AG Economy Beat
Several states hold out, one leaves $25B mortgage settlement talks
Settlement talks in limbo AGBeat has had a close eye on multi-state talks with the largest banks as over a year ago, all 50 states’ Attorneys Generals committed to negotiate terms on behalf of homeowners abused by banks leading up to and during the housing crash. Monday was the final deadline for all 50 states to declare whether they were ...
Banks’ brilliant idea to give cash incentives to short sale
The housing crash Now that some of the causes and effects of the housing crash are becoming universally agreed upon and banks are ordered to pay billions in civil lawsuits and settlements for illegal foreclosures, the big banks are struggling to regain their composure after overlooking simple fixes like not continuing robo-signing documents illegally without human review before kicking people ...
Obama housing plan helps its one millionth homeowner
Housing plan helps one million The U.S. Treasury Department reported today that since the Obama administration launched their foreclosure prevention program in 2009, nearly one million homeowners have been given permanent modifications to their mortgages, reducing their monthly payments. The housing plan gives mortgage servicers incentives to modify mortgage loans by cutting interest rates, deferring a portion of the loan ...
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Mortgage settlement deal remains stalled, deadline passes
The deadline has passed – no deal At the end of business today, the deadline came and went for the $25 billion civil settlement between the states Attorneys General and major lenders as punishment for bank misdeeds leading up to the housing crash. The original deadline to agree on the settlement terms was originally last Friday, but was pushed back ...
City may pull accounts from Wells Fargo for foreclosure abuses
Foreclosure abuses In light of increasing reports of foreclosure abuses, the city government of Berkeley, California is considering pulling their $350 million out of all of their Wells Fargo accounts in exchange for a financial institution they deem less abusive and more consumer-friendly, according to the Oakland Tribune. This week, the Berkeley City Council voted unanimously to begin the discovery ...
Home prices fall for fifth consecutive month
Home prices decline in 2011 With the release of the CoreLogic Home Price Index (HPI®) report for December, a full-year picture is now available for all price changes in 2011. According to the CoreLogic, the HPI report reveals that including distressed sales, home prices in the U.S. decreased 4.7 percent in 2011 compared with December 2010. With distressed sales excluded, ...
Mortgage application volume dips, lending remains tight
Applications decrease According to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey, the volume of mortgage applications dropped 2.9 percent from the week prior, on a seasonally adjusted basis and is 4.3 percent lower than the same week in 2011. The share of mortgages that are refinances has been relatively level, coming in at 80 percent this week, down ...
Home prices drop in November lower than expected
Home prices dip November home prices drop lower than expectations, falling 1.3 percent in November, according to the latest S&P/Case-Shiller 20-city report. Of the 20 cities studied, home prices dropped in 19, with the total dip representing a 3.7 percent price drop from November 2010, but a shocking 32.8 percent drop since prices peaked in 2006. The health of this ...
Stalled $25B civil settlement with lenders may conclude this week
Hardworking Americans left holding the bag During President Obama’s State of the Union address, he noted that leading up to the housing collapse in 2008, regulators looked the other way. “It was wrong. It was irresponsible,” and ultimately, “innocent, hardworking Americans were left holding the bag.” On the same day, the administration announced a new task force aimed at mortgage ...
Why real estate lending will remain tight for years
Back to normal? Referring to current mortgage and commercial real estate loan delinquency rates released by the Federal Reserve, Texas Real Estate Center’s Chief Economist, Dr. Mark Dotzour said in a statement, “At the current pace of disposition, it will be many years before the real estate market credit conditions are back to ‘normal.’” Despite improved delinquency rates for loans ...
White House tries to improve Home Affordable Modification Program again
Foreclosure prevention program revamp Last fall, President Obama made a controversial move by bypassing Congress and moving forward with an executive order to fix housing by issuing the second phase of the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP) which eliminates fees and appraisal process, along with other adjustments. This week, the Obama administration announced that they are taking a similar approach ...
S&P sued by Illinois AG for allegedly fraudulent ratings
S&P’s allegedly fraudulent ratings Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan has filed a lawsuit against Standard & Poor’s (S&P), alleging fraudulent role in assigning its highest ratings to risky mortgage-backed investments on behalf of its clients and investors in the years leading up to the housing market crash. The State is alleging that S&P “compromised its independence as a ratings agency ...
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