Refinance Home Mortgages » bank of america

Mortgage Modification Help

Luke Ford — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 00:28:52 +0000

Banks such as Bank of America are hiring staff to deal with the flood of requests to modify mortgages.

Politicians love to point fingers at the banks, saying they are not doing enough here, but why should banks modify mortgages? What about the sanctity of contracts? If people signed up to pay a certain amount per month, why should not banks hold them accountable to that deal?

Mortgages Are All In The Details

Luke Ford — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 23:41:25 +0000

What's keeping the federal government's massive efforts to reduce foreclosure from helping more homeowners verging on default?
Often the problem is a lender losing some of the necessary paperwork.
Lenders have to wait for three-month trials of HARP before they get paid. The Obama administration has budgeted $50 billion.
I love how politicians keep tackling symptoms rather than admitting how much their interventions in the marketplace caused our current problems.
The Washington Post says: Lenders acknowledged that they've had troubles handling the deluge of loans initially, but service has improved.

Los Angeles Center Hosts Free Five-Day Mortgage Modification Convention

Luke Ford — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 23:31:55 +0000

Tiffany Hsu writes for the Los Angeles Times that more than 50,000 homeowners are expected. They'd love to find a way to restructure their mortgages to avoid foreclosure.

The free five-day event, running through Monday, is organized by Boston-based Neighborhood Assistance Corp. of America. NACA hosted similar meetings nationwide this summer that attracted more than 180,000 participants.

The Government Is Cleaning Up the Mortgage Mess

Luke Ford — Fri, 15 May 2009 16:06:45 +0000

The government is buying bad mortgages. The FBI are cracking down on fraudulent mortgage operations. Stricter standards are in place. Help is available. Mortgage rates are low. There's a flood of refinance applications and Bank of America recently announced plans to hire 6,000 to help process refinance applications.

How Best To Employ The Federal Housing Administration

Luke Ford — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 23:12:16 +0000

President Obama, our nation turns its lonely eyes to you.

It's like he's the second coming of Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

High on the agenda is shoring up America's banks. The two biggest — City and Bank of America — are shaky. The Fed has invested tens of billions of dollars in them. Despite this, they still totter.

Should Lenders Revise Troubled Mortgages?

Luke Ford — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 01:31:01 +0000

The Federal Reserve cut its funds rate (the rate at which it lends to banks) to one percent yesterday. The stock market jumped 200 points today. Oil dropped to $65 a barrel.

Churches Fight Foreclosures

Luke Ford — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 19:12:46 +0000

Ever heard of PICO? It means People Improving Their Communities Through Organizing. They are launching a national tour in Antioch, CA. They are bringing in dozens of clergy. They are going to meet with the FDIC and Bank of America.

Countrywide CEO's Accidental Email

Luke Ford — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 16:17:36 +0000

Report:

Apparently Angelo Mozilo, the CEO of Countrywide, has never made a mistake and needed help (from, say, Bank of America,) because he thinks that homeowners who are desperately trying to refinance out of their disastrous home loans and avoid foreclosure are "disgusting" if they look to the internet for help writing letters.

Regulating Home Loan Mortgages

Luke Ford — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 04:47:56 +0000

Ruth Simon writes:

Attorneys general and banking regulators from 11 states are calling on the nation's largest subprime-mortgage-servicing companies to follow Bank of America Corp.'s lead and embark on a broad-based loan-modification program.
The deal, valued at more than $8.6 billion, aims to initially reduce borrowers' mortgage-related payments to 34% of monthly income by refinancing borrowers into government-backed loans and reducing borrowers' interest rate or principal.
The settlement shows that broad-based loan modifications are feasible, state officials say. Bank of America owns about 12% of the loans covered by the agreement. In an effort to maximize the value of loans it now controls and to reduce foreclosures, the FDIC is sending letters to roughly 28,000 delinquent borrowers with IndyMac loans, offering to rework the terms of their mortgages. Not all borrowers who are behind on their loans will qualify for a loan modification.

Countrywide Extends A Helping Hand

Luke Ford — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 23:48:11 +0000

From Courant.com:

Connecticut's housing market could get a lift under a settlement with one of the nation's largest mortgage lenders that could allow thousands of residents facing foreclosure to stay in their homes.

