Mortgages-E

Lenders fight stricter standards Proposal affects ‘non-traditional
Seattle Post Intelligencer - America’s biggest mortgage lenders are fighting a federal proposal that they say may stifle the market for some popular loans such as interest-only mortgages. More than 100 banks and trade groups have written since December to the Federal Reserve and

Adding a little incentive
Everett Herald - LOS ANGELES - The high cost of housing in Southern California is pressing employers to offer subsidies or other housing assistance to an unlikely constituency: middle-class workers. Although the region’s supercharged housing market has ebbed somewhat

SunTrust first-quarter profit rises 8 percent
ABC News - Apr 17, 2006 NEW YORK (Reuters) - SunTrust Banks Inc. , the No. 7 U.S. bank, on Monday said first-quarter profit rose 8 percent, helped by lending growth and improved loan credit quality. Net income for the Atlanta-based company rose to

The best way to build wealth is to become a homeowner
Baltimore Sun - Few spending choices in life are as smart as buying a home. That fact has been on full display in the United States as the housing market has boomed, rapidly increasing the wealth of homeowners. Unfortunately for renters, it has been a wealth wave

Publisher: Don’t mess with TOPS
Baton Rouge Business Report - John Maginnis: The whole recovery effort sits at a broken stoplight. No levee certification means no flood maps, means no insurance coverage, means no mortgage lending, means no widespread rebuilding

Principal s Mundt: Too many chasing real estate
Des Moines Business Record - Domestic and foreign investors alike have been in love with the U.S. commercial real estate market for quite a while, but Randy Mundt suspects that their eyes might soon start to wander. Mundt, the president and chief investment officer of Principal

AmSouth Loan Helps Redevelop Apartments Near New Orleans
Money Plans - AmSouth Bank (NYSE: ASO) is providing a $6.5 million loan to the Jefferson Housing Foundation to finance the redevelopment of the Beechgrove Apartment complex, which was severely damaged by the effects from Hurricane Katrina. Completion of this

Latest News
dBusinessNews.com - Des Moines: AmerUs Group Announces First Quarter 2006 Earnings Date, Conference Call and Webcast DES MOINES — AmerUs Group Co. (NYSE:AMH), a leading producer Des Moines: Wells Fargo Names Industry Veteran to New Capital Markets Position for

1st Trust gears up for takeoff
Memphis Business Journal - 1st Trust Bank for Savings may be one of the smaller players in the Memphis banking bullpen, but it has found the equivalent of steroids and is about to bulk up. In the works for 1st Trust, Memphis’ 17th largest bank, are up to eight new branches

For Last-Minute Filers, a Little Extra Time to Get It Together
Washington Post - Today is April 16 — and there’s still time, brother. Because the traditional April 15 tax deadline fell on a Saturday this year, taxpayers in Virginia and most of the rest of the nation have until tomorrow to get their returns in. Residents of the

Big money swells state Republican coffers
Atlanta Journal Constitution - Georgia’s Republican Party heads into this election season with nearly a 10-to-1 money advantage over the Democrats, largely because big companies, developers, lobbyists and special interests flooded the GOP with checks during the 2006 legislative

MGIC’s stock defies earnings
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel - Profits are down, but expectations and its stock price are up at MGIC Investment Corp. in Milwaukee, the nation’s largest private mortgage insurer. The reason: interest rates, which hurt MGIC when low and help when climbing - as they are now. “We’re

Weekend Linkfest By Barry Ritholtz
Street.Com - So far, preannouncements have been few and far between. That suggests earnings data may be robust, with guidance a possible wild card. But that’s next week. Now it’s the weekend, and you know what that means: Linkfest! Editor’s note: To access some

TCF Bank
WBBM - TCF Bank is a subsidiary of TCF Financial Corporation (NYSE: TCB) a $12.7 billion Minnesota based financial holding company. TCF Bank offer convenient deposit product, lending and business banking services at more than 240 full service locations in

Interest rates high enough
Rapid City Journal - Overall, we just closed out a pretty decent first quarter for the U.S. economy with me taking some special satisfaction by the fact that the post-Katrina doom-and-gloomers and hand-wringers were utterly repudiated by the economy s performance

HomeGold chair indicted 
The Greenville News - 1 hour, 42 minutes ago
Greenville businessman Jack Sterling faces fraud, conspiracy chargesSave to My Web

Millionaire Gubernatorial Candidates Won’t Show Tax Returns 
The Boston Channel - 53 minutes ago
The United States of America is led by a pair of millionaires who release their tax returns each year. Massachusetts is not.Save to My Web

Rising Treasury Note Yields Point to Higher Borrowing Costs 
Washington Post - 36 minutes ago
U.S. 10-year Treasury note yields rose to 5 percent for the first time since June 2002, a harbinger of higher borrowing costs for everything from home loans to corporate bonds.Save to My Web

Behavioral Economics: Human Errors and Market Corrections 
RedNova - 36 minutes ago
By Epstein, Richard A INTRODUCTION: IMPERFECT PEOPLE, STEADY IMPROVEMENTS As a matter of first principles, it seems impossible to deny two facts about human nature. First, people often make serious mistakes in deciding important matters.Save to My Web

Steps for real estate borrowers facing default
Mortage 101 - 17 hours ago Being Your Own Consolidator: When you have equity, you can pay off other debts with cash obtained through a cash-out refinance or a second mortgage.

