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2 from Ira Artman – thanks Ira
Government Responds to Economic Woes by Making More Bad Mortgage Loans – By Robert Higgs – The Beacon Blog at Independent Institute
Athletes and RE – For Athletes in Motion, Real Estate Can Be a Burden – By JANE McMANUS – Last season, the veteran fullback Tony Richardson came to the Jets as a free agent, but he remained tethered to Minnesota by real estate. As the house Richardson bought during his two seasons with the Vikings languished on the market, he began paying rent in New York. Brett Favre also joined the Jets that season, coming in a trade from the Packers and soon he and Richardson were bonding over the headaches of trying to sell in a difficult real estate market. So when Favre became a Viking this season, he knew exactly where to go … – NY Times
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If Obama Flip-Flopped on Mortgage Cram-Down It Should Be Big News – Dean Baker’s Beat The Press Blog @ The American Prospect
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On Long Island, a Dumb and Expensive Ruling – Thomas Brown – In voiding a legitimate mortgage contract, a judge helps make borrowing a little harder for everyone – … This isn’t complicated. A mortgage is a legally binding contract. Both parties to the contract should expect that a judge will uphold the contract’s terms if they are challenged in court. But Judge Spinner didn’t do that. Instead, he tossed the mortgage aside, for no legally defensible reason … –Bankstocks.com
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The FHA goes upmarket – Washington’s latest benefit for the not-so-poor – … Legislation last year nearly doubled the maximum mortgage the FHA could insure, to $729,750 for single-unit properties and almost $1 million for multi-unit ones … and House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-Mass.) has spoken of making both ceilings $100,000 larger and permanent. … – Washington Post
good summary of our irresponsibility (BC) – The moral dimensions of ditching a mortgage – Kenneth R. Harney – Go ahead. Break the chains. Stop paying on your mortgage if you owe more than the house is worth. And most important: Don’t feel guilty about it. Don’t think you’re doing something morally wrong. That’s the incendiary core message of a new academic paper by Brent T. White, a University of Arizona law school professor, titled “Underwater and Not Walking Away: Shame, Fear and the Social Management of the Housing Crisis.” – Washington Post
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Reverse Mortgage Factsheet, Moving in the Right Direction – Developing a simple way to explain reverse mortgages for consumers using one image isn’t an easy task, but that didn’t stop ReverseMortgage.net from trying. The website created its own non-commercial visual with the help of the designers behind Mint.com – has link to 1 page chart – Reverse Mortgage Daily
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Few mortgages have been permanently modified – By E. Scott Reckard – Lenders have temporarily restructured hundreds of thousands of loans, but long-term changes have proved elusive, raising the specter of a new wave of foreclosures. – …Responding to an Obama administration initiative, lenders have temporarily restructured hundreds of thousands of mortgages, with hundreds of thousands more modified under the banks’ own programs. But achieving longer-term changes in the terms of mortgages has proved elusive, raising the prospect of a bigger wave of home repossessions that could cause a fresh decline in home prices only months after they appeared to hit bottom. … – LA Times
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(NY) Foreclosure Protections for All – By BOB TEDESCHI – LAST year, a new law was put into place in New York to help protect subprime mortgage borrowers from foreclosure. Now the state is on the verge of extending similar protections to prime borrowers, too. A bill passed by the State Legislature this month would require, among other things, that lenders give all borrowers 90 days’ warning before starting foreclosure proceedings and that they take part in settlement conferences with borrowers before proceeding with a foreclosure action. The bill also covers co-op owners. – NY Times