Blown Mortgage: Loan Modification

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Loan Modification

Blown Mortgage

Blowing the lid off the Mortgage Industry
By Morgan Brown

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Last Entry: April 29, 2010 at 09:23:46

Loan Modification Tips: How to Choose the Better Loan?

Posted on April 29, 2010
Purchasing a loan is very likely to be one of the most serious financial decisions you make. This is especially so if you are looking to consolidate a number of debts, or refinance a subprime (i.e. expensive) mortgage. Signing a loan, or refinancing an existing one, is often a complicated process; the jargon used is difficult to understand and the indexes and complicated terms used to define a loan can be very confusing...

Top 5 Loan Modification Tips to Avoid Foreclosure

Posted on April 24, 2010
Avoiding foreclosure is a serious concern for millions of American homeowners. There is a lot of advice on methods to avoid losing your home when you are in financial difficulties. The Obama administration has an arsenal of loan modification programs, alternative foreclosure programs, forbearance periods for the unemployed programs and the list goes on and on...

Banker?s Choose not to Swallow Obama?s Loan Modification Bitter Pill

Posted on April 18, 2010
Exceptional times call for exceptional measures. That was the reasoning behind the bailout of the big banks and insurance companies. We had to swallow the bitter pill of using taxpayers money to bail out corporate America. It was after all in the interest of the American economy...

Loan Modifications Drop; Foreclosures Rise; and Homeowners Despair

Posted on April 18, 2010
The Treasury’s report on the MHA for March explained the drop of new loan modifications as a result of banks requiring that borrowers present all relevant documentation before trial loan modifications could start. However, there could be another factor that is causing this drop in loan modifications; the rise in the number of houses banks are repossessing...

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Loan Modifications; Obama Polls Americans on How to Overhaul Fannie and Freddie

Posted on April 16, 2010
Obama’s Making Home Affordable plan has relied heavily on Fannie and Freddie as key players in the government’s strategy to revive the housing market. Freddie and Fanny encouraged ? some might say bullied ? servicers and lenders on their servicer lists to accept loan modification programs...

HAMP?s March Loan Modification Report; A Review

Posted on April 15, 2010
Obama’s Loan Modification programs have been criticized for their lack of results. But what are these results? The March Servicer Performance Report is fresh off the press, so let us have a quick look at what it has to say. The highlights for HAMP are that more than 230,000 mortgages have been permanently modified...

The Obama Administration Has a Brainstorming Session with the Hardest Hit States; What Should the TARP Fund Be Spent On?

Posted on April 13, 2010
When everybody was saying HAMP’s loan modification was dead as a dodo the Obama Administration has revamped the program under a new Hardest Hit Fund enhancement. This enhancement promises to allocate $600 million from the TARP fund to finance innovative ways of keeping people in their homes or avoid outright foreclosures...

Loan Modifications, Foreclosures, Short Sales, and The Truth About Your Credit Score

Posted on April 10, 2010
There has been a lot of ink spilled on the issue of loan modifications, foreclosure, short sales, and their effect on your credit score. Depending on which newspaper, blog, or Wikipedia article you read there are a couple dozen theories or authoritative statements on how the whole credit scoring system works...

More than Half of Completed Loan Modifications Re-Default; Why?

Posted on April 06, 2010
The latest federal report on loan modifications shows that loan modifications carried out from January to April 2009 had a re-default rate of 51.5%. Re-default is defined by the report as any modified mortgage that has pending payment that is 30 days or more late...

3 Reasons You Want A Short Sale Over A Foreclosure

Posted on April 06, 2010
The sad reality is that loan modifications are not helping most troubled homeowners save their mortgages from foreclosure. Alternatives are needed. The government has seen this, and is putting all its leverage on servicers, junior lien holders, and lenders to fast track short sales...

Loan Modifications Alternatives: HAFA Starts Its New Program Today

Posted on April 05, 2010
Today HAFA, also known as the Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives starts to work. What will it mean for troubled homeowners? For a start the program increases Treasury’s contribution to homeowners from $1,500 to $3,000, while the contribution for junior lien holders gets a rise from $3,000 to $6,000...

Can Home Flippers Succeed Where Loan Modifications Have Failed?

Posted on April 01, 2010
Loan Modification programs like HAMP were set up with the goal of providing financial stability to the housing industry. A crippled Real Estate market affects everyone, even people who are not struggling with their mortgages. Neighborhoods get run down, house prices drop, and house service provides like builders, plumbers, electricians and pool cleaners also feel the pinch...

Loan Modifications on Steroids: BofA Principal Forgiveness Analyzed.

Posted on March 29, 2010
Loan Modifications finally got a boost of media coverage last week when Bank of America unveiled their new loan modification scheme. This scheme promises to forgive up to $3 billion to eligible homeowners with underwater mortgages. Underwater mortgages are loans that have a principal balance larger than the current value of their home...

Loan Modifications: Bank of America Plans to Reduce Principal Balance of 45,000 Mortgages

Posted on March 26, 2010
America’s largest mortgage provider has stopped dragging its corporate feet, and seems set to take a huge leap in what may be one of the boldest steps in the mortgage industry. The details are still a little fuzzy but it seems that BofA is about to start a loan modification scheme that will actually reduce mortgage balances of underwater homeowners...

Treasury Moves The Goal Posts of HAMP and Lowers Expectations for the Loan Modification Program.

Posted on March 25, 2010
HAMP, the Obama administration foremost measure against the wave of foreclosures triggered by the financial meltdown is not working as planned. What do you do when something does not work as planned? You clarify how it was never designed to work like that anyway, and patiently explain what it really was meant to do...

Loan Modifications Update: The Spin and the Truth

Posted on March 24, 2010
Loan Modifications are going through an interesting stage. Enormous efforts are being made to save homes from foreclosure, and while some results seem to be made, millions are still heading straight to a foreclosure. The government has increased the pressure on loan servicers and lender, and relaxed the requirements for a HAMP modification...

Refinancing: What Should You Know Before Applying for Loan Modification?s Rich Cousin

Posted on March 24, 2010
There are few advantages to a financial meltdown, but they do exist. One of them is the significant drop in mortgage interest rates that generally comes hand in hand. You could save thousands of dollars by refinancing your mortgage now interest rates are at an historical low...

Loan Modifications, How To Find Out If You Are Eligible Online

Posted on March 20, 2010
Loan Modifications can be a way to save your home from an imminent foreclosure. It will also affect your credit score, and this could affect your chances of getting another loan or when applying for a job. This makes many people think twice before applying for a loan modification...

