foreclosures

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Carson Sidekick Faces Home Foreclosure

McMahon, out of work after injury, tries to keep $5M Beverly Hills pad

(Newser) - Former Johnny Carson sidekick Ed McMahon, 85 and out of work following a fall, is in negotiations with lenders to save his Beverly Hills home from foreclosure, the Wall Street Journal. He owed $644,000 on a $4.8 million loan as of February, plus $300,000 on a line...

Bill Could Cripple Minn. Governor in Mac Veepstakes

Decision to veto measure could look bad on national stage for Pawlenty

(Newser) - A top Republican vice-presidential possible is in a fix, as his pending decision on state housing legislation could come back to hurt in the general election. Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty has a foreclosure-deferment bill sitting on his desk; he’s already voiced opposition to it, but vetoing it might make...

Foreclosure Sales Rebound as Buyers Snap Up Deals

But prices drop drastically as lenders bite the bullet

(Newser) - April generally was not a great month for home sales, the Wall Street Journal reports—except in the areas hardest hit by the subprime crisis as lenders slash prices on foreclosed homes and buyers snap them up. Subprime-riddled Detroit, for example, has seen home sales rise 48% in the past...

Squatters, Scammers Move In on Foreclosed Homes

Increasingly, abandoned homes are being used for nefarious activity

(Newser) - Add a new twist to the housing crisis: Squatters are increasingly using homes that have been abandoned for months, and con artists are scamming banks in “cash for keys” deals or luring people into “leasing” homes that actually are foreclosures sitting empty, Reuters reports. Authorities can have a...

Foreclosures Go Upscale
 Foreclosures Go Upscale 
May 15, 2008 10:11 AM CDT

Foreclosures Go Upscale

It's taken longer for ballooning loans to hit the wealthy, now facing the music

(Newser) - Luxury homes—once seemingly immune from the mortgage crisis—are starting to hit foreclosure lists across the nation, the Washington Post reports. And, real-estate agents predict, it’s just the beginning of a trend likely to grow as more buyers who bought beyond their means with adjustable-rate and interest-only mortgages...

Investment Firm Bails Out Neverland

Eccentric Pop King gets to keep fantasy land estate

(Newser) - An investment company has bailed out Michael Jackson’s Neverland Ranch and a foreclosure auction of the 2,500-acre California property—which once featured roaming wild animals and amusement park rides—has been canceled, reports the Los Angeles Times. The financially troubled pop star bought the Los Olivos ranch in...

Fish Clean Up Mortgage Mess
 Fish Clean Up Mortgage Mess 
May 9, 2008 3:59 PM CDT

Fish Clean Up Mortgage Mess

Mosquito-eaters help keep abandoned pools from breeding disease

(Newser) - Stagnant pools bursting with mosquitoes have become a byproduct of the housing crisis, turning into breeding grounds for diseases like West Nile virus. But, the Wall Street Journal reports, there is a solution: Gambusia affinis, a natural predator, also known as the mosquito fish, that's hardy enough to police abandoned...

Treasury Boss: Worst Is Over
 Treasury Boss: Worst Is Over 
May 7, 2008 2:45 AM CDT

Treasury Boss: Worst Is Over

Paulson says US emerging from storm

(Newser) - The US is emerging from the credit woes triggered by the turmoil over subprime mortgages—despite the continuing wave of foreclosures across the nation, according to Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson. Paulson, in the most positive comments yet from the White House on the nation's economic troubles, in part credited the...

US Must Stop Foreclosures, Bernanke Warns

He warns of cascading crisis

(Newser) - Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke yesterday called for government intervention to halt home foreclosures, warning that to do nothing could "destabilize communities, reduce property values of nearby homes, and lower tax revenues." Bernanke said in a speech in New York that a million Americans were already three months...

Celebrity Foreclosure: Canseco's Out at Home

Former baseball star forced to move into smaller home

(Newser) - It can happen to the rich and famous, too: Jose Canseco's mansion is in foreclosure, and he's had to move into more modest digs, Inside Edition reports. Canseco owed more than $2.5 million on the California property his neighbors called the "hotel." He made $30 million in...

