Like many people, Terry Hoskins has had troubles with his bank. But his solution to foreclosure might be unique.  Hoskins said he’s been in a struggle with RiverHills Bank over his Clermont County home for nearly a decade, a struggle that was coming to an end as the bank began foreclosure proceedings on his $350,000...
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Question: As one of the 160,000-plus people waiting in the pipeline to apply for a mortgage reduction at the same lender mentioned in your recent column, I was greatly puzzled by one point in your article: “If you show negative cash flow, your application will be denied, period.” Isn’t having a negative cash flow...
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Washington (CNN) — Health insurance premiums have skyrocketed in recent years and a new government report says the increases are likely to continue, underscoring the need for reform. In releasing the report Thursday, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius pointed to the recent announcement by Anthem Blue Cross of California that it plans to...
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Beginning less than a year ago a company in Scottsdale, Arizona backed by a $50 Billion hedge fund has started offering underwater homeowners a permanent solution to their nightmare of negative equity. Offering a Principal Reduction Program which essentially is a large scale Note Purchase program on the secondary market. The Principal Reduction Program...
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The Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) has finally gotten some legs, with permanent loan modifications doubling last month compared to December, according to the Treasury. More than 116,000 homeowners have now received permanent HAMP modifications and another 76,000 have been offered to borrowers, with only the borrower signature in the way of being finalized. At the...
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In the wake of the housing bubble and the lingering economic downturn, 23% of homeowners now owe more on their mortgage than their home is worth.  Many are so far underwater that they have no reasonable hope of creating equity until the housing market fully recovers.  For the hardest hit areas, this could take...
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Comments (7) With so many homes worth less than the balance of the loan, many more people are turning to short sales. A short sale is when your lender agrees to let you sell your house at a loss rather than let the home go into foreclosure. But it’s no slam-dunk. Sara Williams and her husband...
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Recently, Anthem Blue Cross of California, an insurance company owned by the for-profit company WellPoint, Incorporated, announced that its individual market premiums would rise by as much as 39 percent in the coming months. This shocking increase isn’t unique. Across the country, families have seen their premiums skyrocket in recent years, and experts predict...
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Under the federal Home Affordable Modification Program, monthly payments were permanently lowered for 116,297 loans by the end of January, up from 66,465 a month earlier. Reporting from Washington – The number of mortgages with permanently lowered monthly payments under the Obama administration’s foreclosure prevention program increased dramatically in January. In all, the number went up...
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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 9 percent,...
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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 was explaining...
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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 in...
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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 a...
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