Issues
Do you really want your bank to be your landlord?
Remember way back when banks wanted to sell homes? When the market went bust, it gave new meaning to “Be careful what you wish for.” Now banks are signing up to be landlords of all those properties they’ve been unable to sell. And the Feds are helping make it happen.
Callifornia ‘Homeowner Bill of Rights’ bills pass legislative committees
CALIFORNIA ATTORNEY GENERAL - Attorney General Kamala D. Harris, on April 17, announced seven bills in the California Homeowner Bill of Rights to protect homeowners from unfair practices
Housing takes upbeat swing into spring
Housing's spring swing looks more and more like it isn't just a fling. On average nationwide, prices and sales are up, inventories are down and more and more markets
Infographic: CFPB releases financial aid comparison shopper for students
CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION BUREAU - The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) today launched the next phase of its Know Before You Owe student loan project by releasing a
We can’t make this stuff up
From Pizza Hut in BriTON (UK) From Burger King U.S.A. (Test marketed in Nashville, Tonnessee) Write your own story. *Burp!* I'm
Infographic: MLSListings launches MLS Source mobile app for SF Bay Area buyers, sellers, real estate professionals
MLSLISTINGS.COM – Just in time for the spring home buying season, a new mobile real estate app is available for northern California home buyers and sellers – but
Federal discrimination suit brews over REO marketing, upkeep
(Update: NFHA, on April 10, filed discrimination charges against Wells Fargo with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.) The same kind of discrimination that saddled minorities with
More renters move up to home ownership, still more returning to the nest
In another sign of the housing recovery times, the trend of renters moving out to own homes is picking up speed at a pace not seen in 18
Investors: Let’s get this party started
If you think investors are charging the housing recovery, you ain't seen nothing yet. Investors, hand picking individual properties, working in groups, buying in bulk and smacking down all-cash
Treasury nets $25 billion in mortgage-backed securities
Chalk another economic one up for the Obama Administration. Remember how those toxic mortgages were bundled as securities and sold as investments to many poor saps before many of
Zillow experts take a ‘Mulligan,’ retreat from past housing recovery forecast
On tough news from the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices, Zillow's real estate market experts pulled a do-over on their forecast for home prices this year. It didn't help their
Burns Consulting: Lagging indicators may have cost home buyers bottom-market deals
If you've been waiting for the housing market to hit bottom, you may have waited too long. John Burns Consulting reported this week, buyers seeking the greatest bottom market
Most consumers don’t have a clue about HAMP, HARP
Recent enhancements to government programs designed to bail out more underwater homeowners and save others from foreclosure could be lost on millions of Americans. Most consumers don't even know
Pew’s ‘Transaction Infraction’ demonstrates how banks reorder transactions to extract unnecessary overdraft fees
The Pew Charitable Trusts offers an interactive "Transaction Infraction" graphic to reveal how lenders reorder debits and withdrawals in a non-chronological order, in order to maximize over draft
Stiff workouts trigger orgasms in some women
INDIANA UNIVERSITY - Findings from a first-of-its-kind study by Indiana University researchers confirm: that exercise-related groaning may actually be workout-induced moaning. According to anecdotal evidence gathered for the study,
National Mortgage Settlement generates controversy, scams, consumer guides
Along with the relief it's supposed to bring to millions of Americans, last week's official court filing of the $25 billion National Mortgage Settlement came with controversy, scams
Infographic: MOVOTO’s real estate timeline hits, misses
MOVOTO's real estate timeline infographic misses much - "discovering" America, the Manhattan land grab, the moon landing, DeadlineNews.com's re-launch, etc. A real estate information provider and transaction facilitator, MOVOTO,
Economy, stock market get real estate boost
No wonder the stock market is going ape. The housing market isn't such a jungle any more. Wednesday, March 14, 2012, the day after Apple helped NASDAQ nose above the
American Express: Tweet instead of singing for your supper
AMERICAN EXPRESS - A new American Express experience for U.S. card members using Twitter turns customized Twitter hash tags (#) into $aving$. American Express card holders who sync their
Strategic defaults on the rise, unfortunately
Apparently, homeowners aren't getting the message that strategic defaults are anything but strategic. A growing number of homeowners say, even if they can afford to make mortgage payments, they
