By Mike Colpitts Three top executives formerly with the second largest U.S. mortgage company charged by the SEC with hiding their company’s deteriorating financial condition from investors as the firm was failing will plead not guilty to federal charges, according to an attorney for one of the accused executives. The SEC charged Thornburg Mortgage Inc.… Continue reading Mortgage Executives to Plead Not Guilty
Category: Foreclosure
Proposals to Halt Foreclosure Abuse
By Mike Colpitts Six proposals calling for greater transparency by banks dealing with homeowners at risk of foreclosure are being proposed in a package of bills that make up the Homeowner Bill of Rights in California. The landmark legislation is the largest effort yet in any state to aid millions of homeowners abused by lenders.… Continue reading Proposals to Halt Foreclosure Abuse
Larger Number of Homeowners Will Walk from Mortgages
Five years into the housing downturn, a larger number of homeowners with mortgages say they will walk away from their homes if their property values continue to drop, according to a new Housing Predictor opinion poll. Almost half or 47% said they would walk away from their mortgages, while almost an equal number or 53%… Continue reading Larger Number of Homeowners Will Walk from Mortgages
Foreclosures Drop But on Pace to Hit Record
By Mike Colpitts Foreclosure filings dropped a slim 2% in February, but are still on pace to hit a new record volume for 2012, despite an increase in short sales by lenders on homes in default of their mortgages, according to RealtyTrac. February foreclosure activity in the 26 states with judicial foreclosures rose 2% from… Continue reading Foreclosures Drop But on Pace to Hit Record
Majority Surveyed Want to Buy Homes
A large majority of respondents to a new Housing Predictor survey said they want to buy their first home or purchase another home, indicating that pent-up demand is growing in the U.S. housing market, despite the decline in home values throughout the majority of the country. An over-whelming majority or 72% of those surveyed said… Continue reading Majority Surveyed Want to Buy Homes
Underwater Homeowners Program Launches Second Leg
By Kevin Chiu A former Goldman Sachs banker, who launched an innovative company more than two years ago in an effort to save millions of underwater homeowners from foreclosure, is expanding his firm’s program to include homeowners with second home mortgages. The firm negotiates with underwater homeowners in an effort to reduce the number of… Continue reading Underwater Homeowners Program Launches Second Leg
60 Minutes Whistleblower Gets $18 Million
By Mike Colpitts A Florida attorney, who was one of the first in the nation to be a whistle blower in the banks robo-signing scandal by exposing her own foreclosure to public ridicule, will be paid $18 million to settle claims over the 2009 botched foreclosure of her condominium unit. West Palm Beach attorney Lynn… Continue reading 60 Minutes Whistleblower Gets $18 Million
Renters Face Severe Affordability Shortage
By Mike Colpitts Homeowners forced to rent homes and apartments as a result of foreclosures are finding the lowest affordability of rental housing in decades as rental rates in the majority of U.S. cities climb, according to a national housing advocacy group. An estimated 70% of low income tenants are finding housing unaffordable in the… Continue reading Renters Face Severe Affordability Shortage
Plan to Wind Down Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae
By Mike Colpitts For the second time in a year, a branch of the federal government has introduced a plan to wind down the lending of mortgage giants Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. The acting administrator of the Federal Housing Finance Agency sent Congress a strategic plan to wind down the lenders over the next… Continue reading Plan to Wind Down Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae
Straw Breaking Foreclosure Crisis Back
By Kevin Chiu The landmark $25 billion settlement between state attorneys general and the U.S. largest five banks opens the flood gates to another tsunami of foreclosures, but leaves bank servicing companies in the position to temper the flow of foreclosed properties on to the real estate market for resale. The settlement with the banks… Continue reading Straw Breaking Foreclosure Crisis Back