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IRS' HOUSING CREDIT CHECKS

WASHINGTON -- Despite back-to-back blizzards that shut federal offices for days, the IRS issued new guidance last week on the two tax credit programs that are powering the country's real estate markets -- the $6,500 credit for repeat buyers, and the $8,000 first-time buyer credit.

SURPRISE TURNAROUND IN HOMEOWNER EQUITY

WASHINGTON -- With all the bad news about underwater homeowners and strategic walkaways, you might think that American homeowners' equity holdings are in the tank. But the least publicized recent statistic on real estate is that -- despite these scary reports -- home equity is again on the rise.

FOR THAT HOME TAX CREDIT, HURRY

WASHINGTON -- If you've been holding back on getting involved with the new $6,500 federal tax credit for repeat home purchases, there's no more excuse for inaction. You now have all the official IRS guidance you'll need to go out and buy a house, qualify for the credit, and pocket the $6,500.

BETTER VERY LATE THAN NEVER ON CREDIT FILE RULES

WASHINGTON -- For mortgage applicants and home purchasers, it's been a six-year wait, but the Federal Trade Commission and the Federal Reserve finally have come out with important consumer credit protection rules first required by Congress in 2003.

RESEARCH BEFORE REVERSING

WASHINGTON -- If you, your relatives or friends are contemplating applying for a reverse mortgage in 2010, check out the new guidelines proposed earlier this month by the federal regulatory agencies for financial institutions.

THIS WATCHDOG COULD BITE

WASHINGTON -- Had there been a federal watchdog consumer protection agency on duty during the early years of this decade, could it have prevented the housing boom and bust that put millions of homeowners into foreclosure and sucked trillions of dollars of equity wealth from just about everybody else?

PROMISING PLAN ON SHORT SALES

WASHINGTON -- If you're in trouble on your mortgage and you can't get a loan modification, check out the Obama administration's new standardized short sale plan that's scheduled to roll out during the coming several months.

WAIT TO CLAIM THAT TAX CREDIT

WASHINGTON -- If you're thinking about applying for the new $6,500 homebuyer federal tax credit or the extended $8,000 version, here's some news: The IRS has just issued its first formal guidelines for you.

FHA FEELING HEAT TO TOUGHEN

WASHINGTON -- For the past several years, the Federal Housing Administration has been the go-to financing resource for cash-strapped homebuyers who can't come up with a big down payment. It has zoomed from barely a 3 percent market share to nearly 30 percent of home purchase loans. But now, wildly popular FHA-insured mortgages could be on the verge of becoming more expensive and tougher to obtain.

A CREDIT YOU CAN BELIEVE IN

WASHINGTON -- Take a close, hard look at the new $6,500 federal tax credit for so-called "move up" homebuyers that passed the Senate and House last week. Though it's been getting second billing to the original $8,000 credit for first-time purchasers -- now extended by Congress through next June 30 -- the $6,500 credit for current homeowners just might have your name on it.

AN ERA, THANKFULLY, ABOUT TO END

WASHINGTON -- Remember the bad old days of 11th-hour mortgage settlement cost shocks and mystery junk-fee charges? Remember when the "good-faith estimates" your lender gave you upfront said closing costs would be about $2,000, but somehow they ballooned to $3,500 on the final settlement sheet?

OVERHAUL OF HOME APPRAISAL CODE

WASHINGTON -- Could the controversial appraisal system imposed nationwide by mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac last May -- and now tied to lowball property valuations, busted home sale transactions, and higher fees to consumers -- be on its way out?

DISPUTES THAT CAN BE LOAN KILLERS

WASHINGTON -- Could a little-known and potentially controversial practice by mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac kill or stall your next loan application? Absolutely.

DON'T BET ON CREDIT QUICK FIXES

WASHINGTON -- With Americans' credit scores plunging following record numbers of mortgage and credit card delinquencies, companies who promise quick fixes -- eliminating negative information in credit bureau files -- are proliferating, say federal officials.

A FORM TO TAKE SERIOUSLY

WASHINGTON -- You might assume it's just another boring-looking piece of the paper blitz you're hit with when you apply for a home loan. But given IRS Form 4506-T's new prominence in the fraud-shocked mortgage market, it's much more than just another document to sign.

A SENIOR OPTION IN TROUBLE

WASHINGTON -- Declining home values have put a serious squeeze on one of the mortgage market's most popular and fastest-growing financing concepts: the Federal Housing Administration's reverse mortgage program for seniors 62 and older.

WHAT’S YOUR REAL TAX BRACKET?

For 2009, there are six federal income brackets — 10, 15, 25, 28, 33 and 35 percent. Moreover, the brackets are indexed, that is, they are adjusted annually to reflect inflation, same as the dependency exemptions and standard deduction amounts.

TAX CREDIT MAY GET NEW LIFE

WASHINGTON -- Will Congress extend the wildly popular $8,000 homebuyer tax credit beyond its Dec. 1 expiration date?

WHEN DEFAULT BECOMES A STRATEGY

WASHINGTON -- Who is more likely to walk away from a house and a mortgage -- a person with super-prime credit scores or someone with lower scores?

ACT EARLY TO PROTECT CREDIT

WASHINGTON -- When you do a short sale of a house, or modify the mortgage, is there much of an impact on your credit score? What if you walk away from the mortgage altogether?

RESCUE OR RIP-OFF?

