Massachusetts Governor Deval L. Patrick (left) and Eric Rosengren, President
of the Boston Fed confer The Fed coordinated and effort by several banks to
help struggling homeowners (Photo By Binyamin Appelbaum Boston Globe Staff
/ December 21, 2007) (entire article)
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 Mortgage Fraud Blog - Entries/Case From Massachusetts
February 2009
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Coming Wave of Resets - Is there a Simple Answer? (Mortgage News Daily) 02/10/2009
"According to an article written last week by Eric Uhlfelder, Credit Suisse maintains that
about trillion in Alt-A and option payment mortgages are scheduled to have rate resets
in the next 30 months. These resets, the bank says, could cause as much future damage
as the subprime crisis has already inflicted.........."
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January 2009
December 2008
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Forestalling Foreclosure (Time) 12/31/2008
"If you think subprime lenders are the loan sharks of real estate, then loan servicers--the outfits that
collect mortgage money and run the books--are the enforcers. Their job is to keep the dough coming,
no matter what. Yet Ocwen, one of the nation's largest servicers of subprime loans, has rewritten its
role as the heavy and may have an approach to modifying delinquent loans that could slow the wave
of foreclosures undermining the economy." (entire article)
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Loan Mod Programs Ready to Go (Boston Herald ) 12/07/2008
"You may have seen headlines about the latest public and private efforts to help financially distressed
homeowners cope with their mortgage payments. But you might not have caught key details that could
have personal impact on you or people you know - now or in the recession months ahead. (entire article)
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November 2008
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US Rep Frank targets mortgage service legal pacts (Reuters) 11/12/2008
"Moving on a new front to attack the nation's financial crisis, Rep. Barney Frank called for legislation
to address contractual agreements that can bar servicing companies from substantially changing the
terms of troubled mortgages. (entire article)
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The New Plan to Keep People in Their Homes (Washington Post) 11/12/2008
"Who is eligible: If the property is a single-family residence in which you live and you're 90 or more days
past due on your payments or in foreclosure, you are eligible. You cannot be in bankruptcy.
(entire article)
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The New Plan to Keep People in Their Homes (Washington Post) 11/12/2008
"Who is eligible: If the property is a single-family residence in which you live and you're 90 or more days
past due on your payments or in foreclosure, you are eligible. You cannot be in bankruptcy.
(entire article)
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The Foreclosure Fight Gets Streamlined (Washington Post) 11/12/2008
"As losses from bad loans continue to mount despite more than a year of government and industry focus,
some of the giants of the mortgage industry, including Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, yesterday unveiled
another stepped-up effort to keep delinquent borrowers out of foreclosure. (entire article)
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New Program Could Help Half a Million Homeowners (ABC News) 11/11/2008
"CitiMortgage, the nation's fourth-largest mortgage lender, announced today a new assistance program
aimed at homeowners potentially at risk of falling behind on their payments or losing their homes to
foreclosure. Citi's homeowner assistance program will reach out to 500,000 customers still current with
their monthly payments but who live in areas where home prices are falling or unemployment rates are rising.
This represents nearly a third of the mortgages that Citi owns. (entire article)
October 2008
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MLAC Reducing Grants to Massachusetts Legal Aid Programs by 40 Percent (MarketWatch) 10/31/2008
"These are the most extreme cuts we've ever had to make to programs in our 25-year history," says Lonnie
Powers, MLAC's executive director. "Some programs are going to lose up to 30 percent of their budgets.
This is going to be devastating for low-income people who need legal help with problems threatening their
housing, health care and employment." (entire article)
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JPMorgan to ramp up loan help (Boston Globe) 10/31/2008
"The New York banking company already has renegotiated billion in loans and now plans to
tackle billion more in an attempt to help another 400,000 families reduce their payments.