Loan Modifications Can Drop Your Credit Score by More Than 100 Points

Posted on March 20, 2010
Troubled homeowners are so worried about losing their home they will do anything to save it. This generally ends up including a loan modification. Loan modifications are a way of reducing monthly payments by a) reducing interest rates, b) extending the tenure of the loan, and c) in some rare cases even by reducing the principal balance of a mortgage...

HAMPs Loan Modification Has Finally Got Moving

Posted on March 17, 2010
The HAMP program has finally started to get some momentum and provide a substantial amount of troubled homeowners with a way out of foreclosure. Unfortunately, this help seems to be too little, too slow, and too late. However, one must accept that steps are being made and that although not all targets have been met, significant progress is finally occurring...

Loan Modifications and Mortgage Audits Why Don?t They Help

Posted on March 17, 2010
Homeowners are so desperate to find solutions to their mortgage problems they will try anything. Some lawyers and consultants have encouraged homeowners to carry out mortgage audits to assess if any irregularities were committed. In this blog we have previously pointed out how over 90% of mortgages have some kind of irregularities that could make them void...

Loan Modification Scams And The Law, A Brief Overview

Posted on March 11, 2010
Last week was National Consumer Protection Week and the Government wanted to make the most of the heightened awareness to publish some general guidelines and advice. One of these releases was made by Florida Attorney General, Bill McCollum, on the issue of loan modification scams...

Unemployment Home Loans, Are They A Real Alternative To Loan Modifications

Posted on March 11, 2010
The last three years have seen an amazing growth in the number of schemes designed to help homeowners keep their homes and help them avoid foreclosure. However, this is becoming increasingly difficult as the issue homeowners are having with their mortgages is not so much the interest rate and loan tenures, but with the fact they have lost their jobs, and cannot afford any kind of mortgage payments...

Coming FHA Changes

Posted on March 11, 2010
For borrowers, Federal Housing Administration changes are on the horizon. Some of the new policies are effective next month, and are all part of a plan to bolster FHA?s reserves. Last year, FHA insured one-third of all approved mortgages. The capital-reserve ratio is no longer at the Congress-mandated 2 percent threshold...

The Good Side of Loan Modification?s Failure, A Buoyant Foreclosure Market

Posted on March 09, 2010
Despite the Government?s best efforts and greatest intentions the wave of foreclosures continues to increase. The borrowers that are now defaulting on their mortgages and not qualifying for loan modifications are no longer people with subprime loans and bad credit rating...

My Loan Modification Failed, How Soon Can I Buy A New Home After A Foreclosure

Posted on March 09, 2010
The sad truth is that most troubled homeowners do not qualify for a trial loan modification. Of these, only a small percentage will receive a permanent modification. Analysts estimate that over 5 million households have underwater mortgages and are struggling with their payments...

Underwater Mortgages and the Science of the Perfect Loan Modification

Posted on March 04, 2010
Loan Modifications have taken over the financial news in the last year. This is not at all surprising, with over 11.3 million people, nearly 25 per cent of all homes, with underwater mortgages; this is an issue that has the nation?s attention. This makes any research into the issue of loan modifications and their effect on foreclosure of great interest to borrowers, banks, and the government...

The Obama Loan Modification Plan, An Overview

Posted on March 02, 2010
This Thursday the Obama Loan Modification Plan, HAMP, will be a year old. It was on the 4th of March, 2009 that the Obama administration started the largest and most ambitious homeowner?s aid package since the 1930s. The goal was to stop the wave of foreclosures that was destroying the housing market...

Loan Modifications, Alternative Solutions to the Foreclosure Problem

Posted on February 27, 2010
Recent projections estimate that by June, over 5 million homeowners will be heavily underwater. Let us define that a little more precisely. You are heavily underwater if the current market value of your home is only 75% of the balance on your mortgage...

Loan Modifications and the Jingle Mail Revolution

Posted on February 26, 2010
Few subjects have created as much debate as the issue of walking away from of your home when there does not seem to be any financial sense in staying. Walking away from your home when it is worth less than the balance on your mortgage seems like the sensible thing to do for many...

Loan Modification, New Guidelines For California

Posted on February 25, 2010
There is a proposal for new guidelines in the way lenders and servicers deal with borrowers throughout the foreclosure process. These new guidelines are designed to improve communication between lenders and borrowers to improve the rate of troubled borrowers receive a loan modification for their mortgage...

Loan Modifications, What Is The Situation 3 Years After The Housing Bubble Burst

Posted on February 24, 2010
It is hard to believe that three years have gone by since the housing market took a dive drowning with it millions of American homeowners. So what is the situation now? Have we hit rock bottom? Are the Administration?s measures starting to work? Let us start with the good news...

Loan Modifications, How to Avoid Collateral Expenses

Posted on February 23, 2010
Unfortunately nothing is free in this world; even dying costs around $5,000 dollars, for an average funeral in the US. Applying for loan modifications can be pricey also. Sadly the procedure that could save you from foreclosing on your home and even bankruptcy is also rather expensive, which scares many homeowners off, pushing them further into debt when sometimes they qualify for a loan modification...

Short Sales as Loan Modification Alternatives, Can They Work

Posted on February 22, 2010
If loan modifications are not an option and you want to avoid foreclosure or bankruptcy a short sale of your home might be a good option. The key when you are undergoing a bad financial situation is like with every emergency and try to think clearly without letting raw emotions take over...

Deed In Lieu of Foreclosure, The Last Resort Loan Modification

Posted on February 19, 2010
If you do not qualify for a loan modification, and foreclosure seems unavoidable, there are steps you can take to make the most of a bad situation. One of these options is arranging with your lender for a Deed in Lieu of Foreclosure. What does this mean? It means you hand over the deed, or ownership, of your house to the lender in exchange of clearing your debt...

Foreclosure or Bankruptcy, What to Do When Loan Modifications Don?t Work

Posted on February 17, 2010
Although there are many steps a homeowner can take to avoid losing their home and qualify for a loan modification, loan refinance or other financial rescue procedure, the sad reality is that many homeowners will lose their home. If you are struggling with your payments and trying to get a loan modification you need to accept the possibility that you may lose your home...

Loan Modifications and Forensic Loan Audits, Speak Softly with a Big Stick

Posted on February 16, 2010
Negotiating a Loan Modification with your lender is not an easy task. We invariably feel we are at a disadvantage when dealing with a large corporation or wealthy investor. However, you might have more tools at your disposal than you think. This article looks into the power of forensic loan audits and how they can be used to create extra leverage for our loan modification application, or as the title states: to speak softly with a big stick...