WASHINGTON -- How's this for a business plan to make money during the housing bust? You buy or rent lists of recent default filings from across the country -- thousands of people who have been notified by lenders that if they don't get their mortgage payments back on track, the next step will be foreclosure.

PEERING INTO THE NO-GO ZONE

WASHINGTON -- You might assume that during August, with the Senate and House on their summer break, nothing much happens on Capitol Hill.
You know the old saw: Your money is safe when Congress is out of town.

PUSH TO EXTEND FIRST-TIME CREDIT

WASHINGTON -- It's one of the biggest unknowns bugging would-be buyers of houses and condos this summer: Will Congress let the $8,000 nonrepayable tax credit for first-time purchasers expire as scheduled 14 weeks from now?

LEASEBACKS IN THE SPOTLIGHT

WASHINGTON -- Here are two questions getting a lot of attention on Capitol Hill and from the Obama administration: When homeowners lose their houses to foreclosure, should they be able to stay in the property, leasing it back at fair market rent from the lender?

IRS EYEING TAX-CREDIT CHEATS

WASHINGTON -- The IRS has an urgent message for would-be home purchasers: Make the most of the $8,000 first-time buyer tax credit before it disappears Dec. 1 -- if you qualify.

BATTLE OVER CONSUMER PROTECTIONS

WASHINGTON -- Health care reform has drawn most of the attention on Capitol Hill lately, but for homebuyers, sellers and mortgage applicants the legislative ballgame will really get underway in September, when Congress begins serious work on the proposed Consumer Financial Protection Agency.

GREEN PUSH ON HOUSE FINANCING

WASHINGTON -- You're probably familiar with some of the federal government's 2009 incentives for home energy efficiency -- heftier tax credits for solar panels, solar water heaters, geothermal heat pumps, heavy-duty insulation, windows, air conditioning and the like.

AT CLOSING, MORE PROTECTIONS

WASHINGTON -- If you're applying for a loan to purchase a primary or secondary home, or planning to refinance, you should be aware of a little-publicized new set of federal consumer-protection rules that take effect July 30.

WHEN DEFAULT IS A STRATEGY

WASHINGTON -- Would you, under any circumstances, default on your home mortgage, even if you could afford to make the monthly payments?

APPRAISAL RULES UNDER FIRE

WASHINGTON -- It's by far the hottest controversy in real estate this summer, and it could directly affect the value of your house -- probably negatively -- by tens of thousands of dollars.

LOAN RULES HIT 'TRAILING SPOUSES'

WASHINGTON -- Real estate may be showing signs of a turnaround in many local markets but the nation's largest mortgage players continue to ratchet up their underwriting rules, making home purchases more difficult for some buyers.

EXTENDED TAX CREDIT GAINS SUPPORT

WASHINGTON -- Since first-time buyers are getting thousands of dollars in tax credits from the federal government to stimulate the economy, why shouldn't all homebuyers get equal treatment? And what about refinancers -- couldn't they make good use of a tax credit to help defray closing costs and loan fees?

FEDERAL CASH FOR MORTGAGE DOWN PAYMENTS

WASHINGTON -- The Obama administration has now put out the official word: Starting soon, first-time homebuyers nationwide will be able to turn their $8,000 federal tax credits into cash for use at closing if they use Federal Housing Administration mortgage financing.

ATTACK ON MORTGAGE FRAUD

WASHINGTON -- It may not have made a big splash on network news or in print, but for real estate it was the equivalent of a congressional declaration of war -- a war against mortgage fraud.

BRIDGE TO A NEW HOME

WASHINGTON -- The $8,000 federal tax credit for first-time home purchasers is about to morph into a ready-cash down payment source, thanks to a new federal policy change.

APPRAISAL RULES HIT YOUR WALLET

WASHINGTON -- How about this scenario the next time you refinance or apply for a new mortgage: The real estate appraisal that used to cost you $325 now costs $450, even though the appraiser doing the work is only getting $175 or $200.

TIME RUNNING OUT ON SURPRISE FEES?<

WASHINGTON -- A federal district court has handed down a ruling in a class action that could have a direct impact on the fees you pay to the real estate company at closings, whether as a buyer or seller.

PUTTING VALUE INTO A TAX CREDIT

WASHINGTON -- For the housing market, it's the equivalent of financial alchemy, and it's hot: Turning the $8,000 federal home-purchase tax credit, which normally isn't spendable until after you've gotten your refund, into immediate, hard cash today, available for your down payment and closing costs.

MORTGAGE PROTECTION: GROWTH INDUSTRY

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, 8.2 percent nationwide and widely expected to hit 10 percent or higher by next year.

ADD-ONS ADD UP ON LOANS

WASHINGTON -- Mortgage rates and house prices are down -- which sounds great for buyers and refinancers. But a series of mortgage industry underwriting and appraisal changes taking effect this month is throwing new hurdles in the way of borrowers and loan officers.

A GREEN RATING TO HELP HOMEBUYERS

WASHINGTON -- Picture this: You're shopping for a larger home, dropping by open houses on a weekend. Each house you visit has an easy-to-understand disclosure about something that's typically unknown today -- its energy-guzzling costs per year.

REFORM WITH A CHANCE

WASHINGTON -- Top legislators on Capitol Hill are preparing to take up a comprehensive plan that would fundamentally reform the home mortgage market, starting this year.

UP IN ARMS OVER BPOs

WASHINGTON -- Are lowballed valuation estimates on short sales and bank-owned foreclosures artificially depressing property values in neighborhoods across the country?

