mortgage lender

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White House Starts Mortgage Rescue Plan

(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...

$50B Obama Plan Aims to Give Homeowners Options

Administration to enable cuts in monthly payments, refinancing

(Newser) - Today the Obama administration unveils its plan to help struggling homeowners with cuts in monthly payments, more possibilities for refinancing, and changed bankruptcy rules.  Its central plank is a $50 billion subsidy for mortgage companies to make home loans more affordable. As the Wall Street Journal reports, economists are...

Fannie Mae Engineer Indicted for Planting Crippling Code

Trap that could have caused millions in damage found after man was fired but before it activated

(Newser) - A former Fannie Mae contract worker was indicted Tuesday on a count of computer sabotage for planting malicious code that would have crippled the mortgage giant’s network of 4,000 servers for at least a week, Wired reports. Rajendrasinh Babubha Makwana crafted the malware the same day he was...

FDIC Plan Tests Strategies for Keeping People in Homes

Systematic reworking faces typical hurdles

(Newser) - The first large-scale experiment in how to keep struggling borrowers in their homes is being run by the FDIC at seized mortgage lender IndyMac, the Wall Street Journal reports, and the results are mixed. Of some 65,000 borrowers with “seriously delinquent” mortgages, about 47,000 qualify for aid...

UK's Largest Mortgage Lender in Buyout Talks

HBOS could be sold to Lloyds as early as tomorrow

(Newser) - Britain's biggest mortgage lender, HBOS, is in advanced discussions with Lloyds about a possible buyout, reports the Financial Times. Stock in the troubled lender has yo-yoed today, falling to less than a pound a share before rocketing up and then plummeting again. While a Lloyds purchase of HBOS could trigger...

Paulson Tacks Toward Middle on Fannie, Freddie Rescue

Conservatorship would toe line between opposing views

(Newser) - As concerns mount for troubled mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, two camps have emerged: one, led by free-market analysts, is pushing a temporary government takeover of the companies; the other, led by congressional Democrats, would rather see billions of tax dollars rescue the firms. Treasury secretary Henry Paulson...

Ex-Fannie Mae Chief: Don't Bail 'Em Out
Ex-Fannie Mae Chief: Don't
Bail 'Em Out
OPINION
Jul 16, 2008 8:53 AM CDT

Ex-Fannie Mae Chief: Don't Bail 'Em Out

Fannie and Freddie have resources; what they need is clarity

(Newser) - Coherent policy from Washington—not a financial bailout—is what mortgage titans Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are most in need of, writes former Fannie chief Franklin Raines in the Washington Post. “They have more than enough capital to meet their cash obligations,” he writes, as well as...

Mortgage Insurers Feel Pinch, Pull Back on Loans

As more home loans fail, lenders ask more of beleaguered backers

(Newser) - Mortgage insurers facing mounting defaults are tightening their standards, adding another hurdle for potential homebuyers, the Wall Street Journal reports. Beleaguered and risk-averse banks are making more mortgage applicants apply for insurance, just as insurers are declaring more parts of the country “declining markets.” making insurance harder to...

Celebrity Foreclosure: Canseco's Out at Home

Former baseball star forced to move into smaller home

(Newser) - It can happen to the rich and famous, too: Jose Canseco's mansion is in foreclosure, and he's had to move into more modest digs, Inside Edition reports. Canseco owed more than $2.5 million on the California property his neighbors called the "hotel." He made $30 million in...

Mortgage Biz Battles Fed Reforms
Mortgage Biz Battles Fed Reforms
Apr 28, 2008 7:05 AM CDT

Mortgage Biz Battles Fed Reforms

Rules would limit credit for worthy borrowers, bankers say

(Newser) - As the Federal Reserve moves toward stricter lending rules, mortgage providers are firing back, calling the rules too broad and arguing that they could limit loans to borrowers who don't have credit problems, the New York Times reports. Regulation, bankers say, could raise the price of mortgages by increasing paperwork...

