Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the former mortgage giants shamefully taken into conservatorship by the government, have now suffered another indignity. They were both delisted from the New York and Chicago stock exchanges. Ouch! The NYSE said they asked them to be removed due to low share prices, but they both have had low share [...]

A few days ago the Treasury Department announced their unlimited support for the two GSE’s, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Many speculate sticking this potential bombshell of a story in the holiday news cycle was intentional leading to even more sinister assumptions. The most ‘horrible’ rumor circling the banking industry is Obama wants to give [...]

Freddie Mac, the ailing GSE so weak the Feds took the reigns back in September, is reporting the first quarterly profit in almost two years. And not surprisingly all the financial networks, blogs, and newspapers are running the headline touting Freddie Mac’s return to profitability. On the surface this would be good news, but one [...]

Condo mortgage rates are higher than a single family home. Or, is that just what you get told out there? The rate for a condo is technically not higher but there is an added cost for condos with less than 25% equity. Any mortgage with extra risk like a condo has added costs. You can [...]

A mortgage appraisal is full of misperceptions and it is frustrating when something goes wrong. We are addressing the most common appraisal complaints and what you can do about them. First let’s define a mortgage appraisal. A licensed appraiser researches other properties to find homes that have sold in the last 6 months that are [...]

David Kellermann, the acting Chief Financial Officer of Freddie Mac, was found dead, the apparent victim of suicide. Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) put out a press release saying, “We at FHFA are very saddened by the death of David Kellermann. For many years, we have known David as a person of the utmost ethical [...]

Everyone knows the taxpayer had to takeover Freddie Mac last year. But what many do not know is President Obama’s Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel was once on the board of directors during it’s heyday of mismanagement. Rahm Emanuel and Freddie Mac Mr. Emanuel profited greatly during his tenure on the Freddie Mac board according [...]

It was announced today both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will implement a ban on foreclosures and evictions on occupied 1-4 unit properties from November 26th to January 9th, 2009. This is the first sign of compassion I’ve seen from the GSE’s since the foreclosure crisis began a few years ago. This will ease the [...]

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 [...]