2007 USA Realty Meltdown

Remember the mortgage losers -- all those irresponsible Americans who took out loans they could not afford at the height of the housing boom, but then got caught with their pants down by the bust? They're an ever-popular scapegoat for those whose preference is to blame the financial crisis on the moral failings of individual American homeowners, rather than on the lenders and financial institutions who created the incentives for so much bad...  

Real estate news and views from around the globe that make you go, “Really?” A collection of reports on today’s SEC suit accusing New Century execs of covering up mounting financial woes. LATEST SUSPECTS: The New Century executives charged in the civil-fraud case are among several targeted by federal authorities looking into alleged wrongdoing tied to subprime [...]  

The Furman Center at New York University found that the probability that individual borrowers receive risky, high-cost subprime loans increases depending on the racial composition of the neighborhood or metropolitan area where they live.  

More than $200bn of outstanding pay-option adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) originated and securitized from ‘04-’07, according to market commentary by Moody’s Investors Service this week. This sector shows “dismal” performance, with more than 40% of borrowers 60 or more days past due on payments. And many of these loans have yet to experience a recast event, when [...]  

1) That's Community Reinvestment Act.2) Passed under Carter.3) CRA mandates applied to depository banks4) Subprime lending was primarily a problem of non-depository-bank financial institutions, who collected commissions for hooking up borrowers to banks without having to share in any of the risk of the subprime loans they negotiated.5) The bank collapses that brought about the economic collapse are investment banks, not depository banks.6...  

Calpers burns in subprime fire 24 Oct 2009, 0000 hrs IST, REUTERS SAN FRANCISCO: Faced with huge losses on subprime loans, Calpers is suing the rating agencies which it said misled them by giving top ratings to mortgage bond funds which later turned out to be a house of cards. Calpers also was overcharged for foreign exchange transactions, says state Attorney General Brown, who is suing bank State Street. The market rally this year also has...  

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., Dec. 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Many exotic Adjustable Rate Mortgages (ARMs) will recast in 2010, leading to a mortgage crisis as large as subprime in the New Year, according to the Consumer Mortgage Audit Center.  

Subprime mortgages: Myths And Reality Kent Cherny & Yuliya Demyanyk 17 October 2009 The global crisis is said to have originated in the US subprime mortgage market. This column argues that many of the most popular explanations that have emerged for the subprime crisis are, to a large extent, myths. Subprime mortgages have received a lot of attention in the US since 2000, when the number of subprime loans being originated and refinanced shot up...  

Katherine Coble is scaring me: From everything I’ve been reading and seeing of late, the Student Loan is in many ways the new subprime mortgage. The idea behind student loans is great. These loans are supposed to level the playing field a bit and make it possible for people without ready funds to be able to [...]  

CreditSights says accelerating shift from interest-only to higher amortising payments will spur delinquencies. Excerpts from US RMBS Update: A Payment-Shock Seesaw Delinquencies of 2005-vintage subprime and Alt-A loans will likely continue to be boosted because of mortgage-related payment shocks, CreditSights says in its latest update on the US RMBS market: “The past year has seen only 7% of [...]  

An ex-subprime lender employee of a sent us the scripts they used to cold-call homeowners back in 2005 to get them to ditch their 30-year fixed mortgages for risky sub-prime loans. One of them is called, "Wholesale Gangsta Script," which I think about says it all right there.  

FinalCall.com NewsNationally, delinquencies, foreclosures set recordNewsOK.comJob losses continue to increase and drive up delinquencies and foreclosures because mortgages are paid with paychecks, not percentage point increases in GDP ...The Economist: Same old problem, but a new causeMinneapolis Star TribuneLPS: Loan Deterioration Ratio Tops 3:1MortgageorbLegal defenses for the borrower who's fallen behindWashington PostBaltimore Sun -Grand...  

Jesse Jackson aims at 'banksters' to stop foreclosures in Toledo, USToledo BladeSome may not agree with Mr. Jackson's tactic, but he's gathering troops on the US front to march against joblessness, homelessness, and foreclosures. ...JESSE JACKSON WANTS FORECLOSURES HALTED FOR HOLIDAYS: Rev. asked Georgia banks ...Eurweb.comJesse Jackson comes to VictorvilleVictorville Daily PressJesse Jackson returns to ToledoToledo Bladeall 11 news articles »  

DSNews.comUniversity Study Forecasts Foreclosures to Fall by Nearly 35% in 2010DSNews.comHe predicts the number of foreclosures to hold at 1.75 million in 2011, before declining further to less than 1.5 million by early 2012. ...Look for foreclosures to drop in 2010Middle East North Africa Financial Networkall 3 news articles »  

NH Home Foreclosures Hit Record HighWCAXThere were 359 home foreclosures in October, a 25 percent increase over September and 8 percent over the same month last year. ...NH foreclosures hit record levelBoston Heraldall 10 news articles »