Loan Modifications, How to Write an Effective Hardship Letter

Posted on February 15, 2010
Hardship letters are like any type of tale, they must be clear, they must be simple, and must drive your argument like a B52 in a battlefield ? powerfully. Unfortunately, many loan modifications get thrown in the wrong stack simply because homeowners fail to explain their situation effectively...

Loan Modification Applications, What Are Lenders Looking For?

Posted on February 15, 2010
Loan modifications are often presented to us as a murky, obscure and scary financial world of shadows where normal people like you and me should not even dare to tread without the faithful advice of an expert, or preferably two, for fear of being swallowed up by an ARM, or something worse, hiding behind the bushes...

What Is A Loan Modification? The Three Keys To Loan Modification Success

Posted on February 11, 2010
This seems a rather basic question to be asking in a website dedicated to commenting on blown mortgages and how to pick up the pieces. However, it is sometimes useful to sit back and ask ourselves the basics again to reassess our understanding and check we are still on the same page...

Loan Modification Horror Stories, What Are The Lessons?

Posted on February 08, 2010
HAMP?s loan modification program seems to be finally speeding up its conversion rate from trial loan modifications to converted modifications. However, the 4 million troubled homeowners targeted by the program are not even close to receiving the help they need...

How To Spot A Loan Modification Scam Before You Are A Victim Of It.

Posted on February 06, 2010
The media has been rife with horror stories of scam artists preying on one of the most vulnerable sectors of our population, troubled homeowners and their families. However, many homeowners just haven?t got the message so we shall revise a few of the signs that can help us spot a loan modification scammer...

Forensic Loan Auditing: How To Get Leverage On Your Loan Modification

Posted on February 04, 2010
Forensic Loan Auditing is a fancy way of describing a thorough revision of the documents you signed when applying for your loan. This includes the accuracy of the math in the interest rates and payments schedule, the legality of the terms of the loan and any proof that you were misled in some way...

Loan Modifications Are Going To Be Simpler, What Do You Need Now?

Posted on February 03, 2010
HAMP, the Government?s Loan Modification Program is changing their tune about the paperwork required to apply for a loan modification. Homeowners applying for a loan modification must now include their paperwork before even entering the trial stage. Previously troubled homeowners could apply for a loan modification trial by simply providing proof of income over the phone...

HAMP Loan Modifications and ?In-house? Modifications, What Is The Difference?

Posted on January 31, 2010
A loan modification is a loan modification, right? If it helps you avoid a foreclosure on your home it is good news, right? Not necessarily. It is a little more complicated than all that. HAMP is a Government sponsored loan modification program. This might not give you much peace of mind but the truth is that mortgagees that are part of this program must follow certain requirements in order to receive the incentives the Government offers for loss mitigation actions, another name for loan modifications...

How To Walk Away From A Mortgage When A Loan Modification Doesn?t Help

Posted on January 29, 2010
The million dollar question millions of Americans are asking themselves is ?should I walk away from my underwater mortgage? The situation is so dire that according to Moody?s Economy.com 17.4 million homes will be underwater by the end of 2010. That is worth reading again: By the end of 2010 17...

Loan Modifications Are They Worth It ? An Overview In Simple English

Posted on January 28, 2010
Loan Modifications do seem to have finally got moving. Trial loan modifications are heading towards their first million, there has been over a 100,000 completed loan modifications and even Bank of America, the sleeping giant of loan modifications has hit the 200,000 trial modifications line...

Loan Modifications, Loss Mitigation Incentives and Other Greedy Games

Posted on January 28, 2010
Have you ever heard about having your cake and eating it? That?s what many mortgage providers are trying to do with loan modifications. How so? As it is well known the Government offers lenders incentives for processing loss mitigation actions. Loss mitigation action is code for loan modifications...

Do Loan Modifications Make Things Worse By Increasing Principal Balance

Posted on January 27, 2010
The debate in the last months has centered on how the Government and lenders were not doing enough to get troubled borrowers into a loan modification. However, a recent report might indicate that this has actually a good thing for borrowers! A report released last week by the State Foreclosure Prevention Working Group disclosed that about 72 percent of the loan modifications carried out in October ended up owing more...

Loan Modifications Latest Figures, Limbo, Trial Purgatory And Other Horror Stories

Posted on January 22, 2010
Last Friday Treasury revealed the latest data on HAMP, the Administration?s major foreclosure prevention program. The data has been sold as evidence of the significant progress made from pressuring mortgage servicers. Are loan modifications finally becoming the solution for the mortgage crisis as the Government has always claimed? Let?s have a look at the figures...

Loan Modification Vs Refinancing, What Is The Best Option For You

Posted on January 22, 2010
Loan Modifications and Home Refinancing are been talked about so much they are becoming the most used financial buzzwords by homeowners nationwide. This doesn?t mean people understand the differences or the financial consequences of either of them. This article seeks to look into the pros and cons of Loan Modification and Mortgage Refinancing and to provide clear guidance to when it is best to modify your existing mortgage or to refinance it altogether...

Loan Modifications Are Not Working, We Need A Plan B

Posted on January 20, 2010
That is what John Taylor, chief executive of the National Community Reinvestment Coalition feels anyway. Mr Taylor?s organization represents local organizations that are working towards affordable housing and community development. John Talyor like most Americans, including the millions facing foreclosure, and the 700,000+ that are on a loan modification trial and have not been granted a permanent loan modification, is not happy with the performance of the government?s loan modification program HAMP...

New VA Loan GFE Rules

Posted on January 19, 2010
The VA has recently offered some insight into how lenders should disclose loan origination fees in relation to the industry?s new Good Faith Estimate. Lenders and prospective military homebuyers alike should probably stop and take notice: Starting May 1, all VA loan applications must adhere to these new disclosure procedures...

Loan Modifications Double, Treasury And The Obama Administration Optimistic

Posted on January 18, 2010
Loan Modifications under the HAMP program started slowly, and continued to plod along, now they are still providing completion rates that are unsatisfactory, if you want to word it nicely. Pathetic, would probably be a better description. However, the Obama Administration has worked hard to put pressure on the banks and servicers that manage home mortgages and have the purse strings on loan modifications...

