Mortgage News

A tongue-in-cheek video by Fred Thompson is on top of being absolutely hilarious…dangerously accurate. He clearly articulates the Washington mentality of spend, spend and SPEND some more as the solution to our current economic mess.
The Washington Bailout Mentality
Hank Paulson told us a few months back if we gave him $700 Billion in bailout money, [...]

Timothy Geithner, president, Federal Reserve Bank of New York, was named President-elect Obama’s pick to run Paulson’s recreation of the “all-powerful” Treasury Department. Geithner will inherit more power than any other Cabinet post in my opinion and yet he is the least experienced.
Obama Picks a Clone To Run Treasury
Obama and Geithner have a lot in [...]

As expected housing starts, building permits, and consumer prices were reported down today signaling our worries about a recession turning into a depression are well founded.
Housing starts and building permits hit record lows in October according to the Commerce Department report released today.
Housing starts were down 4.5% to an annual rate of 791,000, setting [...]

Federal Reserve Chairman, Ben Bernanke, spoke just minutes ago to a UC Berkley conference on the mortgage market challenges moving forward from the current crisis.
Ben did a great job outlining the gestation of the crisis by outlining the difference in public versus private securitization. GSE securitization of mortgages is what he called “public” in [...]

PNC Financial Services Group (NYSE: PNC) is taking over the ailing National City Corp (NYSE: NCC) owner of the regional National City Bank based in Cleveland. PNC has agreed to pay $5.6 billion with some of the money coming from the US Treasury.
PNC First To Use Government Money in Takeover
We were all “sold” the [...]

In an effort to make a Wells Fargo - Wachovia merger happen, the Citigroup buyout offer of Wachovia was rejected. Wells Fargo proposed a better deal (about $7 a share) without government help and Wachovia’s board accepted.
Wells Fargo Wachovia Merger
Wachovia Statment about the merger in a

Senate bailout bill (HR 1424) passed easily last night in a 74 to 25 vote. The new bill must now go back to the House for a vote which will take place on Monday. The House declined to pass the measure this week and this new bill will need 14 of those who [...]

The US Senate banking bailout bill still giving $700 Billion to the Treasury to buy troubled mortgage backed assets held by banks…even foreign banks…will get a vote tonight. The Senate bill is about 350 pages longer than the failed House bill to incorporate tax breaks and increased depositor insurance among other earmarks.
US Senate Foreign [...]

Sovereign Bancorp Inc. (NYSE: SOV) another beat up regional bank, lost 70% of it’s stock value on Monday amidst all the chaos surrounding Congress’s failure to past the banking bailout bill. Today the stock at last check was up almost 72% on the announcement of a new CEO.
New Sovereign Bank CEO
The Wall [...]

Mark-to-market accounting principals are being defined today as the root cause of the banking crisis stemming back to the devaluation of the subprime mortgage backed securities. It is suggested if mark-to-market was suspended by executive order, the banking crisis could be avoided without tax payer money.
Mark To Market Problem Defined
Forbes printed a Newt Gingrich [...]

Congress is expected to pass the Paulson financial rescue plan that is now been converted from a hazy three pages to over 100 pages in the new bill called the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 sometime today.
Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008
Why do we need this bank bailout bill?
We’ll undoubtedly you’ve heard [...]

Wachovia Corp (NYSE: WB), at one time the fourth largest banking operation in the US, is currently fending off failure by holding talks over the weekend with potential buyers. Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC) seemed to be the front runner over the weekend, but I just got a press release from the Treasury [...]

The FDIC announcement tonight of the Washington Mutual failure and subsequent JP Morgan Chase buyout, was 24 hours premature. The FDIC typically announces financial institution failures after the markets close on a Friday, but due to internal leaks to the media they were forced to act sooner.
Reuters reports,
“A top U.S. bank regulator said on [...]

The Bush speech tonight on the “financial crisis” reminds me of another phantom crisis he used to get Congress to spend hundreds of billions of tax payer money…the Iraq War.
Linking terrorism to Iraq got Congress to roll over and put billions in the pockets of defense contractors and oil companies. Linking the [...]

Finally Congress, specifically the Senate Banking Committee, is bringing more than a rubber stamp to a meeting with Fed Chairman Bernanke or Treasury Secretary Paulson. After watching Senate Banking Committee Chairman, Senator Dodd on This Week, Sunday, I was certainly surprised by his resistance today.
Senate Banking Committee Hearing Held Today
Both Ben Bernanke and Hank [...]

