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...But the real cause of the housing mess is a classic bubble in the housing market, the bursting of which has hammered lenders as well as borrowers. If the market had continued to rise, we never would have heard complaints about subprime loans. In fact, Washington had long encouraged these sorts of loans through the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) as a way to make marginal - largely minority - borrowers into homeowners. What's the difference between socially responsible loans extending the American dream to deserving people with poor credit histories and predatory lending? It's whether those loans work out or...

The two largest U.S. mortgage finance companies on Wednesday won approval to pump up to $200 billion into the distressed U.S. mortgage market, the latest step in government efforts to stabilize credit markets and save the economy from recession. Policy-makers at the Federal Reserve, regulatory agencies and the Treasury Department have let loose a flood of measures to battle rising home foreclosures and stabilize shaky markets, but some still see the need for a more direct government hand. The Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight said it was immediately easing restrictions on Fannie Mae (FNM.N) and Freddie Mac (FRE.N) to...

They had small means and big hopes of owning a house. But African-Americans snared in the US mortgage crisis have seen the American dream turn into a nightmare many call "financial apartheid." The storm triggered by risky "subprime" loans has left many in ruins, forced out of their modest homes and furious at falling victim to financial dealings that have taken a particular toll on minority families. "People of color are more than three times more likely to have subprime loans," concluded the organization United for a Fair Economy in a recent report which estimated that minorities have seen between...

The real estate auction business is booming. Real Estate Disposition Corp is auctioning 2,000 homes in California and 575 in DC, Maryland, and Virginia. More states are coming up.

LOS ANGELES, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) -- Senator Barack Obama, vying for the Democratic presidential candidacy, vowed to change bankruptcy laws and cap interest rates during his campaign tour in Southern California, the Los Angeles Times reported Thursday. During what his campaign dubbed a "Roundtable on Economic Opportunity" there, Obama called for an exemption in the 2005 bankruptcy bill for people who can persuade a bankruptcy court that they filed for bankruptcy because of debts caused by medical expenses. His proposal also includes extending the 36-percent limit on payday loans to military members to all Americans; encouraging banks, credit unions and...

Judge Christopher A. Boyko of Federal District Court in Cleveland dismissed 14 foreclosure cases brought on behalf of mortgage investors, ruling that they had failed to prove that they owned the properties they were trying to seize.

New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said Wednesday that he has issued subpoenas to government-sponsored lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in his investigation into what he claims are conflicts of interest in the mortgage industry. Cuomo said he wants to know about loans Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac purchased from banks, including Washington Mutual Inc. The subpoenas also seek to find out how the government-sponsored companies handle appraisals. Cuomo said Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have agreed to his demand that an independent examiner, subject to the attorney general's approval, review all Washington Mutual appraisals and mortgages done with...

HONG KONG -- Hong Kong's financial secretary has ordered regulators to study how to reconcile Muslim financial rules with local laws in hopes of launching a market for Islamic bonds, according to a speech transcript reviewed Tuesday. Secretary John Tsang said he hopes to promote Hong Kong, a popular stock market for Chinese companies, as a gateway for Middle Eastern investment in China, according to transcripts from a Monday speech at a financial conference. "Islamic finance is an important element of the global financial system," he said. "For Hong Kong to be a major international financial center — not just...

ATLANTA - Home buying among Latinos in metro Atlanta has slowed significantly in recent months amid jitters over immigration reform, say real estate agents and lenders who cater to the Spanish-speaking community. The cooldown is an early sign that a 2-month-old Georgia law intended to reduce illegal immigration could be having an effect. "There's no question that there's a panic in the Hispanic community," said Raymond Amengual, a lender with AHM Mortgage. "The problem is not so much their immigration status as the new laws that make them think they might not be able to work." Illegal immigrants buy homes...

Couple poisoned children to escape debts BEAUVAIS, France, Oct 18 (AFP) - A French married couple poisoned their five children in a desperate bid to escape spiralling consumer debt but only their 11 year-old daughter succumbed to the injection of insulin, a court was told Tuesday. Emmanuel and Patricia Cartier, aged 37 and 44, accumulated EUR 230,000 euros of debt divided between more than 20 bank and loan accounts, and when they could no longer meet repayments resolved to take the family "to a better place", the court heard. However the murder-and-suicide pact went wrong on August 19, 2002, when...

Lenders Sink U.S. Soldiers Into Debt By RUSS BYNUM ASSOCIATED PRESS FORT STEWART, Ga. (AP) - On Gen. Screven Way, the one-mile strip of fast-food joints and pawn shops leading to the front gate of Fort Stewart, getting a cash loan of $100 to $500 is about as easy as buying a cheeseburger. Numerous strip-mall businesses bear names like Check Into CA$H ("Need Cash Today? It's Easy as 1-2-3"), First American Cash Advance, Gold Check C.S. Payday Advance, and PJ Cash ("Civilian and Military Welcome"). Fort Stewart has declared these so-called payday lenders enemies at its gate, accusing them of...