As part of that effort, JPMorgan will establish 24 homeowner centers around the country and
hire 300 loan counselors. (entire article)
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Bill Delahunt calls for changes in bankruptcy court (Boston Herald) 10/22/2008
"U.S. Rep. Bill Delahunt says Congress should allow bankruptcy courts to modify the terms of
"predatory" loans. Delahunt, a member of the House Judiciary Committee, spoke Wednesday at a
special briefing at the Statehouse discussing the mortgage foreclosure crisis and its impact on the
economy and financial markets". (entire article)
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Dodd To Offer More Reforms (MSNBC) 10/14/2008
"Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd applauded the Administration's rescue strategy
for financial institutions today, but said more steps should be taken to help consumers. When Congress
returns after the elections, Dodd said, he'll offer a legislative package of reforms directed specifically
towards Main Street. (entire article)
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Statements by Paulson, Bernanke, Bair (Wall Street Journal) 10/14/2008
"Today we are taking decisive actions to protect the U.S. economy, to strengthen public confidence
in our financial institutions, and to foster the robust functioning of our credit markets. These steps will
ensure that the U.S. financial system performs its vital role of providing credit to households and
businesses and protecting savings and investments in a manner that promotes strong economic growth
in the U.S. and around the world. The overwhelming majority of banks in the United States are strong
and well-capitalized. These actions will bolster public confidence in our system to restore and stabilize
liquidity necessary to support economic growth". (entire article)
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On Second Go-Around, House Passes Bailout Bill (NPR) 10/03/2008)
"The U.S. House has reversed itself and given final approval to a giant economic bailout bill.
The measure — revised, re-framed and expanded — passed comfortably by a vote of 263 to
171. It attracted 26 more Republicans and 32 more Democrats than last Monday night."
(entire article)
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Obama, McCain help House pass financial bill (AP) 10/03/2008
"WASHINGTON (AP) — Presidential contenders Barack Obama and John McCain helped House
Leaders round up votes for Friday's passage of a 0 billion financial rescue plan, and Obama's
role seemed particularly energetic, Democrats said. (entire article)
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Senate Passes Bailout Bill 74-25 (BusinessWeek) 10/02 2008
"In the first anti-climax of the legislative drama that started 13 days ago with a market slide and
rumblings of a rescue proposal from Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, the Senate passed a
much-embellished version of his 0 billion proposal by a wide margin, 74-25. (entire article)
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Federal agency offers help fending off foreclosure (Boston Globe) 10/02/2008
"Homeowners can refinance through new FHA program. Struggling homeowners with plummeting
property values may now be able to avoid foreclosure by refinancing their mortgages through a new
federal program, the Department of Housing and Urban Development said yesterday." (entire article)
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September 2008
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A Foreclosure Nightmare (Boston Globe) 09/29/2008
"Over the weekend the Associated Press moved a story about an Ohio couple who bought a home
that had been foreclosed on. Their story sounds like the plot to a movie of the week: They thought
it was their dream house, complete with a great backyard where their young children could play, but
the former owner just couldn’t let go" (entire article).
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Lenders' woes could aid borrowers (Boston Globe) 09//18/2008
"WASHINGTON - The government's takeover of the mortgage finance companies Fannie Mae and
Freddie Mac should provide an opportunity to modify more home loans for troubled borrowers, gov't
officials said yesterday. (entire article).
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Economic angst tops Presidential election issues in Massachusetts town (USA Today) 09/18/2008
"FITCHBURG, Mass. — Folks at the City Hall Cafe on Main Street are bracing for trouble.
Waitress Mona Roberts starts a second job as a home health care worker this weekend.
Proprietor John Karanasios is debating whether he could unscrew some of the light bulbs in the
diner to reduce his ,800-a-month utilities bill. Roger Nascimento, owner of a small house-painting
business who has dropped in to grab a quick breakfast, may close off the second floor of his home
and move his family downstairs this winter to save on heating costs. (entire article).
