'Liar loans' threaten to prolong mortgage crisis

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 08:28:06 -0400

We Did It!

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 09:23:52 -0400

The Federal Reserve Board received an astounding 56,000 comments from the public regarding its proposal to curb credit card practices. In fact, we broke a record - this is the most comments the Fed has ever received on any of their proposals!

The message is clear: we're fed up with credit card tricks and traps!

Legislative Update: Posted by Sarah Byrnes on Caveat Emptor July 30, 2008 Permalink

Or at least credit card debt is, apparently. Our Partner CFED released We all know that credit card contracts are packed with fine print tricks and traps to increase the likelihood of paying fees and penalties. As part of our summer focus on credit cards, AFFIL has compiled this list of common tricks and traps. You will be hard pressed to find a credit card without these terms – at least until our government outlaws them – but if you’re informed and cautious, you have a better chance of steering clear of the traps and saving money.

Sick of banks and credit card companies coming up with ways to get your cash?

Do you want an end to the predatory lending practice that caused the subprime mortgage mess?

Check out this short article from PBS Now that lays out both Presidential Candidates' take on the issue.

Then visit our Campaign Center

Senators Caught in Mortgage Fallout

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 11:21:09 -0400

When Senator Kent Conrad of North Dakota wanted a mortgage for his beach house, he turned to a Washington insider, James A. Johnson, former head of Fannie Mae, the government mortgage giant, who then put the senator in touch with

Foreclosure Filings Jump, and Fall Is Forecast as Peak

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 11:19:54 -0400

WASHINGTON — The number of homeowners swept up in the housing crisis rose last month, with foreclosure filings up nearly 50 percent compared with a year earlier, a foreclosure listing company said Friday.

Nationwide, 261,255 homes received at least one foreclosure-related filing in May, up 48 percent, from 176,137, in the same month a year ago and up 7 percent from April, the listing company, RealtyTrac, said.

One in every 483 households received a foreclosure filing in May, the highest number since RealtyTrac started the report in 2005 and the second-consec...

McCain has lots on credit cards

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 11:18:21 -0400

WASHINGTON, June 13 (UPI) -- Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and his wife, Cindy, have something in common with ordinary Americans -- a lot of credit card debt.

In his latest financial disclosure report, McCain said that he and his wife owe between $10,000 and $15,000 on one card, while Cindy McCain owes between $100,000 and $250,000 to American Express, The Hill, a Washington newspaper, reported. The McCains have another Amex card, listed as being used by a dependent child, that is carrying a balance of $10,000 to $15,000.

Sen. Barack ...

Obama has round-table talk on South Side

Thu, 12 Jun 2008 12:12:18 -0400

Democratic White House hopeful Barack Obama held a round-table talk today on the South Side with three consumers gouged by credit card companies.

“For too long, credit card companies have been using unfair and deceptive practices to trick Americans into signing agreements they can’t afford,” Obama said

The credit card companies start with teaser rates of four percent, then jack them up to 30 percent, lower customers’ credit limits so they can then charge interest, late fees and over-the-limit fees on them, said Obama and Elizabeth Warren, a ...

AP IMPACT: AP-AOL poll: Debt hurts your body, too

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 12:39:49 -0400

WASHINGTON -- The stress from deepening debt is becoming a major pain in the neck _ and the back and the head and the stomach _ for millions of Americans.

When people are dealing with mountains of debt, they're much more likely to report health problems, too, according to an Associated Press-AOL Health poll. And not just little stuff; this means ulcers, severe depression, even heart attacks.

Take Edward Driscoll, 38, of Braintree, Mass. He blames debt _ $10,000 worth _ for contributing to his ulcers and his wife Kimberly's panic attacks. "Just worrying, worry...

Help End Unfair and Abusive Credit Card Tricks and Traps!

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 12:05:21 -0400

Have you received your credit card bill, only to realize that that it was due so soon that you have to pay it right away?

Do you think it’s unfair when your credit card company suddenly decides to apply a new, higher interest rate to an old balance?

Has your credit card company raised the rate on money you've already borrowed for no reason or for a flimsy reason?

Here's your chance to end those sneaky tricks and traps that allow credit card companies to unfairly profit off you - send a comment to the Federal Reserve Board asking them to end cre...

Shrinking Lines of Credit

Mon, 09 Jun 2008 10:21:59 -0400

WHEN economists say that consumers used their homes as A.T.M.’s during the recent credit boom, they are often talking about home equity lines of credit — a form of second mortgage popular among homeowners looking for a cushion against future cash shortfalls or a way to finance a new kitchen or a vacation.

