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Tag Archives: Mortgage Debt

Romney Campaign Releases Housing Paper Amid Roundabout

With gaffes and down polls embroiling his campaign, Republican presidential nominee and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney unveiled a housing white paper on Friday to reposition his message and salvage his campaign. The document, titled ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├àÔÇ£Securing the American Dream and the Future of Housing,├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├é┬Ø prescribes several conservative policy must-haves. For starters, there├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós much ado about the return of private capital to the secondary mortgage market and devolution for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Oh, and jobs. Twelve million to be exact.

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Should Officials Do Away With Mortgage Interest Deduction?

Talking heads call the mortgage interest-rate deduction a sacrosanct giveaway for the tax code, a loophole as sacred for Americans as, say, Social Security or Medicare - and just as electric to politicians. But a new survey out from Zillow suggests that may not be the case anymore. According to Zillow - which notably conducted the survey with economists and real-estate experts instead of your average homeowners - 10 percent believe the mortgage interest-rate deduction should be thrown out as soon as possible, while 50 percent believe it ought to be phased out over time.

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Household Net Worth Fell in 2Q per Fed Report

Fed

Despite a $355 billion increase in the value of household real estate, household net worth fell $322 billion in the second quarter, the Federal Reserve reported Thursday in its quarterly Flow of Funds:http://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/z1/Current/z1.pdf report.

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Is New Treasury Plan Beginning of the End for the GSEs?

On Friday, after years of bills from lawmakers to reform Fannie and Freddie, the Treasury Department unveiled a plan to finally ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├àÔÇ£wind down├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├é┬Ø the mortgage giants. According to a release, the Treasury Department will end a past ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├àÔÇ£circular├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├é┬Ø arrangement with Fannie and Freddie that allowed the companies to repay the agency with the very funds it received in the first place. The new agreement requires that Fannie and Freddie divert any new quarterly profits back to Treasury in order to repay taxpayers for their losses.

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LPS Settles With Missouri AG in Signing Errors Case

Lender Processing Services, Inc., announced Thursday that an agreement was reached between subsidiary DocX, LLC, and Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster. The agreement between the parties resulted in a dismissal of criminal charges pending against DocX. In February 2012, Koster obtained criminal indictments against DocX related to its alleged role in the mortgage-document surrogate signing scandal of 2010. Officials alleged that DocX earned approximately $363,000 in total revenue from mortgage documents with signing errors between 2008 and 2010.

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Freddie: 81% of Q2 Refis Upheld or Slashed Debt

Freddie Mac released the results of its second quarter refinance analysis Wednesday, revealing that homeowners who refinance continue to strengthen their housing situations. Freddie Mac's report showed that 81 percent of homeowners who refinanced their first-lien home mortgage either maintained the same loan amount or lowered their principal balance in the year's second quarter. Of these borrowers, 59 percent maintained about the same loan amount (the highest share ever recorded), while 23 percent reduced their principal balance.

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Wells Fargo Sees Boost From Q2 Profits

Improvements in mortgage banking and credit quality helped Wells Fargo see income gains for the second quarter of 2012. On Friday, Wells Fargo reported a net income of $4.6 billion, or $0.82 per share. The reported earnings for the most recent quarter was an 18 percent increase from the same quarter a year ago, when net income was $3.9 billion, or $0.70 per share. Net income for the most recent quarter was also up from the previous quarter when net income was $4.2 billion, or $0.75 per share.

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CFPB Seeks Input on Redesigned Mortgage Forms

The CFPB has officially proposed mortgage disclosure forms designed to enhance understanding. The forms are a result of research, testing, writing, and review and are being created to help consumers comprehend the terms of their mortgage and the costs involved. The proposed forms are part of the agency's Know Before You Owe project and are to be provided after applying for a loan and before closing."When making what is likely the biggest purchase of their life, consumers should be looking at paperwork that clearly lays out the terms of the deal," said CFPB Director Richard Cordray.

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FHA Backtracks on Homebuyer Credit Dispute Requirements

HUD rescinded guidance Friday that would have obligated homeowners to resolve debts outstanding of $1,000 or more or enter into a repayment plan by closing time for a mortgage backed by the Federal Housing Administration. Guidance from February required that lenders with homeowners in dispute of credit accounts or collections in that amount resolve or pay down the debt in order to meet eligibility criteria for a FHA-insured loan. That policy would have gone into effect by July 1, although earlier guidance remains.

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Michigan Settlement Approved for Investors Over Bear Stearns’ Bad MBS

Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette and State Treasurer Andy Dillon announced Tuesday that a federal judge granted preliminary approval to the state's proposed national class action lawsuit against Bear Stearns and Deloitte & Touche. Bear Stearns and Deloitte & Touche have agreed to settle the securities fraud suit. Under the terms of the settlement, the two firms will pay $294.9 million to investors nationwide who bought Bear Stearns stock and other equity securities and options between 2006 and 2008.

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