1 in 5 Homeowners Underwater

(NEWSER) - The White House today kicked off its $75 billion plan to curb mortgage foreclosures, the Wall Street Journal reports. The federal dollars will both push lenders to lower monthly payments and help homeowners keep paying. “Today, we are providing servicers with the details they need to begin helping eligible borrowers,” Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said. Here are the details: More»

Fed chief calls for writing down problem mortgages' principal

(NEWSER) - Ben Bernanke says homeowners need more help, and that help might include writing down the principal on some problem loans, reports the Wall Street Journal. "Efforts by both government and private-sector entities to reduce unnecessary foreclosures are helping, but more can, and should, be done," the Fed chairman said today in a speech to a community banking conference in Florida. More»

$50B plan proving ineffective as more mortgage holders lose their jobs

(NEWSER) - The Treasury's $50 billion loan-modification program is in danger of being swamped as the foreclosure crisis accelerates, the Congressional Oversight Panel said in a report yesterday. The Home Affordable Modification Program has met its target of 500,000 trial mortgage modifications started by November 1, but the watchdog warned that foreclosure starts are outnumbering modifications 2 to 1 as the crisis spreads from subprime to prime mortgages. More»

ACORN Housing advocated for homeowners facing foreclosure

(NEWSER) - Bank of America has cut off ties with ACORN’s housing assistance arm following revelations that employees of the community organizing group gave ill-advised assistance to videographers posing as a pimp and prostitute. ACORN Housing has worked with BofA—among other banks—since the '90s to help homeowners in danger of foreclosure. The bank has “suspended current commitments” to ACORN, a spokesman tells the Wall Street Journal. More»

So-called rescue firms promise to negotiate lower rates, then take money and run

(NEWSER) - Mortgage brokers who made a mint during the housing boom setting up homeowners in toxic loans are now profiting from a different sort of shady deal. So-called foreclosure rescue firms are proliferating across the US, taking money upfront and promising to negotiate with homeowners’ banks for better interest rates. Instead, they mostly take the money and run. And so far, states have been largely powerless to stop them, reports Pro Publica. More»