From the Houston Chronicle:

Collection agencies are using abusive phone tactics more frequently and the consumer's best defense may be to secretly record the abuse, a panel of Nevada lawmakers was told Friday.

A proposed bill would allow Nevada consumers to record phone conversations initiated by debt collection agencies without notifying the agency. The Nevada Supreme Court ruled in 1998 that recording telephone conversations without the consent of both parties is barred under state law.

More here.

Posted by Bill McLeod at 6:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Subscribers to our newsletter might remember our recommendation of iamfacingforeclosure.com as a recommend blog to visit often. Casey Serin is a 24 year old "would be real estate mogul" who is learning some difficult lessons about real estate, investing, mortgages, and foreclosures. On his blog, he shares his thoughts and experiences on his journey through this undeniably difficult process.

I have been told more than once that people follow this site for months before they have the courage to call me seeking advice. Today, Mr. Serin says simply: "Something's Gotta Give." A review of the postings of the last several weeks reveal that the pressures he faces are, on some level, taking a toll. But the fact that he shares them with the public and admittedly wants to "help others in trouble" is something readers of this blog need to know.

By the time many people come to see me, they have already been feeling overwhlemed for some time. The financial pressures can lead to depression and isolation. Here, Mr. Serin is providing an exceptional public service: reminding others similarly situated that they are not alone.

Please visit I am facing foreclosure.com.

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From Today's Boston Globe: Boston’s Department of Neighborhood Development (DND) announced that the foreclosure rate in Boston has quadrupled since 2005.

The numbers are still much lower than the 1,700 foreclosures in Boston in 1992, when the technology-based economy ran aground and some property values were cut in half. But Mayor Thomas M. Menino said he is concerned about the current figures, fueled by the rising delinquencies of risky subprime mortgages.

‘‘It’s not just a Boston problem. It’s a nationwide problem,’’ he said. ‘‘We need state help. We need federal help.’’

That help may have to come from Washington. In an April 17 decision (Waters v. Wachovia Bank, N.A., et al.) the US Supreme Court held that Wachovia’s mortgage business, whether it was conducted by the bank itself or through the bank’s operating subsidy, is subject to the oversight of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency pursuant to the National Bank Act (12 USC Section 1, et seq.). It is not subject to the “licensing, reporting and visitorial regimes of the….States.” A bank’s subsidary mortgage company is subject to state regulation only if the parent bank would be if it performed the same function.

Posted by Bill McLeod at 10:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

From housingwire.com:

As part of a borrowers’ assistance program designed to help WaMu homeowners with subprime mortgage loans stabilize their finances and avoid foreclosure, Washington Mutual (NYSE:WM) announced Wednesday a new program that will allow borrowers to refinance up to $2 billion in subprime loans at discounted interest rates.

Under the program, WaMu subprime borrowers who remain current on their existing loans and anticipate pending payment increases may apply for new discounted fixed-rate loans or other mortgage products available to them, the company said.

Click here for the full article.

For more information, visit Washington Mutual.

Posted by Bill McLeod at 6:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

Consumer groups have called for Congress to reform the bankruptcy code to save the homes of Americans who are mired in the subprime mortgage foreclosure crisis.

"For most of these families, bankruptcy is the only viable option to save their home," said Henry Sommer, president of [the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys]. "This current exclusion is contrary to sound policy, and operates to disadvantage low-wealth and middle-income borrowers as compared to debtors with the wealth to own more than one home."

Read more here,

And here,

And here.

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You might want to read this from yesterday's New York Times:

...it’s now clear that people who chose renting over buying in the last two years made the right move. In much of the country, including large parts of the Northeast, California, Florida and the Southwest, recent home buyers have faced higher monthly costs than renters and have lost money on their investment in the meantime. It’s almost as if they have thrown money away, an insult once reserved for renters.

Posted by Bill McLeod at 12:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

From the website of Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley:

Yesterday, Attorney General Martha Coakley's Office requested a judge to issue preliminary injunctions against nineteen individuals and companies, allegedly involved in mortgage fraud and a foreclosure rescue scheme, to stop them from unfair and deceptive business practices. These individuals were named in two separate lawsuits that AG Coakley's Office filed on March 30th in Suffolk Superior Court as part of a continued effort to uncover predatory conduct in mortgage brokering and lending in the Commonwealth.

Posted by Bill McLeod at 12:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

On Paula Zahn Now, host Paula Zahn examines whether mortgage brokers are to blame for the mortgage crisis. The series "Debtor Nation" continues tonight at 8:00 pm ET. Transcripts from last nights "Debtor Nation" are available here

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