Posts with tag housing crisis

By Nin-Hai Tseng Just as many of us believe we've seen the worst of the housing market's collapse, two unlikely states are only now getting hit with a wave of foreclosures: New York and New Jersey. The region was largely spared when home prices disastrously tumbled in 2007. New York and New Jersey, with some of the... Continue Reading »

A shocking number of U.S. homeowners who had foreclosure proceedings brought against them by the biggest mortgage companies during the housing bust nearly lost their homes because of a potential banking error, The Huffington Post reported. Nearly a third of foreclosed borrowers, or 1.2 million, in 2009 and 2010... Continue Reading »

Hundreds of thousands of Americans stand to benefit from the latest mortgage-abuse settlement, but consumer advocates say U.S. banks may be getting the best of the deal. Banks have agreed to pay $8.5 billion to settle charges that they wrongfully foreclosed on millions of homeowners in the wake of the 2008 financial... Continue Reading »

It's no secret that the housing crisis and still-struggling economy have made life that much more difficult for Americans. But with an improving real estate market, low interest rates and largely affordable home prices, to name a few things, we can still find reasons to be thankful. In the spirit of Thanksgiving, AOL... Continue Reading »

For the first time in its 78-year history, the Federal Housing Administration may need a government bailout to stay in operation, The Wall Street Journal reports. The FHA, which insures mortgage lenders against losses, is expected to report this week that it's close to exhausting its reserves and may need to turn to... Continue Reading »

Though Occupy Wall Street is fading from the public eye, one of its offshoots continues to garner attention, carrying the torch as perhaps the most potent legacy of a movement that's largely cooled. Ten months ago, Occupy Our Homes officially launched in more than 20 cities, staging sit-ins at properties in danger of... Continue Reading »

Isra Hashmi is one of the lucky ones. And even so, she's watched her mother sink under a $700,000 mortgage for a home in California that she never could afford to begin with on a physician's income. Hashmi's mother eventually had to walk away from the house. She's seen her brother have to abandon his home, too, after... Continue Reading »

By Les Christie The housing market is gaining strength thanks in part to government programs aimed at helping struggling homeowners, the latest Obama Administration Housing Scorecard released Thursday found. "The Obama Administration's efforts to speed housing recovery are showing clear signs of traction," said Erika... Continue Reading »

By Mamta Badkar Foreclosure filings across the country were down 15 percent year-over-year, according to RealtyTrac's latest foreclosure report. But foreclosures were up 1 percent from last month. For the first time since the report was created, Illinois, a judicial state, took over as the state with the highest... Continue Reading »

You couldn't pay Mark Williams to own a home again. "Give me the money for it," he said. "I'm still not buying a house." It's not that he always felt this way. Williams (pictured at left) did profit handsomely from the housing market's boom years, selling a Sacramento home in 2005 for more than twice as much as he... Continue Reading »

Underwater mortgages have plagued the housing market since the housing bubble burst in 2006. Rapidly declining prices meant that homeowners started to owe more on their mortgages than their homes were worth. This can lead to short sales, foreclosures, and a serious blow to a households' net worth. CoreLogic released... Continue Reading »

After splitting from her husband, Tami Wingfield couldn't afford to keep up with the mortgage on the home that they had shared. The monthly $1,600 bill was too much for her to bear alone, and in 2008, she lost the house to foreclosure. Like many people who lost their homes in the housing collapse, Wingfield decided the... Continue Reading »

By Christopher Maag What will the next mortgage meltdown look like? For years, some financial analysts have worried that the 2008 financial crisis wasn't unique. Rather, what if the mortgage crash merely exposed a beehive of fundamental problems in our economy that still exist today? Here are some of the competing... Continue Reading »

STOCKTON, Calif. -- A red, white and blue sign declaring Stockton an "All-America City" still adorns City Hall, but the building's crumbling facade tells the real story of the community's recent fortunes. Since the sign went up nearly a decade ago, Stockton has twice topped Forbes magazine's list of "America's most... Continue Reading »

WASHINGTON -- Mortgage giant Fannie Mae said Wednesday that it lost money in its fourth quarter and is asking the federal government for $4.57 billion in aid to cover its deficit. Washington-based Fannie said it lost $2.41 billion in the October-December quarter, stung by declining home prices. Revenue was $4.53... Continue Reading »