Adjustable Rate Mortgages (ARM Loans) are now Available with First
PR Leap (press release), CA - 14 hours ago Adjustable rate mortgages or ARM loans offered by First Guarantee Mortgage a home mortgage refinance loan expert resource and multi-state mortgage broker

Knight Ridder delays 1Q earnings release
BusinessWeek - 1 hour ago Mortgage Rates at Record Lows Refinance your Mortgage while rates are still low. Compare rates from up to 4 trusted lenders. It’s easy, quick and free!

DRIVE TIME
Kiplinger.com, DC - 11 hours ago At this site you refinance your lease, much as you’d refinance a home mortgage, without having to break the lease and turn in the car, which could trigger early

Rising interest rates could cost homeowners
Scripps Howard News Service, DC - 1 hour ago currently offered in the 6.0 percent range, you might want to refinance now and that amount now, not a month before the higher rate hits your mortgage payment.

ResCap to sell $3B note to repay nearly all GMAC debt
MarketWatch - 3 hours ago debt owed to GMAC, an objective formalized last year when the mortgage company took It expects to refinance these obligations this year, it said in the filing.

California Real Estate Agents Learn Strategies to Help Homeowners
PR Leap (press release), CA - 14 hours ago income levels, are receiving overvalued property appraisals when they refinance and are nation are studying up on how to negotiate with mortgage lenders when

Herb Weisbaum: Mortgage Rates Heading Up Again
KOMO, WA - 8 hours ago Believe it or not, McBride says it s still a great time to refinance into a fixed rate loan Mortgage rates are expected to continue their steady climb higher

Mortgage fraud hits borrowers; costs lenders billions
Investor’s Business Daily (subscription) - 21 hours ago through foreclosure once it’s revealed the house is worth far less than the mortgage loan. This usually happens when the borrower goes to refinance or sell and

Embarcadero Tech lowers 1Q outlook
BusinessWeek - 3 hours ago Comparison shop for mortgage quotes, refinance quotes and home equity loan offers. Get up to 4 free quotes from one 60 second application.

Regulator: No contamination in drug trial
BusinessWeek - 3 hours ago Mortgage Rates at Record Lows Refinance your Mortgage while rates are still low. Compare rates from up to 4 trusted lenders. It’s easy, quick and free!

Using HELOC to finance new windows
Bankrate.com - 8 hours ago be better off getting another home equity loan to pay off the existing HELOC and finance the home repairs and then wait to refinance the first mortgage once my

Melinda Ferguson announces for
Macon County Times, TN - 6 hours ago they buy or sell property, finance or refinance a mortgage, recording discharge records after serving in the military or maybe looking for help locating an old

2nd Home Mortgage Loan Benefits to having a Home Equity Line
Best Syndication, CA - 20 hours ago be probably better off improving the score before you apply for a second mortgage. this point and still have a balance you probably should refinance both your

Mortgage Originators Can Swell Pipelines 400% with Advanced
PR Web (press release), WA - 11 hours ago “With the crash of the refinance market, mortgage origination professionals are desperate to find effective tools for increasing their competitive viability.

Credit Plus Announces Powerful System Enhancements
Originator Times - 4 hours ago time may qualify for a different program and could be good candidates for a refinance. Or, clients who were declined could now be ready for a mortgage if they

Mortgage equity withdrawals at 11.8 billion in Q4 2005
ABCmoney.co.uk, UK - 3 hours ago indicate that rising house prices in recent years is encouraging people to refinance mortgages so that they can have access to cash. Mortgage equity withdrawal

Is Reliance on Real Estate a Crack in the Foundation?
Washington Post, United States - 18 hours ago “People know they can always refinance or flip But Washington area residents took more money out of their houses through mortgage refinancing and home equity

Worries creep into commercial lending
OCRegister, CA - 1 hour ago 14 percent to $2.64 trillion nationwide, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association are vulnerable to higher rates because they tend to refinance rather than

Explosion in hybrid securities answers call for returns
Investor’s Business Daily (subscription) - 18 hours ago for lower-risk products that offer higher returns and companies looking to refinance debt As the nation’s largest mortgage lender, I’ll let you be the judge of

Questions highlight changes at HAWS
Winston-Salem Journal, NC - 13 hours ago into public housing. It also plans to refinance the mortgage that it pays for the Loe-wy Building, where its central office is.

