Filing Bankruptcy While Waiting For Loan Modification Many debtors whether they are working full-time, part-time or are unemployed, feel reluctant to file Chapter 13 bankruptcy or Chapter 7 bankruptcy because they believe that they are only a few days or weeks away from winning a mortgage loan modification. But when it comes to saving your [...]
Facing an ARM Reset on Your Mortgage? We've heard a lot about foreclosures due to unemployment leading the way in this recession; but toxic mortgages are still sinking many homeowners. Adjustable rate mortgages were popular during the housing boom because they allowed the debtor to pay only the interest or very little principal for a [...]
Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott has charged American Home Mortgage Servicing Inc. (AHMS) with using illegal debt collection tactics and improperly misleading homeowners facing foreclosure . According to state investigators, AHMS collections agents used aggressive and unlawful tactics to collect payments from Texas homeowners who had difficulty meeting their payment obligations. The defendant also failed [...]
The Federal Reserve has adopted new rules banning what is called "yield spread premiums," a practice which allowed mortgage brokers and lenders to earn extra profits every time a borrower was placed in a mortgage that had higher-than-market interest rates. What are yield spread premiums? Before the mortgage bubble, mortgage brokers were traditionally paid directly [...]
The Internal Revenue Service recently announced that it will cease issuing debt indicator notices to tax preparers. Debt indicator notices inform tax preparers of any possible reasons a taxpayer's refund could be garnished. For example, taxpayers with outstanding student loans, child support or other debts could face a reduction in their tax refunds. Tax preparers [...]
Now that the Great Recession is well into its second year, major players in the foreclosure crisis are coming under closer scrutiny by federal regulators trying to figure just how much financial blood mortgage servicers have on their hands. Americare, which operated as Premier Capital Lending, and Alacrity Lending Co. of Southlake were among the [...]
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has recently published new procedures for counseling senior citizens applying for reverse mortgages. The new procedures are suppose to offer more guidance on exactly what must be covered during reverse mortgage counseling sessions and provide a new tool that will measure a prospective borrower's ability to [...]
Mortgage fraud essentially is the root of our current financial challenges as a state and as a country. Millions of Americans were convinced that the real estate bubble would be forever expanding and that if they didn't want to be left behind it was best for them to "get with the program." Unfortunately, in their [...]
U.S. Representative Jackie Speier has introduced a bill in Congress that if passed would help protect the credit scores of homeowners who receive permanent mortgage modifications. Currently, the credit scores of homeowners who receive permanent mortgage modifications can drop as much as 100 points. The drastic drop in these homeowners'' credit scores could prevent them [...]
Senators Charles Schumer and Tom Harkin have the right idea about what Americans need right now. The legislators have vowed to push both the Federal Reserve and Congress to provide more protection for credit card users who get hit with outrageous interest rates when they fall at least two months behind on their credit card [...]