CitiMortgage CEO Sanjiv Das helps people keep their homes
CitiMortgage CEO Sanjiv Das helps people keep their homes
USA Today
There is very little in Sanjiv Das' uncluttered office.
Just snapshots of his wife and his 20-year-old daughter, Natasha. No pictures of his favorite sports: golf and cricket.
EXCLUSIVE: Lawyers say lenders set stage to collect on 'short sales'
North County Times
A "short sale" might not be the end of a homeowner's problems.
The practice, which has exploded in popularity as homeowners struggle to pay their mortgages, is supposed to allow a borrower to sell a home for less than the mortgage amount, walk away, and avoid a credit-killing foreclosure.
Losses in Good-Will Values Compound Bank Troubles
The New York Times
When times were flush, businesses bought up rivals and absorbed smaller companies to grow as big as possible as fast as possible. But now, those purchases are starting to look a lot like housing bought at the peak of the bubble — overpriced and losing value fast.
Companies are taking billions of dollars in losses as they write down the value of assets known as good will — the amount they overpaid for a business compared with the sum of its parts. As the economy sinks lower and businesses struggle, that good will is going bad.
Sweeping lending bill under fire
Inman News
A bill aimed at removing incentives for mortgage brokers to put borrowers in risky loans while requiring lenders to retain some "skin in the game" could hurt the very consumers it's designed to protect if it further constricts mortgage lending, real estate industry critics say.
At a recent hearing on the bill, some consumer advocates -- and state banking regulators who stand to lose some of their authority if the bill is passed -- said the bill's language is too weak to accomplish its lofty goals.
With Stress Test Results in Hand, Banks May Need to Boost Capital
The Washington Post
The nation's largest banks yesterday learned how much money the government projects they will lose over the next two years, the result of stress tests to determine whether they need more capital to survive those losses.
The government hopes to reassure investors that most banks are in good shape. But at least one firm was told yesterday that it must raise more capital, according to a person with direct knowledge who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the information.
As unemployment grows, mortgage payment protection programs gain popularity
Los Angeles Times
Reporting from Washington -- Is there a rainy day in your personal job forecast? That wouldn't be surprising -- not with unemployment rates in double digits in several states including California, 8.2% nationwide and widely expected to hit 10% or higher by next year.
Nor would it be surprising if uncertainty about your income is a major barrier keeping you out of the home-buying market this spring. That's why a previously obscure charitable group based in Washington, D.C. -- the Rainy Day Foundation -- is doing a booming business in what's called the mortgage payment protection niche.