The Congressman who cosponsored the sweeping financial reform act told Fox News that he believes Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac should be scrapped. Barney Frank, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, was asked by Fox Business Network’s Neil Cavuto what role Fannie and Freddie should play in housing markets.

"I think they should be abolished," Frank replied. "The only question is what do you put in their place. This is a situation where given the importance they had come to

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This past Tuesday, mortgage executives, financial leaders, and economists met with U.S. Treasury officials to share ideas about the future of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, both of which are in conservatorship. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner said there would be “fundamental change” to the structure of the two government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs). Geithner also said, “We will not support a return to the system where private gains are subsidized by taxpayer losses.”

The U.S.

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Fannie Mae and the National Council of State Housing Agencies have a fabulous offer for anyone with an income and good credit--buy a house for just $1,000 down. (Normally, Federal Housing Authority mortgages require a 3.5% down payment.)

It is a pilot program called Affordable Advantage. The Washington Independent reports that the program has been adopted in Massachusetts, Wisconsin, Idaho and Pennsylvania, California and Colorado have programs almost identical to Affordable

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The Appraisal Institute applauded the U.S. Senate for passing a sweeping financial regulatory reform bill that includes the first modernization of real estate appraisal regulations in more than 20 years. The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (HR 4173) is the first overhaul of appraisal regulations since the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery and Enforcement Act (FIRREA) was enacted in 1989.

President Barack Obama is expected to sign it into law. “This

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The original March 2008 agreements between the Attorney General of New York, the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (now the Federal Housing Finance Agency) and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac that established the Home Valuation Code of Conduct will expire in November 2010 (originally July 2010). After that, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are no longer obligated to maintain the HVCC.

In addition, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, which has already

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It’s called negative 50% equity. According to the Government Accountability Office, homeowners who negotiated lower monthly mortgage payments through the Home Affordable Modification Program are still drowning. The study reviewed stats through the second week of April.

It may be of little consolation to the underwater homeowners or their lenders, but Internal Revenue Service Commissioner Doug Shulman has vowed that banks and investment firms will accurately evaluate the risk involved

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The Justice Department today announced nearly 500 arrests for mortgage fraud since March as part of an undercover sting called Operation Stolen Dreams. A total of 1,215 defendants have been targeted in cases that amounted to more than $2.3 billion in losses.

FBI agents have been working in 23 mortgage fraud task forces across the country. Attorney General Eric Holder said the Justice Department will also file in civil suits to recover more than $147 million. At a press conference

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Two reports rolled out this weekend estimating the loss in property values. The median price for a Gulf Coast home was $173,100 in April before the disaster and an acre of land was valued at $3 million.

Costar Group estimates the oil spill may cost $4.3 billion in property values along the 600 miles from Louisiana’s petrol-streaked beaches to Clearwater on Florida’s central Gulf Coast. But that estimate may already be a lowball; tar balls have been reported in Key West, about 242

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The Financial Times reports two sources in the FBI say the law enforcement agency will launch a major, nationwide raid against hundreds suspected of mortgage fraud. Charges include encouraging borrowers to falsify income on mortgage applications, misleading home owners about foreclosure rescue programs and inflating home appraisals. The FBI opened 23 local mortgage fraud task forces back in October 2008.

"Mortgage fraud-related losses totaled $1.4billion in 2008, an 83.4% rise

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When the guys at Wall Street Cheat Sheet put together a list of states where foreclosures are increasing most, it was no surprise to see Illinois (a Rust Belt state aching from recession) and Nevada (shredded by exploding real estate bubble shrapnel).

But Hawaii? The unemployment rate is 6.8%, quite manageable compared to the national rate of 9.7%. Yet foreclosures have rocketed 116% since April 2009. Maui is the hardest hit island with one in 187 homes in

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For decades, gorgeous, adrenaline-soaked South Beach has been lined with stratospherically priced luxury condos that no one who worked in the neighborhood's restaurants, stores, groceries or parking lots could afford to buy or rent. When the real estate bubble exploded, those condos became white elephants. Now, the Miami Beach Community Development Corp., a public housing agency, is buying the condos at cut-rate prices and renting them to the working- class Miamians who keep South Beach

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Army Reserve Capt. Michael Clauer was current in his mortgage payments but a Texas homeowners’ association foreclosed on his $300,000 home and sold it for $3,500 while he was serving in Iraq---because he owed $800 in homeowners’ association fees. Clauer’s wife did not realize they had lost their home until the new owner sent her letters demanding rent money then, finally, an eviction notice.

The Service Members Civil Relief Act protects military personnel from foreclosure while

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Just a reminder to all that the Massachusetts regulations setting "STANDARDS FOR THE PROTECTION OF PERSONAL INFORMATION OF RESIDENTS OF THE COMMONWEALTH" are effective March 1, 2010. The regulations can be found here. The FAQ’s that relate to the regulations (and are very helpful) are found

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