It is no secret that lines of credit are harder to find these days. But what many homeowners may not realize is that their existing lines of credit can be eliminated at the lender’s whim.

Home by home, crisis engulfs nation

Mon, 09 Jun 2008 10:20:40 -0400

Who's to blame? Everyone, say the experts, from homeowners to regulators.

DAYTON — When the bank foreclosed on A.D. and Naomi Thomas in 2005, signs of the nation's home mortgage meltdown were growing blips on the nation's radar, noticeable mostly in places like Montgomery County, where trouble came early and hard.

But by the time the bank finally took the Thomases' Trotwood home two years later, the economic explosion brought by the foreclosure crisis couldn't be missed.

And suddenly, what had been a problem mostly in eco...

About 1 in 11 Mortgageholders Face Loan Problems

Fri, 06 Jun 2008 12:20:47 -0400

About 1 in 11 American mortgages were past due or in foreclosure at the end of March, according to a report released on Thursday, a figure that is rising fast as home prices fall and the job market weakens.

The first three months of 2008 marked the worst quarter for American homeowners in nearly three decades, according to the report, issued by the Mortgage Bankers Association. The rate of new foreclosures and past-due payments surged to their highest level since 1979, when the group first started collecting the data.

All told, about 8.8 percent of home loans were ...

U.S. Mortgage Delinquencies, Foreclosures at Record

Fri, 06 Jun 2008 09:49:49 -0400

June 5 (Bloomberg) -- The number of Americans in danger of losing their homes to foreclosure rose to the highest in at least three decades during the first quarter as borrowers who fell behind on payments were unable to sell their homes.

New foreclosures rose to a seasonally adjusted 0.99 percent of all U.S. home loans, up from 0.83 percent in the fourth quarter, the Mortgage Bankers Association said in a report today. The total

Coakley sues subprime lender Option One for racial discrimination

Fri, 06 Jun 2008 09:48:32 -0400

Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley (right) filed a lawsuit today against Option One Mortgage Corp., charging that the subprime lender discriminated against blacks and Latinos by targeting them for the high-risk mortgages and by charging them higher application fees than it charged white customers.

The lawsuit, filed in Suffolk Superior Court in Boston, also claimed that Option One engaged in unfair and deceptive lending practices when selling ...

The Other Subprime Loans: The Same Team That Cooked Up Subprime Mortgages Also Thought of Auto Loans

Fri, 06 Jun 2008 09:46:27 -0400

Wall Street has suffered two sharp downturns in the first two trading days of June. It's a disappointment after all the cheering for the market’s positive performance in May.

Monday’s worries were mostly about the financials, especially the struggles at Lehman Bros. and Wachovia. The shocker on Tuesday was General Motors' announcement that double-digit declines in the SUV/light truck categories would lead to big production...

Color of money: Lenders more likely to give minorities costly loans

Fri, 06 Jun 2008 09:44:54 -0400

At each bus stop, Rodney Young's riders receive a friendly nod, even 10 hours into a shift that began at 4 a.m.

His grin fades to a grimace as he turns the COTA bus into a Near East Side neighborhood peppered with for-sale signs and brightly colored foreclosure tags stuck to modest homes.

It's a reminder that he, too, faces a financial death sentence for his home.

"I see this every day all over the city, but it's worse in neighborhoods where people of my color live," says Young, who is black. "Those bad loans have got a lot of us in trouble."

The mortga...

Insider Car Report

Wed, 04 Jun 2008 11:36:11 -0400

Learn how to sharpen your game when car buying so yo can get the best deal without becoming a victim of fraud. Produced by Consumers for Auto Reliabiity adn Conscious Youth Media Crew.

Trap is sprung in the Buckeye State!

Wed, 04 Jun 2008 11:35:08 -0400

Families save billions as Ohio joins 14 states and DC in rejecting predatory payday lending

One third of the nation's population will soon be free of a practice that has stripped billions per year from the paychecks of low-wealth Americans over the past two decades, as Governor Ted Strickland signs a law today capping interest rates at 28 percent in Ohio. Enforcement of a two-digit rate will save citizens $1.74 billion per year in fifteen states plus the District of Columbia, where 33 percen...

Choosing Bankruptcy to Stay Afloat

Mon, 02 Jun 2008 15:12:49 -0400

By Nancy Trejos

Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, May 28, 2008; Page A01

Danielle Lancaster makes $28,000 a year as a bank employee in Richmond. She owes almost twice that on her credit cards, student and car loans.

Add to that day-care expenses for her 2-year-old daughter, rent and utilities, and she uses up every cent she brings in. She has cut costs any way she ca...

Why Do Card Companies Almost Always Win?

