The Center for Responsible Lending reported that foreclosures are expected in half of the sub-prime loans that were closed in the last quarter of 2006.  Unfortunately, this prediction was actually made by one of the bond rating agencies that rated the investment vehicles used to fund many of these loans.
With similar predictions for the other [...]

Adjustable rate mortgages are at the heart of the current mortgage crisis in America. And almost everyone who has a recent one wants it converted to a fixed rate loan as soon as possible. With good reason. But are ARMs naturally toxic to consumers?
Not necessarily. ARMs are like firearms, they’re tools [...]

With foreclosures heading toward an all time high, defensive tactics are becoming increasingly important.  Due to the complexity of the home loan securitization process, it is often hard for a loan servicer to find the original paperwork from the loan transaction.  Here is a news story highlighting some of the defenses used by attorneys to [...]

There are so many unsavory and sometimes surprising details emerging about the mortgage industry, it’s hard to keep up. One of the issues that has emerged in foreclosure litigation in several districts is whether the foreclosing lender actually owns the mortgage it’s trying to foreclose.
Judges in at least five states have stopped [...]

Just because you surrender your home in bankruptcy or your home has been foreclosed upon you can be arrested in relation to your property. It does not happen very often but as more properties are being foreclosed upon I think the probabilities of arrest will increase.
If you liked that post, then try these…Federal Reserve Proposes [...]

The U.S. Senate is expected to vote on S.2636 this week. This bill will help distressed homeowners save their homes from foreclosure by allowing a bankruptcy judge to modify their mortgage loans in chapter 13 bankruptcy.
Kurt O’Keefe wrote about this beneficial legislation recently and reported that the mortgage lenders are fighting this relief for [...]

The Oregon legislature narrowly missed the opportunity to help homeowners deal with aggressive loan terms when the session closed without passage of representative Jeff Merkley’s mortgage industry reform bill.
Jeff Merkley, speaker of the Oregon house of representatives and a candidate for US Senate from Oregon, pushed hard for his bill limiting the impact of prepayment [...]

Kansas judges are stopping secret fees being added to the home mortgage accounts of chapter 13 bankruptcy debtors. Creditors are being required to disclose their fees in documents filed with the Court.  Debtors will have the opportunity to object to bogus fees and have the Court determine what fees are allowed.
A new chapter [...]

CNNMoney.com reports that even after recognizing the brewing storm of decreasing property values and increasing defaults, lenders continued to make risky loans:
By late 2006, lenders knew that the housing market was heading south. Foreclosure filings took off during the third quarter that year, up 43 percent from 12 months earlier, according to RealtyTrac, the online [...]

In 2006, approximately 5% of all homeowners in the United States owed more on their home than it was worth.  ABC News is reporting that the statistics for 2007 show 10% of all homeowners owe more than their home is worth. This number has not been seen since the Great Depression of 1929 [...]