Foreclosure Feeds

Like J.P. Morgan, Warren E. Buffett Braves a Crisis

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 00:25 GMT

Comparing the two men in periods of market turmoil reveals how much some things have changed over the years and how others have not.

Countrywide to Set Aside $8.4 Billion in Loan Aid

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 00:25 GMT

As part of a settlement with officials in 11 states, Countrywide has agreed to the largest program ever to modify home loans.

How Talks Can Avert Defaults

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 18:30 GMT

A court-based mediation program is helping Connecticut homeowners find their way through the always frustrating, sometimes excruciating process of foreclosure.

Fed, World’s Banks Pull Off Global Rate Reduction

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 05:45 GMT

In an unprecedented move aimed at quelling the mounting tidal wave of unrest affecting the world’s economies and investors, the Federal Reserve, in partnership with other central banks around the world, pulled off a coordinated reduction of short-term interest rates Wednesday....(read more)

Fight for the Family Home

Thu, 09 Oct 2008 17:47 GMT

Bankruptcy laws should be flexible enough to allow parents who are able to regain their financial footing to continue to make mortgage payments and stave off foreclosure.

Edge of the Abyss

Thu, 09 Oct 2008 17:46 GMT

The financial news since the middle of last month has been grim. And what's truly scary is that we're entering a period of severe crisis with weak, confused leadership.

The Borrowers

Thu, 09 Oct 2008 17:46 GMT

The titans of finance have been getting plenty of blame for the nation's financial crisis. But those of us who have also profited from Wall Street's dubious practices should take some of the responsibility.

Agency's '04 Rule Let Banks Pile Up New Debt

Thu, 09 Oct 2008 17:46 GMT

A Securities and Exchange Commission decision helps explain how the financial crisis spun out of control.

Seeking renters who will share their observations

Thu, 09 Oct 2008 09:47 GMT

I am hoping to talk with a variety of renters who have either recently rented places or are still in the midst of seeking new places to rent. I want to hear about their experiences looking for new housing, how competitive they found the market, how much rent they agreed to pay or hope to pay, etc. How forgiving are landlords if you have a credit problem or a foreclosure on your record?

Landlords - Can I hear your tales too? Is it a good time to be a landlord?

Please call me at (408) 920-5833 or email me at smcallister@mercurynews.com (and include a phone number with the email, if you don't mind). Thank you! Hope to hear from you.

Sheriff in Chicago Ends Evictions in Foreclosures

Wed, 08 Oct 2008 21:30 GMT

Sheriff Thomas J. Dart of Cook County said an increasing number of the residents being evicted were renters who might have been dutifully paying their rent.

Protecting Voting Rights

Wed, 08 Oct 2008 21:30 GMT

To the Editor:.

Taxpayers, Not Lenders, Would Bear Costs of McCain's Mortgage Proposal

Wed, 08 Oct 2008 21:30 GMT

The plan that John McCain announced without detail in the debate Tuesday would allow millions of financially stretched Americans to refinance their mortgages with government help.

Fed rate cut didn’t help mortgage rates this time

Wed, 08 Oct 2008 13:38 GMT

As most of you astute Square Feet readers surely know, when the Federal Reserve suggests rate cuts for short-term interest rates, as it did today, those decreases have no direct effect on the direction of long-term mortgage rates (such as rates for the 30-year loan). But sometimes, if the rate cut comes as a surprise, mortgage rates will fall. The traditional logic would go something like this: Investors see that Fed cuts short-term rates unexpectedly, they think “Holy cow, the economic outlook must be worse than I thought, I had better take my money out of stocks and stash it in safer bonds”; bonds, suddenly in more demand, then offer smaller yields; and mortgage rates, which typically are a reflection of the yields investors would get on mortgage-backed securities from Fannie and Freddie (also traditionally thought of as safe), fall.