Top 5 Steps to Avoid Foreclosure without Falling Into a Loan Modification Scam

Posted on January 18, 2010
The sad reality is that an estimated 4 million households will lose their home to a foreclosure this year. Of course most of them will not go without a fight and will try to reduce their monthly payments with a loan modification. Unfortunately loan modifications are not easy to come by and only a small percentage of troubled borrowers get a loan modification trial and an even smaller percentage get a permanent loan mod...

Commercial Loan Modification Companies: How To Choose A Good Loan Modification Company

Posted on January 14, 2010
Picking Commercial Loan Modification Companies is a little bit like choosing a watermelon; it is not easy to know if it?s going to be a good one until you crack it open. Unfortunately the economic recession has forced many businesses, large and small, into bankruptcy and this has left many apartments, houses and offices vacant...

Loan Modifications With Principal Cuts Attract Lenders Attention

Posted on January 13, 2010
Loan Modification consultants have being saying it for a long time; the best loan modifications are those that reduce the balance of the loan. This might seem obvious; of course borrowers are going to prefer loan modifications that reduce the amount they owe...

Loan Modification Foreclosure Prevention Companies Looking For Affiliate Sale Representatives

Posted on January 11, 2010
Loan Modifications are big business. People are willing to pay large sums of money to modify their mortgages to monthly payments they can afford. Many companies are willing to supply financial knowhow and procedures to smooth the process towards a loan modification...

Loan Modifications and Credit Scores the Dirty Truth

Posted on January 08, 2010
Do loan modifications affect your credit score? Should they? Why should you care? Credit scores are a numerical value credit bureaus place on a borrower as a way of measuring their reliability. It is in the interest of lenders to report any delinquent activity to the credit bureau...

Loan Modification Alternative by CitiGroup: Refinancing 30 Year Fixed Rate Mortgages

Posted on January 07, 2010
CitiGroup is busy advertising an alternative to HAMP loan modifications. The alternative is nothing new, the refinancing of mortgages with a 30 year fixed rate mortgage. What makes this option attractive is that interest rates are currently low. Homeowners that bought their house with a high interest rate can benefit from refinancing with improved conditions...

Foreclosure Re-default Drops by 26.5 When Loan Modifications Reduce Loan Balance

Posted on January 05, 2010
The problem with loan modifications is re-defaulting. Well, that is only one of many problems with loan modifications but it is certainly one of the most annoying ones for lenders and the Obama administration. This is because loan modifications cost money...

NPV Test, Your Personal Loan Modification Sword of Damocles

Posted on January 04, 2010
Understanding the factors that control the success or failure of your loan modification is vital if you want any chance of receiving a positive modification to your mortgage. Loan Modifications are not happening very fast and the modification rates for troubled homeowners are very low...

Wachovia Loan Modifications Help Only 3% and May Damage Your Credit Rating

Posted on January 04, 2010
Loan Modifications sponsored by Obama?s administration HAMP (Home Affordable Modification Program) program does not a have a very long history but Wachovia has lagged at the bottom of it from the very beginning. Wachovia has over 82,000 borrowers with home loans, the economy is doing pretty bad which has caused a large percentage of those borrowers struggle to make their payments...

Loan Modifications Cannot Stop the Rise in Foreclosures

Posted on December 29, 2009
The Obama administration and all the agencies at its disposal are working around the clock to save troubled loans but it is simply not good or fast enough. In the third quarter there was a 6.2% rise of all seriously delinquent (i.e. 60 days or more past due) and 3...

Loan Modification Low Numbers, Why?

Posted on December 25, 2009
This is the question administration consultants and officials are asking themselves. After using every trick in the book and more to ?encourage?, ?bribe? and ?bully? servicers in providing loan modifications, loan modification conversion rates are still terribly low...

Loan Modifications, NPV Test the Key to Loan Modification Success

Posted on December 23, 2009
What is a NPV test? If you are trying to work your way through a loan modification you know what it is, if you are planning to get a loan modification you should find out soon. NPV stands for Net Present Value. It is a financial concept that allows lenders to work out if it is profitable to make a certain financial choice...

Loan Modifications, A Loose, Lose Story With No Winners

Posted on December 23, 2009
Loan Modifications have been touted as the solution to all evils brought about by the latest economic crises and as the worst idea an administration has ever had. The administration shouts out that the whole point of Loan Modifications is to help the middle class by giving them a break on their underwater mortgages while many commentators claim that it is just one more ploy to funnel money to big bank corporations that have already received billions in bailout money...

Loan Modification Administration Hawks Bring Out the Big Guns

Posted on December 22, 2009
It is no secret that the Obama administration has a lot vested in the success of the Loan Modification Program, also called the Home Affordable Modification Program (H.A.M.P). In order to help the program along the government has provided a long list of incentives, bonuses and other methods in order to encourage lenders and banks to do their part in making the program work...

Rogue Loan Modification Servicers, What Are The Signs?

Posted on December 22, 2009
The Loan Modification Program is not exactly 2009 success story. Out of the 750,000 trial loan modifications around 31,000 have become permanent, not great odds even if you are a betting man (or woman). What makes things worse is that in order to manage such a volume of trial loan modifications for HAMP (Home Affordable Modification Program) servicers are employed to do the paperwork and provide advice for the borrower...

Loan Modification Program, Good Intention Bad Idea

Posted on December 21, 2009
Obama?s Loan Modification Program is a nice idea with good intentions. A superficial look at the program, what it does and how it does it, would make you think it might or even should work. However the reality is different, unfortunately only a very small number of borrowers are benefiting from this program...

Loan Modifications Short Guide To Success Part 3 ? The Endgame

Posted on December 13, 2009
This is our last week in the Short Guide to Loan Modification series. Look out for the links to official websites and resource packages at the end of the article. Third Step. Tell the lender, giving you a loan modification is worth their effort. Lenders are not charitable organizations...

Loan Modifications Short Guide To Success Part 2 ? The Guide

Posted on December 11, 2009
Loan Modifications are not providing the help American homeowners need. Of the millions of troubled borrowers only a small percentage qualify for a loan modification trial and most of the lucky ones get stranded in the way. This article will provide you with a list of simple steps that will increase your chances of getting a permanent loan modification...

Loan Modifications Short Guide To Success Part 1 ? The Problems

Posted on December 09, 2009
Obama?s loan modification program can be seen as a failure, if you focus on the millions upon millions that are benefiting, or as a modest success with over 650,000 borrowers on trials and 375,000 on the fast track to getting permanent modifications by January 2010...

