By Mike Colpitts U.S. banking regulators will review as many as 4.5 million mortgages to determine the gravity of foreclosure fraud at 14 bank servicing companies. The investigation will determine how many homeowners were damaged in the robo-signing scandal, according to Acting Comptroller of the Currency John Walsh. Walsh made the announcement during a speech… Continue reading Bank Regulators to Review 4.5 Million Mortgages
Category: Banks
Record Low Mortgage Rates Trigger Investors Jump in Real Estate
By Mike Colpitts Real estate investors are ditching other investment assets to buy homes and properties in rising numbers. Record low all-time mortgage rates combined with the lowest housing affordability rate in more than 20 years make it time to buy real estate for many investors. But if you’re counting on getting a loan to… Continue reading Record Low Mortgage Rates Trigger Investors Jump in Real Estate
Trouble Qualifing for Low Mortgage Rates
By Jeanne Roberts Home prices are way, way down from their peak just a few years ago. So are interest rates. It’s easy to find 15-year mortgage rates below 3.5% and 30-year fixed rate mortgages just above 4%. Which leaves some would-be refinancers (and buyers) wondering why they can’t get the loan or house of… Continue reading Trouble Qualifing for Low Mortgage Rates
Legal Housing Thievery Starts Now
By Kevin Chiu Private equity funds, hedge funds and giant banks like Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan Chase, AIG and investment firm Blackstone may soon be buying up foreclosures for pennies on the dollar if a proposal is approved by the government. It would be a major case of legal housing thievery for all Americans to… Continue reading Legal Housing Thievery Starts Now
Mortgage Refinances Jump
Led by a jump in home refinances, mortgage applications rose last week as refinancing grew by 2.2% from a week earlier, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. Homeowners turned out in larger numbers to refinance their mortgages at near record low mortgage rates. However, applications for new home mortgages on purchases dropped as consumer confidence… Continue reading Mortgage Refinances Jump
Banks Lawsuits May Help Homeowners
By Mike Colpitts Homeowners strapped with underwater mortgages or having trouble paying their loans could see some help from Uncle Sam in the way of negotiations with banks being sued by the Federal Housing Finance Agency. The 17 banks and lending institutions lawsuits announced Friday allege misrepresentation and fraud on the banks’ part selling mortgage-backed… Continue reading Banks Lawsuits May Help Homeowners
Home Short Sales Surge
By Mike Colpitts Bank assisted short sales of homes surged in the second quarter of the year as buyers snapped up discount priced properties at some of the lowest mortgage rates in decades. The surge in home purchases from pre-foreclosures account for an eighth of all residential sales, but represent less than a quarter of… Continue reading Home Short Sales Surge
Mortgage Modifications Near 5 Million
Banks and mortgage servicers not associated with the government’s Making Home Affordable program have made more than 4 million mortgage modifications to home mortgage borrowers, according to the private agency organizing the efforts. There were about 56,000 modifications made in July through organizations associated with the group, the latest month available, Hope Now representatives say.… Continue reading Mortgage Modifications Near 5 Million
Congresswoman Calls On Obama To Fight Bankers
California Democratic Congresswoman Maxine Waters is calling on President Barack Obama to use his speech before the joint session of Congress Thursday night to offer “bold” solutions on the jobs crisis and foreclosures. Waters says the president should call bankers into his office and demand they modify mortgages to “keep people in their homes.” The… Continue reading Congresswoman Calls On Obama To Fight Bankers
Home Builder Sentenced to 22 Years in Prison
By Mike Colpitts A home builder has been sentenced to serve 22 years in federal prison for his part in a conspiracy to defraud bankers out of millions of dollars in mortgages and commit tax fraud and money laundering against the IRS. The sentenced was imposed against Ohio home builder Thomas E. Parenteau of Hilliard,… Continue reading Home Builder Sentenced to 22 Years in Prison