Financial and Business Services

BofA, JPMorgan say they have fulfilled mortgage settlement terms

2013-05-22 00:00:00

Bank of America Corp. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. say they have satisfied their obligations to help troubled borrowers under last year's landmark mortgage settlement with state and federal officials. Another bank that signed the settlement, Wells Fargo &...

3 big banks nearly halt foreclosure sales after U.S. tweaks orders

2013-05-19 12:04:00

Sales of homes in foreclosure by Wells Fargo & Co., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Citigroup Inc. ground nearly to a halt after regulators revised their orders on treatment of troubled borrowers during the 60 days before they lose their homes. The banks...

Freddie Mac: Mortgage rates rise; average 30-year loan at 3.51%

2013-05-16 08:54:00

Mortgage rates rose this week, with a widely watched survey reporting that lenders were offering 30-year fixed-rate loans at an average of 3.51%, up from a near-record low of 3.35% two weeks ago. The survey, released Thursday by mortgage financier...

'Tiny houses' are growing in popularity

2013-05-17 19:38:00

BALTIMORE — Greg Cantori plans to downsize when he retires. Really, really downsize. His retirement home is 238 square feet — one-tenth the size of the average new American house — and sits in his Maryland yard. He and wife Renee can...

Short sales routinely show up in credit reports as foreclosures

2013-05-17 20:20:00

WASHINGTON — Are large numbers of homeowners who have negotiated short sales with lenders at risk because of a startling omission in the American credit system? Do their credit reports and scores indicate that they were foreclosed upon, rather...

GOP may seek to tie debt ceiling deal to tax code changes

2013-05-09 18:29:00

WASHINGTON — In a little more than a week, the U.S. will hit its debt limit — and the maneuvering has begun against a backdrop of the mid-2011 drama that led to the nation's first-ever credit downgrade. An improving economy and higher taxes,...

BofA settles another mortgage lawsuit but is facing a new one

2013-05-07 00:00:00

NEW YORK — As Bank of America Corp. pulls itself free from a swamp of mortgage liabilities, new troubles keep threatening to suck it back under. BofA agreed to settle a big insurer's claims over faulty mortgage bonds for $1.7 billion Monday. But...

Fannie Mae to pay U.S. $59.4 billion after record quarterly profit

2013-05-09 08:05:00

WASHINGTON -- Bailed-out housing finance giant Fannie Mae said Thursday it would pay the U.S. government $59.4 billion after posting a record profit for the first three months of the year. The fortunes of the company, which is 80% owned by taxpayers...

N.Y. to sue Wells Fargo, Bank of America over mortgage practices

2013-05-06 08:33:00

NEW YORK -- New York state's attorney general plans to sue Wells Fargo and Bank of America over alleged violations of a national mortgage settlement reached last year. Atty. Gen. Eric Schneiderman's office said Monday it intends to sue the banks for...

Fed: Some borrowers shortchanged in foreclosure settlement

2013-05-09 07:51:00

Nearly 100,000 troubled borrowers were shortchanged on payments from Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Morgan Stanley & Co., the Federal Reserve said — money intended to compensate for possible errors and abusesduring foreclosure proceedings in 2009...

Families reduced their debt load in first quarter to 2006 level

2013-05-14 09:55:00

WASHINGTON -- American families reduced their debt load in the first three months of the year by 1%, bringing it down to pre-recession levels after an uptick in the last quarter of 2012, the Federal Reserve said Tuesday. Outstanding household debt,...

Mortgage rates tick up, Freddie Mac says: 30-year fixed at 3.42%

2013-05-09 08:30:00

Fixed mortgage rates have reversed course and ticked upward, with lenders offering 30-year home loans at an average of 3.42% compared with 3.35% last week, according to the latest Freddie Mac survey. The typical rate for a 15-year fixed mortgage rose...

Ethan Youderian has joined Performance Trust Investment Advisors as its chief investment officer. Youderian will be responsible for the management of PTIA's investment activities and risk oversight, along with new investment product and strategy development.

2013-05-07 11:25:00

Benjamin P. Shapiro has been named practice group manager of the banking and financial services group at the Roetzel law firm. He is based in the firm's Chicago office. Shapiro focuses his practice on banking and finance, and business and commercial litigation.

2013-04-15 08:52:00

House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) is a leading critic of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

2013-03-12 07:04:23