Mon, 02 Jun 2008 15:10:25 -0400

Anastasiya Komorova, a recent Russian immigrant, had no idea what was going on when bill collectors started calling her about the $11,000 in credit card debt she owed.

"One time one of them called me an idiot," Komorova's husband Nima Nayebi said.

The problem was that Komorova, who lives in San Francisco, had no idea what the collectors were talking about.

"I have never had a credit card with that company. In fact, when that credit card was issued, I hadn't had any credit cards," she said.

It turned out the credit card company...

Woman Loses Home Over $68 Dental Bill

Mon, 02 Jun 2008 15:04:58 -0400

Can you imagine losing your home over a $68 dental bill? That's what happened to one Utah woman.

Sonya Capri Ramos says her Salt Lake City home was sold out from under her in 1996 to pay a collections agency seeking payment for dental work performed on one of Ramos's daughters. And despite the fact that she had made three years of payments on a $51,000 mortgage, the title changed hands for just $1,550 at a sheriff's auction.

But the story doesn't end there: Ramos, 41, said she didn't find out that her home no longer belonged to her until two years after the sale. To...

Audio Slideshow: Subprime loans

Mon, 02 Jun 2008 14:59:10 -0400

While earning $9.25 an hour, Pedro Medellin struggles to pay a $103,500 high-interest loan for an often-vandalized house on Milwaukee's north side. The city assessed the property at a little more than half that amount.

Listen to Medellin talk about the day he showed his boss all of his paperwork and found out that he owned a home with a mortgage. Medellin also discusses what he said to real estate investor Randez Long - the man who got him into the deal - as well as why Medellin doesn't let the house go into foreclosure and where he would like to own a house someday. |

Tell the Federal Reserve Board to end credit card tricks and traps

Fri, 23 May 2008 11:49:01 -0400

The Federal Reserve Board and two other federal banking agencies have released a proposed rule that aims to reform some of the most unfair credit card tricks. But this important new rule of fair play is just a proposal. The banks are fighting hard to weaken the rule before it becomes final. Don't let the banks win! Read more about the proposal and tell the Federal Reserve Board your opinion or a horror story about your credit card company’s practices!

Student loan â€œcrisisâ€ just an invention?

Fri, 23 May 2008 09:22:44 -0400

From Caveat Emptor, May 14
By AFFIL Campaign Manager, Sarah Byrnes

"If you were paying attention, you would probably think that students are facing difficulty getting loans these days. (You might also be concerned about the soaring cost of college, but that’s another can of worms.

But despite all the recent fuss, Loonin is clear in her post on the Consumer Law & Policy Blog that “...

Countrywide adds insult to injury

Fri, 23 May 2008 09:20:38 -0400

Countrywide e-mail snafu angers borrowers

Mortgage lender chairman Angelo Mozilo accidentally replies to floundering customer with disparaging e-mail.

CALABASAS, Calif. (AP) -- The chairman of beleaguered Countrywide Financial Corp. raised eyebrows and tempers with his snippy reply to an e-mail plea from a man who said he was in danger of losing his home.

"Disgusting," Angelo Mozilo wrote in his inadvertent reply to an e-mail from Daniel Bailey Jr. who had asked the company to modify terms of his adjustable-rate ...

Loan Industry Fighting Rules on Mortgages

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 12:15:53 -0400

WASHINGTON — The mortgage industry, facing the prospect of tougher regulations for its central role in the housing crisis, has begun an intensive campaign to fight back.

As the Federal Reserve completes work on rules to root out abuses by lenders, its plan has run into a buzz saw of criticism from bankers, mortgage brokers and other parts of the housing industry. One common industry criticism is that at a time of tight credit, tighter rules could make many mortgages more expensive by creating more paperwork and potentially exposing lenders to more lawsuits.

Fed to hold public hearings on BofA-Countrywide deal

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 12:14:50 -0400

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Consumer advocates nervous about Bank of America Corp.'s proposed takeover of troubled mortgage lender Countrywide Financial Corp. are pressuring the bank to provide assurances that Countrywide borrowers facing foreclosure won't lose their homes.

The campaign is likely to intensify Monday as members of the Federal Reserve Board begin two days of public hearings on the proposed $4.1 billion stock deal.

Piling On: Borrowers Buried by Fees

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 12:14:03 -0400

By GRETCHEN MORGENSON

Published: April 20, 2008

SLOWLY but surely, a handful of public-minded bankruptcy court judges are drawing back the curtain on the mortgage servicing business, exposing, among other questionable practices, the sundry and onerous fees that big banks and financial companies levy on troubled borrowers.

Stop Debt Disease 2

Fri, 25 Apr 2008 13:27:09 -0400