelson at CNBC. Today, Partners Bank in Naples, Florida closed its doors, making it the 100th bank to fail this year. Click the link to see a map of where bank failures have happened the most over the past 10 months.
Ladies & Gentlemen, Your 81st Bank Failure Of The Year
By 8.24.09
Normally we wouldn’t rely on the phrase “third largest bank failure of the year” to impress upon you the seriousness of a situation, but since we’re at our 81st bank failure of 2009, we’re going to go with it. Meet Guaranty Bank of Texas. It has now failed.
Bad News: Yet Another Record Month For Foreclosures
By 8.13.09
For the third time in the last five months a new record for foreclosure filings has been reached says foreclosure tracking firm RealtyTrac. July saw an increase of 7% from June of this year and, even more telling, a 35% increase from last year.