NEW PLAYERS IN JUMBO ARENA

WASHINGTON -- New money is about to flow into an area of the real estate market that has been hardest squeezed by the credit crisis: mortgages too large to be purchased or backed by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac or the Federal Housing Administration.

ON REFIS, BETTER NEWS

WASHINGTON -- Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have published the rules governing their upcoming mass refinancing campaigns, and they're more favorable -- especially for owners of second homes and small investment properties -- than indicated by the White House and Treasury last month.

ARE MORTGAGE DEDUCTIONS REALLY AT RISK?<

WASHINGTON -- Call it the third rail of the federal tax system: the politically untouchable cluster of special benefits and subsidies set aside exclusively for homeowners, including deductions for mortgage interest, local property taxes and capital gains exclusions on up to $500,000 in sale profits.

final operational guidelines of the Obama administration's foreclosure-avoidance programs

Key details have begun surfacing on the extraordinary refinancing opportunities that will be available to an estimated 4 million to 5 million homeowners whose mortgages are owned or guaranteed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Congress fises crucial flaw in last year's home-purchase tax credit

WASHINGTON -- Now that Congress has fixed the crucial flaw in last year's home-purchase tax credit, who will be able to make use of the new and improved version? And what about timing: How long do buyers have to locate a house and close the deal to qualify?

Not what homebuyers, sellers and refinancers want to hear

WASHINGTON -- It's not what homebuyers, sellers and refinancers want to hear, but they need to know: Both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are ratcheting up their mandatory fees and toughening credit score and down-payment rules as of April 1.

Proponents call it the crucial missing tool needed to get us out of the national foreclosure morass.

Critics say it could be disastrous -- pushing up interest rates on all future mortgages, even for people with excellent credit, and creating huge new losses for already-ailing banks.

Thinking about buying a house?

LAS VEGAS -- If you'd love to purchase a new house but you're sitting on the fence, what exactly would it take to get you to buy?

Should you give the $7,500 homebuyer tax credit a second look?

Now that Congress may be on the verge of transforming it into a true tax credit -- one that never has to be paid back -- you just might want to do so.

Foreclosure saving ads on TV too good to be true?

WASHINGTON -- You've probably seen the incessant TV and Internet pitches -- "we can stop your foreclosure!" -- offering hope to millions of homeowners who are either behind on their mortgage payments or heading to foreclosure.

Worried about your appraiser?

WASHINGTON -- When you apply for a mortgage to buy or refinance a house, should you be concerned that your appraiser is being paid much less -- maybe just half -- of the $300 to $600 you're charged on your settlement sheet? Should you know who pockets the rest, or that cut-rate fees are too low to attract the most experienced, highly trained appraisers?

The rates and fees you're quoted could violate federal law

With mortgage rates at historic lows -- 4.75 percent from several lenders in mid-December -- a new legal settlement from the Federal Trade Commission offers a cautionary note for consumers, especially if they are minorities: Watch out. The rates and fees you're quoted could violate federal law.

Here's some good news for homeowners facing tough financial times

Here's some good news for homeowners facing tough financial times: You no longer have to miss two to three months of payments before your mortgage company can modify your unaffordable loan terms.

Could a 4.5 percent mortgage be your personal piece of the bailout pie?

Could a 4.5 percent mortgage be your personal piece of the bailout pie?
Apparently large numbers of consumers thought precisely that during the week following disclosure that the Treasury Department was working on plans to slash loan rates for consumers who buy houses in the coming months.

Homeowners have lost over $1 trillion in equity since the end of the boom

The latest federal statistics on housing prices in hundreds of local markets reveal patterns that haven't been making the nightly news: While on a national basis homeowners have lost over $1 trillion in equity since the end of the boom, the overwhelming majority of local markets continue to show net cumulative value growth over the past 60 months.

An association of community-based organizations has filed a federal civil rights complaint against two of the three largest Wall Street ratings agencies

In what is apparently the first legal action of its kind, an association of community-based organizations has filed a federal civil rights complaint against two of the three largest Wall Street ratings agencies, charging that their inflated ratings on subprime mortgage bonds disproportionately caused financial harm to African-American and Latino homebuyers across the country.

Latest public and private efforts to help financially distressed homeowners

You may have seen headlines about the latest public and private efforts to help financially distressed homeowners cope with their mortgage payments. But you might not have caught key details that could have personal impact on you or people you know -- now or in the recession months ahead.

What will it take to get consumers off the sidelines to buy more houses and help stimulate the economy?

How about a mortgage at 2.99 percent fixed rate for 30 years for anyone who purchases a home before next July 1? Or how about a non-repayable federal tax credit of 10 percent of the home price up to $22,000?

How fresh are your "comps"?

How fresh are your "comps" -- the comparable sales of properties used as benchmarks in home real estate appraisals? Buyers and sellers rarely had to be concerned about such a question -- or even understand it -- when values were on the upswing.

An aggressive breed of firms has sprung up offering to power-wash consumers' damaged credit files

With foreclosures, short sales and credit-card defaults at record levels, an aggressive breed of firms has sprung up offering to power-wash consumers' damaged credit files and boost credit scores -- thereby eliminating records of bankruptcies and mortgage delinquencies, even when the information is accurate.