Home loan demand rises as rates near 4-yr high
Reuters - 4 hours ago The refinance share of mortgage activity decreased to 36.6 percent of total applications from 37.3 percent the previous week. It

Commercial Defeasance closes $22.8M deal
Charlotte Business Journal, NC - 6 hours ago property transaction on behalf of Dwinn-Shaffer & Co., a Chicago-based mortgage-brokerage firm. The defeasance enabled Dwinn-Shaffer to refinance the property.

Getting out of debt and beyond
Mount Vernon News, OH - 4 hours ago Vernon, said people should be careful before consolidating debt through a second mortgage or a He said he has seen people refinance their home to pay off their

Do We Need To Go Up To Go Down?
Gold Seek - 17 hours ago But mortgage debt grew even faster, up 75%, as Americans refinanced or took rates and increasing home prices, which allowed many Americans to refinance and/or

COAM Announces Formation of Consolidated American Resource Development
Market Wire - TAMPA, FL — (MARKET WIRE) — 03/29/2006 — Consolidated American Industries Corporation (”COAM”) (OTC: CMDJ ) today announced the formation of Consolidated American Resource Development Corporation and the acquisition of Ferber Copper Co., Inc

The Note: Seeing 2006 Through the 2008 Prism
ABC News - No ouija board or Magic 8 Ball can tell you how the immigration debate or the Bolten reorganization will come out. You could pay a dollar for the New York Times, which would make you think that Hastert is compromising, Specter is meta-compromising

7. Equities ended the first calendar quarter:
Motley Fool - __ (a). with positive performances from the Dow, Nasdaq, and S&P 500. __ (b). with the Dow performing best. __ (c). with the Nasdaq performing best. __ (d). with the S&P 500 performing best. 8. In Nassau County, Long Island, roughly one in 12

University Bancorp Reports Record Profit for 2005 With 66.3% ROE Due
Market Wire - ANN ARBOR, MI — (MARKET WIRE) — 04/03/2006 — University Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ: UNIB ) reported audited net income of $1,989,169 in 2005, versus a net loss of $584,820 in 2004. Basic earnings (loss) per share for 2005 and 2004 were $0.48 and (0.14

Lending crackdown stuck
Cincinnati Enquirer - COLUMBUS - A bill that would clamp down on fraudulent lending practices that have caused many Ohioans to lose their homes is on hold for at least a month. The Senate on Wednesday unanimously rejected a package of changes the House made earlier in the

Lending clampdown gets last-minute work
Cincinnati Enquirer - COLUMBUS - A House committee prepared Tuesday to strip language from a predatory lending bill that would limit what damages consumers could collect in a consumer fraud case, whether buying a home or a refrigerator. The committee was expected to

Phoenix a homebuyers’ market
AZCentral.com - Home builders are wheeling and dealing like county-fair carnies trying to win over nervous buyers. They’re offering incentives like free cars or thousands of dollars to knock down closing fees or to put toward flooring, cabinets and other decorative

Housing Boom Also Leads To High Foreclosure Rate In N.C.
WRAL - HIGH POINT, N.C. — North Carolina’s lively real estate market has been a boon for home buyers, giving them a chance to own a new home or get a better deal on their existing loan through refinancing. But the boom has been chased by a thud for some

Economists expect an end to interest rate boosts
Seattle Post Intelligencer - WASHINGTON — As Ben Bernanke takes the chairman’s seat, Federal Reserve watchers wonder how many more interest rate increases are in store. Bernanke and his Fed colleagues are expected to boost the United States’ borrowing costs yet again at the end

Thompson Joins Stewart Title Guaranty Co. to Propel Multicultural
dBusinessNews.com - HOUSTON — Stewart Title Guaranty Co. has named real estate veteran Alan Thompson as a director of multicultural markets for its Southeast region covering Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, South Carolina and Puerto Rico, with additional

Home Foreclosures On Rise In N.C.
WXII 12 - HIGH POINT, N.C. — North Carolina’s lively real estate market has been a boon and a bust for home buyers. It may be easier and cheaper to get a home loan, but the state’s banking commissioner says foreclosures have been even easier to come by. Joe

Bonuses prove costly
Medford Mail Tribune - WASHINGTON A little-known reward for brokers who arrange home loans at high interest rates is drawing scrutiny from law-enforcement authorities, who say these bonuses can cost unwitting homeowners thousands of dollars over time. Lenders pay the

Majority stake in GMAC to be sold
Seattle Times - DETROIT General Motors was expected to announce Monday that it was selling a majority stake in its finance arm to a private investor group, The Wall Street Journal reported. The group, led by Cerberus Capital Management, will pay about $8 billion

By Andrea Gregory
Banker & Tradesman Online - The Massachusetts Division of Banks last week issued a cease-and-desist order to Quotemearate.com, a Texas-based mortgage lender that regulators say operated both licensed and unlicensed offices in the Bay State. The firm abruptly closed up shop not

15th interest rate increase is Bernanke’s first
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - The Federal Reserve Board yesterday raised short-term interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point, to a five-year high of 4.75 percent. The increase, the Fed’s 15th since June 2004, was the first under newly minted Chairman Ben S. Bernanke