New Mortgage Rules
Most of us have little trouble shopping for a car. When we compare mileage, horse power and options like power steering and transmissions, we get it. In fact teenage boys can…
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New Short Sale Program
Not all distressed borrowers can save their homes. As mortgage relief triage, the Obama Administration has emphasized loan modification and refinance , yet the effort is falling far short of the…
FTC Seeks Ban on Upfront Loan Modification Fees
Yesterday the Federal Trade Commission, in a unanimous 4-0 vote sought to protect distressed mortgage borrowers from one of the biggest sources of fraud in the loan modification business, charging…
Slide in Home Values Threatens Loan Modification Pace
Despite a concerted effort by the Obama Administration with its Making Home Affordable Program to modify and refinance home loans, data released this week shows that only 9% of the…
Strategic Default?
One of the most significant factors in mortgage delinquency is whether or not a home is underwater. Some like University of Arizona law professor Roger Lowenstein in yesterday’s NY Times…
The 31% Solution for Mortgage Modification
When I first got a place of my own, I was told that a week of income should cover my housing expenses. Today, the US Department of Housing and Urban…
Mortgage Modification Milestone
Today the US Treasury passed a benchmark in its efforts to help troubled homeowners. Half a million borrowers have had their mortgage payments modified under the Obama administration’s Making Home…
Deficiency Judgments Can Cause Lingering Grief
It’s all too easy to get disheartened about your mortgage difficulties and simply decide to pack up and walk away from your home, especially if your mortgage is now substantially…
How to Determine Your Home’s Value
Today you can not only see your home from the air on Google Earth, but you can find out roughly how much it is worth. The two biggest free websites…
Optimism, Albeit Guarded
As 2009 winds down, two pieces of good news released yesterday are significant for homeowners. The first is that for the fifth consecutive month home prices rose in October, according…