Sunday, June 8, 2008

Monday June 9 Housing and Economic stories

Top Stories:

Banks can't find their borrowers - (www.dailybusinessreview.com) - As home foreclosure cases piled up in his court, Miami-Dade Circuit Judge David C. Miller began to notice more affidavits from mortgage lenders stating they couldn’t locate the borrowers. “The ones that caught my attention very early on were the ones that said they didn’t have driver’s license information or they didn’t have employment information for the borrower,” the judge said in an interview. “Did someone just walk in off the street and say, ‘Gimme money?’ ” the judge asked sarcastically. “I don’t think that’s possible.”

Fed to pick your pocket again, this time for Lehman - (www.rfdoc.com) - If you missed how your pockets were picked in April, get ready for round two. Lehman is next. Lehman was reportedly exploring options with the Fed. Read the saga of the BS bailout and give me one good reason we should bail out another brokerage firm.

Hard lessons on getting house loans with no money down - (www.latimes.com) Prado tells her story without a trace of self-pity and only a bit of blame for the mortgage broker who she says gave her a hard sell. She acknowledged that she stated her monthly income as $7,500 on the loan application -- nearly double what she was actually earning in her job as a clerk at a food processing company and a second part-time job. Still, she was confident the payments would not be a problem. At the time, her husband (who declined to be interviewed for this story) was earning $20 an hour as a carpenter as builders turned the area's broccoli fields into housing developments.

Overdue loans to Florida banks quadruple - (www.tampabay.com) - The housing downturn continues to crush Florida bankers: Overdue loans, mostly real estate related, have nearly quadrupled the past year in the Sunshine State.

If that were not enough, the state's lenders have unusually low cash reserves to protect against mortgage defaults. And 41 percent of Florida-chartered banks were unprofitable the first three months of this year. That's twice the number of banks that bled red ink last year.

Did Rep. Richardson fraudulently overstate her income? - (www.blownmortgage.com) - A big question to ask out of this Richardson specuvestor mess is how far did the Congresswoman push the envelope to qualify for this second, foreclosed home in Sacramento? Did she falsify her income on a loan statement to qualify for the 100% loan that financed the now-defaulted home? Specuvestor Casey Serin is under investigation by the FBI for loan fraud tied to falsifying his income on loan documents after his much-publicized real estate speculating ‘career’ fell apart in the early days of the housing slowdown. Did the Representative do the same to acquire the Sacramento home?

Mortgage non-disclosure is trouble for Richardson - (www.thehill.com)

Rep. Laura Richardson (D-Calif.) could face fines for leaving a heavily indebted mortgage off her financial disclosure statement, according to campaign finance experts. A review of Richardson’s 2007 financial disclosure shows that she failed to report her Sacramento home mortgage as a liability even though she owed $40,000 more than she paid for the home, which was purchased in January of that year. By the end of 2007, Richardson had accumulated $575,000 in total debt after failing to make payments on her original $535,000 mortgage, according to Sacramento County records. Her office did not return repeated calls seeking comment for this story. It also has not responded to questions about how Richardson was able to loan her congressional campaign $77,500 while continuing to default on several properties.

Still waiting - (www.ml-implode.com) - "Physical signs of Kara Homes Inc. are fading as other builders construct homes in its former developments. But many prospective buyers who lost tens of thousands of dollars have yet to see any money from the bankruptcy case."

Other Stories:

Analysts Stink...Listen to Bloggers - (www.ml-implode.com) - I read several bloggers each day along with the mainstream media. Many bloggers have nailed specific stocks for well over a year...

Real-Estate Woes of Banks Mount - (www.ml-implode.com) - Lenders Dumping Bad Loans at Discount; Regulators See Losses Continuing Federal regulators warned Thursday that banking-industr...

Pressure Points in the Bank Bust – (www.ml-implode.com) - ``The Texas Ratio is calculated by dividing non-performing loans at a bank, including those 90 days delinquent, by their tangibl...