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Coakley: Foreclosure Relief Program Has Failed (Worcester Business Journal) 09/17/2008
"State Attorney General Martha Coakley has submitted testimony to the U.S. House Financial Services
Committee blasting what she calls the mortgage industry's lack of action on loan modifications. Coakley
is scheduled to testify before the committee, which is chaired by U.S. Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass.,
tomorrow regarding the state's investigation into auction-rate securities fraud". (entire article)
August 2008
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Foreclosure predictions and dwindling sales (Boston Globe) 08//26/2008
"There’s lots to think about today, like whether the “housing stimulus package,” as the NAR dubs it, will really
jump-start sales, or whether the FBI could have prevented the total meltdown of the mortgage market if it had
just had a few more resources?" (entire article)
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Foreclosures Mean Crises for H.I.V. Positive Renters (NY. Times) 08/26/2008
"Mrs. Wilson, whose H.I.V. was diagnosed 18 years ago, had always dreaded the thought of having to find another
landlord who would accept her rental subsidy from the city. But this time, because her current landlord faced
forreclosure, the sense of urgency landed her in the hospital". (entire article)
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Home prices in state drop at record rate (Boston Herald) 08/26/2008
"Bay State median house prices fell 12.3 percent in July -- the steepest decline ever recorded,
new figures show. "The drop is a dramatic turnaround from five to six years ago. when prices
were escalating by double-digit percentages,” said Timothy Warren of market tracker the
Warren Group (entire article)
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The upside of home foreclosure (Boston Globe) 08/19/2008
"As devastating as it has been for families who have lost their homes, the foreclosure epidemic
has presented an unusual opportunity for a small but growing group of buyers previously priced
out of Boston's real estate market. (entire article)
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City to use grants to revive neighborhoods (New Bedford Standard Times) 08/07/2008
"NEW BEDFORD — A visit by U.S. Sen. John Kerry to the city Wednesday led to the announcement
of a new city program to use federal money to revitalize foreclosed and abandoned properties'"
(entire article)
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July 2008
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Overflow from foreclosures strains shelter (Worcester Telegram & Gazette) 07/24/2008
"STERLING— The calls keep on coming to The Animal Shelter of Sterling; dozens
per day. Dogs and cats keep arriving, surrendered by people losing their homes
or apartments to personal financial problems. (entire article)
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Housing bill heads to Senate; Bush withdraws veto threat (L.A. Times) 07/23/2008
"The House approved a sweeping plan Wednesday to ease the country's most serious
housing crisis since the Great Depression by providing aid to homeowners facing
foreclosure and a federal backstop for struggling mortgage giants Fannie Mae and
Freddie Mac.". (entire article).
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Woman Facing Foreclosure Commits Suicide (WCVB-TV 5 -Boston) 07/23/2008
"A Taunton woman committed suicide Tuesday hours before her mortgage company
was scheduled to auction off her home. Carlene Balderrama, 53, sent a fax to her
mortgage company threatening suicide earlier in the day. The company was planning
to sell her foreclosed home at 5 p.m." (entire article).
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June 2008
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Senate holiday on housing rescue (CNNMoney.com) 06/27/2008
""Every day that passes is another opportunity for special interests to try to change the bill. Those changes
could unravel the bipartisan compromise and sink the legislation," wrote analyst Jaret Seiberg in a
research note. But, he added, "we justify such high odds despite the current troubles as we continue
to see passage as politically important to both parties." (entire article)
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Cape foreclosures hit record (Cape Cod Times) 06/24/2008
"Foreclosures on Cape Cod reached their highest level in at least 14 years last month, with 54 completed,
according to a review of records from the Barnstable County Registry of Deeds.Last month's foreclosures
bring the total for the year to 209. " (entire article)
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Multi-family, multi-woes (New Bedford Standard Times) 06/22/2008
""It is time to stop foreclosures and start negotiations," he said. "We want to see families stay in their
community and for children to stay in their schools." Exactly the opposite is happening, local activists say.
