The Senate voted recently to toughen standards for home loans. Under these new standards, lenders would have to verify that borrowers can repay the loan. Let's just hope China doesn't adopt this policy. As the time approaches when the House and Senate financial reform bills must be reconciled...
An elderly lady was having her 100 th birthday party when the emcee stood to speak. He said he had been at the local Hallmark store and looked for the most special birthday card available to celebrate this momentous occasion. As he looked up and down the columns of shelves he noticed the birthday cards...
“Most of the stuff people worry about ain't never gonna happen anyway.” But in this case, I bet a change will be made. Everyone knows the drill: small originators sell loans to mid-tier investors such as AmTrust or Franklin American, who in turn sell their loans to companies like Wells...
Sen. Kent Conrad denies favorable treatment from Countrywide. CNBC's Diana Olick has the story.
In a sweeping deal that could be worth more than $8.4 billion, Bank of America Corp. has agreed to settle claims brought by state Attorneys General regarding certain risky loans originated by Countrywide Financial Corp. The move will diffuse some of the legal problems Bank of America inherited with its...
Several television financial correspondents were announcing at the beginning of this week that Monday was the first anniversary of the credit squeeze . It is unclear whether any one day can claim that dubious distinction, but August 2007 was certainly a cruel month. During the first full week in August...
The sale of Countrywide Mortgage to Bank of America absorbed another blow this week as three states took legal action against the lender. The attorneys general of California and Illinois and the Washington State department that regulates financial institutions all filed lawsuits against Countrywide on...
The loud "thud" you just heard over in the corner of the Senate hearing room was Senator Chris Dodd's vice presidential hopes hitting the wall. The Senator was the second major political figure caught up in and possibly brought down by various aspects of the mortgage mess in general and Countrywide Financial...
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that mortgage lenders are facing an assault on yet another front as the mortgage debacle rolls on. Investors, including Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, are taking a long look at loans they have purchased from lenders over the last few years and the contracts that govern...
Investigations into events surrounding the virtual collapse of the mortgage lending industry are expanding on a number of levels. Various investigative agencies have formed a task force to look into the granting of mortgages which may have been made with little proof of the borrowers' income or assets...