Avoiding Foreclosure With Help From Countrywide

Luke Ford — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 16:07:53 +0000

Report from Texas:

The plan could make it easier to refinance for people who owe more on their loans than their home. A homeowner who bought a house for $300,000 that is now worth $200,000, for example, could now refinance for a $180,000 loan, Francisco said. Countrywide loan holders such as Bank of America would absorb about a $120,000 loss in that example.

Countrywide Makes A Deal

Luke Ford — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 16:05:44 +0000

From Miami:

Countrywide Financial will provide Florida homeowners up to $1 billion in mortgage relief under a settlement reached with the state's attorney general over alleged abusive lending practices.

The relief will include loan changes for an estimated 57,000 Floridians who could see their principal and interest rates reduced to more affordable terms and cash payments to some borrowers who lost their homes through questionable lending practices by the company.

Read more on Countrywide Makes A Deal…

You Should Care About The Bailout

Luke Ford — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 02:43:02 +0000

Report:

When borrowing money to purchase a house, the loan taken out from a bank or finance company is called a mortgage. The bank or finance company that owns the mortgage might sell the loan to another bank or finance company because that mortgage, which is essentially a signed piece of paper, is now worth the value of the loan plus the interest of the mortgage. To regulate mortgages, the government created Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The government intended Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to buy loans and in doing so keep cash flowing to banks, which is also known as liquidity. Banks exchanged loans with the government for funds so they could continue the loan-making process and operate as normal. If the value of the home rose to say $130,000, then the buyer’s equity would be $40,000, meaning the $30,000 increase in the home’s value is the buyer’s, not the bank’s.
Banks had been offering buyers very low interest rates during the first few years following purchase of a home. Some homeowners who depended on the increase of value to their homes failed to pay back their mortgage, making those mortgages less valuable because no other bank wanted to buy the depreciatingly-valued paper from a bank. Since they were no longer receiving payments from previously bought loans, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were no longer buying new loans from banks.
The banks that could not raise money from new loans, such as Indy Mac Bank, failed. More successful banks, such as Bank of America, have recently bought other suffering banks such as Washington Mutual and Merrill Lynch.

Bank of America Settlement Good News For 400,000 Home Owners

Luke Ford — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 02:32:11 +0000

From Seattle:

"Since acquiring Countrywide in July, we have committed significant resources and developed innovative programs to help as many Countrywide customers as possible stay in their homes."
The new program will help people who got Countrywide subprime or pay-option adjustable-rate mortgages in 2004 through 2007 and are seriously delinquent or likely to become so because of loan features such as rate and payment changes. In Washington, 42 percent of Countrywide's subprime hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages (which have fixed initial rates), 11 percent of pay-option adjustable loans and 24 percent of fixed-rate subprime loans are delinquent.
The settlement resolves allegations that Countrywide used unfair and deceptive tactics to sell loans, and often put borrowers into unfair and unaffordable mortgages.
Bank of America also will pay $150 million nationwide to help people who already have lost their homes to foreclosure, although states could use up to half of this for foreclosure-prevention programs.

Bank of America Makes A Deal Over Bad Home Loans

Luke Ford — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 21:56:24 +0000

From the Chicago Tribune:

LANSING, Mich. – Michigan is among 11 states participating in a settlement in which Bank of America will modify tens of thousands of loans to keep people from losing their homes.

Feds To Lose Billions On Bear-Stearns

Luke Ford — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 00:56:45 +0000

From Bloomberg:

About 80 percent of those are so- called Alt-A mortgages, a step higher than subprime in terms of quality, with the remainder prime mortgages, Bank of America estimates.
Valuing the Maiden Lane assets "puts the Fed squarely in the very position of the banks it regulates in dealing with mark- to-market accounting," according to Bank of America's report.
"This exercise illustrates the difficulties in measuring fair value," the analysts wrote. The Fed expects the latest quarterly revaluation to be in the Oct. 23 release of the central bank's balance sheet, New York Fed spokesman Andrew Williams said.