Loan Modifications: Why Did The Mortgage Crisis Occur

Posted on December 05, 2009
When looking at a crisis it often pays to see what got you there if you are to learn anything from it. The current mortgage and credit crisis was either unavoidable or a surprise depending who you ask. Loan Modifications are now being sold as the solution to the crisis as if changing the interest rate, tenure or principal of loans were the heart of the problem...

Loan Modifications Take Back Seat Due To Unemployment

Posted on December 03, 2009
The big news in town is that the American economy is growing. As Obama reported on Monday ?Our economy is growing again for the first time in more than a year?. This is good news for a president that has been hard hit by the economy and whose dream public approval ratings have dropped with the economy...

Loan Modification And Mortgage Crisis Could Bring Down New Banking Giant

Posted on December 01, 2009
The housing and credit crisis of 2007 showed the weaknesses of our banking system. In fact a whole international market of mortgage securities was based on bad loans that homeowners could simply not pay. Banks among other players had invested heavily in mortgage securities and other financial contracts...

Loan Modifications and Mortgage Modifications Can They Affect Your Credit Score

Posted on December 01, 2009
Loan Modifications and Mortgage Modifications are being sold like they are going out of fashion and both the Government and private banks are reporting successes in the number of loan modifications and mortgage modifications processed. If you are desperate to keep your home and you are finding it difficult to pay for your mortgage payments a loan modification might be the option for you...

Loan Modifications In California May Get A Brand New Bill

Posted on November 30, 2009
California has been one of the hardest hit states by the mortgage crisis. California has the second highest foreclosure rate in October with 85,420 California properties receiving a foreclosure notice which represents a 1 per cent improvement from September...

How to Tell if Your Mortgage Broker is Legitimate

Posted on November 30, 2009
Over the past few years the real estate industry has gotten a somewhat unsavory reputation. Being in the industry myself, I’m biased to tell you that most real estate professionals are high quality, upstanding “business citizens.” However, as with any big purchase or transaction, smart consumers do research independent of people who stand to benefit in some way...

Bankruptcy, Foreclosures, Loan Modifications and Ethics

Posted on November 27, 2009
It has been a surprise to see the number of comments on this blog that have revolved around the issue of ethics in mortgages and loan modifications. A pleasant surprise, but a surprise nonetheless. It is the single most popular controversy. Are easy roll-over Bankruptcies morally wrong? When should someone default on their mortgage payments if he is unemployed and with an underwater mortgage but still has cash in his bank account? How easy should banks make it for clients to get loan modifications, or how ?troubled? should homeowners be before they ?deserve? them? And, finally, what is probably the queen of controversy in the mortgage world...

Despite Loan Modifications, Foreclosures Will Continue To Rise Through 2010

Posted on November 25, 2009
Loan Modifications have been sold as the way out of this credit mortgage crisis. However delinquencies and repossessed homes are breaking records and are at their highest level since 1972, which is when the Mortgage Bankers Association started to keep records...

Loan Modification Alternatives: Short Sale Your Home

Posted on November 23, 2009
Short Selling your home could be the win-win-win alternative to loan modifications. Loan modifications can be expensive for lenders and borrowers. Foreclosures are even more expensive costing lenders billions of dollars. According to a study carried out by the congressional Joint Economic Committee (www...

Loan Modification Alternative: Is Renting Your Home a Good Option

Posted on November 21, 2009
Loan Modifications do not seem to be the solution Government hoped it to be. It is having some success, over 650,000 trial loan modifications, but the floodgates of foreclosure risk homes are not even close to being closed. Of the 650,000 trial loans only 1,711 borrowers got a permanent loan modification...

Loan Modification Alternatives: Is Renting Your Home A Viable Option

Details on the Home Buyer Tax Credit Extension

Posted on November 19, 2009
Home sales got a needed boost because of the Obama administration?s $8,000 tax credit for first-time buyers. With the national economy and housing market still fragile, the government recently decided to extend the tax credit through June 2010. The government also rolled out a new tax credit aimed at existing homeowners...

Mortgage Requests Continue To Drop Despite Mortage Relief

Posted on July 10, 2009
Mortgage Requests Continue To Drop Despite Mortage Relief The efforts of Governments worldwide to rescue the credit and Housing industry from the pit they have dug for themselves are truly amazing. Banks have been bailed out, loans are guaranteed, interest rates are kept low, mortgage refinancing relief programs are set up...

Freddie Mac educates borrowers via YouTube

Posted on July 09, 2009
A new video posted on YouTube on Wednesday shows borrowers how taking the time to gather a few financial documents before calling a mortgage servicer can speed the process of determining eligibility and applying for loan modification under the Making Home Affordable program or Freddie Mac’s other workout initiatives...

Home Loan Refinancing Anti-Foreclosure Effort Results Disclosed

Posted on July 07, 2009
Home Loan Refinancing Anti-Foreclosure Effort Results Disclosed A lot has been said of the efforts of the Obama administration to curve the drop in the credit and real estate sector. You can love it or hate it but you can?t argue that an effort is being made...

Mortgage Refinancing For Underwater Borrowers Now Available

Posted on July 07, 2009
Mortgage Refinancing For Underwater Borrowers Now Available The Obama administration is furthering its efforts to jumpstart the credit and real estate sector by widening and softening the requirements for home loan borrowers to qualify for mortgage refinancing relief...

Requirements to Qualify For An Obama Mortgage Refinance Loan

Posted on July 07, 2009
Requirements to Qualify For An Obama Mortgage Refinance Loan Are you in trouble with your Mortgage, Loan or would just like to take advantage of the current Government?s desire to give borrowers a break on their mortgage? If that is the case you are far from alone...

Bucking the mortgage modification trends

Posted on July 07, 2009
Mortgage modifications are supposed to be a win-win situation. Homeowners lower their monthly payments and get to keep their homes. Mortgage lenders, minimize loss by allowing the homeowner to hold onto their property than they would if the property went into foreclosure...

Fed study: Obama mortgage plan should give money to borrowers, not banks

Posted on July 07, 2009
A study by the Boston Fed has found that the administration?s mortgage rescue plan has failed to provide that all important profit incentive. According to today?s Boston Globe: Mortgage lenders don?t try to rework most home loans held by borrowers facing foreclosure because it would probably mean losing money...

More than half of homeowners have remodeling plans this year

Posted on July 03, 2009
It looks like it going to be a busy year for do-it-yourselfers. A new poll from Consumer Reports reveals that 54 percent of homeowners participating in the poll plan some type of remodeling project during the next 12 months. Sixty-five percent of them plan to do the work themselves...

