http://realestatemarketingthisweek.com/real-estate/b-of-a-and-countrywide-pay-150m-fine-for-deceptive-mortgage-practices/ – B of A and Countrywide pay $150M fine for deceptive mortgage practices –
Part 8 – I have here in my hand something from the office of the attorney general Terry Goddard, this is in regard to B of A and Countrywide. The state has alleged that prior to 2008 that Countrywide used unfair and deceptive tactics in its loan originating and servicing activity and placed borrowers in structurally unfair and unaffordable loans. These are not my words folks this is from the office of Terry Goddard the Attorney General of Arizona
They are talking about lowering peoples rates for the first year only. Look a good loan modification, you dont need a 12 month reprieve if you are 2, 3, or 4 months behind on your mortgage, it is going to take a little bit more than 12 months to get back on your feet.
I was going to say what an important point that you are making is because the announcement today by Paulson regarding the money not being used to buy these bad mortgages any longer, because of Barney Franks comments about how banks need to do more to help avoid foreclosures for mortgagees, what that really is amounting to for me as someone who studies the financial marketplace every single day as part of my profession, what that really amounts to is banks being able to set terms, and the short term reprieves, and the importance of what you are doing right now is critical for people to understand.
You are ahead of the curve, you go to the bank for these modification purposes, you take the proactive steps to make the terms suitable for you, my point is if the bank, by Terry Goddards letter, already has asserted that they have made some type of poor judgment in the way that they treated their mortgagees or the people that they gave loans to, why would you then go back to that bank as the owner of that mortgage and try to negotiate with them on your own? Why then would you have the trust in them that it was going to work to your best possible out come? I find that to be absurd.
You are absolutely right; they have essentially admitted to it, they have a $150,000,000 settlement. I just want to throw one more thing out there, they have a $150,000,000 bill that they have to pay because, according to the Attorney General, deceptive business practices, a hundred and fifty million dollar check that they have to write, somebody is going to have to make that up.
And that is a good point, the point of this would be to take this action yourself prior to these banking institutions making the decisions on your behalf, theyve already done this, they have already made those decisions on your behalf, whether or not you knew exactly what type of loan program you were getting involved with when you took out the loan and all of that.
If you find yourself in a position of not being able to maintain your existing mortgage payment under the terms that you have been issued by the bank, modification is something you should consider, you make the terms going forward, you should use the professional expertise and the negotiating abilities of these attorneys that specialize in this area and make this work for you before the rules are placed at your feet yet again.
We talk about people doing this on there own, what I see being the problem is they are going to send you out a packet of paperwork, maybe email it to you or fax it. I have seen the paperwork that they send out, it is more than 36 pages of legalese, once it goes back it is going to sit in front of the loss mitigation department in a stack, Ive seen the stacks, literally thousands of cases sitting there waiting to be reviewed by someone who may very well not be qualified to make a real decision, in my opinion using the loss mitigation department at the bank you may be dealing with a clerk that was answering sales calls for someone else two months ago.
Versus going to the legal department and dealing with those individuals directly. There is no doubt you absolutely have to use professionals, you need to put your head on the pillow and turn this over to somebody who knows what they are doing, an expert negotiator, a paid attorney that does this for a living, put your head on your pillow and keep your family safe in your home… http://RealEstateMarketingThisWeek.com
Duration : 0:6:10
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Center for American Progress Senior Fellow Dr Christian Weller appeared on CNBC to discuss subprime mortgages and how consumers can protect themselves.
For more on subprime mortgages and foreclosure rates please see:
http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2007/03/foreclosures_numbers.html
What if 40 hours a week were enough?
www.AMERICANPROGRESS.org
Duration : 0:4:20
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The Bright Side of the Housing Collapse….You can buy a home for as little as $40 (with payments as low as $0.19 per month!!! if financed)
One in five U.S. mortgage borrowers are underwater
NEW YORK (Reuters) One in five U.S. homeowners with mortgages owe more to their lenders than their properties are worth, and the rate will increase as housing values drop in states that have so far avoided the worst of the crisis, a new study shows.
About 8.31 million properties had negative equity at the end of 2008, up 9 percent from 7.63 million at the end of September, according to the study, released Wednesday by First American CoreLogic. The percentage of “underwater” borrowers rose to 20 percent from 18 percent.
Another 2.16 million properties could go underwater if home prices fall another 5 percent, the study shows.
First American said the value of residential properties fell to $19.1 trillion at year-end from $21.5 trillion a year earlier, with half the decline in California. Forty-three U.S. states and Washington, D.C., were included in the study.
While states such as California, Florida and Nevada were particularly stressed, the study showed worrying signs of deterioration in relatively healthy parts of the nation.
“The economic slowdown is broadening,” said Sherrill Shaffer, a banking professor at the University of Wyoming at Laramie and a former Federal Reserve official. “As more people lose jobs, it will be more difficult to sustain the levels of pricing and home ownership, and that is a big factor driving down housing prices in more parts of the country.”
Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada and Ohio remained the most stressed states, with 62 percent of underwater borrowers and just 41 percent of mortgages.
Other areas, though, also face more stress. Connecticut, for example, saw a 25 percent increase in homes with negative equity, while Washington, D.C., had a 44 percent increase.
“Even I continue to be surprised at the tentacles of this financial and economic debacle,” said Robert MacIntosh, chief economist at Eaton Vance Management in Boston. “More people are being laid off, resulting in reduced income and therefore less consumption. That leaves fewer people with money to buy homes, and the mentality is that people believe they should wait six months rather than buy now. Less demand means falling prices.”
Roughly 68 percent of U.S. adults own their own homes, and about two-thirds of these have mortgages. Many economists expect the nation’s unemployment rate to rise above 9 percent before the recession ends, up from January’s 7.6 percent.
CALIFORNIA, NEVADA UNDER STRESS
California had 1.9 million borrowers with negative equity at year-end, more than any other state, followed by Florida’s 1.28 million. About three in 10 borrowers in both states were underwater.
By other measures, Nevada was the most stressed, with 55 percent of owners having negative equity and borrowers on average owing 97 percent of what their homes are worth. About 28 percent owe more than 125 percent of their homes’ value.
Michigan had 40 percent of its homeowners underwater, while Arizona had 32 percent.
New York fared best, with just 4.7 percent of borrowers with negative equity and an average 48 percent loan-to-value ratio, though this could change as employment and bonuses slide in the financial services industry.
According to the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices, prices of U.S. single-family homes slumped 18.5 percent in December from a year earlier, the biggest drop in the 21-year history of the data.
Many lenders are taking steps to keep borrowers out of foreclosure. The Obama administration has backed legislation that could broaden powers of bankruptcy judges to modify mortgages for troubled borrowers. Among major lenders, only Citigroup Inc has supported such a plan.
MacIntosh expects housing prices to keep falling until “well into” 2010. “There is no magic bullet or magic arrow here,” he said. “It is a question of trying to come up with ideas and seeing what happens. It could take a long time.”
First American CoreLogic is an affiliate of title insurance and real estate services company First American Corp.
Duration : 0:2:41
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May 5 (Bloomberg) — Laurie Goodman, an analyst at Amherst Securities Group LP, talks with Bloomberg’s Margaret Brennan about the U.S. Treasury’s efforts to increase mortgage modifications and prevent foreclosures.
Goodman says the U.S. government and the nations largest banks are still allowing second mortgages to jeopardize the housing market. (Source: Bloomberg)
Duration : 0:5:18
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Jul 24 – Stocks had their second biggest drop of the year as worries about the housing sector, the impact of the subprime mess and general uneasiness over corporate profits sparked the retreat.The Dow crumbled 226 points to 13,716. The Nasdaq tumbled 50 points to 2,639. The S&P 500 lost 30 points to 1,511. Crude oil prices fell for the third consecutive session.
Duration : 0:2:19
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April 15 (Bloomberg) — David Crowe, chief economist for the National Association of Home Builders, talks with Bloomberg’s Lori Rothman about the outlook for the U.S. housing market.
The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo index of builder confidence increased to 19 in April from 15 in March. (Source: Bloomberg)
Duration : 0:2:15
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April 5 (Bloomberg) — Bloomberg’s Monica Bertran reports on the government’s new Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives program, which encourages lenders to allow more homeowners facing foreclosures to sell their property for less than they owe on their mortgage. (Source: Bloomberg)
Duration : 0:1:51
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March 30 (Bloomberg) — Martin Gahbauer, chief economist at Nationwide Building Society, talks with Bloomberg’s Maryam Nemazee about the mortgage lender’s monthly house-price index. (Source: Bloomberg)
Duration : 0:3:11
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FDIC loan guarantees, Fannie & Fannie buys of Toxic mortgages, and the TARP is resulting in higher yields, wider GSE Debt spreads and higher mortgage rates, which are signs that The Great Credit Crunch remains in the third inning with that one-year rain delay. The TARP is now on the infield, but covering a swamp full of alligators. Crude oil has reached a $75 handle as I expected. A weekly close below $74.90 would be the first since October 2003. More bad loans are on the horizon: Credit Cards, Home Equity Loans, Commercial Real Estate and Construction & Development Loans are set for increasing defaults. We are entering a multi-year Bear Market and heading for Recession. To subscribe to my special report, �The Great Credit Crunch� and updates to Richard Suttmeier�s List of Problem Banks and new Richard Suttmeier�s List of TARP Banks, send an email to GMCReports@aol.com or to Support@ValuEngine.com.
Duration : 0:4:36
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http://www.btang.net/
A Bigger Crash Is Coming after the Second Wave/Crash in the mortgage crisis. The solution is: H.E.L.P. – Humanize (Be Humane), Economize (Buy/Use Only What U Need), Localize (Plant Garden/Walk), Produce (Learn Skills)
Duration : 0:9:45
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