Ameribank Inc today became the first West Virginia bank shut down by the FDIC. Ameribank depositors in Ohio will now bank with The Citizens Savings Bank and those Ameribank depositors in West Virgina will go to Pioneer Community Bank, Inc.
Ameribank Fails
Ameribank Inc had assets of $115 million and deposits of $102 million, not a [...]

Franklin Raines, the former CEO of mortgage giant Fannie Mae back when most laughingly referred to it as Fanron, is now thought to be giving “mortgage and housing policy” advice to the Obama campaign. Franklin Raines was the most corrupt CEO since Ken Lay at Enron.
Franklin Raines - Mortgage Millions
Franklin Raines was the CEO [...]

An AIG bailout package was announce late Tuesday night by the Federal Reserve rescuing the company by pledging a loan of $85 Billion. AIG needed a bailout due to mortgage related losses and an inability to raise capital fast enough.
AIG Bailout
American International Group - AIG - gets the liquidity they need to cover the [...]

No Fed rate cut announced today leaving traders to scratch their heads in disbelief. A Fed rate cut was overwhelmingly expected by the Street due to the liquidity crisis in the last few days with AIG and Lehman Brothers creating a demand for dollars.
Fed Rate Cut Did Not Materialized
The Fed decided to keep rates [...]

A Black Monday scenario for the US stock markets is unlikely due to quick action by the Federal Reserve to add liquidity with rule changes and the creation of a 10 bank cooperative that put $70 Billion into an emergency fund.
Black Monday Averted
Six Reasons Today Will Not Be Another Black Monday on Wall Street
Remember the [...]

Lehman Brothers bankruptcy is now more likely than ever after potential suitors, Bank of America and Barclays, got shut out when asking for a government backstop against bad mortgage losses.
Lehman Brothers Bankruptcy Probable
The Washingtonpost.com reports even though Lehman Brothers had at least a few buyers in line, once the Treasury and the Fed decided they [...]

Merrill Lynch announced it accepted an offer of $29 a share from Bank of America becoming the most recent conquest in a growing line of Federal Reserve member commercial banks gobbling up investment banks. Merrill Lynch is the second investment bank sold to a mega-bank rival after Bear Stearns succumbed six months ago to [...]

Alan Greenspan was interviewed by Bloomberg’s Al Hunt and opined on the Bear Stearns bailout, Lehman Brothers recent trouble, and his view of the Fed’s role as market stabilizer. I feel this is the most self-serving and disingenuous words I have heard yet from the master spin doctor and former Federal Reserve Chairman.
Bear Stearns [...]

American Banker is reporting “talks” JPMortgage Chase is having with Washington Mutual at the highest level. The American Banker reports this is not a government mandated negotiation, but my guess is JPMorgan wants WaMu’s profitable branch bank network with it’s $143 Billion on deposit.
WaMu Branches: Big American Banker
Even though Washinton Mutual has $19 Billion [...]

Lehman Brothers ( LEH stock symbol) is in free-fall on traders belief the company’s credit risk is too high. The LEH stock is under pressure partly due to owning one of the biggest subprime mortgage players, Aurora Loan Services.
LEH Stock Falls - Mortgage Risk The Culprit
Being parent to one of the largest subprime mortgage [...]

WaMu stock is off by 14 percent today due to 380 million shares being held by short sellers, those who believe the mortgage crisis will drive WaMu stock down even further. Washington Mutual (NYSE: WM) is one of the banks who the street believes holds a huge exposure to subprime mortgages.
WaMu Stock - Short [...]

Kansas Bankers Surety will no longer insure bank deposits above the $100,000 FDIC level in 38 states. Berkshire-owned Kansas Bankers Surety unceremoniously left the bank depositor insurance business by the side of the road today, supposedly on Warren Buffett’s say-so.
Kansas Bankers Surety Confidence Lost
Bloomberg reported today that Warren Buffet himself ordered Kansas [...]

Today Warren Buffett wade in on the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac rescue plan implemented by Hank Paulson’s Treasury Department in a CNBC interview. Buffet agrees with the plan saying, “The Secretary did exactly the right anything”.
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Rescue
Buffet says, “I wouldn’t change anything myself” about the governments bailout plan for [...]

