Blog

By Michelle Conlin and Peter Rudegeair | (Reuters) – “Six former Bank of America Corp employees have alleged that the bank deliberately denied eligible home owners loan modifications and lied to them about the status of their mortgage payments and documents. The bank allegedly used these tactics to shepherd homeowners into foreclosure, as well asRead more

HispanicBusiness.com | “A foreclosure bill emerged from Florida‘s legislature and found its way to the governor’s desk. The new law expedites foreclosures on abandoned properties and reduces the window of time for lender to obtain a deficiency judgment. Florida Gov. Rick Scott was busy on Friday, signing 34 state bills into law — including a bill knownRead more

By JACKIE CALMES | WASHINGTON — “Despite signs of revival in housing, the Obama administration announced on Thursday an extension of its principal program for helping distressed homeowners to get mortgage modifications and avoid foreclosure. Jacob J. Lew, the Treasury secretary, and Shaun Donovan, secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, said the Making Home Affordable program, whichRead more

by JAMES L. ROSICA | Tribune Staff | TALLAHASSEE – “Gov. Rick Scott signed into law Tuesday a plan from a national foreclosure settlement between lenders and states that shuttles money into programs helping Florida homeowners. “Banks will be held accountable,” Scott said during a bill-signing press conference. “Florida families will be protected.” The planRead more

  Written by: Brian O’Connell | Daren Blomquist, a vice-president at RealtyTrac, sees an interesting trend in the U.S. real estate market: The emergence of the “zombie” home. Blomquist laid it out in a recent “state of the real industry” presentation in Las Vegas describing how zombie homes are rising, bringing down the value of neighboring homes inRead more

Look, I know what you are thinking. Every day, it seems, comes news of another mortgage lawsuit or settlement, including a foreclosure abuse deal between HSBC and federal regulators announced Friday. It’s hard to keep them all straight. Frankly, if you didn’t lose your home to foreclosure, or come close to doing so, you might notRead more

WASHINGTON (AP) — British bank HSBC will pay $249 million to settle federal complaints that its U.S. division wrongfully foreclosed on homeowners who should have been allowed to stay in their homes. The agreement with the Federal Reserve and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency is similar to deals with 12 other banksRead more

By Toluse Olorunnipa, Times/Herald Tallahassee Bureau | “The forms used by property insurers across the state to calculate insurance discounts for homeowners are seriously flawed and must be completely thrown out, an administrative judge has found in a potentially groundbreaking ruling. The decision could have far-reaching implications for homeowners who receive wind-mitigation discounts for hurricane-resistant measuresRead more

By Drew Harwell, Times Staff Writer “In a landmark robo-signing case, a former executive of a Jacksonville mortgage-processing giant faces up to five years in prison after pleading guilty to orchestrating years of fraudulent foreclosure documents, according to a plea deal filed Tuesday in Jacksonville federal court. Lorraine Brown, who headed a Georgia processing firm, DocX,Read more

By Les Christie @CNNMoney | “(CNNMoney) — The golden age for foreclosure squatters may soon be coming to an end now that the $26 billion mortgage settlement has been approved. The settlement, agreed to by the nation’s five largest mortgage lenders, is expected to speed up the foreclosure process by providing stricter guidelines for the banksRead more