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Mortgage fraud ring called 'extreme' - Forbes.com - - in a shredder at Olympic Escrow Inc. he said confirmed borrowers' complaints that they had never signed the mortgage documents that pushed them into a new financial hell. Bremner found pieces of documents that had been cut to remove signatures and notary
OECD says US housing slump may be worst ever but not spreading elsewhere UPDATE - Forbes.com - - (updating with further comments on US housing construction) PARIS (Thomson Financial) - OECD acting chief economist Jorgen Elmeskov said the slump in US housing construction is continuing and could be the worst on record. 'It's clear that
Fannie, Freddie Reins Loosened In Move to Boost Housing Market - Real Estate Journal - - Freddie Mac Wednesday reduced the capital the firms must hold in an effort to help boost the ailing housing market. The Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, or Ofheo, said it was initially reducing the 30% capital surplus it requires of the
U.S. moves to free up funds for mortgages - Newsday - - they now need,' she said. 'In essence if they refinanced their house and are now losing it to foreclosure, they actually sold their house to the bank for more money than they could get in the market for it today. 'Bank consultant Bert Ely of Arlington,
Fed rate cuts should help homeowners - Chicago Tribune - - The Federal Reserve on Tuesday cut its key short-term interest rate three-quarters of a percentage point to 2.25 percenta move designed to spur banks, credit card issuers and other financial institutions to lower their rates as well. It was the sixth cut

Market News
Brokers who lie, and more subprime nightmares - CNN Money - - More Videos Current Mortgage Rates Type Overall avgs 30 yr fixed mtg 5.66% 15 yr fixed mtg 5.09% 30 yr fixed jumbo mtg 7.12% 5/1 ARM 5.81% 5/1 jumbo ARM 6.46% HARTFORD, Conn. (CNN)
Housing Bust Fuels Blame Game - Real Estate Journal - - By Greg Ip, James R. Hagerty, and Jonathan Karp From Online As the falling housing market shakes financial institutions and pummels Americans in an election year, the nation's economic woes have surged to the top of voters' minds. The timely question: To
Betting On Fannie And Freddie - Forbes.com - -The risk is that even if the troublesome twosome behaves, the unruly mortgage market could end up costing taxpayers a bundle. On Wednesday, the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, Fannie Mae Fannie and Freddie have
More troubled borrowers left behind - Fortune - - HARTFORD, CT. (CNN) -- Yolanda Cruz knew soon after she refinanced her home two and a half years ago she had a problem. She thought the $1,478 monthly payment quoted by her mortgage broker included taxes and insurance. In fact, Cruz says she
Md.: Mortgage reforms clear Senate - Forbes.com - - Md. (AP) - The Maryland Senate has unanimously approved mortgage lending bills aimed at addressing the state's rising foreclosure rate. Senators voted without debate to approve three bills. The measures include setting up a new crime of mortgage fraud

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Rep. Frank offers new foreclosure-help proposal - MarketWatch - - $300 billion in new guarantees to get borrowers into viable mortgages, according to Frank, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee. In exchange for accepting a 'substantial' write-down of principal, lenders or mortgage holders would receive
Treasury Releases Analysis of Meltdown - Washington Post - - A 'dramatic weakening' of standards used by the U.S. mortgage industry to evaluate and make home loans touched off the global credit crisis that continues to undermine markets a presidential panel said today in a report that called for nationwide
Bush: Tough times but no recession - MarketWatch - - evening. Bush pushed back against proposals for a second fiscal stimulus package before the main effects of the first one could be seen. 'I'm always open for good ideas, but what I'm not open for is a lot of government intervention into our economy that
Freddie Mac: Mortgage rates rise in latest week - MarketWatch - - (MarketWatch) -- U.S. fixed-rate mortgages rose in the latest week, according to Freddie Mac's survey released Thursday. The national average interest rate on the benchmark 30-year, fixed-rate loan averaged 6.13% in the week ending Thursday, up from
Foreclosures up 60% on year, down vs. month - MarketWatch - - LONDON (MarketWatch) -- U.S. foreclosure filings fell 4% in February compared to January, but rose nearly 60% from last year, according to RealtyTrac. 'We have still not reached the peak of foreclosure activity in this

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More Hitting 401(k) Money to Save Homes - NewsMax.com - - news you need and advice you trust. Struggling to save their homes from foreclosure, more Americans are raiding their 401(k) retirement accounts to pay their bills and getting slammed with taxes and penalties in the process,
S&P Sees End to Subprime Mortgage Writedowns - CNBC - - that restore some equity for the homeowner may be a relatively more effective means of avoiding deliquency and foreclosure,' Bernanke said. With low or negative equity in their home, a stressed borrower has less ability -- because there is no home equity
Cost of keeping appraisers honest - Fortune - - NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- It's going to cost some borrowers even more to get a mortgage beginning in 2009. In a recent agreement with New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, Fannie Mae (FNM) and Freddie Mac (FRE, Fortune 500) pledged that they
The many hidden costs of buying a home - Sympatico MSN Finance - - less than 20 per cent of the value of the house down, you're going to need mortgage loan insurance. Depending on the lender, the premium can be added to mortgage payments or you may be asked to pay the first instalment upon closing the deal.(As a rule of
UPDATE 1-Countrywide says monthly mortgage applications fall - Reuters - - (Reuters) - Countrywide Financial Corp. (CFC.N: Quote, Profile, Research), the largest U.S. mortgage lender, said on Thursday that average daily loan applications for February totaled $1.9 billion, down from $2.6 billion in January. Countrywide said its