(entire article)
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New law creates temporary lull in foreclosures (Boston Globe) 06/12/2008
"The reason for the drop was caused by a mandated extension before lenders can take foreclosure action
in Massachusetts Land Court, said ForeclosuresMass.com, a provider of local foreclosure data for investors,
real estate professionals, and mortgage brokers. (entire article)
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States take a whack at foreclosures
(CNNMoney.com) 06/20/2008
"Massachusetts' Attorney General Martha Coakley went after a particularly invidious form of this crime called "equity stripping" in which scamsters persuade borrowers to temporarily assign them title to their homes so the foreclosure can't proceed. The crooks promise to make payments while homeowners repair their finances and get back in a position to pay their mortgages again." (entire article)
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Massachusetts foreclosures rose in national survey
(Boston Globe) 06/12/2008
"Massachusetts ranked eighth in the nation for foreclosure activity in May, according to a monthly survey issued today by RealtyTrac Inc. of California, an online marketplace for foreclosed properties. In April, the same survey, titled the US Foreclosure Market Report, found Massachusetts in 10th place." (entire article)
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May 2008
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‘Cash-outs’ up foreclosures
(Boston Herald) 05/30/2008
"Bay State homeowners who’ve lost properties in the foreclosure crisis usually started out with “prime” mortgages but apparently did “cash-out” refinancings and ended up in subprime loans, new research shows."
(entire article)
February 2008
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Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino opens "war room" to fight foreclosures
(Boston Globe) 02/27/2008
"Mayor Thomas M. Menino gathered top city officials today to try to demonstrate that his administration was committed to battling the local impact of the nation's foreclosure crisis." (entire article)
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Judge slows foreclosures -Lender’s loans called ‘unfair’ under Mass. law
(Boston Herald) 02/27/2008
"A Suffolk Superior Court judge has issued a landmark ruling slowing down thousands of Massachusetts foreclosures and declaring whole classes of mortgages “structurally unfair” under state law. " (entire article)
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Help hard to get for troubled home owners (Reuters) 02/27/2008
"DETROIT (Reuters) - As the housing crisis deepens, major lenders say they will help borrowers avoid foreclosure, but nonprofit groups and others say their actions are not living up to their promises.
"Some lenders are willing and able to work out loan modifications," said Juanita Bryant, a loss mitigation officer at Michigan Neighborhood Partnership, which covers one of the worst-hit states in the country. "Those lenders are in the minority." " (entire article)
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Confronting a Wave of Foreclosures (New York Times) 02/24/2008
"WITH more than 20,000 subprime mortgages in Connecticut scheduled to reset to higher interest rates over the next two years, the wave of foreclosures currently flooding court dockets throughout the state represents the early stages of what could be a protracted deluge. While foreclosures are up all over the state, the region hit hardest so far is New Haven County."
(entire article)
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Banks Lose to Homeowners, as Loans Sold in Bonds Vanish
(Bloomberg) 02/22/2008
" -- Joe Lents hasn't made a payment on his 1.5 million dollar mortgage since 2002. That's when Washington Mutual Inc. first tried to foreclose on his home in Boca Raton, Florida. The Seattle-based lender failed to prove that it owned Lents's mortgage note and dropped attempts to take his house. Subsequent efforts to foreclose have stalled because no one has produced the paperwork" (entire article)
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Senate Plans Foreclosure Bill Debate Next Week (Reuters) 02/22/2008
"WASHINGTON - The Democratic-led U.S. Senate plans to begin debate next week on a home mortgage foreclosure-prevention bill that would let bankruptcy judges erase debt and that would provide billions of dollars to rehabilitate abandoned properties." (entire article)
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January 2008
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A crisis rumbles along Route 2 (Boston Globe) 01/27/2008
"Now the towns along Route 2 and west of Interstate 495 are among those with the highest rates of foreclosures in Massachusetts, according to figures released by real estate data provider, Warren Group. Fitchburg, for example, had the eighth-highest concentration of foreclosures among Massachusetts communities in 2007 - 12 homes seized for foreclosure for every 1,000 housing units, 120 properties in all" (entire article)
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New Trend: 'Intentional Foreclosure'(WJZ Ch.13- Baltimore MD) 01/26/2008
"This is how it works. Bob paid Four Hundred-Twenty Thousand dollars for his home. Then he notices the house across the street, with more upgrades, and is selling for Three Hundred-Fifteen Thousand dollars.
