foreclosures

Homeowners Often Rejected Under Obama's Loan Plan

Fri, 18 Dec 2009 09:20:27 -0500

by Kevin G. Hall

WASHINGTON - Ten months after the Obama administration began pressing lenders to do more to prevent foreclosures, many struggling homeowners are holding up their end of the bargain but still find themselves rejected, and some are even having their homes sold out from under them without notice.

These borrowers, rich and poor, completed trial modifications of their distressed mortgage, and made all the payments, only to learn, often indirectly, that they won't get help after all.

Yes, Regulators Can Stop Foreclosures

Sun, 13 Dec 2009 08:24:46 -0500

by Greg Kaufmann

At House Committee on Financial Services hearing early this week titled "The Private Sector and Government Response to the Foreclosure Crisis," Julia Gordon, senior policy counsel for the Center for Responsible Lending, painted a bleak picture.

That Unpopular Bank Bailout? Geithner Wants to Extend It

Thu, 10 Dec 2009 10:11:27 -0500

by Kevin G. Hall

WASHINGTON - A day ahead of testimony in which he's sure to be grilled about the controversial taxpayer-funded bank bailout program, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner announced Wednesday that he wants to extend it into late 2010.

"History suggests that exiting prematurely from policies designed to contain a financial crisis can significantly prolong an economic downturn," Geithner wrote in a letter Wednesday to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.

Housing Meltdown, Ground Zero

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 11:02:51 -0500

by Andy Kroll

I. Rescuing the Dream

As Foreclosures Hit All-Time High, Wall Street on Pace to Hand Out Record $140B in Employee Bonuses

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 13:51:32 -0400

The Dow Jones Industrial Average has topped 10,000 for the first time in a year, as JPMorgan Chase reported massive profits in the third quarter. Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal is reporting that major US banks and securities firms are on pace to pay their employees about $140 billion this year—a record high. But on Main Street, foreclosures are also at record levels, and the official unemployment rate is expected to top ten percent. We speak to former bank regulator William Black, author of The Best Way to Rob a Bank Is to Own One.

Watchdog: Obama's Mortgage Relief Efforts Aren't Good Enough

Fri, 09 Oct 2009 10:37:29 -0400

by Kevin G. Hall

WASHINGTON -- The Obama administration's efforts to force the modifications of distressed mortgages, while laudable, is likely to fall far short because the foreclosure crisis has grown and threatens to dwarf government efforts to relieve it, a special congressional watchdog panel warned in a report released Friday.

The Congressional Oversight Panel, created to monitor how taxpayer bailout dollars are being spent, warned that the administration's Home Affordable Modification Program, or HAMP, announced in February, seems sure to prove ineffective.

Thousands Stand in Line for Help Paying Bills in Detroit

Thu, 08 Oct 2009 10:13:58 -0400

by Tammy Stables Battaglia

Thousands of people swarmed Cobo Hall in chaos this morning trying to get applications for housing and utility payment assistance from the city of Detroit.

People fainted, others fought as the Detroit Police Gang Unit tried to keep people in line --- some since last night --- and in check.

"It's a disaster here," former assistant Detroit Police chief and city council candidate Gary Brown said, handing out water. "This is dangerous. Very unorganized, very dangerous."

Lawyers Scarce for Poor Facing Foreclosure

Tue, 06 Oct 2009 11:45:56 -0400

by Brad Heath

WASHINGTON — The nation's foreclosure crisis has swamped lawyers for the poor, leaving thousands of low-income homeowners across the country without legal assistance that could save their homes.

Legal offices providing help to the poor are turning away many who have been hit hard by the economy, according to lawyers in cities across the country who were interviewed by USA TODAY.

Ending Foreclosure Profiteering

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 09:47:49 -0400

by Alyssa Katz

During the real estate bubble, older urban neighborhoods across the nation, from Atlanta to Baltimore to Cleveland to Sacramento and countless communities in between fell victim to a devastating plague of predatory lending and mortgage fraud.

What the Government and Big Banks Have Failed to Learn

Thu, 17 Sep 2009 09:30:28 -0400

by Laura Flanders

Too big to fail -- do you ever wish you'd never heard that phrase. Put it up there with the global war on terror and the end of history. As president Obama addressed Wall Street and talked up modest regulatory reform, the giant elephant in the room was the fact that through this crisis those already too big banks have only gotten bigger.