If you're teetering on the edge of foreclosure, you may have a much better chance of finding your footing than in years past. Servicers of delinquent or at-risk mortgages appear poised to ramp up their use of alternatives to foreclosure this year, an industry shift that could enable many more homeowners to hold onto their ... Continue Reading »

By Les Christie NEW YORK -- Tamera Hewlett-Vallejo and her husband, Tom, came within a whisker of losing their Sacramento, Calif., home in a foreclosure auction last month. But as a result of the $26 billion national mortgage settlement, the Vallejos were given a last-minute reprieve. Their mortgage lender, Bank ... Continue Reading »

By Rich Smith The Bible tells us that "it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." Foreclosing on his pastor probably doesn't make the trick any easier. There's a new development in the housing crisis: Foreclosures are hitting houses of worship. ... Continue Reading »

WASHINGTON -- The Obama administration is offering some relief to homeowners who have government-backed mortgages. Under a program President Barack Obama unveiled Tuesday, the government would cut the fees it charges to insure those borrowers. The idea is that lower fees would persuade millions to refinance their loans ... Continue Reading »

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama is aiming mortgage relief at members of the military as well as homeowners with government-insured loans, the administration's latest efforts to address a persistent housing crisis. In his first full news conference of the year Tuesday, Obama was to announce plans to let borrowers ... Continue Reading »

By Bonnie Kavoussi Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and other mortgage providers have a Christmas present for struggling homeowners: They won't get thrown out of their houses homes during the holiday season. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will not foreclose on any homeowners between December 19 and January 2, according to ... Continue Reading »

During the Great Depression, people who were forced to live in their cars were known as "Ford families." Today, they go by the far more impersonal name of the "vehicular homeless," and you can count 45-year-old Carey Fuller and her two daughters, 8 and 17, among them. The Fullers (pictured above) became homeless in ... Continue Reading »

Foreclosures have increased 14% between the second and third quarter of 2011, following five straight quarters where the number of foreclosures has gone down. This increase could dampen the recovery of the American housing market and harm economic recovery for cities where foreclosures rose significantly. Based on data ... Continue Reading »

Empty houses -- those either awaiting foreclosure or where the owners have moved out for other reasons -- might as well have a "kick me" sign on them. Actually, make that "vandalize me" sign. They are frequently the targets of squatters who move in illegally, scammers who claim they own them and rent them out to ... Continue Reading »

California expanded its $2 billion program to help homeowners avoid foreclosure to those with second homes as well. The California Housing Finance Agency established the four Keep Your Home programs using money from the Treasury Department's $7.6 billion Hardest Hit Fund. Before, borrowers were restricted from ... Continue Reading »

LOS ANGELES -- More U.S. homes entered the foreclosure process in October than in the previous month, with Florida, Pennsylvania and Indiana registering among the largest monthly increases, new data show. Some 77,733 properties received an initial default notice last month, up 10 percent from September, foreclosure ... Continue Reading »

Banks are poised to repossess approximately 800,000 homes this year, but with the help of an online petition and about 14,000 new friends, Southern California man Brendon Mendoza is avoiding the same fate. Mendoza challenged Bank of America to save his home in a petition on Change.org about two months ago. And, since ... Continue Reading »

When Shantell Curtis sold her Vernal, Utah, home last year, she expected, as a reasonable person might, that she'd paid her last mortgage payment on the house. But her lender, Bank of America, thought differently, according to KUTV 2News in Utah. Because of a $1 "coding error" on the bank's part, the title to Curtis' ... Continue Reading »

WASHINGTON -- Government-controlled mortgage giant Freddie Mac has requested $6 billion in additional aid after posting a wider loss in the third quarter. Freddie Mac said Thursday that it lost $6 billion, or $1.86 per share, in the July-September quarter. That compares with a loss of $4.1 billion, or $1.25 a share, in ... Continue Reading »

What if you could buy a house for $25,000 in a neighborhood that wasn't a battle-scarred slum and rent it out for $750 a month as soon as the ink was dry on the deal? Where are these deals that let you recapture your investment in just three years and from then on enjoy a steady monthly income from the property? If ... Continue Reading »