Reluctant potential homebuyers could be in line for some additional tax and financing enticements

Reluctant potential homebuyers could be in line for some additional tax and financing enticements, either through a post-election lame duck congressional session or from the new Congress arriving in January.

Credit squeeze, credit freeze, credit system seizures

Credit squeeze, credit freeze, credit system seizures: Everybody knows how severe and painful the global financial breakdown has been -- with banks unwilling to lend even to other banks.

If you have less than a 20 percent down payment, there's pretty much only one major source of mortgage financing available

In the current credit squeeze, if you have less than a 20 percent down payment, there's pretty much only one major source of mortgage financing available: FHA, the Depression-era home loan insurance agency that still offers 3 percent down, 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with consumer-friendly credit standards, even on jumbo loans in high-cost areas of California and the East Coast.

The new federal moves to rescue the mortgage system could have huge impacts on individual consumers in the months ahead

Whether you see it as an exorbitant taxpayer bailout of Wall Street and the banks -- or you're cheering from the sidelines -- you can agree: The new federal moves to rescue the mortgage system could have huge impacts on individual consumers in the months ahead.

Housing boom era products and practices that started a lot of the trouble

Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Merrill Lynch and Lehman Brothers may be dominating the financial headlines, but a little-noticed $28 million settlement earlier this month between the Federal Trade Commission and what's left of Bear Stearns symbolizes the housing boom era products -- and practices -- that started a lot of the trouble.

A new industry is taking shape to help tap portions of equity wealth - Part 2

When an investor offers you $50,000 or $100,000 in exchange for 30 percent to 50 percent of your home's future appreciation, is it a good deal?

A new industry is taking shape to help tap portions of equity wealth

Improbable as it sounds at a time when American homeowners have lost billions in equity holdings, a new industry is taking shape to help them tap portions of their equity wealth without incurring traditional mortgage debt or making interest payments.

Loan fraud down?

You might assume that with home purchases and new mortgage volume off by 30 percent or more in many markets during the past year, loan fraud would be down as well.

Have the real estate valuation shenanigans disappeared from the marketplace?

Have the real estate valuation shenanigans and inflated home appraisals that characterized the boom years disappeared from the marketplace?

New housing bill could affect substantial numbers of people

Deep in the nearly 700 pages of the new housing bill just signed into law is a complicated tax code change that could affect substantial numbers of people who purchase second homes or rental investment real estate in the coming decade with an eye to occupying them as their main residence later.

The two biggest sources of mortgages for American homebuyers plan to raise their base fees

The two biggest sources of mortgages for American homebuyers plan to raise their base fees to counter what they see as continuing "adverse conditions" in the real estate marketplace.

Know these dates: April 9, 2008, through June 30, 2009

Anybody who's been sitting on the sidelines hesitant to jump into real estate until conditions settle down should know these dates: April 9, 2008, through June 30, 2009.

Giant federal housing and foreclosure relief

The giant federal housing and foreclosure relief legislation now heading for enactment contains a little-noticed -- but potentially far-reaching -- change in real estate tax policy.

A massive housing relief bill is heading for final approval

After six months of haggling and political gamesmanship, a massive housing relief bill is heading for final approval.

Should your mortgage loan officer have fingerprints on file?

Should your mortgage loan officer have fingerprints on file in a national electronic database, even if he or she has never been convicted of a crime?

If you're thinking about buying a home or refinancing

If you're thinking about buying a home or refinancing -- even if you've got excellent credit -- you may want to avail yourself of a forthcoming free service that could help you get a better mortgage rate.

What's wrong with down payment "gift" programs?

What's wrong with down payment "gift" programs where all or most of a homebuyer's equity stake comes from the seller, funneled through a third party? And why is the federal government determined to ban them as quickly as possible?

What should you make of the Federal Reserve's latest bombshell report?

As a home owner, seller or buyer, what should you make of the Federal Reserve's latest bombshell report on Americans' home equity positions?
Panic? Mild concern? No big deal?

When you're quoted a higher interest rate than you deserve because of erroneous information in your credit file, wouldn't you like someone to red flag it for you?

When you're quoted a higher interest rate than you deserve because of erroneous information in your credit file, wouldn't you like someone to red flag it for you?
That's an especially pertinent question in today's mortgage market as lenders ratchet up their credit score minimums and use electronic "risk-based pricing" to set rates and other loan terms. If you really deserve a 720 FICO score, but you have been pulled into the low 600s because of incorrect or missing information in your national credit bureau files, you really ought to know about it.

Could the controversial mortgage industry practice of listing hundreds of local real estate markets as "declining" be scrapped?

Could the controversial mortgage industry practice of listing hundreds of local real estate markets as "declining" -- and restricting lending through higher down payments or credit scores -- be scrapped?

Who have better credit scores on average

Who have better credit scores on average -- home buyers with higher or lower incomes?
Inside the country's fastest-growing home mortgage program, the surprising answer is: People with lower incomes have slightly higher FICO scores. That finding, which emerged from a statistical analysis of all approved mortgages insured by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) during fiscal 2007, is now buttressing a forthcoming major policy switch that could affect thousands of buyers and refinancers.

A major legal brawl is breaking out over how homes are appraised

A major legal brawl is breaking out over how homes are appraised, at what cost, and by whom. The outcome could directly affect the price you pay for your next piece of real estate, and the amount of mortgage money you can obtain.

Restrictions on credit are moving into new and more specialized niches of the mortgage market

Like a spreading infection, restrictions on credit are moving into new and more specialized niches of the mortgage market.
The latest to feel the pinch:
• Cash-out refinancings.

