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NEWS ABOUT: housing crisis

Dozens of States Plan Foreclosure Probe

Joint investigation may force lenders to rewrite large numbers of loans

(Newser) - A coalition of up to 40 state attorney-generals is preparing to launch a joint probe into allegations that mortgage-servicing firms used fraudulent paperwork to kick people out of their homes. Bank of America has already suspended evictions in all 50 states while it looks into "robo-signed" foreclosure documents, and... More »

White House Not Backing Foreclosure Moratorium

Says legit foreclosures need to go through

(AP) - The wave of botched foreclosures is a "serious problem," David Axelrod told CBS today, but shutting the process down entirely isn't likely the solution because "there are in fact valid foreclosures that probably should go forward." "Our hope is this moves rapidly and that this... More »

Bank of America: We Messed Up Foreclosures, Too

Nation's largest bank puts them on hold in 23 states

(AP) - The chaos over foreclosures widens: Bank of America is putting them on hold in 23 states as it examines whether it rushed the process for thousands of homeowners without reading the documents. The move adds the nation's largest bank to a growing list of mortgage companies whose employees signed documents... More »

Foreclosure System in Chaos—Which Might Be Good

It could eventually help housing prices stabilize

(Newser) - The nation's foreclosure system is coming to a virtual standstill in the wake of news that two big home lenders may have done shoddy work processing them. The New York Times weighs in on the mess and finds a silver lining: This could actually help the housing market in the... More »

10 Reasons to Buy a House

Housing market gloom is over-hyped

(Newser) - Has the housing crisis scared you out of the market? Too bad, because there are still many good reasons to buy, writes Brett Arends in the Wall Street Journal . A few points to consider before hopping on the first train to rents-ville:
  • You could get a deal: Prices are down—
... More »

Home Repos Hit Recession High

US on track for 1M foreclosures this year

(AP) - Lenders took back more homes in August than any month since the start of the US mortgage crisis. The increase in home repossessions came even as the number of properties entering the foreclosure process slowed for the seventh month in a row, RealtyTrac said today. In all, banks repossessed 95,... More »

Dear US, You're Making the Mortgage Mess Worse

Stop meddling and the let the private sector take over

(Newser) - Joseph Stiglitz lends his Nobel clout to the notion that the government is doing more harm than good by over-managing the housing crisis. "Government policies to support the housing market not only have failed to fix the problem, but are prolonging the deleveraging process and creating the conditions for... More »

Sign of the Times: Foreclosures-Only Courts

Florida streamlines legal process to cut backlog

(Newser) - Pretty much all you need to know about how bad Florida's housing mess is: The state has set up a system of foreclosures-only courts to deal with its backlog of cases. Otherwise, they'd clog up the normal court system. The goal is to cut the backlog by 62% in a... More »

20 Worst Places to Sell Your House

Hint: California and Florida show up a lot

(Newser) - It's a rough time in general to sell your home, but some places are (far) worse than others. Richard Florida rounds up the 20 worst for the Daily Beast , with nine of the regions in California and six in Florida. Here are the top 5:
  1. Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif: One of
... More »

We Need More Flexible Home Mortgages

Today's loans 'designed for yesterday's borrowers'

(Newser) - In an op-ed headlined "The 30-Year Prison," Katherine Stone lays out what she sees as a big problem contributing to the housing crisis: "Today's mortgages are designed for yesterday's borrowers." Long gone are the days when people had the same stable job for life, and it's... More »

US Could See Record 1M Foreclosures in 2010

Numbers 'unprecedented'

(AP) - More than 1 million American households are likely to lose the roof over their heads to foreclosure this year, as lenders work their way through a huge backlog of borrowers who have fallen behind on their loans. Nearly 528,000 homes were repossessed by lenders in the first six months... More »

New Probe: Did Banks Dupe Credit Raters?

New York AG Andrew Cuomo investigates 8 big banks

(Newser) - More bad news for bankers: New York's attorney general, Andrew Cuomo, is investigating whether banks deliberately misled rating agencies ahead of the housing market collapse. So far, authorities have focused on dealings between banks and clients who purchased mortgage-backed securities, notes the New York Times . Cuomo's crusade broadens the scope... More »

After 5 Quarters of Decline, Rent Just Went Up

Stabilizing prices might signal ravaged sector has found bottom

(Newser) - Rents crept up nationally in the first quarter, notching a 0.3% increase that ended five straight quarters of decline in a sector that's been particularly battered by the recession. The vacancy rate—closely linked to unemployment—held steady at 8%, while 60 of the 79 markets surveyed reported higher... More »

BofA Forgiving $3B in Mortgage Debt

45K 'underwater' borrowers to be offered reduction

(Newser) - Bank of America is offering to slash mortgage-loan balances by up to 30% for thousands of delinquent borrowers who owe more than their homes are worth. The plan—part of an agreement to settle a lending-abuse suit—is one of the most ambitious moves yet to ease the foreclosure crisis,... More »

Obama to Offer $1.5B in Housing Help

Money will go to the five states hardest hit by the bust

(AP) - President Obama will unveil $1.5 billion in housing help today during a visit to Las Vegas, the city with the worst foreclosure crisis in the nation. The money will go to the five hardest-hit states to fund programs to help jobless homeowners and those with underwater mortgages. Agencies in... More »

Crush of Foreclosures About to Swamp FHA

Taxpayers may foot the bill for defaulting homeowners

(Newser) - The Federal Housing Administration is staring down the barrel of a rash of foreclosures that could force it to dip into taxpayer money for the first time. The number of FHA borrowers who have missed at least three payments jumped by a third last year, to 9.1%, which means... More »

US Offers Unlimited Aid to Fannie, Freddie

Feds also allow top officials to bring home fat paychecks

(Newser) - The Obama administration yesterday gave a blank check to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac—just in case. The government declared it is willing to provide unlimited financial assistance to the mortgage giants over the next three years, a move designed to reassure markets that the US won't let them fail.... More »

Lenders Loosening Up on Mortgage Down-Payments

Max insurable rises to 95% as many markets stabilize

(Newser) - Mortgage lenders and insurers, buoyed by improvement in the housing market, are relaxing their down-payment requirements. As they take more and more markets off the restricted list, the percentage of a property's value insurers will cover is rising from 90% to 95% in many places. Wells Fargo, which has been... More »

House-Flippers Target Foreclosure Sales

Big profits loom as lenders offload homes at auction

(Newser) - House-flipping is making a comeback as investors seek fast profits from foreclosure auctions. Lenders are overwhelmed with property, especially in foreclosure hotspots like California, Nevada, and Arizona, and their haste to sell off their huge supplies of homes can mean big flip profits for investors with knowledge of local markets,... More »

Banks Yanking Homeowners' Last Hope: Short Sales

Healthier lenders no longer anxious to cut deals

(Newser) - As banks get healthier, they're getting stingier with one of the few remaining lifelines for underwater homeowners—short sales. To keep home sales moving in leaner times—and to get bad loans off their ledgers—lenders would forgive the difference between the outstanding mortgage balance and the purchase price. Such... More »

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