Mortgage | featured news

Bank of America is making its first moves as part of its deal with the government in the massive $25 billion mortgage settlement. The nation’s second largest bank said today that it started reaching out to more than 200,000 customers about principal reductions on their mortgages. The letters from the bank are expected to arrive at customers’ homes this week with much of the remaining to be sent out by July.

A couple of weeks ago, I responded to a couple of questions about paying off your mortgage early. This week, I got the opposite question. Given record low mortgage rates, does it even make sense to ever pay off your mortgage at all?

Wells Fargo's profit jumped 13 percent in the first three months of the year, thanks to strong mortgage lending and a drop in delinquent loans, the bank said Friday.

Mortgage rates are sharply lower on news of a weakening job market, with the 30-year fixed loan averaging 3.88% this week and the 15-year fixed at a record low of 3.11%, according to Freddie Mac.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on Wednesday that the United States was far behind on reforming the country's housing finance system where the government's mortgage buyers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac provide funding for the bulk of U.S. home loans.

Edward J. DeMarco, who oversees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, has infuriated many by refusing to tell the home loan giants to reduce the amounts owed by distressed homeowners.

Bank of America said Friday it would reduce by about $100,000 the amount owed by as many as 200,000 underwater homeowners as part of the recently announced government foreclosure settlement with top mortgage servicers.

The federal regulator for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac said it would eliminate performance-based bonuses for senior executives at the two mortgage-finance firms.

Banks are foreclosing on America's churches in record numbers as lenders increasingly lose patience with religious facilities that have defaulted on their mortgages, according to new data.

Mortgage rates remained unchanged for the second consecutive week, holding steady this week at an all-time low of 3.87 percent for the average 30-year fixed rate, according to the latest Freddie Mac Mortgage Market survey released Thursday.