Could widespread designations of entire ZIP codes, metropolitan areas hinder a real estate recovery?

Could widespread designations of entire ZIP codes, metropolitan areas -- even entire states -- as "declining markets," hinder a real estate recovery and hurt minority groups and moderate-income buyers disproportionately? Growing ranks of critics say the answer is yes.

If you own or plan to buy a condominium, an ominous new phase of the mortgage credit squeeze could be looming on your horizon.

As a result of underwriting changes by giant investors Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, plus severe new restrictions by private mortgage insurers, getting a loan on a condo unit -- or even refinancing one you already own -- could prove tougher than you imagined.

FHA loans can ease the mortgage squeeze

With the housing downturn and credit crunch in full force, it might be time for homebuyers and homeowners to learn more about a federal mortgage program launched during the Great Depression.

Partisan politics aside, presumptive Republican nominee John McCain proposed something March 25

Partisan politics aside, presumptive Republican nominee John McCain proposed something March 25 that no other major presidential candidate has advocated in decades: Raising minimum down-payment levels for home mortgages.

Your IRS rebate check from the economic stimulus legislation won't be arriving until sometime in May

Your IRS rebate check from the economic stimulus legislation won't be arriving until sometime in May, but the stimulus plan's new super-sized jumbo loans for buyers in high-cost housing markets have just begun hitting the marketplace.

Almost anyone who's bought a house or taken out a mortgage in recent years knows the problems:

Almost anyone who's bought a house or taken out a mortgage in recent years knows the problems:
• Lenders' "good-faith estimates" of loan and settlement fees provided at application too often are off the mark. Eleventh-hour surprise charges can add hundreds or even thousands of dollars to consumers' bottom-line costs at closing. No federal regulation requires strict adherence to the estimates, and no government agency pursues lenders who fraudulently lowball their estimates to pull in more business.

Property appraisers have been warning about it for a decade

Property appraisers have been warning about it for a decade, and the real estate market is reaping the whirlwind: The price declines under way around the country are partly the result of systemic, intentional overvaluations on home appraisals -- much at the behest of loan officers illegally influencing or threatening appraisers to "hit the number" needed to close the deal.

Oooops! When Congress and the White House put together the recent bipartisan $150 billion economic stimulus package

Oooops! When Congress and the White House put together the recent bipartisan $150 billion economic stimulus package, they raised the maximum mortgage limits in high-cost areas for Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Housing Administration.

Everybody wants to help keep people in their houses and out of financial stress and foreclosure, right?

Everybody wants to help keep people in their houses and out of financial stress and foreclosure, right?
That's what the Bush administration says, and that's what top executives of major banks, mortgage companies and Wall Street investors all say.

Do you really understand where the money is flowing

A seemingly arcane policy change by mortgage investor Freddie Mac sheds new light on issues of much broader concern for consumers: Do you really understand where the money is flowing -- all the nooks and crannies -- when you take out a mortgage and pay thousands of dollars in fees at settlement?

First it was the lenders. Now it's the mortgage insurance industry

First it was the lenders. Now it's the mortgage insurance industry: Entire product lines are being yanked off the real estate financing shelf, potentially squeezing large numbers of buyers and refinancers out of the marketplace.

Many of the country's largest mortgage lenders are imposing loan restrictions in entire counties

Critics call it the new redlining: Many of the country's largest mortgage lenders are imposing loan restrictions in entire counties or ZIP codes that they rank as risky or "declining."

Veteran real estate appraisers have complained bitterly for years about loan officers' demands

Veteran real estate appraisers have complained bitterly for years about loan officers' demands that they fudge and inflate numbers to allow mortgage deals to close.
But now a California appraiser has filed suit against the country's largest thrift institution, Washington Mutual Bank, charging that she was blacklisted for refusing to provide favorable appraised values despite declining market conditions.

Is it a refi renaissance? Or a fast-closing window of opportunity?

Is it a refi renaissance? Or a fast-closing window of opportunity?

Nobody can answer these questions for certain, but there's no doubt about this: Thanks to the lowest mortgage interest rates in a year and a half -- an average 5.73 percent for conforming 30-year fixed rate loans and 5.21 percent for 15-year loans -- nearly 60 percent of all new mortgage applications by mid-January were for refinancings, according to data compiled by the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Home loan delinquencies and foreclosures is exposing serious problems in the mortgage industry

The rolling tsunami of home loan delinquencies and foreclosures is exposing serious problems in the mortgage industry's capacity to quickly handle borrowers' requests for help -- whether loan modifications, short sales to ward off foreclosure, or much-ballyhooed rate freezes.

Reversing months of inaction in a single day, the Senate passed two major bills

Reversing months of inaction in a single day, the Senate passed two major bills Dec. 14 that could help thousands of homeowners now struggling with unaffordable mortgages or heading for foreclosure.

Rigged appraisals, lax underwriting and toxic loan products dominate the headlines

Rigged appraisals, lax underwriting and toxic loan products may dominate the headlines, but they are hardly the only issues causing problems in residential real estate.
The federal government and state regulators are targeting other housing-related misdeeds that can cost consumers big money -- especially involving under-the-table kickbacks among builders, real estate brokers, loan officers, mortgage bankers and title insurers. Buyers and sellers are rarely aware of the cash changing hands, and as a result they are paying needlessly higher prices for services.

