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A disbarred Chicago lawyer faces the possibility of a lengthy prison term after a jury convicted her this week in a mortgage fraud case.
The U.S. Attorney’s office in Chicago says jurors convicted Lorie Westerfield on three counts of wire fraud and acquitted her of an additional fraud count after a weeklong trial. Each count carries a maximum 20-year prison sentence. Westerfield remains free on bond as she awaits sentencing on Aug. 4. Get the full story »
Adjustable rate mortgages are back.
After accounting for nearly 70 percent percent of all mortgages issued during the boom, ARMs vanished during the bust, totaling just 3 percent of the market in 2009. Now they make up 5 percent of all mortgages issued, and Freddie Mac predicts 10 percent by December.
Behind the comeback is a simple fact: ARMs are a great bargain right now. The most common ARM loan currently has a rate of 3.5 percent compared to 5 percent for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage. Get the full story »
The U.S. Treasury Department will begin selling about $10 billion a month of mortgage-backed securities as the government winds down emergency programs set up during the financial crisis.
The announcement of a fresh supply of high-quality debt coming to market surprised traders, but they said later it should be manageable. The Treasury has a $142-billion portfolio of MBS, acquired in 2008 and 2009, and estimates it will take about a year to dispose if it. Get the full story »
Freddie Mac's offices in McLean, Va. (Paul J. Richards/AFP/Getty Images)
A key Republican in the House of Representatives Thursday said he would try for the third time to eliminate mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac within five years.
“We have waited for years to do something. It is time to start doing something,” Texas Rep. Jeb Hensarling, the fourth ranking House Republican, said in an interview with a small group of reporters in his office. Get the full story »
Mortgage rates were mostly unchanged in the latest week, with the average rate on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages edging slightly upward, according to Freddie Mac’s weekly survey of mortgage rates.
Rates had risen earlier this year, hitting their highest level since April last month. They had slumped most of last year as Treasurys had declined amid economic uncertainty. The rates generally track the yields, which move inversely to Treasury prices. Get the full story »
ELITE STREET | By Bob Goldsborough | Former Chicago White Sox relief pitcher Bobby Jenks, who now throws for the Boston Red Sox, has listed his four-bedroom, 3,203-square-foot house in Hinsdale for $899,000.
Jenks, who turns 30 on Monday, is the latest former Sox to list a home in Hinsdale. As Elite Street first reported last month, fellow former reliever Scott Linebrink is asking $825,000 for his 11-room house in Hinsdale. Get the full story »
Freddie Mac's corporate offices in McLean, Va. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, FILE)
Mortgage rates eased again last week, with long-term rates continuing their decline from the current-year high set three weeks ago, according to Freddie Mac’s weekly survey.
Rates had seen a recent rise, hitting their highest level since April last month. They had slumped most of last year as Treasurys had declined amid economic uncertainty. The rates generally track the yields, which move inversely to Treasury prices.
Freddie Chief Economist Frank Nothaft cautioned, “housing demand still remains weak,” noting that new home sales in January neared the lowest levels since at least 1964, when data collection began, according to the Census Bureau. Get the full story »
The Obama administration vigorously defended its Home Affordable Modification Program Wednesday, which faces sharp criticism by Republican lawmakers who want it axed.
Repeatedly saying that the housing market remains fragile, Treasury Department officials touted the fact that while the 2-year-old program is not meeting its initially much-publicized — and now unrealistic — goal of saving 3 million to 4 million families from foreclosure, the 25,000 to 30,000 families each month who are receiving permanent loan modifications is cause for it to continue. Get the full story »
Allstate Corp. on Monday sued Credit Suisse Group AG, accusing the Swiss bank of causing losses by hiding the risks on $232 million of mortgage securities it bought. Get the full story »
Almost three years after a series of government bailouts began, what many feared would be a deep black hole for taxpayer money isn’t looking nearly so dark.
The brighter picture is highlighted by the outlook for the bailouts’ centerpiece — the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program.
“It’s turning out to cost one heck of a lot less than what we all thought at the beginning,” said Ted Kaufman, a former U.S. senator from Delaware who heads the congressionally appointed panel overseeing TARP. Get the full story »
Mortgage rates declined in the latest week, with the average rate on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages landing at 4.95 percent, according to Freddie Mac’s weekly survey.
Rates slumped through most of last year as yields on Treasurys declined amid economic uncertainty. But yields have been on the rise recently, pushing mortgage rates back up earlier this month to the highest level since last April. The rates track the yields, which move inversely to Treasury prices. Get the full story »
Allstate Corp. sued Citigroup Inc. and Deutsche Bank AG Friday, accusing the banks of misrepresenting risks on more than $385 million of mortgage securities it bought.
Allstate, the largest publicly traded U.S. home and auto insurer, has filed similar lawsuits against Bank of America Corp. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. Get the full story »
There’s a note of optimism in the air about the U.S. mortgage delinquency rate.
The number of mortgages that were past due in the fourth quarter was at its lowest level since the end of 2008 (excluding homes that are already in foreclosure.) Meanwhile, the number of U.S. mortgages that were one month late last quarter fell to its lowest level since the end of 2007, the Mortgage Bankers Association said Thursday. Get the full story »
(AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)
Fixed mortgage rates inched down this week, following a dip in Treasury yields.
The average rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage slipped to 5 percent from 5.05 percent last week, Freddie Mac said Thursday. It hit a 40-year low of 4.17 percent in November.
The average rate on the 15-year fixed home loan also fell to 4.27 percent from 4.29 percent. It reached 3.57 percent in November, the lowest level on records dating back to 1991. Get the full story »
The volume of mortgage applications filed in the U.S. last week fell a seasonally adjusted 9.5 percent from the previous week, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported Wednesday, as higher interest rates versus late last year discouraged recent activity.
Refinance activity was down 11 percent to its lowest reading since the week ending July 3, 2009, according to the MBA’s weekly survey, which covers more than half of all U.S. retail residential mortgage applications. Purchasing activity fell 0.9 percent in the week ended Friday. Get the full story »
