Mortgage

Mortgage

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MetLife says commercial mortgage portfolio safe (Reuters via Yahoo! News)
U.S. life insurer MetLife Inc disclosed information about its commercial mortgage portfolio on Wednesday in an effort to soothe investors that have become increasingly skittish about investments by insurers in commercial property debt.

Mortgage rescue or rip off? (CNN Money)
If mortgage lending was the Wild West during the boom years, foreclosure-prevention counseling is the lucrative new frontier of the bust.

IndyMac borrowers can get mortgage counseling (Los Angeles Times)
The FDIC-operated lender will offer walk-in sessions on mortgage workouts the next two Saturdays. IndyMac Federal Bank, which has had trouble getting distressed borrowers to contact it about reworking the terms of their mortgages, is hoping they'll be more willing to talk over their options in person with loan counselors from nonprofit agencies.

Mortgage application volume falls 6.2 pct (AP via Yahoo! News)
Mortgage application volume fell 6.2 percent during the week ended Nov. 14, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's weekly application survey.

Commercial-Mortgage Bond Risk Rises After Loan Delinquencies (Bloomberg)
Nov. 19 (Bloomberg) -- The cost to protect top-rated commercial-mortgage bonds against default rose to a record, a day after two bad loans boosted concern the debt will cause losses.

U.S. tries new tack on mortgage program (CNNMoney.com via Yahoo! Finance)
The Bush administration said Wednesday that it was changing its nearly-moribund mortgage rescue plan in an effort to spark more lenders and homeowners to participate.

Commercial mortgage securities latest to show distress (Market Watch)
Risk premiums on commercial mortgage-backed securities have spiked in the past week, making this corner of the debt market the latest to show signs of mounting distress.

NYC authorities charge 16 in mortgage fraud scheme (AP via Yahoo! Finance)
Sixteen people -- including drug smugglers, real estate appraisers and a bank employee -- hatched two multimillion-dollar mortgage fraud schemes involving overvalued suburban homes that were sometimes used as stash houses, authorities said.

Subprime mortgage 'rip-off' has legitimate roots (Seattle Post-Intelligencer)
While mortgage brokers defend yield-spread premiums as a way to allow more people to buy homes, critics say they've gone way beyond that role. "It's a classic example of how they use a legitimate thing to rip people off," Seattle bankruptcy lawyer Melissa Huelsman said.

Feds accuse 16 in LI mortgage fraud schemes (Newsday)
Mortgage fraud and cocaine - not a typical crime combination.

	Real Estate Finance & Investments (Real Estate Finance and Investments) by: William B Brueggeman, Jeffrey Fisher publisher: McGraw-Hill/Irwin, released: 10 November, 2006 price: $135.08 (new), $105.00 (used)
	Managing a Consumer Lending Business by: David Lawrence, Arlene Solomon publisher: Solomon Lawrence Partners, released: July, 2002 price: $50.00 (new), $45.00 (used)
	Real Estate Investing for Dummies by: Eric Tyson, Robert S. Griswold publisher: For Dummies, released: 26 November, 2004 price: $14.95 (new), $10.27 (used)
	Real Estate Finance: Theory and Practice (with CD-ROM) by: Terrence M. Clauretie, G. Stacy Sirmans publisher: South-Western Educational Pub, released: 04 April, 2005 price: $110.15 (new), $40.00 (used)
	Home Buying For Dummies, 3rd edition by: Eric Tyson, Ray Brown publisher: Wiley, released: 06 February, 2006 price: $14.95 (new), $7.40 (used)