By Theo Francis Feb. 17 (Bloomberg) — Mortgage modifications made permanent last month under President Barack Obama’s foreclosure prevention initiative exceeded for the first time the pace of trial plans started as aid to homeowners began to take hold. Modifications made permanent jumped 75 percent in January from December, while new trials rose about...
Daily Archives: February 17, 2010
Talking car insurance with Mercury’s top man
George Joseph is bankrolling Proposition 17 on the June ballot, saying it’s about lowering rates for California drivers. Not everyone agrees. I spent nearly two hours last Friday in the office of Mercury Insurance Chairman George Joseph. He seemed like a nice guy, but half an hour into it, my head was spinning. Joseph...
New wave of foreclosures by end of 2010 is feared
Reporting from Washington – Experts fear that a new wave of foreclosures will hit this year as prolonged unemployment makes it difficult for millions of homeowners to pay their mortgages — and many of them aren’t likely to get much help from a federal program aimed at keeping them in their houses. Banks participating...
Santa Clara County foreclosures spike
After taking a break for the holidays, foreclosures spiked in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties in January. Despite efforts by the federal government and lenders to help people stay in their homes, foreclosures rose 37 percent in Santa Clara County last month from December, and 71 percent in San Mateo County, according to...
ING misses expectations, no insurance IPO this year
Q4 loss 712 million euros vs forecast 306 mln loss * Charges for aid repayment offset bank profits * Assumption changes drive surprise insurance loss * Start of insurance disposal unlikely this year * Shares up 4.6 pct, outperform banking sector (Adds press conference, Breakingviews column) By Ben Berkowitz AMSTERDAM, Feb 17 (Reuters) –...
Why The US Housing Market Will Remain Under Pressure
I have maintained and continue to maintain that unless and until we see a measurable decline in mortgage delinquencies, we will not truly experience a measurable turn in the tide for housing overall. In this same vein, new studies project that measures taken to aid delinquent borrowers and to stem the tide of foreclosures...
US banks take hit to clear home loan books
Big US banks including Bank of America, Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup are moving to clear their books of troubled mortgages by embracing “short sales”, in which homeowners settle debts by selling their properties for less than the mortgage value. Short sales are expected to climb sharply this year as home values continue...
