California Gov. Brown signs final Homeowner Bill of Rights components
California Governor Jerry Brown recently signed into law the final parts of the California Homeowner Bill of Rights, legislation heavily championed by the state's consumer law-and-order advocate...
View ArticleNational Mortgage Settlement processing paltry payments for foreclosure abuses
National Mortgage Settlement payments are relatively small compensation for abuses suffered during foreclosure and offer little consolation for the loss of homeownership.
View ArticleFederal consumer watchdog’s bark deemed worst than its bite on proposed...
A history of abusive, predatory and discriminatory behavior reveals mortgage servicers are incapable of self-regulation when it comes to mortgage consumers' best interests and need strict oversight and...
View ArticleCivil penalties warning in federal report on ‘significant’ regulatory...
Mortgage originators continue to violate federal laws that regulate mortgage cost disclosures, fair lending practices and lending activity report requirements.
View ArticleNew regulations undercutting housing recovery
While consumer advocates think there's still more regulatory work to be done, mortgage experts think the pendulum may have swung too far and the new rules could slow housing recovery.
View ArticleIndependent Foreclosure Review gets another do-over
Why won't mortgage servicers simply abide by the original Independent Foreclosure Review order, give borrowers their due and help abused past and present homeowners move on?
View ArticleCalifornia, U.S., 12 states sue S&P for using ‘magic numbers’ to inflate...
Standard & Poors is the first rating agency being held accountable for contributing to the Great Recession by inflating the value of mortgage-backed investments, according to suits from 13 states...
View ArticleAbility to repay ‘Qualified Mortgages’ centerpiece of landmark mortgage reform
The Ability to Repay and Qualified Mortgage rules are the first of seven new regulations that overhaul mortgage regulations to protect consumers from abusive, predatory mortgage lending.
View ArticleSequestration to hit housing’s most needy residents
Washington's failure to act on sequestration won't stop the housing recovery, but it could put a dent in a host of special housing relief efforts. And guess who's going to take it on the chin? Those...
View ArticleMortgage reform targets high-cost mortgages
The landmark overhaul of federal mortgage regulations also includes protections for consumers with high-cost mortgages and includes updated rules for escrow accounts and homeownership counseling.
View ArticleMany consumers not buying into housing recovery
Conditions are ripe for exclamations about the housing recovery. Many of the reasons for proclaiming “It’s a good time to buy” are dead on, but many consumers just aren’t buying it.
View ArticleFreddie Mac offers delinquent borrowers streamlined modification
Eligible borrowers won't have to submit documentation, but can accept a Streamlined Modification offer simply by making the trial period payments, under Freddie Mac's Streamlined Modification program,...
View Article$1 million grant to put more teeth into enforcing California’s ‘Homeowner...
A $1 million California Homeowner Bill of Rights (HBOR) grant to The National Housing Law Project is designed to maximize consumer benefits from the HBOR and minimizing abuses of the landmark package...
View ArticleSilicon Valley nonprofit buys, rehabs homes for first-time, moderate-income...
NHSSV's "First Look" program buys bank-owned properties, remodel thems and makes them available to first-time, moderate-income home buyers to level the playing field in the fast-paced Silicon Valley...
View ArticleCFPB: Mortgage insurers to pay $15.4 million to end kickbacks
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) today announced four enforcement actions to end what the Bureau believes to be improper kickbacks paid by mortgage insurers to mortgage lenders in...
View ArticleGen Yers buying homes sooner than expected in Silicon Valley
Generation Y or Gen Y, also known as the Millennial Generation is poised to be the next big demographic to enter the housing market. In Silicon Valley and other tech centers, Gen Yers are ahead of the...
View ArticleMortgage reform targets incentives to sell toxic loans
The landmark overhaul of federal mortgage regulations includes protections to prevent loan originators and mortgage brokers from steering consumers to risky mortgages - loans that helped crash the...
View ArticleHow long will the Fed buy mortgage-backed securities?
Amid reports of reduced consumer prices and a spotty job market, the Federal Reserve, in the next policy meeting, must grapple with the question: How long should the Fed stick with its easy monetary...
View ArticleWho will get the real mortgage crisis profits?
The stock market has reached new highs, home sales are soaring and interest rates are in near record lows, but with weak employment gains and declining household incomes much of the public thinks the...
View ArticleIs the residential real estate inventory shortgage real?
A steady stream of claims that the real estate marketplace somehow has an inventory shortage can't be true when, at the same time, there is an annual increase in the number of distressed properties for...
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