The two biggest banks in the reverse mortgage business are getting out of it. Now, Bank of America and Wells Fargo accounted for less than half of the reverse mortgages in America, and other lenders are still writing them. But seniors in financial trouble should explore theses alternative ways to stay in their homes.
For nearly two years, economists and real estate experts have been on the lookout for the bottom of the housing market. That time is here, says Russell Price, a senior economist with Ameriprise Financial, a financial services company.
The deadly tornadoes that struck the South and Midwest in April, the devastating quake in Japan and concerns about terrorist reprisals after Osama bin Laden's death should serve as reminders to property owners: plan for the worst-case scenario.
A recent ruling by an Alabama judge, in the case of a beleaguered family facing foreclosure, is a test case for the banks: Now that judges are paying attention, will they be able to foreclose on many securitized mortgages?
The mortgage mess settlement proposal is a repudiation of the servicing industries' standard business practices. The agreement also reads as an indictment -- not just of the servicing industry, but also of law enforcement, regulators and Congress.
Yet another problem has begun surfacing in the documents banks have been using to foreclose on homes: false notarizations. Notaries have been attesting legally to signatures they didn't witness, sometimes by people who didn't actually sign, and it's adding to the tangled mess of ownership confusion.
In some parts of the U.S., the real estate market remains deep in recession. But even with housing prices sitting at multi-year lows, millions of houses remain empty, unable to attract buyers haunted by unemployment and a weak economy. As part of a new series, DailyFinance takes a look at one town near New York City that is still struggling with the effects of the great real estate bust.
Despite new federal laws designed to protect them, many tenants are caught up in foreclosure dramas as building owners struggle to keep their properties. If the real estate market doesn't improve soon, the problem could get even worse.
It's a summer for the record books in the U.S. housing sector -- and not in a good way. New-home sales unexpectedly plunged 12.4% in July to the lowest level since the Commerce Department began keeping records for the statistic in 1963.
More U.S. homeowners are saying goodbye to their properties as lenders repossess a glut of homes with past-due mortgages.
After the federal home buyers tax credit ended at the end of April, analysts expected that sales would drop 7% in June. The reality was not quite that bad, with a 5.1% decline. Should Congress renew the credit?
Applications for mortgage loans jumped last week, as homeowners took advantage of historically low rates to refinance their homes. In the week ending July 2, the total number of applications for loans rose 6.7 % on a seasonally adjusted basis from a week earlier.