Washington Mutual, Inc. (NYSE:WM) today canned their CEO, Kerry Kilinger who drove the company head-long into the profits of the subprime mortgage market only to see it all unravel in recent months. WaMu stock is off over 20 percent today on the news
WaMu CEO Loved Subprime Mortgages
The unraveling the $50 Billion investment WaMu in [...]

Fannie Mae stock holders are getting killed by the government takeover decision annouced this weekend. The Fannie Mae, Freddi Mac bailout is also an unmitigated disaster for the US tax payer too if you ask Bob Barr.
Fannie Mae (NYSE:FNM), Freddie Mac (NYSE:FRE) Stock Price
Fannie Mae Freddie Mac stock prices got pounded down hard at [...]

US Treasury Secretary, Hank Paulson, announced a few minutes ago the plan to takeover the mortgage giants, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Paulson laid out the goals, and FHFA Secretary, Jim Lockhart, discussed the actions taken.
US Treasury Goals
Paulson started the press conference by laying out the goals of the bailout as follows:
1. Provide stability [...]

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the two mortgage GSEs, will succumb to government conservatorship announced most likely on Sunday. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac would continue operating, but their stock value would be wiped out.
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Bailout
According to The New York Times report,
“Senior officials from the Bush administration and the [...]

The Silver State Bank failure is the 11th this year and in typical fashion the FDIC announcement came after trading Friday blaming the bank’s overexposure to commercial and real estate development mortgage loans in the two most depressed markets in the US, namely Arizona and Nevada.
The FDIC also stated depositor assets will transfer to Zion [...]

The unemployment rate hitting an unexpected five year high at 6.1 percent today is not the worst news. There is much more ominous news on the long-term unemployment rate which endangers the housing and mortgage markets.
Unemployment Rate Explained
The real dangers in the unemployment rate reported by the BLS today is not the 84,000 jobs [...]

Is the FDIC depositor insurance fund solvent? This is a reasonable question given the increasing number of bank failures and the fact the FSLIC depositor insurance fund went bankrupt during the Savings and Loan crisis.
Before we discuss the insurance fund let’s remind every bank depositor of their rights and the obligations the FDIC has [...]

Huntington Bank owned by Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ; HBAN) a $50+ billion regional bank holding company headquartered in Columbus, Ohio is feeling the pain of exposure to the subprime mortgage meltdown. Last week as subprime giant Franklin Credit Management continued to see losses and threats of getting delisted from NASDQ, Huntington Bank who is [...]

Frost Bank is banking on savvy web users to make their new product, Momentum, a hit. This new Frost Bank product is a merger of two ideas: a standard transaction account merged with a high-yield account.
Customers can divvy up their balance to fit their daily cash needs splitting the remainder of their balance [...]

Umpqua Bank, a subsidiary of Umpqua Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ: UMPQ) , reported that consumers in Oregon, including bank customers, have received fraudulent telephone calls from persons claiming to be associated with Umpqua Bank.
Umpqua Bank Warning Of Scam
“Umpqua Bank takes the security of our customers very seriously. While we do monitor card activity for customer security, [...]

The FDIC announced today the closure of Integrity Bank of Alpharetta, Georgia in what is quickly becoming a routine 5pm Friday press release.
Integrity Bank of Georgia
Integrity Bank of Georgia had $1.1 billion in assets and $974 million in deposits at the end of June, 2008. Depositors will get accounts handed over to Regions Bank [...]

National City Corp (NCC), a large Midwestern bank which during the real estate boom boasted a healthy income from their wholesale mortgage division, got in trouble with the bank regulators back in June and are now being sued by their stockholders.
National City - Bank Under Scrutiny
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency issued National [...]

The Columbian Bank and Trust Company, Topeka, Kansas, failed August 22,2008 and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) was named receiver. Depositors accounts now sit with Citizens Bank and Trust of Chillicothe, Missouri.
The Columbian Bank and Trust Company had nine branches that will reopen as Citizens Bank and Trust branches come Monday. Depositors of the [...]

I posted two videos recapping the Bernanke speech this morning in Jackson Hole, WY in interviews with John Makin of American Enterprise Institute and Ethan Harris of Lehman Brothers since no cameras were allowed.
Bernanke Speech Address Inflation
Video Part 1 - Interview with John Makin of American Enterprise Institute

Video Part 2 - Reaction with Ethan Harris [...]