However. Today's rate cut was not truly a surprise, and the midday rally in the stock market actually gave lenders an excuse to raise mortgage rates today. So says Narbik Karamian, a mortgage broker in Los Gatos who thoughtfully calls me from time to time when something interesting happens with mortgage rates or conditions that he thinks I should know about. Narbik tells me that rates climbed about .375 percent today, hitting about 6.125 percent for 30-year-fixed loans of up to $729,750. Banks are raising rates “on the slightest positive news,” he said. “The windows for rate decreases are so small these days,” he said, meaning that if you are pondering a refi, get all that paperwork in, so a loan officer or broker can lock the rate you need during the day or part of a day that it's available.

Still, that 6.125 percent is pretty awesome if you have the down payment (or the equity) and the credit history, etc etc., to get it. No one who bought a house in the late 70s at, say, 18 percent, would sneeze at 6.125 percent. (And for the record, I was not out buying houses in the late 70s, I was in high school … which was as nerve-wracking as rampant inflation, but in a different way.)

Foreclosure resources, revisited; and one LOL voice mail on property assessments (you didn’t know taxes were funny?)

Wed, 08 Oct 2008 09:43 GMT

Last week I worked on a piece about the many critics that say the bailout bill passed last week did not do enough to help homeowners. In the printed version, the resource box, listing numbers to call for help in avoiding foreclosure, was left out. I'll paste in the text of it here; spread it around if you know someone who needs assistance.

Resources for homeowners in danger of foreclosure

National resource:
Hope Now Alliance, www.hopenow.com, (888) 995-HOPE (4673).

For information on the Hope for Homeowners and FHA Secure refinancing programs, visit www.fha.gov, or call (800) CALL-FHA (225-5342).

Then in today's paper I did a story on the increase this year in the number of property assessment appeals in Santa Clara County. With values dropping, more people feel they deserve a break in their taxes, not surprisingly. Of course, a lot of them may not realize that a decline in their property value doesn't automatically make them eligible for an assessment and tax reduction. As I wrote in the article, under a 1978 law known as Proposition 8, property owners are eligible if the market value of the property falls below the assessed value as of Jan. 1 of the tax year.

Here's where the laugh-out-loud voice mail comes in. A reader called my line shortly after 8 this morning to say he was confused about the box that accompanied my article that had the headline “Examples of how Proposition 8 works,” and listed a case in which a homeowner would be eligible for a reduction, and one in which a homeowner would not. The reader said, and I quote from the voice mail he left me, “Proposition 8 has nothing to do with taxes. It's the homosexual thing…. Can you explain this, how you managed to tie the two together?” He went on to say, “I hope next time there will be more vetting done…that's very poor reporting.”

Ba ha ha. Well, I see his point, maybe we should have included a headline that said: “Examples of how Proposition 8 works (no, not the anti-same-sex-marriage Prop. 8, the 30-year-old, tax-related Prop.8)”. But it would have been a bit long.

Sorry to have confused you, sir. But your voice mail actually did brighten my day.

90-Year-Old Woman in Foreclosure Shoots Herself During Eviction Attempt

Wed, 08 Oct 2008 04:45 GMT

The prognosis for the U.S. economy is not too rosy these days, so it comes as no surprise that some people are taking matters into their own hands and literally going to the extreme when faced with a foreclosure scenario....(read more)

Defiant House Rejects Huge Bailout; Next Step Is Uncertain

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 22:58 GMT

In a moment of historic drama in the Capitol and on Wall Street, the House of Representatives voted 228-205 to reject a $700 billion rescue of the financial industry.

For Stocks, Worst Single-Day Drop in Two Decades

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 22:58 GMT

Over a trillion dollars vanished from Wall Street on Monday, the blackest day since the 1987 stock market crash.

In Bailout Vote, a Leadership Breakdown

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 22:58 GMT

As the world looked to the United States to contain the economic crisis, American political leadership faltered.

‘Is My Money Safe?' and Other Questions to Ask

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 22:58 GMT

Addressing the issues on the minds of investors on Main Street who are distressed by the fallout on Wall Street.

Survey Finds Expansion of Housing in the U.S.

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 13:50 GMT

The number of houses, apartments and mobile homes in the nation rose by almost four million from 2005 to 2007, according to a Census Bureau survey.