CNNMoney.com reported earlier this month on consumer advocates upset over how investors who took over failed IndyMac Bank are handling people who can’t afford their mortgages. Critics say it’s anything but easy to deal with OneWest Bank, the new name for what’s left of IndyMac. They argue the bank…
The Federal Reserve is appealing a judge’s ruling that it disclose the names of banks that got emergency loans, and yesterday it asked the judge to allow it to withhold names during the appeal process. The Fed argued identifying the financial institutions would hurt them and make an appeal…
A federal regulator added 111 lenders to its list of “problem banks” in the second quarter, bringing the total to 416 banks, the most since June 1994. The total of problem banks, which have combined assets of $299.8 billion, is up from 305 banks with $220.0 billion in assets…
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said today private-equity investors buying a failed bank will need to maintain that bank’s Tier 1 capital ratio at 10 percent, down from the 15 percent proposed last month. The FDIC clearly is looking for more buyers of troubled banks. FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair…
A couple of data points suggest Orange County residents are behaving more responsibly with their credit cards. The ratio of credit-card bills three or more payments behind dropped to 1.3% in June, from 1.4% in March, though it was up from a year ago’s 1.0%, reports TransUnion. However, it…
( Update: Exemptions to more-than-80% rule. ) Most of the home loans in this country are sold to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which insist borrowers put down 20% or more of the purchase price of a home or pay for mortgage insurance. But is there enough insurance available?…
The biweekly property Orange County housing inventory report by Steve Thomas at Altera Real Estate in Aliso Viejo says this of the number of O.C. distressed properties (homes listed by agents in the MLS system as foreclosures or short sales) … As a percent of all listed homes for…
There were 120 houses and condos scheduled for a foreclosure auction at the Santa Ana Courthouse last Thursday — at least that was the total when I checked the day before the auction. At one point in time there were as many 245 properties scheduled for auction that day.…
The latest from National Mortgage News: The Federal Reserve accepted $2.3 billion in investor requests for financing to purchase legacy commercial mortgage-backed securities at the second TALF subscription, up from $669 million at the first subscription in July. The Fed’s Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility also provides financing for…
Randy Johnson, president of Independence Mortgage Co. in Newport Beach, author of “How to Save Thousands of Dollars on Your Home Mortgage” and a mortgage broker since 1983, answers questions… TooManyHouses in Irvine asks: Q. I “own” two houses: one in Irvine where I, currently, reside and one in…