Wells Fargo & Co. has agreed to pay $85 million to settle civil charges that it falsified loan documents and pushed borrowers toward subprime mortgages with higher interest rates during the housing boom.
Moody's Analytic's chief economist offers three provocative ways the government can take charge of the housing crisis and turn the market around.
Lawmakers and enforcement agencies called for hearings and further investigation Tuesday after learning that the illegal practice known as robo-signing has continued in the mortgage industry.
Mortgage industry employees are still signing documents they haven't read and using fake signatures more than eight months after big banks and mortgage companies promised to stop the illegal practices that led to a nationwide halt of home foreclosures.
Foreclosures remain at the heart of the housing crisis, with banks unable to sell all the homes they’ve repossessed and more foreclosures trickling down the pipeline each day.
Approximately 1.7 million properties entered some stage of foreclosure during the first six months of 2011, but the numbers should actually be much higher.
In a move that could help millions of jobless homeowners avoid foreclosure, the government has extended its Home Affordable Unemployment Program from three to 12 months.
The problem with the housing market is a collection of stalled foreclosures that need to clear before the market can recover, says one analyst.
Wells Fargo is bringing struggling homeowners face to face with an army of loan servicers who intend to keep them out of foreclosure.
When to make repairs, keep paying your mortgage or sell the property.