Thousands of Americans may be losing their homes to foreclosure

Thousands of Americans may be losing their homes to foreclosure or facing hefty mortgage payment resets, but Congress appears to be in no rush to offer help.
While the House has passed several major housing relief measures in recent weeks, the Senate hasn't managed to pass even one. On the eve of the two-week Thanksgiving recess, the House approved by a bipartisan vote the most sweeping reforms of the national mortgage system in more than two decades.

House votes to permanently remove the so-called "phantom income" tax penalty

In a tax-Peter-to-pay-Paul move, the House voted Thursday to permanently remove the so-called "phantom income" tax penalty that haunts financially distressed homeowners whose debt is partially forgiven by a lender after a foreclosure or a "short sale" to avoid foreclosure.

Credit-score inflation schemes for mortgage applicants haven't been reined in

So-called "piggyback" credit-score inflation schemes for mortgage applicants haven't been reined in, despite industry pledges to do so at the end of summer. As a result, lenders continue to be misled into treating loan applicants with poor credit as prime-credit candidates -- worsening already critical fraud and delinquency problems in the mortgage market.

Proposed "carbon tax" cutbacks on mortgage interest deductions are attracting strong support from environmental and scientific groups

Though the housing and real estate industries oppose the plan, a key House committee leader's proposed "carbon tax" cutbacks on mortgage interest deductions are attracting strong support from environmental and scientific groups.

Distress in the mortgage market is stirring up a wave of new relief bills on Capitol Hill

Distress in the mortgage market is stirring up a wave of new relief bills on Capitol Hill, including one that would allow homeowners to tap into their retirement accounts -- penalty-free -- to bring their loans current or to refinance.

When hyperactive real estate markets lose their sizzle, well-capitalized investors smell blood -- and move in.

Call them grave dancers, vulture funds, turnaround specialists or the more euphemistic "opportunity investors." However you identify them, the deal is the same: When hyperactive real estate markets lose their sizzle, or property owners no longer can afford to hang on to their houses, well-capitalized investors smell blood -- and move in.

Is this a tough time to get a mortgage?

The term "mortgage meltdown" has become so commonplace -- on TV, in headlines and even casual conversations -- that you might assume that this is a tough time to get a mortgage.
But the reality is starkly different: Mortgage money is plentiful, the majority of mortgage products remain relatively unaffected by troubles in the subprime segment, and interest rates for 30-year fixed-rate loans remain in the low 6 percent range for people with reasonably good -- not necessarily perfect -- credit backgrounds. Even interest rates on jumbo loans -- those over $417,000 -- have fallen after spiking this summer.

What's going on with appraisals?

What's going on with appraisals in some parts of the country? Mortgage lenders -- and appraisers themselves -- say they're increasingly coming in with valuations higher than the contract prices agreed to by sellers and buyers. The differences can range into the thousands.

Just how bad is the foreclosure situation?

Just how bad is the foreclosure situation? If you caught summaries of the latest delinquency and foreclosure numbers released by the Mortgage Bankers Association of America, you could only conclude: Yikes, it is getting scary out there:

A major credit card company is ending a long-standing, controversial practice

A major credit card company is ending a long-standing, controversial practice that critics say raised many of its customers' borrowing costs when they applied for home mortgages and equity loans.

'Option' arms can easily confuse

For Los Angeles newlyweds Joseph and Jamie Horton, the deal looked too good to pass up: a mortgage with an initial 1.75 percent interest rate and payments that wouldn't adjust for five years.

Here's a new worry: a proposed cutoff of mortgage-interest tax deductions for all houses with more than 3,000 square feet

To add to mortgage meltdown miseries, the credit panic, plunging home sales and rising foreclosures, here's a new worry: a proposed cutoff of mortgage-interest tax deductions for all houses with more than 3,000 square feet.

The mortgage credit crunch is triggering changes

The mortgage credit crunch not only is affecting interest rates that homebuyers are quoted, but is triggering changes in less visible areas such as minimum credit scores, geographic location and type of properties, even controls on who orders credit reports.

Prices and sales are up this year over last, and plenty of buyers still want to move in

Though real estate sales and prices are flat or down in dozens of metropolitan areas, micro-markets within them are performing very differently: Prices and sales are up this year over last, and plenty of buyers still want to move in.

Large numbers of consumers simply do not understand their own mortgages

With mortgage delinquencies and foreclosures soaring, federal researchers have identified a key contributing factor: Large numbers of consumers simply do not understand their own mortgages -- especially subprime loans that come with complex features and costly penalties.

"If you can't afford to buy a house," he says, "don't buy a house."

Leonardo Simpser has blunt advice for homebuyers considering a funny-money subprime loan requiring no documentation: Don't! "If you can't afford to buy a house," he says, "don't buy a house."

It won't mean the end to no-income verification or high-risk mortgages for subprime homebuyers

It won't mean the end to no-income verification or high-risk mortgages for subprime homebuyers, but new guidance from federal financial regulators will almost certainly cut their availability sharply.

In a long-awaited policy statement on loans to borrowers with imperfect credit histories, federal financial regulators on June 29 urged banks, credit unions and their mortgage subsidiaries to verify income, assets and employment on all loans except in special cases where borrowers could demonstrate substantial financial reserves.

The days may be numbered for dozens of Internet-based companies

The days may be numbered for dozens of Internet-based companies that promise to quickly boost FICO credit scores by 200 to 300 points.