A Korea Development Bank spokesman said today Korea Development is considering buying Lehman Brothers, according to a Bloomberg report. Lehman Brothers has a huge exposure to the subprime mortgage meltdown through Aurora Loan Services.
Korea Development Bank Goes Subprime
The Korean government desires to privatize the bank in a few years and an acquisition of the US’s [...]

When asked the number of McCain houses the Senator owns, he deflected the question defering to his staff. Obama clobbered him for not knowing and suggested he was out of touch with the economy before stating, “And, by the way, the answer is, John McCain has seven homes” according to Washingtonpost.com.
Obama’s point is well [...]

Salin Bank customers need to beware of a new phishing attack by email where the attacker is using a toll free number and an automated voice system to steal credit card numbers.
Typical email phishing attacks bounce the target to the crook’s website dressed up to look like the impersonated bank website where the data is [...]

The media in search for bad news recently reported North Carolina (NC) as having the worst unemployment number in 5 years with a month-over-month seasonally adjusted joblessness figure up from 5.9 percent in June to 6.6 percent in July.
On further research, the NC unemployment picture is not as bad as this one statistic [...]

PNC Bank owned by parent PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE: PNC) is offering $100 new customer bonus to raise capital. Why does PNC Bank need a large influx of capital? This may spell trouble for the bank.
PNC Bank about six months ago ceased their home equity wholesale operation citing market conditions and [...]

Chrysler Financial did not raise the entire $30 Billion in capital they were seeking mainly due to the spreading of the credit crunch brought on by the mortgage crisis. Chrysler Financial is the lending arm of the auto maker and tight credit won’t help slumping sales.
Chrysler Financial obtained $24 billion instead significantly below the [...]

The mortgage meltdown is spilling over to other financial companies like Discover Financial Services the issuer of Discover Card. Discover stock price dropped yesterday 6.8 percent closing at $14.34 per share.
Discover Card Not Alone In Mortgage Crisis
Early in the week JPMorgan Chase and Co. reported to regulators it’s mortgage related losses topped $1.5 Billion [...]

First Tennessee Bank, whose parent ownership resides with First Horizon National Corporation, is among the nations biggest banks with the worst ratings. First Tennessee Bank also does the servicing for their mortgage company, First Horizon Home Loans.
First Tennessee Bank Rating
Martin Weiss of Weiss Research compiled some research on the nations banks to determine which [...]

Fannie Mae today reported a $2.3 Billion Q2 loss much greater than expected. Fannie Mae’s loss of $2.54 a share shocked analysts who expected a loss of 68 cents a share.
Fannie Mae announced they’d be cutting their dividend to 5 cents a share down 30 cents to preserve capital. The company will cease [...]

Ambac Financial Group Inc, one of the largest bond insurers on the hook for insuring billions worth of mortgage back securities called CDOs, posted a second quarter earnings gain today of $823 Million.
Ambac Accounting Games
However, this gain comes only after using some fancy accounting to add a $5.2 Billion gain associated with their [...]

The Fed decision today to hold rates at 2 percent was expected. The Fed decision and the statement outlining the reasons show Bernanke’s lack of courage and leadership in my book.
Fed Decision Lacks Vision
The statement of the Fed said inflation worries in the future were “highly uncertain”.
Uncertain my eye…there is nothing [...]

IndyMac Bancorp filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection on July 31, 2008. The filing does not include the recently FDIC acquired depositor bank, IndyMac Federal Bank.
In a NY Times report, IndyMac Bancorp at the time of filing had somewhere between $50-$100 million in assets to be liquidated by the bankruptcy court. The court [...]

Meredith Whitney, Oppenheimer & Co. analyst, who saw the subprime mortgage meltdown coming years in advance, believes the banks are not moving fast enough to mitigate the credit crisis.
In a Fortune article, Meredith Whitney, shows concern for an extended credit crisis because the banks won’t swallow the “bad mortgage” pill.
I agree…
The banks and [...]

First Priorty Bank of Brandenton Florida shut down Friday by regulators. All six branches of First Priority Bank will open Monday as SunTrust branches according to the FDIC.
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) as it has done in many of the recent bank failures, took receivership of the bank and immediately inked an [...]

Joe Grano, a known Wall Street heavy-weight, in an interview on CNBC today calls the recent government solutions to the mortgage and housing crisis “band-aids” and calls for a permanent solution including 50 year mortgages.
Joe Grano discussed many reasons and possible solutions to the financial, credit, and housing market instability. The most intriguing for [...]

Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson in a speech today speculates a correction in dropping home prices is only months away. Paulson believes the worst will be behind us “in months rather than years”.
Home Inventories
Secretary Paulson laid his reasons why he thinks housing price drops will be over soon. He states home inventories of 10 [...]

US GDP and jobless statistics out today are a double whammy for homeowners. US GDP for Q2 reported by the Commerce Department at a 1.9% annual rate below the 2.3% expected. GDP is a measure economists use to determine if the economy is growing or contracting.
US GDP Showing Recession
Even though the 1.9% shows growth [...]

The President signed into law the so called mortgage relief bill, H.R. 3221, which really should be called the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Relief Bill. This bill will bring no mortgage relief to anyone other than investors in GSE debt and stock holders.
In an AP report, White House spokesman Tony Fratto said,
“We look [...]

The Housing Economic Recovery Act of 2008 became law today and I am sad to say it will offer no help to consumers, home owners, or foreclosure victims. As with most political solutions to economic events, the new law has more bark than bite.
In an interview on Bloomberg (see video below), Thomas Atteberry [...]

The National Debt was raised $800 Billion this weekend in the new Housing Bill H.R. 3221. The National Debt ceiling can go as high as $10.6 Trillion or roughly 75% of the US Gross Domestic Product.
All this just to bail out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac?
I won’t repeat my disdain for this [...]

Bank failures are here to stay according to Thomas Atteberry of First Pacific Advisors interviewed on Bloomberg, who gives a bleak outlook on credit markets. This credit crunch foretells more bank failures.
Bank failures happen for a number of reason, but it is agreed the inability to raise capital combined with current assets turning sour [...]

The Paulson pushed GSE reform bill known as the Housing Economic Recovery Act of 2008 (H.R. 3221) which earlier this week passed the House has now passed the Senate becoming law with the President’s signature which he already pledged to give by the end of July. I first read about the Senate passage in [...]

First National Bank of Arizona which merged into First National Bank of Nevada, Reno and First Heritage Bank, N.A., Newport Beach California failed Friday. The Comptroller of the Currency and the FDIC were named the receiver. The FDIC arranged a agreement with Mutual of Omaha Bank to purchase the assets and handle the [...]

The Housing Bill containing the Paulson GSE bailout plan goes the House floor for a vote today. The bill as written by the Senate has a $4 Billion in grant provision for local governments to buy foreclosed homes directly. The President threatened a veto if this provision is in the final bill but [...]

Wachovia earnings today fell dramatically 49 cents below expectations, an $8.9 Billion loss, and a cut of the dividend by 87%. Wachovia earnings release also mentioned they are no longer operating a mortgage wholesale lending division.
Wachovia is not the first bank to close the door on mortgage brokers. Bank of American did so [...]

It seems the smarminess of Countrywide Financial’s CEO, Angelo Mozilo, is now so far reaching as to smear the reputation of Democratic nominee, Barack Obama. According to the Wall Street Journal, many politicos got special treatment with loan approvals done by Mozilo himself. This group came to be known inside the company [...]

Citizens Republic Bancorp like many other banks are showing signs of trouble. A regional bank, Citizens Bank is headquartered in Flint Michigan and posted a quarterly loss of $201 Million.
This operating loss together with a credit write-down and charge for “goodwill impairment” topped out at $220.5 Million.
The Chairman of the bank, William Hartman said [...]

Reuters reports the sovereign wealth fund of Kuwait, the KIA, will not be buying any more GSE debt. Exactly what Bernanke and Paulson were attempting to avoid last week, when they rushed to reassure the world the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac debacle would not hurt investors, just happened.
Great…just great.
This is truly [...]

The Texas Ratio everyone is using to speculate on the health of the nation’s banks has a problem. The calculation belies a different conclusion in many cases and does not necessarily mean bank weakness.
Texas Ratio Defined
Gerald Cassiday of the RBC Capital Markets, coined the name for his calculation which grew out of the Texas [...]

I’ve reported for about 18 months now the two GSEs, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are both severely over leveraged. Now I have a former Federal Reserve bank president agreeing with me calling both companies “insolvent”.
William Poole, said in a Bloomberg report,
“Congress ought to recognize that these firms are insolvent, that [...]

