Hamp

Whistleblower Wins Big Over BofA

Reuters | Posted 05.30.2012

By Rick Rothacker May 29 (Reuters) - A former home appraiser will receive $14.5 million as part of a whistleblower lawsuit that accuse...

Crucial Voters Disapprove Of Obama's Handling Of Housing Crisis: Poll

The Huffington Post | Dave Jamieson | Posted 05.16.2012

Independent voters in several battleground states are sour on President Barack Obama's handling of the housing crisis, according to polling data relea...

Fannie Mae's Approval of Mortgage Principal Reductions Gets the Silent Treatment

Anna Cuevas | Posted 05.04.2012

Anna Cuevas

Edward DeMarco, Acting Director of the FHFA, indicated that additional analysis would have to be performed to determine the long-term benefits of principal reductions.

Mother, Disabled Daughter Forced Out Of Home Even After BofA Modification

Posted 04.13.2012

A Los Angeles-area woman and her severely disabled daughter were forced to flee their home of 25 years in a matter of minutes, allegedly in large part...

DeMarco Speaks! (With Closed Captioning for the Mortgage-Impaired)

Richard (RJ) Eskow | Posted 04.11.2012

Richard (RJ) Eskow

DeMarco's still an unelected ideologue with too much power, and he still needs to go. But yesterday, he finally spoke up. To anyone with the right political or emotional closed-captioning device the message was loud and clear: Don't rush me, Mr. President -- and find yourself another fall guy.

Your Bank Forgave Your Mortgage Debt, but Will the IRS?

Anna Cuevas | Posted 05.19.2012

Anna Cuevas

Does a homeowner have to pay taxes on mortgage debt that's been forgiven or canceled? Some reduced or canceled debts do have to be treated as income, but not all. It depends on their circumstances and the amount of debt.

Whistleblower: BofA Kept Homeowners Out Of Government Program

Reuters | Posted 05.07.2012

By Jessica Dye NEW YORK, March 7 (Reuters) - Bank of America NA prevented homeowners from receiving mortgage-loan modifications unde...

Foreclosure Failure: Will The Settlement Prove The Fix?

Peter S. Goodman | Posted 05.07.2012

Peter S. Goodman

After years of incompetence, intransigence, malevolence and whatever else may explain how mortgage companies have managed to screw over millions of troubled American homeowners, a fix is finally at hand. This is how the Obama administration invites us to view the broad, $25 billion state and federal foreclosure settlement it struck last month with the nation's five largest mortgage companies.

Arthur Delaney

Obama Administration Lets Banks Out Of Doghouse For Bad Mortgage Servicing

HuffingtonPost.com | Arthur Delaney | Posted 03.02.2012

WASHINGTON -- The Obama administration announced Friday that as part of a recent $25 billion settlement with big banks, the government will release mo...

Matt Sledge

Occupy Protesters Help Former Marine Save Foreclosed Home

HuffingtonPost.com | Matt Sledge | Posted 02.28.2012

Bobby Hull was supposed be thrown out of his house this month. Instead, thanks partly to Occupy Wall Street activists, he may get to stay. Last wee...

The Robo-Signing Settlement: Breaking the Usual Rules of Housing Policy

Jed Kolko | Posted 04.11.2012

Jed Kolko

The robo-signing settlement is the latest -- and potentially the largest -- piece in the U.S. housing policy puzzle. Even though it's partly punishment for banks' wrongdoing, it is also another answer by the government to the question of how it can help the housing market.

Ben Hallman

Mortgage Settlement Makes Fresh Promise To Curb Bank Bad Behavior

HuffingtonPost.com | Ben Hallman | Posted 02.09.2012

As part of the $25 billion mortgage fraud settlement announced Thursday, five of the biggest U.S. banks promised to end practices that have led to bot...

Mark Gongloff

HAMP Homeowner Help Still Coming Too Slowly

HuffingtonPost.com | Mark Gongloff | Posted 02.06.2012

The Obama administration continues to make halting gains in its efforts to help struggling homeowners, according to a new self-assessment released tod...

Two Sets of Ideas From the White House

Jared Bernstein | Posted 04.02.2012

Jared Bernstein

The White House has a good set of ideas out this AM to a) help the housing market and b) help small businesses and start ups. The former sounds good to me; the latter, less so.

Obama Outlines New Plan To Help Struggling Americans

AP | JIM KUHNHENN and BEN FELLER | Posted 04.02.2012

FALLS CHURCH, Va. — Conceding his earlier housing programs have fallen short, President Barack Obama on Wednesday proposed a vast expansion of g...

Loren Berlin

Government Expands Failed Homeowner Assistance Program, But It's Too Little Too Late

HuffingtonPost.com | Loren Berlin | Posted 01.27.2012

The federal government is taking another stab at helping struggling homeowners keep their homes by expanding its failed loan modification program. Man...

Such Pessimism Is Unwarranted -- Who Should Rescue Housing?

Harlan Green | Posted 03.21.2012

Harlan Green

Business and Wall Street economists in particular are predicting just 2 percent GDP growth for all of 2012. Why such pessimism?

Will 2012 Be a Good Year for Homeowners or Banks?

Anna Cuevas | Posted 03.21.2012

Anna Cuevas

What will happen is anyone's guess. But if 2011 was any indication of things to come, it's possible that banks will begin to make the necessary changes to stop the bloodletting?

HAMP's Second Lien Modification Saves Fewer Than 50% of Second Mortgages

Anna Cuevas | Posted 03.19.2012

Anna Cuevas

Through the 2MP initiative, services of second mortgages have the option to modify the lien or to extinguish it -- which is an admission that the mortgagor is not likely to be repaid for the second mortgage, and they clear their interest in the property by filing a lien waiver.

Freddie Mac Offers Extension to Unemployed Homeowners

Anna Cuevas | Posted 03.12.2012

Anna Cuevas

One of the government's largest lenders, Freddie Mac, has announced that they're allowing their unemployed borrowers to extend the amount of time that their payments can be suspended or reduced.

The Federal Reserve Discourages Foreclosures

Anna Cuevas | Posted 03.10.2012

Anna Cuevas

It took a while -- years, in fact -- but the Federal Reserve is finally stepping into the foreclosure crisis.

Arthur Delaney

Iowa Contenders Silent On Foreclosure-Crisis Reckoning Sought By Iowa AG

HuffingtonPost.com | Arthur Delaney | Posted 01.03.2012

Republican candidates vying for the support of Iowa caucus-goers on Tuesday evening apparently have nothing to say about the big, bipartisan foreclosu...

Federal Government Needs to Send a Clearer Message -- and a Strong One

Dan Kildee | Posted 03.03.2012

Dan Kildee

The bottom line is that communities are faced with growing costs from abandonment when they can least afford it and they are struggling to find creative ways to address the needs of government for revenue and communities for relief.

Arthur Delaney

Administration Shames Banks For Poor Performance In Anti-Foreclosure Program

HuffingtonPost.com | Arthur Delaney | Posted 12.07.2011

The Obama administration chided two of the nation's biggest banks Wednesday for failing to improve their performance in the administration's signature...

Mortgage Modification Scammers On Notice As Federal Offices Announce Crack Down

The Huffington Post | Alexander Eichler | Posted 12.01.2011

With the economy losing momentum and the housing market sagging, there has been no shortage of scammers looking to take advantage of struggling homeow...