Bank of England Launches Mortgage Swap Plan

Central bank would take on $100B in mortgages

(Newser) - Commercial banks will be allowed to temporarily swap some $100 billion in troublesome mortgages for securities backed by Britain's central bank under a plan announced today, the Wall Street Journal reports. The move by the Bank of England, aimed at boosting  liquidity and confidence in the banking system, follows similar...

Lenders Turning Blind Eye to Overdue Payments

Overwhelmed banks taking much longer to foreclose on homes

(Newser) - With foreclosures skyrocketing, overwhelmed mortgage lenders are turning a blind eye to homeowners who haven’t paid up, letting them live in their houses despite delinquency, Bloomberg reports. The 3.6% of borrowers at least 90 days behind is almost twice the percentage foreclosed upon. Lenders’ delays are skewing foreclosure...

Hotline for At-Risk Loans Not So Helpful

Subprime victims find Hope Now Alliance doesn't live up to billing

(Newser) - A hotline aimed at helping distressed mortgage borrowers is frequently overwhelmed by caller volume and rarely able to provide substantive aid, MSNBC reports. The Hope Now Alliance—a group of lenders and community groups heavily promoted by President Bush—is designed to improve lender-borrower communication and modify mortgages, most commonly...

Senate GOP Stymies Dem Housing Relief

Republicans say plan to aid homeowners would inflame crisis, hurt lenders

(Newser) - Capping a week of gridlock, GOP senators yesterday blocked consideration of a Democratic-backed housing-relief bill. The mortgage industry had fought hard against the proposal, which would allow judges to slash interest rates for low-income homeowners facing bankruptcy, the Washington Post reports. The bill also included billions of dollars for local...

Freddie Mac Chief: Housing Market Will Get Worse in 2008

Tells investors to expect losses in fourth quarter

(Newser) - Predicting even tougher times for the US housing market, Freddie Mac chief Richard Syron yesterday told investors in New York that the government-sponsored mortgage lender would report another net loss in the fourth quarter and credit losses to $12 billion on its mortgage portfolio, reports the Financial Times. Freddie Mac...

Mortgage Mess Was 100% Avoidable
Mortgage Mess Was 100% Avoidable
Aug 29, 2007 7:39 PM CDT

Mortgage Mess Was 100% Avoidable

Lax oversight has huge cost, American Prospect editor writes

(Newser) - Blame for the current economic disaster should be placed squarely on the shoulders of the US government, for deregulation that allowed speculators to cash in, writes the American Prospect’s Robert Kuttner. Helping boost "ordinary people" into the "propertied class" has fallen out of favor in Washington, with...

Condo Crash Is Just Beginning
Condo Crash
Is Just
Beginning
Aug 25, 2007 11:40 AM CDT

Condo Crash Is Just Beginning

Glut of new units and failing contracts yet to peak

(Newser) - Mortgage lenders are about to be hit with another wave of foreclosures and bankruptcies, the Journal reports, as the crisis kicks in in condo market. Because buildings take years to complete, even after buyers have signed contracts, the effect of declining property values and tight credit are slower to talk...

Credit Crunch Continues, and So Do Ads

Lenders are still advertising cheap mortgages, but the loans aren't there

(Newser) - As the credit crunch transforms the financial landscape, one thing hasn't changed: lenders continue to offer loans that are too good to be true. The Washington Post writes that mortgage companies are still offering risky products to risky customers—even Countrywide, which barely avoided bankruptcy, is flogging cheap money with...

Smaller Lenders Feel the Credit Squeeze

Boutique banks on the edge as liquidity crisis wears on

(Newser) - As the subprime fallout continues and the credit squeeze tightens, thousands of smaller-scale mortgage banks find themselves in dire straits. The Wall Street Journal reports that small- and medium-sized lenders, even those with excellent credit quality, are suspending funding and laying off employees, which leaves giant corporations to grab more...

Stories 21 - 39 | << Prev