HUD Expands Making Home Affordable Eligibility

Posted on July 02, 2009
On July 1, 2009, U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Shaun Donovan announced an expansion of the Making Home Affordable Refinance Program to include borrowers who are current but up to 125 percent underwater on their mortgage. The announcement was made while the Secretary toured a Las Vegas neighborhood with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and Congresswoman Dina Titus...

Is Trust Returning to the Mortgage Industry?

Posted on July 01, 2009
“The economy is based on trust,” said Dean Johnson, associate professor of finance at Michigan Technological University in Houghton, Michigan. In situations like the recent housing bubble, or even the stock market collapse of 1929, where markets were driven by debt and fueled by the false expectation that values can only increase, trust can be a very fragile thing...

Recovery? Mortgage apps down, prime delinquencies up

Posted on July 01, 2009
Today is the day the recovery starts, at least according to those peering into the rosiest-colored crystal balls. The Wall Street Journal dug up these great examples: Most forecasters seem to expect growth to be weak for a few quarters, but then rebound back to trend in the second half of 2008? ?Lehman Brothers research note, Dec...

New Report Links Foreclosures and Homelessness

Posted on June 30, 2009
?Local reports indicate that homelessness is on the rise and this report [Foreclosure to Homelessness] gives us insight into the role that foreclosures may be having on that increase,? said Nan Roman, president of the National Alliance to End Homelessness...

Subprime Bananas

Posted on June 28, 2009
A great post from Homegrown Evolution on one of the surprising benefits of the housing meltdown: fresh fruit. That’s right. The blog thanks Mr. Mozilo for creating our very own ‘Banana Republic’ as rundown homes and unmanned irrigation systems create the perfect environment for the growth of amazing tropical delights...

Why is Citigroup still in business?

Posted on June 26, 2009
It?s been quite a week for Citi. Tuesday it walked into a feces storm of its own making by announcing it would raise salaries by 50% to offset cuts in bonuses. To be fair to Citi, they are taking (well-deserved) crap for the entire industry on the salary issue...

41 Charged as Mortgage Fraud Hits Condos & Suburbs

Posted on June 24, 2009
Federal law enforcement officials recently announced charges have brought against 41 defendants in five separate cases in Chicago. The cases involve more than $48 million in fraudulently obtained mortgages for dilapidated homes in urban areas as well as deals involving million dollar condominiums in a Chicago high-rise and sprawling homes in affluent suburbs like Wheaton and Glenview...

Roubini: No confidence in government exit strategy

Posted on June 24, 2009
In this Bloomberg segment Dr. Nouriel Roubini shares his thoughts on why pundits proclaiming the stabilization of the housing market are wrong and why the current policy path is unsustainable and likely to have a messy exit. My favorite part? The idea of our debt ballooning from 40% GDP to 80%...

Goldman bonuses largest in firm?s 140-year history

Posted on June 22, 2009
The Guardian is reporting that Goldman Sachs staff can expect the largest bonuses in the firm’s 140 year history as the investment bank has leveraged (pun intended) dwindling competition and the brokering of US debt issuances to massive first quarter profits...

No ?green shoots? in employment

Posted on June 21, 2009
Unemployment rose in nearly every state in the nation in May, with many reaching record unemployment levels not seen since 1976. So much for green shoots. If 70% of our economy is driven by consumer spending, and more and more consumers are out of work, how exactly are we coming out of this mess? Where is the driver going to come from? Even with the government doing everything it can to keep the printing presses pumping out money there isn’t a viable way to easily replace that massive consumer spending...

Roubini: Obama banking reforms get it 75% right

Posted on June 20, 2009
Nouriel Roubini thinks that the new Obama banking reform plan gets it 75% right. This in a video interview on Yahoo! Finance. His one caveat is that the previous Fed under Greenspan had all the power, but didn’t care about managing risk, they wanted innovation at any cost...

Don?t bet on the consumer

Posted on June 17, 2009
All this green shoot talk and pronouncements that the worst is over fails to take into account the sorry state of the US consumer. Sure indicators may be turning (are they really?) but the fact remains that the US consumer, the same people responsible for 70% of our nation’s GDP are still in a world of hurt...

From the obvious dept - regulators incompetent

Posted on June 16, 2009
USA Today, playing Captain Obvious, has an article that highlights how federal regulators failed to properly oversee banking institutions and missed key warning signs of the meltdown as early as 2005. The FDIC blames the OCC (Office of the Comptroller of the Currency) and other regulatory bodies for incompetence and indifference in the face of mounting problems at small banks that should have been the canaries in the coal mine for broader systemic issues...

Student loans make living with debt a harsh reality for college grads

Posted on June 15, 2009
Great visualization of the average student loan debt carried by students coming out of college across the country. Amazing that most states’ averages are more than $15,000 per student. It’s tough to bash people for not saving enough when going to school automatically puts you in the hole as you enter the workforce...

California Foreclosure Prevention Act goes into effect tomorrow

Posted on June 15, 2009
The state of California is imposing a 90-day moratorium on all foreclosures as part of the new California Foreclosure Prevention Act that goes into effect tomorrow. The law requires that lenders prove they tried to modify a borrower’s loan before initiating foreclosure proceedings...

Largest Bankruptcies in History

Posted on June 14, 2009
GOOD Magazine has a great graphic representation of the biggest bankruptices in history. (click link for bigger size) Check out Lehman bro’s $691 billion BK, more than 7 times the size of GM’s recent bankruptcy. (h/t Boing Boing for the image)

Abracadabra Obama

Posted on June 12, 2009
I remember going through a phase where I wanted to learn how to do card tricks to impress my friends and members of the fairer sex. I read several books on the subject and the number one thing to learn is to get the observer’s eyes off the deck of cards...

California 50 days from government meltdown

Posted on June 11, 2009
California has 50 days until the government melts down under the pressure of the $24.3 billion budget gap. That according to the state’s controller, John Chiang. And the problem isn’t getting any better. State revenues were off nearly 18% in May the state was off an additional billion dollars from the current budget...

Where?s Wells Fargo in the TARP repayments?

Posted on June 10, 2009
We reported earlier that 19 banks were OK’d by the Treasury to pay back the TARP funds that were injected in to them during the first round of the bailout. According to the naked capitalism here are the banks that passed stress tests and will get to pay their TARP funds back: The institutions are the following: Passed the stress tests: JPMorgan Chase & Co...

