The Illinois Attorney General has proposed legislation that is designed to help homeowners who are struggling to pay their mortgages.
Lisa Madigan’s proposal seeks to impose rules on companies that offer to help property owners but either do nothing or sell the homes to a third party.
“Because we see more people fall victim to these consultants […]

Federal mortgage backers Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae announced this week that they will increase the dollar amount on single family mortgage loans they will purchase on the secondary market from “retail” lenders starting January 1, 2006.
The entities raised the loan cap from $359,650 to $417,000. The move assures that more loans will become “conforming” […]

With mortgage and real estate fraud sweeping Colorado, residents should expect some changes on the horizon.
Colorado Attorney General John Suthers formed a task force this summer to deal with the issues in the wake of skyrocketing numbers of foreclosures and complaints from those in the industry.
“Something we’ve seen a real increase on in the last […]

National Association of Realtors’ chief economist David Lereah is concerned enough about the proliferation of so-called “exotic” mortgages that he has gotten the government to consider a limit on them.
By exotic mortgages, Lereah means interest-only and option adjustable-rate products, which are being used by many first-time buyers, among others, to purchase houses in high-priced markets.
In […]

9WAFB: Monday at the Capitol, Governor Blanco signed an executive order giving hurricane victims help with housing. Blanco created programs that will spend close to $200 million helping homeowners get back on their feet.
The Louisiana Housing Finance Agency will set up loan programs to give low interest rate refinancing and second mortgages for homeowners. It […]

Freddie Mac said Nov. 8 that it will reduce net income for the first and second quarters of 2005 by roughly $220 million.
The company revised its net income for the first half of the year to $1.4 billion, down from the previously reported total of $1.6 billion.
Freddie Mac said the revision reflects the correction of […]

A bipartisan committee has made two recommendations to President Bush regarding tax reform. In this article, we take a look at the second option.
Tax Reform
A year ago or so, President Bush decided to spend his political capitol on tax reform and fixing social security. Social security reform went down in flames, so now it is […]

The political landscape this year has been nothing but ugly. It promises to come to full boil with the proposed tax reform eliminating or reducing the mortgage interest deduction.
Tax Reform or Raising Taxes
There is an old saying about the two political parties. Democrats raise taxes while Republicans reform taxes. In both instances, we end up […]

The new HOME ADVANTAGE mortgage rehab program, financed by the Illinois Housing Development Authority (IHDA) and administered by ShoreBank, was created in partnership with Congressman Danny K. Davis, SANKOFA, a non-profit community group based on Chicago’s West Side, and the Community Ventures Investment Corp. (CVIC) development company. HOME ADVANTAGE is the first and only available […]

AP> To slow the rapidly growing Medicaid program, some lawmakers would like to make it harder for the elderly to shelter their assets as a way to have the government cover more of their nursing home expenses.
GOP members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee asked state Medicaid directors on Wednesday what they have done […]