The Washington Post reported the HUD Secretary, Steve Preston is worried the mortgage bill could sink the FHA mortgage program. The bill as passed by the House allows subprime and other borrowers to convert their exploding mortgages into FHA mortgages.
Let’s hope the Senate comes to their senses and listen to FHA Commissioner [...]

Today Ben Bernanke, the Federal Reserve Chairman, spoke addressing many issues the foreclosure and mortgage crisis are causing. Mr. Bernanke seems worried, at least ostensibly, the current or a possible future crisis could cause entire “financial markets” to grind to a halt.
He speaks of wide-sweeping regulatory measures to give the Fed powers [...]

Finally I am getting some support for my long standing prediction the GSE’s, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, are on the verge of collapse. Tuesday the New York Time publish an article which I believe is the first from a major news outlet to even raise the question of the GSE’s long term [...]

Larry Kudlow earlier this month stated during an interview with David Walker that the Community Reinvestment Act “created subprime loans”. Larry Kudlow in this interview is really pushing the agenda attempting to help minority groups get their piece of the American Dream “caused” the subprime meltdown.
In this post-Bear Stearns bail out interview, David Walker [...]

The housing crash currently in it’s infancy will soon grow up into an economy killing monster that the Federal Reserve has no weapon strong enough to defeat. A housing crash is unlike a stock market crash in that there is no easy way out.
Let’s take a walk back in time to [...]

Freddie Mac, a company responsible (along with the other GSE, Fannie Mae) for the sound underwriting standards of conventional, prime mortgages, decided last week to tighten it’s underwriting. This Freddie Mac tightening of underwriting standards is probably too little, too late.
In the wake of the decision to allow the GSEs to underwrite [...]

When President Bush signed the Economic Stimulus Act into law making jumbo mortgages GSE insurable, he may have unwittingly pushed our GSEs, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, already on tilt, over the edge. If you think we have a housing crisis now, wait until you see what the demise of the GSEs and subsequent [...]

On Friday, the government unemployment report proves a housing crisis created recession is upon us. A housing crisis triggered recession, sadly, I’ve been predicting for years.
This new unemployment report showed Americans out of work for at least six months (called long-term unemployed) increasing - attaining levels more indicative of recession than a “soft [...]

President Bush in a press conference yesterday outlined a plan to help subprime borrowers facing upward rate adjustments (and potentially foreclosure because of the rate increases) some hope. Sadly, after a little investigation…it was all a big lie!
He outlined a 3 part plan to “help” American homeowners:
1. Refinance using a private sector, conventional [...]

Congress passed and the President signed into law recently the tax deductibility of mortgage insurance premiums.
Halleluiah!
This is huge! I know I make a big deal about what most of you would almost surely ignore. The King of Real Estate Minutiae and all…but this one really is a big deal.
So listen up, there are a [...]

Washington Mutual Mortgage along with eAppraiseIT, their appraisal firm, was accused of over inflating the appraisal values of homes by New York’s attorney general, Andrew Cuomo.
Washington Mutual Mortgage allegedly colluded with eAppraiseIT, an appraisal management subsidiary of First American Corp. to “meet the numbers”. The lawsuit said that eAppraiseIT succumbed to pressure from [...]

This is another scamming retail mortgage provider: the new home builder mortgage company. These companies are subsidiary mortgage banks owned by the new home builder. They will never broker a loan.
New home builders figured out a while ago that they can make money on the house yes, but if they also [...]

I was interviewed last week by a reporter for the Atlanta Journal Constitution, Bill Torpy, who published an article critical of “no-cost’ mortgage advertisers like Lenox Financial.
The article published on September third in the newspaper of record for Atlanta Georgia is one of the first I’ve seen that clearly exposes the truth about [...]

Yesterday Merrill Lynch announced it’s first quarterly loss in 6 years with the excuse their subprime mortgage exposure cost them $7.9 Billion, $3 Billion more than expected - marking Merrill’s gut-punch as the “Worst Hit” taken by a financial company from the subprime mortgage meltdown.
We saw the $3 Billion hit Bear Stearns took [...]

Fannie Mae’s CEO, Daniel H. Mudd testified before the House Committee on Financial Services today and unveiled a commitment to those subprime borrowers who need new options now that their earlier mortgage decisions are proving to be disastrous.

In typical “borrow from Peter to pay Paul” fashion, this new initiative involves refinancing out of the bad, [...]

The FTC this week announced a “crack down” on mortgage advertisers who use deceptive language in there solicitations. This comes on the heels of a statement earlier in the