Fair Isaac Corp., the developer of the widely used FICO score, soon plans to introduce key changes designed to derail schemes that transplant high-quality credit card histories into the files of people with low FICO scores.

Tough times selling homes may be spurring a surprise side effect on real estate commissions

Tough times selling homes may be spurring a surprise side effect on real estate commissions: For the first time in years, the average commission rate on closed sales nationwide rose slightly last year.

Who -- or what -- tells you how much your property is worth?

A federal class-action suit is focusing fresh attention on an issue that's important to home owners nationwide: Who -- or what -- tells you how much your property is worth? Is it a live human being? A digitized substitute? Does it really matter?

Home loan industry competitors are searching for hidden gimmicks

Home loan industry competitors are searching for hidden gimmicks, but Bank of America insists that its "No Fee Mortgage Plus" plan announced May 8 delivers exactly what the name implies -- without raising interest rates to applicants.

Where do home buyers with less than perfect credit turn for financing?

With the subprime mortgage industry in virtual free fall, where do home buyers with less than perfect credit turn for financing?

What's really going on in the housing market?

With all the conflicting reports on housing prices and the direction of the market, you might ask: What's really going on out there? If, as the National Association of Realtors reported last month, the median price of an existing home nationwide fell by 3.1 percent in 2006, does that mean that your house lost value as well?

Dealing with a Home Equity Stomach Ache

Not too long ago, mortgage were at the lowest rates in decades, an new innovative finance options, like interest-only mortgages, with their low monthly payments, enticed many to purchase new homes. Couple this with rapidly rising home values and it seemed like a party that would never end. For homeowners with increasing equity in their properties, cash-out refinancing and home equity lines of credit (HELOCs) became attractive sources of cash to pay off credit cards, buying a new car or boat, paying for a child's college education or investing in the stock market.

Housing gloom may soon lead to a housing boom

With all the dismal reports about the home real estate market, don't lose track of something critically important: Mortgage interest rates have been falling quietly but steadily for weeks, and are now at their lowest level in half a year, barely a percentage point above 40-year lows.

Are You a Real Estate Boomer Too?

Rename them the real estate boomer generation: A comprehensive new demographic study reveals that the 78 million Americans born between 1946 and 1964 have a passion for owning real estate unlike any in the nation's history.

The Rate Path: Home Equity

As interest rates climb ever higher, it's gotten a lot more expensive to borrow money. But there are ways to soften the blow, whether you're paying off a mortgage or buying a car. Here's how to navigate the rising rate environment.

Part 3 of a four-part series: Mortgages (Part 1), Credit Cards (Part 2), Home Equity (Part 3) and Car Financing (part 4).

Smart Consumer: Real Estate Buyers' Market

It's been the hottest story in real estate for months now: the standoff between sellers, facing the first real slowdown in the market in more than a decade, and buyers expecting lower prices. The price cuts may not be happening in most markets quite yet, but brokers and home builders say all sorts of concessions and deals are emerging for buyers.

What Paired Testers Discovered

WASHINGTON -- Are minority home buyers treated differently from whites by real estate agents?

Ask that question to most agents and you'll almost certainly get indignant denials.

Is Your Mortgage Application Data Safe?

When you get a mortgage rate quote or a pre-approval, you probably assume that your inquiry with the lender is confidential, right?

Spring real estate arena

The spring real estate season is about to get under way, and anybody who expects to take part -- as a seller or a buyer -- needs to start putting together a strategy, an action plan.

Damaging data impacts mortgage insurance premiums

Do you want to know when errors or omissions in your credit files raise your monthly mortgage payments by hundreds of dollars?

The Boom in Second Home Purchasing

WASHINGTON -- If you are thinking about buying a second home this spring -- or you bought one in the last couple of years -- you are part of a major transformation under way in the real estate market.

Federal Regulators May Cause a Crimp in Lifestyle

WASHINGTON -- An important debate is raging inside the home mortgage market, though well beyond the earshot of most consumers.

The issue: Wildly popular "payment-option," interest-only and piggyback loans, and the financial risks they pose to homebuyers and lenders alike. On the one hand, federal financial regulators say the risks are too significant to ignore, so lenders need to take special care in evaluating and approving customers who apply for these mortgages. The regulators want to impose new creditworthiness restrictions and disclosure requirements forcing lenders to be certain that borrowers understand the potential dangers.

Housing Price Cycles

WASHINGTON -- Could the real estate action be shifting to the heartland -- the vast swath of middle America that never really was touched by the hyperinflationary housing boom?

Do homework before home improvements

LaCarla Williams thought she was doing everything right when she hired contractors to add 350 square feet to her Gardena, Calif., home in 2004. She asked for references, checked with the Contractor's State License Board and the Better Business Bureau, and made sure her contractors were insured.

Cash In On Your Home - Now is the Right Time to Trade Down

If you own a large home and your kids are out of the house, reap your profit fast, before large homes lose their value. Baby boomers have already begun retiring and trading down to smaller homes. Over time, this could leave a surplus of large homes on the market. What's more, the rebounding economy has pushed 30-year mortgage rates up to around 6%. If rates rise to 7% or 8%, large-home prices could drop.

Reverse Mortgage Issues

WASHINGTON -- If you want to understand just how toxic a home mortgage can get, consider this real-life, ongoing saga:

Katherine Stephens is a 94-year-old widow, now living in a nursing home in southern New Jersey. According to her nephew, William Finch, she has $38 in her bank account. Monthly Social Security checks pay only a small portion of her nursing home bills.

