Helping Homeowners Avoid Foreclosure
More on Helping Homeowners Avoid Foreclosure
By Lorraine Woellert and Clea Benson
U.S. House lawmakers criticized the Obama administration's program to prevent foreclosures as a Treasury Department official testified that the initiative has reduced monthly mortgage payments for almost 520,000 homeowners.
Phyllis Caldwell, chief of the Treasury's Homeownership Preservation Office, told House Financial Services Committee members at a hearing today that the number of borrowers aided by the administration's Home Affordable Modification Program had grown from the 495,898 reported in September.
By William Alden
A top Treasury department official said Thursday that the government has still not imposed any fines on banks that do not comply with the Obama administration's mortgage modification program.
In testimony before a House Financial Services subcommittee, Phyllis Caldwell, chief of Treasury's Homeownership Preservation Office, said her department has pursued "non-monetary remedies" but has not actually imposed any fines on banks for not complying with the administration's flagship $50 billion foreclosure prevention program.
By ALAN ZIBEL
House lawmakers scolded federal regulators Thursday, expressing frustration that they failed to investigate problems with foreclosure documents until the issue attracted widespread attention this fall.
Both Democrats and Republicans criticized a panel of regulators at a House subcommittee hearing, especially after officials said their agencies hadn't been paying attention to flaws in foreclosure paperwork until recently.
By Peter Schroeder
Both Republicans and Democrats pressed housing regulators on their inability to combat or prevent the mishandling of mortgage documentation amid foreclosure proceedings during a House Financial Services subcommittee hearing on Thursday.
Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) pressed housing regulators on the lack of monetary penalties assessed against mortgage servicers that did not meet documentation standards. Waters chairs the subcommittee on housing and community affairs, which held the hearing.
By Ronald D. Orol
By DAVID STREITFELD and NELSON D. SCHWARTZ
Changing the face of foreclosure in America will take some time, several state attorneys general said Wednesday, cautioning that an agreement with major lenders over revamped foreclosure practices was not imminent.
Obama Administration Investigation Finds Considerable Variation Among Operations of Five of the Largest Loan Handlers
By DAMIAN PALETTA And DAVID WESSEL
A four-month-long Obama administration probe into five of the country's largest mortgage servicers has discovered "a significant variation" among their operations, with some servicers "significantly worse than others" in how they handle home loans, U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Shaun Donovan said in an interview.
Mr. Donovan wouldn't identify which companies were laggards in the HUD review, but he said the administration plans to make the results of its investigation public in the next few weeks.
BOA, GMAC Mortgage Resume Foreclosures In 23 States
By ALAN ZIBEL, AP Real Estate Writer
Big lenders are trying to move past the foreclosure-document mess, saying they're now confident their paperwork is accurate.
Yet they face so much organized resistance that they can't just snap up their briefcases, declare the crisis over and move on.