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Mortgage industry aid limited by loan contracts - Reuters - - (Reuters) - The U.S. mortgage lending industry is hamstrung by existing contracts as it tries to dampen the current foreclosure crisis, the head of the largest industry-led homeowner assistance program said on Wednesday. Leaders of
Inflation remains hot; mortgage applications slide - MarketWatch - - Welcome to our daily roundup of subprime- and credit-crunch-related news from MarketWatch. Each weekday morning, Subprime Today delivers a synopsis of our own coverage as well as stories from other news outlets, providing links to those original
Stronger action being considered to ease U.S. housing crisis - International Herald Tribune - - borrower counseling, mortgage rate reductions and, when the loss of a home seems almost certain, a halt of foreclosure to buy time. The U.S. Treasury Department coaxed mortgage providers to try to freeze interest rates for more than a million troubled

Market News
UPDATE 2-Stewart Title parent suffers loss, cutting jobs - Reuters UK - - (Adds stock price, Fidelity National results) NEW YORK, Feb 20 (Reuters) - Stewart Information Services Corp (STC.N: Quote, Profile, Research), which runs one of the largest U.S. title insurers, on Wednesday reported a fourth-quarter

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MarketWatch First Take: Housing on the rebound? Not so fast - MarketWatch - - Timmy and the housing market are pretty much in the same well. The headline number on housing starts showed a slight gain Wednesday, but anyone who thinks they hear a woof of recovery in
Ahead of the Bell: Mortgage applications - Business Week - - Home-loan data to be released Wednesday will show whether mortgage applications declined for the second straight week in the face of higher interest rates. The Mortgage Bankers Association is scheduled to report its index of home-loan application volume
Anatomy of a Subprime Mortgage: Sherri Winston's Story - Seeking Alpha - - the Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel newspaper) tells her personal story from safe and secure middle class single mother to foreclosure. Throughout this journey, she has maintained her good job and excellent employer provided health insurance. She vacillates

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Major lenders put freeze on foreclosures - CNN - - NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Six of the nation's largest mortgage lenders have temporarily stopped foreclosure proceedings, it was announced Tuesday, in a joint effort to cool the raging foreclosure crisis. Under a new program, called Project Lifeline, al..
Mortgage demand dips; 30-year and ARM rise to 5.72% - USA Today - - NEW YORK (Reuters) - Demand for applications to purchase and refinance homes declined last week from the highest level in nearly four years as mortgage rates rose, an industry group said Wednesday. The Mortgage Bankers Association's seasonally adjusted..
Home Foreclosure Rate Surged in 2007 - NPR - - · Home foreclosures rose dramatically in the nation's largest metropolitan areas last year. Cities in California, Ohio, Florida and Michigan posted among the highest rates in the U.S., according to real estate data firm RealtyTrac.Detroit had the highes..
Bush signs economy-boosting bill - CNN Money - - NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- President Bush on Wednesday signed the $170 billion economic stimulus package passed by Congress last week. Bush, saying that Americans are 'concerned about our economic future,' said he believes the stimulus package will prov..
Home sales fall in 45 states in Q4; prices tumble - USA Today - - trade group said Thursday. The fourth-quarter data from the National Association of Realtors underscore the breadth of the housing market's slump. South Dakota was the lone state to show a sales increase. Existing home sales there rose 8.9% from the same
 

Market News
First American's IDR cut to 'BBB+' from 'A-' with negative outlook - Fitch - Forbes.com - - NGALORE (Thomson Financial) - Fitch Ratings has downgraded First American Corp's issuer default rating (IDR) to 'BBB+' from 'A-' and senior unsecured debt to 'BBB' from 'BBB+', saying it remains cautious about the company's performance over the next yea..
The First American Corporation Selects BNY Mellon Asset Servicing as Global Custodian for Its Subsidiaries - Globe Investor - - NEW YORK, Feb. 14 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- BNY Mellon Asset Servicing, the global leader in asset servicing, has been selected by The First American Corporation to provide custody services for its subsidiaries, including First American Title Insurance...
Third of recent buyers owe more than home's value: report - Washington Post - - Comments that include profanity or personal attacks or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. Additionally, entries that are unsigned or contain 'signatures' by someone other than the actual author will be removed. Final..
Mortgage Insurer MGIC Loses $1.47B - Forbes.com - - MGIC Investment's fourth-quarter numbers were terrible, but after a surprisingly large loss, the mortgage insurer seems poised for a rebound as the subprime crisis dies of old age. MGIC Investment It also said it is looking for ways to increase its capi..
Text of Bernanke's Remarks to Congress - Washington Post - - -- Text of Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke's remarks before the Senate Banking Committee on Thursday, as provided by the Fed: Chairman Dodd, Senator Shelby, and other members of the Committee, I am pleased to be here to offer my views on financ..

Technology News
Facebook Taps Tech CU Credit Union Times - - OSE, Calif. Popular social networking firm Facebook has selected Technology Credit Union as the official CU for its expanding workforce. 'Facebook is a community-driven network, and so it makes sense that they would partner with a credit union for t..

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Five questions for Ben and Hank - CNN - - NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The economy is on everyone's mind right now. And traders, homeowners and politicians all have the same question: How bad it will get? We'll get some answers Thursday when Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and Treasury Secr.