So Bob, who has pretty good credit, decides to buy the cheaper house. He can't afford both, so then he walks away from his original home, letting it fall into foreclosure. That will hurt his credit, but he's willing to take the hit for a more affordable home."
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A Foreclosure-free Option (Boston Globe) 01/23/2008
"The mortgage crisis and the rise in foreclosures nationwide have left the American dream in tatters and may be sparking a recession. Yet a fast-growing form of housing - the community land trust - has become a virtually foreclosure-free safe harbor. One of the best examples of this fresh approach to putting a roof over people's heads is in Boston." (entire article)
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Dogs, cats latest victims of subprime-mortgage mess (Chicago Tribune)01/22/2007
"Authorities around the country in recent months have reported numerous findings of cats, dogs, birds, horses and other animals at foreclosed houses and farms. Among the more notorious cases, animals were found in large number -- three dogs and 20 birds in a house in Lorain, Ohio; 24 horses on a farm in Bixby, Okla.; and 63 cats in a house in Cincinnati. It was too late when authorities got to a foreclosed house in Bradford, Pa., to discover the bodies of 21 Great Danes. The owner on Thursday pleaded guilty to 21 counts of animal cruelty." (entire article)
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Mortgage Broker's Client's Detail Web of Dashed Dreams (Boston Globe) 01/20/2008
"When Marcia Neilson couldn't qualify for a home loan in early 2006 because of poor credit, her mortgage broker, Nicole Lyder, had an unusual solution: Add Neilson's daughter to the loan application.
Neilson's 21-year-old daughter had just lost her job, but Lyder remained undeterred. "That wasn't a problem," Neilson recalled her broker saying. ...." (entire article)
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Toledo, Ohio pilot program to assist 10 in foreclosure Nonprofit to arrange lease-purchase deals (Toledo Blade) 01/18/2008
"The city of Toledo and two local housing agencies plan to launch a pilot program to bail out 10 families in danger of losing their homes through foreclosure because their interest rates ballooned, Mayor Carty Finkbeiner announced yesterday."
"The new "Toledo Family Foreclosure Program," will identify a non-profit agency to purchase homes in foreclosure and then arrange a lease-purchase agreement with the family occupying the home, Mr. Finkbeiner said." (entire article)
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Citigroup May Cut Thousands of Jobs
(AP) 01/15/2008
"Citigroup Inc. is expected to announce thousands of job cuts after posting dismal results for the fourth quarter, when the bank's mortgage-riddled portfolio lost billions of dollars in value." (entire article)
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Bank of America buys Countrywide
(Boston Globe) 01/11/2008
"Bank of America Corp. said today that it has agreed to buy Countrywide Financial for billion in stock, a deal that both rescues the country's biggest mortgage lender and expands the financial services empire of the nation's largest consumer bank. " (entire article)
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Countrywide Suffers Worst Loss Since 1987 -
On Bankruptcy Rumors (Bloomberg) 01/08/2008
"Jan. 8 (Bloomberg) -- Countrywide Financial Corp. dropped the most since Black Monday in October 1987 in New York trading on speculation that it needs cash to continue operating its mortgage business.
``There's some sort of rumor that they would go under, but it's purely a rumor,'' said Thomas Garcia, head of trading at Thornburg Investment Management, which oversees about billion in Santa Fe, New Mexico. (entire article)
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Foreclosure fallout - Landlord’s Financial Problems
(Providence Journal) 01/07/2008
"Maria Simmons knew nothing about her landlord’s financial problems when she and her family moved into their rental house in a middle-class neighborhood in East Providence.
But the houses on Oak Avenue squeeze up against one another, and neighbors talk. One month after the Simmons family moved in, a woman across the street spotted a foreclosure notice for 95 Oak Ave. in The Providence Journal.
