mortgage defaults

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Mortgage Rates Hit 3-Month High

Housing and consumer-spending rebound hopes endangered

(Newser) - Mortgage rates jumped to a three-month high yesterday, putting hopes for a rebound in the housing market and consumer spending at risk, the Wall Street Journal reports. The average 30-year fixed rate hit 5.44% from 5.29% the day before and 5.03% Tuesday. The rates make it tougher...

Feds Seize Florida Bank in $4.9B Bust

BankUnited sold off to private equity consortium

(Newser) - Florida's BankUnited went bust yesterday as the FDIC seized the critically undercapitalized bank and sold it off to a private-equity team including Blackstone, reports the Wall Street Journal. BankUnited's troubles stemmed from overeager moves in the housing market. It specialized in loans for foreigners wanting to buy Florida property. After...

Credit Crisis Traps NYT Economics Scribe
 Credit Crisis Traps 
 NYT Economics Scribe 
Perspective
May 16, 2009 6:55 PM CDT

Credit Crisis Traps NYT Economics Scribe

(Newser) - New York Times economics reporter Edmund Andrews was smart enough to avoid a financial disaster like the mortgage crisis. But “I had two utterly compelling reasons for taking the plunge,” he writes: “The money was there and I was in love.” With a new fiancée—...

Foreclosed Boston Landmark Auctioned Off for Half Price

(Newser) - New England’s tallest building has a new owner today, the Boston Herald reports—and the John Hancock Tower proved a steal, going at foreclosure auction for about half what it sold for in 2006. A pair of firms bid $660.6 million for the 60-story building in Boston’s...

Most Foreclosures Come From a Few Counties
Most Foreclosures Come From a Few Counties
ANALYSIS
Mar 6, 2009 12:05 PM CST

Most Foreclosures Come From a Few Counties

Crisis affects former boom areas the most

(Newser) - The majority of US home foreclosures last year happened in just 35 counties, USA Today reports. Though the effects of the mortgage crisis have been felt nationwide, foreclosures have been from the start clustered in formerly booming areas in Florida, California, Nevada, Arizona, and around Washington DC. The 35 most-affected...

Obama Housing Rescue Plan Leaves Many Out in Cold

Criteria keep many who need help from refinancing under the plan

(Newser) - A large swath of Americans will see no help under the Obama administration’s housing rescue plan, the New York Times reports. While designed to prevent 3 million to 4 million foreclosures through loan modifications, the plan doesn't cover those whose loans aren’t backed by Fannie Mae or Freddie...

Mortgage Plan Relies on Incentives, Lacks Muscle
Mortgage Plan Relies on Incentives, Lacks Muscle
ANALYSIS
Feb 19, 2009 9:14 AM CST

Mortgage Plan Relies on Incentives, Lacks Muscle

Proposal does does little to address securitized mortgages

(Newser) - The Obama administration’s foreclosure-prevention plan contains more carrots than sticks, relying heavily on incentives designed to prod mortgage servicers to modify at-risk loans, the Wall Street Journal reports. The plan offers monetary rewards to mortgage companies that lower interest rates on delinquent mortgages, and reduces principal for borrowers who...

Don't Be Afraid of the 'F' Word
 Don't Be Afraid of the 'F' Word 
OPINION
Jan 31, 2009 10:07 AM CST

Don't Be Afraid of the 'F' Word

(Newser) - Foreclosures have gotten a bad rap lately, with politicians desperate to prevent them. But foreclosures actually represent one of the best paths to recovery, writes real-estate consultant Ramsey Su in the Wall Street Journal. The people facing foreclosure would be much better served walking away from the negative-equity McMansions destroying...

Spiritually Sound, But Many Churches Literally Bankrupt

Donation lifeline dries up as recession bites, forcing many into Chapter 11

(Newser) - In trying times, many turn to the church to ease anxieties, but even houses of God haven’t been spared the wrath of recession, the Wall Street Journal reports. A church building boom begun in the 1990s has left many congregations overextended, and with the economic slowdown taking a sizable...

Fannie Mae: Tenants Can Stay
 Fannie Mae: Tenants Can Stay 
Dec 15, 2008 4:22 AM CST

Fannie Mae: Tenants Can Stay

Fannie Mae won't evict tenants after foreclosures

(Newser) - Fannie Mae is offering to sign new leases with renters living in properties that have been foreclosed and are now owned by the the government-controlled mortgage company. The move brings relief to thousands of people caught in the mortgage crisis, but it turns the insitution into a huge national landlord...

