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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: foreclosure

foreclosure stories: 202 news summaries

1 - 20 of 202 Stories | 1 2 3 4 5 ... 11 Next >>

 Goldman Seizes Homes 
 as Securities Sour 




Just getting them to admit they hold your mortgage can be an ordeal

(Newser) - Imagine finding yourself in a foreclosure battle and discovering that your opponent isn't the obscure lender who wrote your insane mortgage, but the formidable Goldman Sachs. It seems that after years of buying subprime mortgages and packaging them into bonds, at a handsome profit, Goldman is now in the business... More »

 Foreclosures on Pricey 
 Properties Pick Up 

Well-to-do buyers weren't immune to wacky loans, and they're coming due

(Newser) - The country's most expensive homes are now making up a larger segment of foreclosures in the most recent spike of mortgage defaults. An analysis of recent data shows that 30% of June foreclosures involved homes valued in the top third based on location; that’s up from just 16% at... More »

Watchdog: Feds Need to Expand Foreclosure Plan

$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... More »

FORECLOSURE FRONTLINES

 Don't Hate Me: 
 I'm Just Here 
 to Clean Up 

Clearing the detritus of owners' dreams from bank-owned homes

(Newser) - Cindy Reid doesn’t want you to think she and her boss—and boyfriend—are the “bad guys.” But it is difficult when her man is the one “you never want to see pull up to your house. He has eyes that go flat when you offer ... More »

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trash foreclosure recession bank homeownership cleaning vacant homes repossessions repo men

 BofA Severs Ties With ACORN 

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... More »

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prostitution Bank of America foreclosure mortgage homeowners Acorn Scott Harshbarger Michael Shea Acorn Housing

investigation

Mortgage Scammers Prey
on Strapped Homeowners

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,... More »

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foreclosure mortgage scam mortgage debt homeowners housing crisis interest rates Federal Trade Commission

 Old Capone Hideout for Sale 

$2.6M gets you 407 acres and nostalgia in Wisconsin

(Newser) - For a minimum bid of $2.6 million, a remote 407-acre Wisconsin lodge where Al Capone stayed while on the lam can be yours, the Chicago Tribune reports. “Al Capone's hideout retreat,” proclaims an ad run in that paper by a small Wisconsin bank that had the... More »

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real estate Wisconsin foreclosure auction bank Al Capone lodge hide-out

(Newser) - Homeowners aren’t the only ones walking away from their underwater mortgages. With the hotel market at its lowest point since the early '90s, many owners, who owe more on their money-losing properties than they’re worth, are simply walking away, the Wall Street Journal reports. Many say they... More »

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foreclosure hotel mortgage backed securities mortgage delinquency

(Newser) - Nearly half of US homeowners will owe more than their house is worth by 2011, Deutsche Bank analysts said yesterday, predicting that the number of such “underwater” mortgages would nearly double from today’s 26% to 48%. Their report stated that home prices will fall another 14% between now... More »

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housing market foreclosure mortgage home prices underwater mortgage

BofA, Wells Fargo Rank Worst for Loan Modifications

Treasury report rates banks' performance

(Newser) - Bank of America began modifying just 4% of its loans eligible under the Making Home Affordable Act, according to a Treasury report on big banks' performance, while Wells Fargo started just 6%. JPMorgan Chase led the pack with 20%, Bloomberg reports, while Citigroup had 15%. “Some of the servicers... More »

(Newser) - The government's foreclosure prevention program is failing largely because of mortgage companies who can make more money when loans go delinquent, industry insiders tell the New York Times. Companies servicing mortgage loans charge many lucrative fees as loans go bad—recoverable, if necessary, out of the proceeds when the foreclosed... More »

(Newser) - There’s a big problem with government efforts to keep delinquents in their homes by modifying mortgages: Banks would usually rather foreclose, economists tell the Washington Post. Lenders are only interested in modification for the small group of borrowers who will keep paying only if they get help. For those... More »

(Newser) - The Obama administration's plan to help millions of homeowners avoid foreclosure has so far been a major failure, Politico reports. It's reached just 160,000 of the 3 to 4 million homeowners it was supposed to protect, and another 2 million homes are expected to be foreclosed upon before the... More »

(Newser) - A long history of sparse employment and hardships of all stripes has built a culture of frugality that leaves Maine perfectly suited to the current recession, the Boston Globe reports. “Everybody now is into shopping thrift shops, but in most of Maine, people never stopped,” a banker says.... More »

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consumer foreclosure New England recession Maine economic downturn thrift frugality

(Newser) - As many as 26% of mortgage defaults are deliberate moves by homeowners who owe more than their house is worth, finds a new study that asked 1000 people if they knew anyone who had defaulted even though they could still make payments. Researchers caution that the study isn’t precise,... More »

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study foreclosure mortgage mortgage defaults Obama administration

(Newser) - Another wave of foreclosures is on the way, possibly as early as this summer, threatening to upend a housing market that had begun to stabilize, the LA Times reports. Though loan defaults are up sharply, banks have been delaying foreclosures lately thanks to the Obama administration’s home-stability plan.... More »

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housing market foreclosure housing home prices

 Tough Times Threaten New England's Triple-Deckers

Foreclosures, neglect thin the ranks of distinctive homes

(Newser) - The distinctive three-decker homes found throughout urban New England are swiftly becoming an endangered species, the New York Times reports. The homes—mostly built around a century ago to accommodate new immigrants—were snapped up by investors in boom times who rented them out without doing any maintenance. They are... More »

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architecture housing market homes foreclosure New England triple-decker

(Newser) - The house of financially challenged actor Stephen Baldwin is going up for auction later this month, the Lower Hudson Journal News reports. The I'm a Celebrity—Get Me Out of Here! star paid $515,000 for the New York state property 12 years ago, but he and wife Kennya... More »

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reality TV foreclosure auction Stephen Baldwin house home I'm A Celebrity ... Get Me Out of Here!

 Celebs Headed 
 for Foreclosure 

Jacko, Canseco, Ed McMahon fight for roofs over their heads

(Newser) - Even the famous aren't immune to foreclosure, as these celebrities, listed in Forbes, prove:
  • Xzibit: A pimped ride hasn’t been enough to pay the bills on his $536,000 Woodland Hills, Calif., home.
  • Jose Canseco: The ex-ballplayer, who penned a book on big-league steroids, stands to lose
... More »

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entertainment housing market foreclosure housing Jose Canseco Evander Holyfield house Michael Jackson home mansion Ed McMahon Victoria Gotti Xzibit

(Newser) - It’s a perfect, er, storm: Some of America’s most hurricane-prone areas are littered with foreclosed houses likely send debris flying in a storm, the AP reports. Without caretakers to secure them, the houses will also endure greater damage and lose even more value. "A lot of these... More »

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foreclosure recovery hurricane property damage

1 - 20 of 202 Stories | 1 2 3 4 5 ... 11 Next >>