You know your house is being foreclosed on, don’t you? she said to Maria. (entire article)
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December 2007
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Bush Signs Mortgage Legislation -Gives Tax Break to Homeowners for Mortgage Debt Forgiven
(AP) 12/20/2007
"President Bush on Thursday signed a measure to provide financial relief for financially strapped homeowners facing foreclosure or in bankruptcy.
The bill gives a tax break to homeowners who have mortgage debt forgiven as part of a foreclosure or renegotiation of a loan. No taxes would be owed on the value of any debt forgiven or written off. Currently such debt forgiveness is taxable income."
(entire article)
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Rate freeze not the key, Paulson says
(LA Times) 12/20/2007
"Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. on Wednesday downplayed the mortgage-rate-freeze element of the Bush administration's program to help the sinking housing market, saying it wasn't the principal focus of the plan -- despite the raised hopes of some struggling homeowners.
In a meeting with Times reporters and editors in Los Angeles, Paulson suggested that there had been too much emphasis in the media on the rate-freeze aspect of the pact that major loan servicers and investors reached with the administration 12/6
(entire article)
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Portuguese Club Averts Foreclosure
(Boston Globe) 12/20/2007
"The Hudson Portuguese Club raised more than million in six weeks to stave off foreclosure on its Port Street property last month, said John Figueiredo, president of the club's board of directors.
more stories like thisThe successful fund-raising campaign means the 89-year-old club will be able to continue its traditional offerings of Portuguese-language classes, soccer tournaments, and other cultural activities, he said. The club also hosted a visit by the president of Portugal last summer, he said." (entire article)
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Foreclosures Rise 68% In A Year
(Boston Globe) 12/20/2007
"US home foreclosures rose 68 percent in November from a year earlier and may surge in 2008 as adjustable-rate mortgages leave subprime borrowers unable to meet higher payments, according to data compiled by RealtyTrac Inc. (entire article)
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Huckabee Talks Tough on Mortgage Bailout
(NPR.org) 12/15/2007
"What you have is a situation where you have culpability on the part of the lenders and the borrowers. The fact is you need to encourage the lenders to try to work with those who have borrowed to keep from foreclosure because ultimately nobody wins......" (entire article)
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Lenders Agree to "Teaser" Rates
(Boston Globe) 12/07/2007
"There is no perfect solution," President Bush said yesterday. "The homeowners deserve our help. The steps I've outlined today are a sensible response to a serious challenge."
(entire article)
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Fox News View of President Bush Foreclosure Prevention Plan (Fox News) 12/06/2007
"Bush also said Congress has a role to play, including modernizing FHA, enabling government sponsored enterprises like Freddie Mac and Fannie May to move more liquidity into the market and making a temporary fix to the tax code. He blamed them for not moving quickly on legislation begun early this year." (entire article)
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New York Times View of President Bush Foreclosure Prevention Plan (NYT) 12/06/2007
"“It seems that President Bush is going to give struggling homeowners far less than they need,” Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York said in a statement on Monday. “With news accounts using terms like ‘whittled down’ and ‘limited’ to describe the scope of the Bush plan, it appears that the president is pushing a freeze for a very narrow group of borrowers.” (entire article)
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
*If you have questions about forclosure prevention, or foreclosure defense,please contact me for a no obligation
discussion about your situation. I will look at your situation, and If I can help you I'll let you know, if I can't, I'll tell
you know that too, and if possible refer you to someone that can help you. "
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
The most recent update of this page occurred on 08/19/2008.
Nothing contained herein should be construed to constitute advice for your personal circumstances. This is
intended as a peripheral exposure to the various options available, but by no means is this a comprehensive
or exhaustive analysis of the bankruptcy laws or their alternatives. Whether or not you should file a Chapter 7
bankruptcy, Chapter 13 bankruptcy, or any bankruptcy, will vary depending on your personal circumstances
and should only be undertaken after careful consideration, analysis and after consultation with an attorney
experienced with such matters. These pages may contain information and rules peculiar to the Commonwealth
of Massachusetts
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