Bernanke Plugs More Help for US Homeowners

Fed chief outlines ideas for public, private sector to slow foreclosures

(Newser) - Ben Bernanke says more must be done to halt record US home-foreclosure rates, the New York Times reports. The Federal Reserve chief suggested several options today, including the government buying bad mortgages en masse and refinancing them through a government-insured program, and strengthening a scheme aimed at lowering homeowners’ monthly...

Shoppers Can't Halt Commercial Mortgage Crisis

Retailers will default, no matter how many sweaters you buy today

(Newser) - Black Friday shoppers hunting for holiday bargains won't be enough to stave off what's likely to become the next economic crisis. Malls from Michigan to Georgia are entering foreclosure, commercial victims of the same events poisoning the housing market. Hotels in Tucson, Ariz., and Hilton Head, SC, also are about...

FDIC Pushes Plan to Ease Mortgage Payments

Bush camp opposes using bailout funds

(Newser) - Officials at the FDIC are butting heads with the Bush administration over the bailout once again, yesterday outlining a plan to prevent 1.5 million foreclosures in the coming year by having banks sharply reduce monthly payments on mortgages, the Washington Post reports. The government would guarantee half the losses...

Citi to Aid Homeowners by Modifying $20B in Mortgages

The bank will amend mortgages to assist 130,000 borrowers

(Newser) - Citigroup will modify up to $20 billion in mortgages for borrowers current on their payments but at risk of falling behind, the bank announced this morning, mirroring similar moves by Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase. Citi will reach out to half a million borrowers, ultimately reducing monthly payments for...

JPMorgan Plans Relief for $110B in Mortgages

WaMu customers included in measure to avoid foreclosures

(Newser) - JPMorgan Chase will help distressed homeowners by reducing interest rates or principal balances for $110 billion in mortgages, Bloomberg reports. The restructuring applies to clients of Washington Mutual, which JPMorgan agreed to buy last month. Foreclosures will be suspended on all loans for the next 90 days while the relief...

Rescue Plan Rankles Prudent Homeowners

Those who can pay mortgages feel cheated as neighbors get aid

(Newser) - As the feds move ahead with a plan to help homeowners on the brink of foreclosure, others are questioning the scheme's fairness and wondering if it's ripe for abuse, the New York Times reports. “I am beginning to think I would have rocks in my head if I keep...

Hungary Gets $6.7B Loan to Avert Meltdown

Budapest secures huge loan to prevent default à la Iceland

(Newser) - The Hungarian government secured a $6.7-billion loan yesterday from the European Central Bank in an attempt to stave off an Icelandic-style national meltdown. The EU newcomer's troubles derive from loans denominated in euros or Swiss francs, rather than the softer Hungarian forint. Frozen credit markets have left Hungary's government...

WaMu Cans CEO Killinger

From rapid expansion and growth to rapid decline, WaMu is in deep trouble

(Newser) - The enduring subprime contagion has claimed another victim, as downtrodden Washington Mutual has forced out CEO Kerry Killinger, reports the Wall Street Journal. Killinger, who has led the nation’s largest thrift since 1990, and has taken it from a small Seattle business into one of the nation’s largest...

Fannie-Freddie Merger: The Math Adds Up
Fannie-Freddie Merger:
The Math Adds Up
OPINION
Sep 2, 2008 10:54 AM CDT

Fannie-Freddie Merger: The Math Adds Up

As both companies plummet, combining them might make sense

(Newser) - With Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac struggling to stay afloat, arguments for a merger are gathering steam. “Sometimes size can be a strength,” writes Andrew Ross Sorkin in the New York Times. The companies spent $1.825 billion in total overhead in the first half of 2008 doing...

2007 Mortgages Failing at Triple the Rate of 2006

Prime loans made in early 2007 are going bad at triple the rate of 2006 loans

(Newser) - Mortgages procured in 2007 are souring at a rate nearly triple that of 2006, reports the Wall Street Journal, suggesting that the wallop to the financial system from forclosures could be far from over. Analysis done for the paper finds 0.91% of the prime loans issued in the first...

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