Incoming! 19 banks to repay TARP funds

Posted on June 09, 2009
The Treasury announced today that 19 banks have been allowed repay a total of $68 billion in TARP funds. The banks, who remain nameless were granted permission to buy back the warrants that the Treasury holds in each company at “fair market value...

Long-term unemployment woes increasing rate prime mortgage foreclosures

Posted on June 09, 2009
As the unemployment rate continues to grow it is hitting an increasing number of people who had prime mortgages. The result is a huge increase in foreclosures among primes. In the first three months of the year, prime fixed-rate loans accounted for nearly half of the increase in foreclosure proceedings, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association...

Stay or Go? Freddie Mac changes offer homeowners more refinancing choices

Posted on June 08, 2009
?We are responding to consumers’ desires to have more refinancing options,? said Freddie Mac Executive Vice President Don Bisenius. ?As an added benefit, we are expanding the program and providing greater flexibility in financing closing costs. Freddie Mac is committed to doing everything we can to bring the benefits of the Administration’s Making Home Affordable program to as many borrowers as possible...

Lewis: We?ve arrived at a point of madness

Posted on June 07, 2009
Excellent interview with Michael Lewis who talks about his days at Solomon and how the 1980’s were really the start of this era of greed and malfeasance that led to the economic calamity we’re currently going through. He goes on with the following insight regarding the players in the game that portends future disaster (h/t HuffPo): …one of the things that’s odd about the current situation is that the people who created the problem are so powerful in deciding what the solution to the problem is going to be...

The Tale of Two Countrywides & Maybe Bank of America

Posted on June 04, 2009
?This is the tale of two companies,? Robert Khuzami, Director of the Security and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) Division of Enforcement explained in a public statement announcing the filing of financial fraud charges against Countrywide Financial CEO Angelo Mozilo and two other former executives...

Texas Blames Federal Government for Mortgage Crisis

Posted on June 03, 2009
The majority of Texans surveyed voluntarily blame the federal government for causing the current economic crisis. Results from a survey of 800 Texas registered voters released by the Texas Credit Union League (TCUL), Texans point the finger at some aspect of the federal government more than they do at private business or individuals...

California trys to deter loan modification and foreclosure rescue scams

Posted on June 03, 2009
California foreclosure consultants and loan modification companies must post a $100,000 bond and register with the state to legally operate, effective July 1, 2009. This according to a news release by California Attorney General Jerry Brown. The move is aimed at bringing some transparency and accountability to a cottage industry filled with scam artists and ripoff shops who prey on homeowners desperate to save their homes...

GM to file bankruptcy tomorrow

Posted on June 01, 2009
?What is good for General Motors is good for America? Charlie Wilson, CEO of GM, 1955. Maybe the country will follow GM in to bankruptcy as well… The storied American car maker, which by some estimates employs one out of every ten Americans will head to bankruptcy tomorrow morning...

One million foreclosure landmark a boon for some buyers

Posted on June 01, 2009
The Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) estimates that one million new foreclosures have been filed so far in 2009. The news comes on the heels of the release of the first quarter 2009 National Delinquency Survey from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) which reveals that 12 percent of all mortgages are now delinquent, the highest level in the 37 years the MBA has been measuring delinquency rates...

AIG wants donations back to pay bonuses

Posted on June 01, 2009
The sickening feeling in my stomach continues to worsen. AIG is looking to clawback a $490 million endowment and the $27 million in donations already made to charities to pay employee bonuses instead. The New York Post has the details on this underhanded, disgusting move by a company and board that has long been disgraced...

Blame it on Reagan

Posted on June 01, 2009
Economist Paul Krugman is any way in a New York Times Op-Ed. Krugman blames Reagan and his advisors for planting the seeds that would has become the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. Krugman points to the 1982 signing of the Garn-St...

Is drop in home values nearing terminal velocity?

Posted on May 26, 2009
The best that can be said about S&P/Case-Schiller numbers out today is maybe home prices can’t fall any faster. Prices for Q1 of this year dropped at 19.1%, .9% more than they dropped in the last quarter of ‘08. The 20-city index dropped 18...

Would One Mortgage Regulator Work?

Posted on May 21, 2009
The housing crisis has caused a re-evaluation of the current system on a number of fronts, from how mortgages are serviced to lending to the government?s role in financial markets. One area in particular that?s come under intense scrutiny of late is financial regulation, and Uncle Sam has launched a number of efforts to overhaul the regulation of the financial system...

Homeowners Lack Savings Amid Growing Job Loss Fears

Posted on May 20, 2009
Twenty-four percent of homeowners do not have any savings to cover their living expenses in the event they lose their job, according to the latest quarterly survey from Wells Fargo and Company. Although only 23 percent of survey respondents have managed to increase their savings during the past year, 60 percent indicate they want to increase their savings, up from 53 percent during the fourth quarter of 2008...

New Commercial Real Estate Lending Index Introduced

Posted on May 18, 2009
?Commercial Real Estate lending conditions will likely deteriorate further after a sharp drop in the first quarter of 2009, creating both new opportunities and challenges for community banks,? said Chris Nichols, CEO of Banc Investment Group the capital markets group of Pacific Coast Bankers’ Bancshares...

Do Homebuyers Need More Encouragement?

Posted on May 18, 2009
Here we are, well into the aftermath of the financial crisis that torpedoed home values across the country, sent mammoth financial institutions into the poor house, and drove unemployment numbers toward the double digits. The government, for its part, has taken increasingly drastic steps to put the real estate market right again, to mixed effect...

As vacancies soar, commercial space owners fight cutting rents

Posted on May 14, 2009
A bad time to sell things is an even worse time to own property where things get sold. Thus the news that retail sales dropped “unexpectedly” in April means retailers are dropping as well. Here in Boston take a walk down posh Newbury Street and you will see many storefront “for rent” signs...

Freddie Mac Up Next for Additional Aid

Posted on May 13, 2009
When it comes to Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, good news is hard to come by. If you?ve been following the blog, you probably already know that Fannie Mae reported a rather large loss in the first quarter, but what about Freddie? Unfortunately things aren?t much better there, either, although arguably not quite as bad with the firm reporting a loss of $9...

Meet the Biggest Mortgage Originators & Servicers in the U.S.

Posted on May 12, 2009
The mortgage industry changed in the last year. Most companies have found themselves under significant financial pressure. Some mortgage firms have disappeared. Others have grown and expanded their market share by acquiring struggling competitors. The number of mortgage loan originations has also been on the rise, allowing lenders to add to the growth from mergers and acquisitions...