Wachovia Bank Falls In Mortgage Crisis

Luke Ford — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 00:24:34 +0000

From the Sacramento Bee:

Wachovia moved into California in May 2006 by buying the Oakland-based parent of World Savings Bank, which had built a huge portfolio of risky adjustable-rate mortgages – including billions of dollars in loans to homeowners in the Sacramento region.
With many of those loans going bad, though, Wachovia buckled. A spokeswoman for Wachovia, which has 12 commercial branches in the four-county Sacramento region, stressed Monday that the Citigroup takeover would not affect the bank's customers.
But banking experts said that in the long run, the remaining mega-banks – Citigroup, Bank of America and Chase – are likely to throw their weight around nationally and in California.
Desperate to generate deposits, distressed banks have been offering unsustainably high rates of return on CDs, Bird said, pushing other banks to match them.
Wachovia's troubles stemmed largely from its $122 billion portfolio of a type of loan pioneered by World Savings: payment-option adjustable-rate mortgages, also known as option ARMs.
From June 2005 through June 2007, World Savings and Wachovia made 11,822 loans worth $2.96 billion in the Sacramento region, according to MDA DataQuick.

Spurring The Housing Market

Luke Ford — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 20:39:47 +0000

From the New York Times:

The Treasury released a set of “best practices” for institutions that issue so-called covered bonds, and Bank of America, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo said they planned to begin issuing them.

New Ways To Fund Mortgages

Luke Ford — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 20:04:22 +0000

From the New York Times:

With banks reluctant to lend their own money for mortgages, and the private securitization market quiescent if not dead, the cost of mortgage loans has been rising even as housing prices fall, making a bad situation worse.

Bank Of America's Takeover Of Countrywide Cleared By Federal Reserve

Luke Ford — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 16:38:22 +0000

From the HeraldTribune.com:

IN the six months since Bank of America announced its plans to take over Countrywide Financial, many investors have doubted that the $4 billion deal for the hobbled mortgage lender would get done. IN the six months since Bank of America announced its plans to take over Countrywide Financial, many investors have doubted that the $4 billion deal for the hobbled mortgage lender would get done. Bankruptcy judges have become vocal about what they consider dubious tactics taken by Countrywide against troubled borrowers.

Bank Of America Acquires Countrywide

Luke Ford — Fri, 30 May 2008 01:13:04 +0000

From bizjournals.com:

Bank of America Corp. said David Sambol, chief operating officer at Countrywide Financial Corp., will retire after the two companies merge in the third quarter.

Taking his place will be Barbara Desoer, who will move from her role as chief technology and operations officer at BofA to oversee consumer real estate operations.

Bank of America's Mortgage Business

Luke Ford — Thu, 29 May 2008 16:01:49 +0000

From the AP:

David Sambol, currently Countrywide's president and chief operating officer, was to lead the combined company's consumer mortgage operations. Now, Sambol will retire after assisting Barbara Desoer, Bank of America (nyse: BAC – news – people )'s chief technology and operations officer, with the takeover, the Charlotte-based bank said.

Countrywide Exec Retires

Luke Ford — Wed, 28 May 2008 20:22:21 +0000

From the Triangle:

A top executive at Countrywide Financial Corp. will leave the company after its takeover by Bank of America, despite previous plans to run the combined company's mortgage operations.

Read more on Countrywide Exec Retires…

Refinance Increase

Luke Ford — Mon, 26 May 2008 00:45:08 +0000

From Quicken Loans:

The Mortgage Bankers Association announced this morning that applications for mortgage loans, on a seasonally adjusted basis, increased 2.9 percent last week when compared to the week prior.

Countrywide Faces Shareholder Lawsuits

Luke Ford — Thu, 15 May 2008 18:04:51 +0000

Here's a report:

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — Besieged mortgage lender Countrywide Financial Corp. is facing renewed regulatory scrutiny this week after a federal judge ruled it must face a shareholder lawsuit and Sen. Charles E. Schumer, D-NY, called for an investigation into its lending practices.

Countrywide Reports Loss Near $ One Billion

Luke Ford — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 22:21:58 +0000

Bloomberg says this is the company's third straight quarterly loss.

It's being taken over by Bank of America, which isn't going to be dissuaded by these new numbers.

Countrywide's stock went up a couple of pennies today.

Bank Of America Offers $40 Billion For Refinancing

Luke Ford — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 15:06:58 +0000

Because of liabilities from its home equity loans, Bank of America has suffered a severe reduction in its earnings.

It wants to take over Countrywide and must put aside billions to cover its liabilities.

Payback Is Key To Refinance

Luke Ford — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 21:58:58 +0000

You have to measure what you will save in lower interest rates with the increased fees you'll pay to refinance.

It's not all about the interest rates. It's the gestalt!

(NAPSI)-Staying up to date with the latest developments in the mortgage market could save you money.