Federal Mortgage Plan Not Helping the Neediest: Critics

Only 2K in danger of foreclosure have been able to take advantage, stats show

(Newser) - A plan to federally subsidize the refinancing of troubled mortgages has in fact helped relatively few of the most at-risk borrowers, the New York Times reports. Though Bush administration officials said FHA Secure has benefited 150,000, federal statistics show that only 1,729 of those mortgages were delinquent. “...

House Panel OKs $15B Plan to Buy Foreclosed Homes

States, cities would get money to purchase and fix up houses

(Newser) - Lawmakers have backed a $15 billion aid package for municipalities so they can buy and fix up foreclosed homes, the Wall Street Journal reports. A House panel voted 38-26 for the measure, which would be split evenly between loans and grants. States could use the money to get vacated homes...

Housing Starts Hit 17-Year Low

March starts plummet 11.9% as foreclosures create glut on market

(Newser) - Foreclosures and a glut of unsold homes flooding the market were blamed for an 11.9% drop in new housing starts last month, more than twice the slide economists had predicted, reports Bloomberg. Starts are at the lowest level since March 1991, according to the Commerce Department, casting a pall...

March Foreclosures Up 57% Over Last Year; Worst Coming

February gains evaporate

(Newser) - Bank repossessions skyrocketed 129% over the 12-month period ending in March, and foreclosure filings rose 57% over the previous year, RealtyTrac announced today. March foreclosure notices rose 5%, after a 4% decline in February. All this “is ongoing fallout from people overextending themselves and using highly toxic loan products,...

Senate Passes Housing Aid Bill
 Senate Passes Housing Aid Bill 
Apr 10, 2008 3:02 PM CDT

Senate Passes Housing Aid Bill

Wins approval by wide margin, but House, Bush opposition leave fate uncertain

(Newser) - The Senate approved a $15 billion measure to address the housing slump today, including $6 billion in total tax breaks to homebuilding firms and a $7,000 tax credit for buyers of foreclosed homes. Though it passed by an 84-12 margin, opposition from President Bush and the House could yet...

More Fed Help on the Way for Homeowners

More FHA-insured mortgages to be available for strapped consumers

(Newser) - Homeowners struggling to avoid foreclosure are about to get a boost from the Federal Housing Administration. The FHA commissioner is expected to announce plans to expand an aid program that will allow borrowers saddled with negative equity to write down part of their mortgages and refinance their homes with cheaper...

States Act Aggressively to Fight Foreclosures

Unwilling to wait for the federal wrangling, states make bold moves

(Newser) - State lawmakers aren’t sitting around waiting for Washington to solve the mortgage crisis, the Wall Street Journal reports. Instead, many are taking aggressive steps to ease borrower pain, sometimes running afoul of lenders in the process. Illinois, Maryland, and Minnesota all have bills in the works to impose a...

Critics: Senate Plan Not Enough
Critics: Senate
Plan Not Enough 
Apr 3, 2008 11:55 AM CDT

Critics: Senate Plan Not Enough

Housing legislation doesn't do enough to help homeowners, they say

(Newser) - The Senate’s first major step toward trying to make sense of the US mortgage mess is a needed salve to businesses caught in the chaos, but it doesn’t go far enough to help homeowners, critics say. Lawmakers contend the plan is a start toward addressing a multitude of...

Senators Cut Tentative Deal on Housing

Package includes tax credits, $4B in grants, $100M for homeowner counseling

(Newser) - The Senate today struck a deal on a package of legislation intended to soften the impact of the foreclosure crisis, the New York Times reports. The bipartisan measures include $4 billion to help local governments buy foreclosed properties and $100 million for homeowner counseling. Harry Reid called the tentative deal,...

Steal the Pipes, Ditch the House

As metal prices soar and housing prices dives, thieves find value in copper

(Newser) - Rising metal prices have rendered some foreclosed homes worth less than their plumbing, and thieves are stripping the vacant abodes of copper, aluminum, and brass to fuel a lucrative overseas trade. Several states have hardened penalties for metal theft, but skyrocketing nonferrous metals prices have thieves risking steel cages for...

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