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Fewer underwater homeowners at regional, national level

The number of underwater homeowners in the Washington area decreased again in the last quarter of 2012, continuing a trend that has brought relief to thousands of borrowers.

 

What Happens When The Federal Reserve Stops Artificially Boosting The Economy, And Should You Worry About It?

To quell the latest financial crisis, the Federal Reserve smashed interest rates to the floor by buying bonds with money it effectively prints. Since 2008 assets on the Fed’s balance sheet, including those bonds, have tripled, to $3 trillion. (Hey, people needed encouragement, and low rates are encouraging.) The mixed results: Entrepreneurs and homeowners got some relief, while savers got whacked along with the value of the U.S. dollar. Starving for yield, investors piled into stocks, pushing the Dow Jones Industrial Average to its all-time high, absent inflation.

 

2 Million Americans No Longer Plagued By Negative Equity

Almost 2 million American homeowners were freed from negative equity in 2012, and the overall percentage of all homeowners with a mortgage in negative equity fell to 27.5 percent at the end of the fourth quarter, according to Zillow’s fourth quarter Negative Equity Report.

 

Taxpayers will ease banks' costs in mortgage deal

Consumer advocates have complained that U.S. mortgage lenders are getting off easy in a deal to settle charges that they wrongfully foreclosed on many homeowners....

 

Feds finalize protections for mortgage borrowers

The government's consumer lending watchdog finalized new rules Thursday aimed at protecting homeowners from shoddy service and unexpected fees charged by companies that collect their monthly mortgage payments.

 

Nearly one-third of U.S. homeowners have no mortgage

Home Ownership

Those who own homes outright include retirees and a surprisingly high percentage of young adults, real estate website Zillow finds.What mortgage meltdown?

 

10 banks agree to pay $8.5B for foreclosure abuse

Ten major banks and mortgage companies agreed Monday to pay $8.5 billion to settle federal complaints that they wrongfully foreclosed on homeowners who should have been allowed to stay in their homes.

 

FHA gives those who defaulted on homes another chance

...Critics worry that the FHA is foolishly allowing marginal buyers to get loans just three years after foreclosure with as little as 3.5% down. What's more, the agency doesn't even track how many rebound borrowers it backs. Exactly how much money is hemorrhaging from the agency could be revealed Thursday, when the agency files a self-evaluation report to Congress. Analysts say the FHA could request a bailout from the U.S. Treasury for the first time in its history.

 

Spain's politicians pledge to stop evictions after suicide

Spain's conservative prime minister and the leader of the opposition aim to agree measures on Monday to stop banks evicting homeowners after a woman's suicide before her property was repossessed caused public outrage.

 

Obama: Congress Should Help Responsible Homeowners

U.S. President Barack Obama is urging the Republicans in Congress to pass legislation that would help responsible homeowners refinance their mortgages at historically low rates.

 

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