Mortgage Panic Spreads

Luke Ford — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 15:54:56 +0000

Bloomberg says the Bank of England is about to cut interest rates again.

This is England's biggest mortgage mess since 1991 (though it does not have things as bad as America in this respect).

I've Got Downey, First Federal, Washington Mutual, Fremont On My Death Watch

Luke Ford — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 15:28:10 +0000

You'll show up one day and there'll be a notice that this bank has been taken over the FTIC and if you have money there, it'll take a couple of days to get it.

I Hope My Bank Doesn't Have All Its 'Capital' In Junk Loans

Luke Ford — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 22:08:36 +0000

Downey Savings, and then not far behind them, First Federal and Washington Mutual are going to have all the "capital" in junk loans. No one should have any faith in the banking system and should move their money out of banks and into the brokerages like schwab where there has been no lending. If your money is at Downey, it was used to make a loan to some homeboy in riverside and said homeboy has left the shizzle and the keys with Downey.

What Is 'Agency Jumbo'?

Luke Ford — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 21:09:46 +0000

From the Silicon Valley Real Estate blog:

In the course of doing some reporting for a story on what the Fed's rate cuts do or don't mean to you, I heard from San Jose mortgage broker Will Clinton of AccessPlus Mortgage that the latest term for the new jumbo-conforming mortgages is "agency jumbo." As in, a jumbo-size mortgage, one of more than $417,000, that the "agencies" Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will buy from lenders and then resell on Wall Street, once all nicely packaged up into securities. I think I like "agency jumbo" better than "jumbo-conforming," though the former does sound a bit like a cop show about an office full of plus-sized crime-fighters. Is it just me?

Lending Rules Tighten

Luke Ford — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 19:39:34 +0000

Harriet Johnson Brackey writes March 16 for South Florida Sun-Sentinel that refinancing is getting harder, even for those with great credit. Borrowers must pay higher fees than a year ago.

"I don't blame the lenders," said Gene Petrino, a mortgage broker with Midas Mortgage in Pompano Beach. "But they've gone from one extreme to the other — from everybody gets a loan to nobody gets a loan. There has to be a happy medium. And I hope we get there by the end of this year."

Federal Housing Administration mortgage loans can require borrowers to put less than 3 percent down. They are not priced according to the borrower's credit score.

In troubled markets like South Florida, Bank of America is one mortgage lender that has tightened its lending rules. "For example, our No Fee Mortgage Plus product, which is available in many parts of the country for a 5 percent down payment, requires a 10 percent down payment in the Miami region and other parts of the nation that are considered a declining market," said Terry Francisco, a Bank of America spokesman, in an e-mail.

He said Bank of America also lowered the loan-to-value amount for new home equity loans to 90 percent nationwide, but cut that to 80 percent in declining markets, such as South Florida.

Other lenders, including Wachovia, Washington Mutual, Countrywide and SunTrust, declined to discuss their mortgage lending standards. But spokesmen at several of South Florida's largest mortgage lenders conceded that their requirements are now higher than before.

The Britos are an example of why so many South Floridians are struggling.

The housing glut and tougher lending rules have reduced the pool of potential buyers for their home and for a rental townhouse that they'd also like to sell.

They'd like to refinance their mortgage, but they don't qualify, even though Luci and Danny Brito have good jobs in law enforcement and good credit. The Britos bought their home for $270,00 at the peak of the housing boom and appraisers say now it's worth $250,000 — $20,000 less than they owe on their mortgage loan. No lender is going to give them a new loan large enough to pay off their current mortgage.

A little more than six weeks ago, the Federal Reserve cut short-term interest rates by the largest amount in 18 years. Some hoped those cuts would translate into lower rates on long-term loans, such as mortgages.

It didn't turn out that way. Mortgage interest rates have risen, as bond investors, worried about the economy, have fueled a rush into Treasury bonds, which drove up long-term interest rates.

The average rate for a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage last week was 6.13 percent, up from an average of 5.48 percent during the week of the Fed's rate cut.

American Regulators Demand Information From Leading Banks

Luke Ford — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 04:12:00 +0000

The AP says the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has asked for information from Citigroup Inc., Bank of America Corp., Wells Fargo & Co., JPMorgan Chase & Co., US Bancorp, National City Corp. HSBC Plc and First Horizon National Corp.Those banks are the big players in the loan biz. They must return results for October 2007 through February by March 31.