Why aren't Settlement sheets delivered ahead of Closing dates?

WASHINGTON -- It's the No. 1 complaint that realty agents make about the home mortgage lending process. And it bugs their home buyer clients as well: The failure of settlement or escrow officials to provide a copy of the final settlement sheet in advance of the actual closing.

When do I sell my house?

WASHINGTON -- Anybody thinking about buying or selling a house this spring probably is asking the same questions: In terms of historical real estate cycles, is this a smart time for me to be in the market?

Why are Closing Costs so High?

WASHINGTON -- Have you ever looked at the fees associated with a home purchase and wondered: Why am I paying so much for title insurance? Why do I have to pay $1,000 to $2,000 for coverage when payouts on claims involving actual title defects are minuscule?

Hold onto your proceeds from real estate sales

The new 15% rate on capital gains may tempt you to sell appreciated real estate to capture a bargain. But, there are some other tax points to keep in mind before closing the deal:

A lesson on the need for a home inventory

It was 4 a.m. and wind-whipped flames were licking the trees 100 yards from my back window. A brush fire was threatening my house and everything in it.

I was preparing to evacuate - some of my neighbors were already gone - and I realized I had no inventory of the belongings I might have to leave behind. As my kids were throwing photo albums, overnight bags and the dogs into the car, I cursed myself for not following my own good advice.

Reverse mortgages not always a good idea

The commercials on the radio are what bother us.

For all the wrong reasons, they tell us how easily we can tap the equity on our homes once we turn 62. We can get tens of thousands of dollars tax-free and use it for a vacation home or new car. We don't need to have any income to "qualify" and won't even have to make monthly payments to pay the money back.

Does your realty agent have your best interests at heart?

A pending lawsuit in the Washington, D.C, suburbs is focusing fresh light on a growing problem: Realty agents are failing to disclose whom they represent in transactions -- even where state laws require them to do so in writing at their first substantive meeting with a potential client.

Is Your Mortgage Application Data Safe?

When you get a mortgage rate quote or a pre-approval, you probably assume that your inquiry with the lender is confidential, right?

Wrong! Your loan officer may be unaware, but behind his or her back key financial details about you and your mortgage needs are being hawked to competing lenders within 24 hours of your credit bureau inquiry. Firms such as Mortgage Inquiry Data Inc. of Coral Springs, Fla., offer interested lenders nationwide "access to everyone in your city who applied for a mortgage loan within the past 24 hours. You can contact these people the next day and offer them a pre-approval for a better loan with your company."

What Not To Do Guidelines in Closing a Mortgage

Did your loan officer sit you down and walk you through all the key operational details of your most recent mortgage before you signed on the dotted line?

Did you see a copy of the appraisal and have a chance to review it carefully?

Heed Your Home Equity Cushion

Billowing appreciation rates have been the hot news in home real estate for much of the past three years. But now, with many of the most effervescent local markets in a cool-down phase, the focus is turning to something much more fundamental: homeowners' equity stakes.

Retirement: Estate Planning Lite

Payable on Death and Transfer on Death accounts can make it simple to divvy up your assets. It's like doing your taxes with a Form 1040EZ.

Spin your home equity into gold

If you're at least 62 years old and own your home, you can boost your income with a reverse mortgage. Soaring home prices have made banks eager to offer the largest reverse mortgages ever. These loans turn the equity in a house or condominium into tax-free income while allowing the home owner to live there for the rest of his/her life. The money is paid in a lump sum, in monthly installments or as a line of credit.

What Not To Do Guidelines in Closing a Mortgage

WASHINGTON -- Did your loan officer sit you down and walk you through all the key operational details of your most recent mortgage before you signed on the dotted line?
Did you see a copy of the appraisal and have a chance to review it carefully?

Ways to benefit from a housing slowdown

WASHINGTON -- Pretty much everybody in real estate knows what's up: The hot air is hissing out of what David Lereah, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors, once enthusiastically called the "Great Real Estate Boom of the 21st Century." Now even Lereah agrees the boom is well past its peak. It's now "winding down into an expansion," he says.

Could surprise closing fees be a thing of the past?

WASHINGTON -- It's a distressingly familiar scenario for home buyers and refinancers, and was one of the major mortgage-related consumer complaints to federal agencies in 2005: "Good faith estimates" of settlement costs that turn out to be hundreds, even thousands, of dollars off the mark.

Cleaning up the kick-back game

WASHINGTON -- It's one of American real estate's seamier practices, and it's almost impossible for consumers to detect: Kickbacks and sweetheart payoffs among realty agents, title and escrow companies, lawyers and lenders for referrals of homebuyers' mortgage or closing services.

14 Easy Ways to Boost the Value of Your Home

Never underestimate the power of a good first impression. A home that is attractive from the road can sell in as little as half the time, making it less likely that you will have to reduce the asking price.

LENDERS EXPLOIT A LOOPHOLE

WASHINGTON -- The federal government's efforts to eliminate settlement cost surprises for home mortgage applicants may have opened the door to a new -- and potentially costly -- set of consumer problems.

ON REFIS, CASH-IN OR CASH-OUT?<

WASHINGTON -- Thinking of cashing out some equity when you refinance your mortgage? Sure, that used to be what millions of homeowners did when they needed extra money.

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