Articles About Foreclosures

Sloppy foreclosure paperwork could upset the nation’s housing market and destabilize the economy in general,  according to a report released by the Congressional Oversight Panel.  This group oversees the government bailout and its statement marks the first time a federal watchdog has issued an opinion on the foreclosure issue.  Consumer advocates and financial analysts had […]

The Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) is advising banks to divulge their anticipated losses from bad foreclosure documents. Lenders are required to divulge conditions where they “reasonably expect” to have an “unfavorable impact” on financial results, according to a letter posted by the SEC on their website.  SEC posted the letter as a response to […]

Although millions of Americans are paying their under water mortgages on time – sometimes with difficulty — it still could prove to be a source of trouble.  Because home prices are stagnant, many owners are using their hard-earned dollars to pay the mortgage and less on consumer spending.  In the long term, that is not […]

The Department of Justice has opened an investigation to determine whether banks and other financial institutions broke federal law by using deceptive court documents to foreclose on homes.  Although the investigation is just underway, it will probe whether companies deceived federal housing agencies like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which currently insure a large percentage […]

The ultimate cost of bailing out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac could cost as much as $154 billion unless the economy improves, according to a government report.  The mortgage giants rescue – which has kept the housing market on life supports – already has cost $135 billion to cover losses on home loans in default.  […]

As I caught up on my New York Times reading over the weekend, I was struck by how consuming an issue this foreclosure legal mess has become.  It is on the front page, on the Op-Ed page and on the inside.  Well summarized in newspapers and well noted in the blogosphere. This issue has progressed […]

The Obama administration – fresh from its financial regulation reform legislative victory – is not resting on its laurels.  Next on the busy agenda is reforming the American housing market, which is viewed by many as the root of the financial crisis. In a response to collapsing housing prices and waves of foreclosures, the administration […]

Bank repossessions of homes rose 44 percent in May over the same month last year, reaching an all-time high and with increases occurring in every state as lenders stepped up the rate of seizures. Realty Trac, Inc., an Irvine, CA-based data company that tracks foreclosures, reports that bank repossessions totaled 93,777 in May, with filings […]

Foreclosure is mutually destructive for all parties and something should be done about it.  That’s the opinion of Jafer Hasnain, Managing Principal of Lifeline Assets, the first large-scale institutional investment fund targeted toward acquiring single-family homes that are in financial distress.  The firm’s business model aligns the interests of distressed homeowners, banks, investors and American […]

$70 trillion dollars.  That’s all the money in the world, or to get technical, the subset of global savings known as fixed-income securities.  And it almost doubled from $36 trillion in just six years.  How did this happen? The Federal Reserve presided over the creation of what we have learned (the hard way) is a […]