Posts Tagged ‘Credit and Debt’
Friday, April 20th, 2007
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.
Tags: Bankruptcy, Credit and Debt, Mortgages and Foreclosures
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Thursday, April 12th, 2007
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.
Tags: Bankruptcy, Consumer Rights, Credit and Debt, Mortgages and Foreclosures
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Thursday, April 12th, 2007
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.
Tags: Credit and Debt, Economy, Mortgages and Foreclosures
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Tuesday, April 10th, 2007
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
Tags: Bankruptcy, Consumer Rights, Credit and Debt, Mortgages and Foreclosures
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Saturday, March 24th, 2007
I spent last night at the Kendall Square Cinema in Cambridge with a number of local bankruptcy attorneys for a special screening of Maxed Out. The movie tackles an important subject for my clients, for me and for just about everyone else I know: debt.
Director James Scurlock take us on a journey from the living rooms of average Americans to the halls and hearing rooms of Capital Hill. From there you will hear the personal stories (some funny, some not) of average people. You’ll hear from bankers and credit card companies. You will hear from folks that you can agree and empathize with. You will also hear from folks that will leave your stomach feeling a little…um, let’s just say a little “off.” If you are remotely curious how the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 sailed through the House of Representatives, you need to see this movie.
Also, if you are wondering…
…how and why people are facing foreclosure;
…how and why people find themselves buried in debt they can not (and may not ever) climb out of; and
…what average people do when they are staring the debt-monster in the eye,
see this movie. No one can afford to miss it.
The screening was sponsored by Americans for Fairness in Lending, a non-profit group based in Boston. Please visit their website where you can learn more about what they do.
Click here for movie times at the Kendall.
Tags: Bankruptcy, consumer, Consumer Rights, Credit and Debt, debt, Maxed Out
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Tuesday, March 6th, 2007
Many distress homeowners tell me that they are hoping to refinance their way out of their adjustable rate mortgages. USA Today reported this weekend that lenders are already raising the bar for prospective borrowers. In other words, it is not nearly as easy to refinance as people may need it to be.
To stem their losses, lenders nationwide are notifying mortgage brokers to cancel loan programs. Many of them are:
•Reducing loans for 100% of the purchase price.
•Reducing the number of “piggyback” loans, whereby a lender makes one loan for 80% of the purchase price and a second loan for the remaining 20% of the price at a higher interest rate.
•Raising the required credit score.
•Requiring more documentation of a borrower’s income and scrutinizing the appraisal and comparable-home sales data.
.
None of this bodes well for distressed homeowners.
Tags: Credit and Debt, Mortgages and Foreclosures
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Tuesday, February 27th, 2007
The news on the housing market is not cheery.
The FDIC reports that residential mortgage loan charge offs climbed to almost 200% during the 4th quarter of last year. The FDIC also reports that the number of deliquent loans at banking institutions is also on the rise.
The Japanese are getting concerned over increasing defaults in sub-prime mortgage loans here in the US. They are not the only ones. Freddie Mac today announced “today announced that it will cease buying subprime mortgages that have a high likelihood of excessive payment shock and possible foreclosure.”
So there’s all that news, and then we have today. Apparently tired of the cold winter weather, the stock market headed south. Marketwatch reports that todays drop (which included a 200 point drop in one minute) is the worst one-day drop since 2001. From Breitbart.com:
The housing market, which the Street had been hoping had bottomed out, also looked far from recovery after a Standard & Poor’s index indicated that single-family home prices across the nation were flat in December. A later report from the National Association of Realtors said existing home sales climbed in January by the largest amount in two years, but the data didn’t erase housing-related concerns, as median home prices fell for a sixth straight month.
Some argue that the drop is simply a long overdue correction. Others blame the Drudge Report.
All I can say is that these sure are interesting times.
Tags: Credit and Debt, Economy, Mortgages and Foreclosures
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Tuesday, February 27th, 2007
When someone asks you where you reside, the answer is usually easy. But when someone asks you where you are domiciled, the answer might not be the same. A recent Massachusetts bankruptcy court decision determined that a debtor who claimed Massachusetts was only a temporary home could not use the Massachusetts homestead statute to protect property in Michigan where he was domiciled.
The debtor sought to shield from creditors approximately $30,000 in equity in the Michigan property. The Massachusetts homestead statute (subject to certain limitations) protects up to $500,000 in equity in a debtor’s residence. The Chapter 7 Trustee objected to the claimed exemption. He argued that at the creditor’s meeting, the debtor admitted that he had not occupied the Michigan property and had lived in Massachusetts for several years. Because he did not reside in the property, the Chapter 7 Trustee argued that the debtor could not use the exemption.
Debtor claimed that the property had been in the family for generations and is acquired it in 1988. He lived in the property for approximately 10 years until he moved to Massachusetts to take care of his ailing grandmother. He viewed the move to Massachusetts as temporary. While here, he continued to maintain the property and visited it once per year. He did not rent it out. In December, debtor’s grandmother died and he argued that he intended to return to the property.
Debtor argued that he could only use the Massachusetts homestead exemption because he resided in Massachusetts prior to filing. He argued that while the homestead statute does not expressly state whether a home must be located in Massachusetts in order for the statute to apply, he is entitled to use that exemption. He resided in Massachusetts when he recorded his homestead declaration. The Trustee then claimed that based on the debtor’s responses to his objections, the debtor resided in Michigan at the time of the filing, and therefore, the Debtor must choose between the federal or Michigan exemptions, not Massachusetts.
(more…)
Tags: Bankruptcy, Credit and Debt, Homes, homesteads and real estate
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Thursday, February 22nd, 2007
Many people get tax refunds, and today Reuters reports that a National Retail Federation survey reveals what some will be doing with their refunds:
…According to the survey, which polled 9,027 consumers between February 1 and February 8, only about 10 percent will dedicate a portion of their return to major purchases or a vacation. About 43 percent plan to use it to reduce debt, while about 38 percent see saving it, and more than 25 percent will put the money toward everyday expenses.
So, what are you doing with your refund this year?
Tags: Credit and Debt
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Tuesday, February 13th, 2007
The Chief Economist for the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University is warning struggling homeowners about foreclosure ‘rescue’ scams:
Here is how the scam works. The homebuyer gets behind on mortgage payments. The predatory lender offers a “loan to get caught up” on the delinquent mortgage payments. In exchange for the rescue, the homeowner signs over the title to the predator, who promises that the homebuyer may remain in the home while paying rent. The predator then sells the house to someone else, and the original homeowner gets an eviction notice.
Read more here.
Tags: Consumer Scams, Credit and Debt, Mortgages and Foreclosures
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