Mortgage Reform and Anti-Predatory Lending Act H.R. 1728 Implications

Posted on May 11, 2009
While there?s plenty of finger pointing to go around as to who?s to blame for the current recession and widening crisis, most would agree that predatory lending practices played a role in the damaging of financial markets. As a result, we?ve quietly awaited steps that will lead to tighter restrictions on lenders and how they?ll be able to operate in the future...

Fannie Mae Continues to Bleed

Posted on May 08, 2009
I, like many individuals out there, have a hard time really wrapping my brain around large numbers. This isn?t to say that I can?t do math, just that after a certain denomination, I tend to lose sight of the impact that amount of money can have. So when Fannie Mae recently reported that it lost $23...

How much is RefinanceRates.com worth?

Posted on May 08, 2009
Domain names are an integral part of business in the 21st Century. Some are perpetually popular. Most rise and fall in popularity, influenced by a variety of factors. One domain name that is currently enjoying an upsurge in popularity is RefinanceRates...

Playing the Crisis Blame Game

Posted on May 07, 2009
Ahh, the time tested method of deflecting blame is alive and well when it comes to resolving the roots of the financial crisis. One of the most aggravating parts of constantly reading about the ?starting? point as it were of the mortgage mess is that everyone has their own story to tell...

Declining home values sink one-fifth of homeowners

Posted on May 06, 2009
U.S. home values fell for the ninth consecutive quarter during the first three months of 2009 leaving one in five American homeowners with negative equity in their homes. The first quarter Zillow Home Value Index fell to $182,378, a decline of 14.2 percent over the same period in 2008...

Unintended Conquences: Housing Discrimination Spikes as Crisis Continues

Posted on May 05, 2009
?Fair housing advocates have been warning the federal government for a decade, to no avail, about the damage that abusive lending would bring,? said Shanna L. Smith, President and CEO of the National Fair Housing Alliance (NFHA). ?For too long, HUD and the Justice Department have stood by while people and neighborhoods of color have been targeted for predatory loans and stripped of equity...

Some Good Housing News

Posted on May 04, 2009
If you?re an optimist like myself, you?ve probably grown tired of the constant hum of negative or depressing news as it relates to the housing market. More delinquencies here, higher foreclosures there, falling prices over there. After months of terrible news with no end in sight, we?ve seen some hints that things are, at the very least, not world-endingly bad...

Seven charged in Indianapolis mortgage fraud scheme

Posted on May 01, 2009
Seven people have been charged with crimes related to nearly $20 million in fraudulent mortgage loans in the U.S. District Court of Indianapolis. The charges, announced April 30 by Timothy M. Morrison, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana, include wire fraud and money laundering as well as fraud and conspiracy...

New Fed plan will help with 2nd mortgages, home equity loans

Posted on April 28, 2009
The Obama administration has announced a new program to help borrowers with second mortgages stay out of foreclosure. Under this program, the government will pay mortgage servicers $500 upfront and $250 a year for three years if they successfully modify a second mortgage, such as a home equity loan...

The End Of Countrywide

Posted on April 28, 2009
It isn?t easy being Bank of America these days. The bank had previously thought to be in decent standing up until it acquired struggling firm Merrill Lynch, and since that point things have been..well?awful. The flow of bad press has been non-stop, between Merrill Lynch?s crumbling balance sheet, questionable bonuses, and giving former Executive John Thain the axe, the firm simply can?t escape the ongoing drama...

The ups and downs of mortgage fraud

Posted on April 27, 2009
The FraudBlogger Index climbed to 1427 during the first quarter of 2009, double what it was in the first quarter last year. Already in April a federal grand jury has indicted four individuals as part of a massive â??Dream Homesâ? mortgage fraud scheme and 24 individuals in a Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) conspiracy in a mortgage fraud scheme based in San Diego, CA...

The Impact of Freddie Mac?s CFO Suicide

Posted on April 23, 2009
If you happened to be a conspiracy theorist, you?d almost have to be salivating at a story like this. Freddie Mac, which has been at the center of attention in regards to the nationwide housing crisis, had their Chief Financial Officer die in an apparent suicide...

Deflation is real and it?s spreading

Posted on April 23, 2009
So far Spain, Ireland and the UK are already seeing it and Japan is teetering on the brink. “Ireland, struggling with a ballooning budget deficit and record unemployment, has been at the vanguard of Europe?s economic collapse. Now deflation threatens to push the country deeper into its worst recession in eight decades...

Cities in the Sunbelt see the most foreclosure activity in 1Q 2009

Posted on April 22, 2009
?The metro areas with the highest levels of foreclosure activity in the first quarter of 2009 paint a picture of concentrated problems in a relative small number of hard hit areas,? explains James Saccacio, CEO of RealtyTrac, a leading online marketplace for foreclosure properties...

The Blame Game Part V: Transparency

Posted on April 21, 2009
?Stimulus funds need to be infused into the economy as quickly and efficiently as possible in order to stimulate growth,? said David Williams, leader of Deloitte’s Financial Advisory Services practice. ?However, the legislative process as well as the public’s desire for transparency surrounding how stimulus funds are allocated do not bode well for getting stimulus funds into the economy quickly...

A big thank you

Posted on April 17, 2009
Hi Folks, Morgan here. I wanted to take a minute of our day to recognize a member of the Blown Mortgage family who has done yeoman’s work over the last several months. Cindy Lopez has been the powerhouse behind the “quickie’s,” the afternoon and morning links to the other pertinent news in the world of finance happening out there on the web...

Afternoon Quickie 04/16/2009

Posted on April 16, 2009
Financial Times - JPMorgan feels stress of being in ?limbo-land’ Huffington Post - Stiglitz Says White House Ties To Wall Street Doom Bank Rescue Huffington Post - The Rating Agencies, A Key Reason For The Recession, Get Primed For An Overhaul Public Integrity - The Appraisal Bubble: In Run Up to Real Estate Bust, Lenders Pushed Appraisers To Inflate Values Telegraph - Anti-Goldman Sachs blogger Mike Morgan tries to turn legal tables

Foreclosure activity sets records in 1Q 2009

Posted on April 16, 2009
One in every 159 U.S. housing units have received a foreclosure notice already this year. Foreclosure filings during the first quarter of 2009 increased 24 percent over the same quarter in 2008, according to the U.S. Foreclosure Market Report. The pace also appears to be increasing with 17 percent more default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions reported in March than in February...

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