ANTONUCCI TARP FRAUD

First person accused of TARP fraud

by Dean on March 15, 2010

The former president of New York’s privately held Park Avenue Bank was arrested on Monday on fraud charges, the first person accused of attempting to steal U.S. government bailout funds in the financial crisis.
The charges came just three days after regulators seized the bank, which had $520 million in assets.
A 10-count [...]

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Lehman Brothers Fraud

Lehman’s Fraud Exposed

by Dean on March 15, 2010

If this doesn’t convince you that the Timothy Geithner knew about the securities shenanigans that were going on at Lehman, than I don’t know what will.
Keep in mind, that Geithner ran Lehman through 3 “stress tests” prior to bankruptcy; all of which Lehman failed, and yet, nothing was done. Anton R. Valukas–the examiner who wrote [...]

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Permenant Loan Modifications Grow by 45%

March 13, 2010
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The Obama administration Friday said its mortgage modification program continued to make progress, with the number of homeowners receiving permanently reduced monthly payments in February increasing by 45% to 168,708.
An additional 91,483 three-month trial modifications have been approved by the companies servicing the mortgages and were awaiting acceptance by the borrowers, the Treasury Department reported. [...]

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Banks urged to write down home equity loans

March 8, 2010
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House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank, D-Mass., has resumed his push for financial institutions to write down the second mortgages they hold.
In a letter to the CEOs of Bank of America, Citi, JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo, Frank wrote that holders of second-lien mortgages are now a principal obstacle to many loan modifications. First-lien [...]

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Millioners Can’t Get Loans Either

January 20, 2010
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The wealthy have money problems, too — yeah they do.
Even refinancing a mortgage for their fancy digs or getting a new loan can be near impossible these days thanks to skittish lenders. And the higher the loan value, the more they worry.

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Still, that people with high six-figure incomes, stellar credit histories and [...]

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Mortgage Lenders Exploit New GFE Loophole

January 19, 2010
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Reporting from Washington – The federal government’s efforts to eliminate settlement cost surprises for home mortgage applicants may have opened the door to a new — and potentially costly — set of consumer problems.
Starting Jan. 1, mortgage lenders nationwide were required to begin issuing new “good faith estimates” to applicants covering loan fees and settlement [...]

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Mortgage Rates Heading Towards 7%

January 19, 2010
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Mortgage rates will gradually rise over the coming months and may reach 7% in late 2010 – averaging 6% in much of the year. Home buyers have benefited from low mortgage rates last year thanks to Federal Reserve actions.
The Federal Reserve expanded it portfolio of securities issued by the Treasury and by the government-sponsored mortgage [...]

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FHA Insurance to Cover Foreclosed Properties

January 19, 2010
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WASHINGTON – In an effort to stabilize home values and improve conditions incommunities where foreclosure activity is high, HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan today announced a temporary policy that will expand access to FHA mortgage insurance and allow for the quick resale of foreclosed properties.
The announcement is part of the Obama administration commitment to addressing foreclosure. [...]

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Foreclosure – Now a Badge of Honor

January 18, 2010
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Many critics of the Obama administration’s mortgage loan-modification program say it won’t work because it doesn’t do enough to address “negative equity,” the plight of people who owe more on their home loans than the current value of those properties. Without equity in their homes, these critics say, borrowers have little incentive to keep paying [...]

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Achieving The Perfect Credit Score

January 17, 2010
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The perfect credit score is an elusive and fickle mistress. The 850 credit score calls like a Greek siren, surrounded by treacherous terrain. Many credit users have damaged their scores in a misinformed attempt to achieve such perfection.
But the perfect 850 is possible, and with our guidance, it’s not a risky endeavor. We’ll help you [...]

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10 Predictions for Housing in 2010

January 14, 2010
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By Dawn Wotapka
Housing will gradually begin to recover in the second half of this year, David Goldberg, UBS’ home-building analyst, writes in a client note today. That assertion comes with 10 predictions for the year. (We’ll be happy to check back in 2011 and see how he did.)

“Fundamentals will remain ‘choppy’ in the first half [...]

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Mortgage Rates Steady After Bond Auction

January 14, 2010
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Following two days of improving consumer borrowing costs, mortgage rates took a small step back yesterday afternoon.  Mortgage backed security prices moved higher early on in the day open which allowed many lenders to issue their best rate sheets in over a month, however the gains did not hold up. Following the 10 year Treasury [...]

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Wells Fargo’s Homeownership Workshop

January 14, 2010

Wells Fargo has been trying to help Baltimoreans stuck in troubled mortgages.
The Wells Fargo Homeownership Preservation Workshop has been at the Baltimore Convention Center since Monday.
The workshop is aimed at helping people reorganize their mortgages with the company.
“We’re here to review their financials including their income, their expenses to see what options are available to [...]

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Move Your Money to a Community Bank

January 13, 2010
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Hello, I’d like to take a moment to address the millions and millions of you all across America who are currently stuck in an abusive relationship.
Now I know what some of you are thinking: Who is Bill Maher to give me relationship advice?
But that doesn’t mean I don’t know a dysfunctional relationship when I see [...]

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Maryland Mortgage Company Subpoenaed by the FHA

January 13, 2010
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Federal housing officials on Tuesday served subpoenas on 15 mortgage companies, including one in Maryland, saying the firms appeared to have high default rates for loans backed by the Federal Housing Administration.
Dell Franklin Financial, a small Columbia firm with about 20 employees, is among those being investigated, but President Richard Reese said it has done [...]

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Bank of America Sued For Seizing Wrong House

January 13, 2010
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A West End property owner is suing Bank of America Corp., asserting its agents mistakenly seized a vacation house he owns free and clear, then changed the locks and shut the power off, resulting in the smelly spoiling of about 75 pounds of salmon and halibut from an Alaska fishing trip and other damages.
Dr. Alan [...]

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One in 7.5 Homeowners Delinquent

January 11, 2010

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One in every 7.5 homeowners either fell into delinquency or foreclosure as of November 30, 2009, according to the December mortgage monitor report from Lender Processing Services (LPS), a mortgage data provider.
The total amount of delinquencies reached a record high 9.97%, a 5.46% increase from the [...]

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Loan Modifications Hurt Credit Scores

January 6, 2010
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Do borrowers taking part in the Obama administration’s mortgage modification program deserve a black mark on their credit records?
Lenders use special codes to let credit bureaus know what customers are borrowing and whether they’re paying on time. When the loan modification program, which lowers mortgage payments for homeowners who are behind in their payments or [...]

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Interest-Only Home Loans Start to Backfire

September 9, 2009

Edward and Maria Moller are worried about losing their house — not now, but in 2013. That is when the suburban San Diego schoolteachers will see their mortgage payments jump, most likely beyond their ability to pay.Like millions of buyers during the boom, the Mollers leveraged their way into a house they could not otherwise [...]

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Major Government Role in Mortgages Shaping Entire Market

September 7, 2009

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In the go-go years of the U.S. housing boom, virtually anybody could get a few hundred thousand dollars to buy a home, and private lenders flooded the market, aggressively pursuing borrowers no matter their means or financial history.Now the pendulum has swung to the other extreme. Only one lender of [...]

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Wells Fargo Sued For Reducing Credit Lines

August 20, 2009

The banking unit of Wells Fargo & Co. has been accused by an Illinois homeowner of illegally reducing the size of customers’ home equity lines of credit by undervaluing customers’ houses.
Home equity lines of credit allow homeowners to borrow against their homes up to specified limits. Home equity lines of credit are similar to [...]

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