FDIC sees bigger bank failures - (news.yahoo.com)

Mortgage Distress Shifts to Prime Borrowers - (www.housingwire.com)

Northern CA From Subprime to Negative Equity Epicenter - (mrmortgage.ml-implode.com)

The Great Risk Dispersion that Wasn't - (optionarmageddon.ml-implode.com)

Wall St layoffs bite New York real estate - (www.reuters.com)

Fed Governors Openly Question Bernanke's Competence - (Mish at globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com)

Job Losses and Surge in Oil Spread Gloom on Economy - (www.nytimes.com)

Housing downturn is a boon for some renters - (msnbc.msn.com)

Foreclosure glut helps Habitat for Humanity in Michigan - (www.mlive.com)

Foreclosures hit a record high -- more coming - (biz.yahoo.com)

House foreclosures set record in first quarter - (money.aol.com)

Recession Fears Reignited - (online.wsj.com)

Household Real Estate Assets Declined $431 Billion in Q1 - (calculatedrisk.blogspot.com)

Household net worth drops by $1.7 trillion - (money.cnn.com)

Equity in Americans houses falls to historic low - (msnbc.msn.com)

Regulators give bleak forecast for banks - (money.cnn.com)

Crude Leaps Nearly $11, In Fresh Hit to Economy - (online.wsj.com)

Oil Prices Raise Cost of Making a Range of Goods - (www.nytimes.com)

Americans' net worth took a dive in the first quarter - (www.latimes.com)

Two Fed Bank Presidents Warn About Lending to Securities Firms - (www.nytimes.com)

Equity in Americans’ homes falls to historic low - (www.ap.com)

U.S. Payrolls Fall, Unemployment Rate Climbs to 5.5% - (www.bloomberg.com)

Equity in Americans’ homes falls to historic low - (www.msnbc.msn.com)

U.S. Slowdown Frustrates Teens Seeking Summer Jobs - (www.bloomberg.com)

More dip early into funds for retirement - (www.boston.com)

Despite Interest Rate Cuts, Foreclosures Hit Record High - (www.washingtonpost.com)

(www.economist.com) sees 95 percent chance of US recession - (www.businessweek.com)

Oil Rises to Record on Weakening Dollar, Morgan Stanley Outlook - (www.bloomberg.com)

Stocks Signal That Crisis Isn't Over - (online.wsj.com)

Oil Rises to Record on Weakening Dollar, Morgan Stanley Outlook - (www.bloomberg.com)

Moody's, S & P and Fitch agree to deal on fees - (www.latimes.com)

Lenders and mortgage insurers pull back - (www.bankrate.com)

More dip early into funds for retirement - (www.boston.com)

Banks Say Auction-Rate Investors Can't Have Their Money Back - (www.bloomberg.com)

Wealthy Americans Under Scrutiny in UBS Case - (www.nytimes.com)

Chilly May for Puget Sound-area real estate; prices keep sliding - (seattletimes.nwsource.com)

Countrywide Friends Got Good Loans - (online.wsj.com)

Countrywide’s Buyer Isn’t Blinking - (www.nytimes.com)

National City Is Under U.S. Scrutiny - (online.wsj.com)

A.I.G. Falls Under S.E.C. Scrutiny - (www.nytimes.com)

Lehman May Raise $5 Billion of Capital, Person Says - (www.bloomberg.com)

MBIA, Ambac Lose Top Bond Ratings - (online.wsj.com)

Real-Estate Woes of Banks Mount - (online.wsj.com)

Continental will eliminate jobs, reduce capacity - (www.latimes.com)

Ford to cut white-collar salary costs by 15% - (www.chicagotribune.com)

Airlines Rush to Go Small - (www.nytimes.com)

Owner of Philly's 2 dailies misses debt payment - (www.ap.com)

Medvedev Raises Specter of Depression, Faults U.S. - (www.bloomberg.com)

Australian House Prices Fall Most in Five Years on Higher Rates - (www.bloomberg.com)

Russia Takes Critical Tone on Economy - (www.nytimes.com)

Medvedev puts blame on US for financial crisis - (www.ft.com)

Bundesbank raises inflation forecast sharply - (www.ft.com)

Asia powers, US voice 'serious concern' on oil spike - (news.yahoo.com/s/afp)

China Lifts Banks' Reserve Requirements Up to 17.5% - (www.bloomberg.com)

Trichet Leads Shift From Growth to Beating Inflation - (www.bloomberg.com)

India's Inflation Jumps to 8.24%; Fastest Since 2004 - (www.bloomberg.com)

Asian banks faced with inflation dilemma - (www.ft.com)

Big trouble for Philippine economy as prices surge - analysts - (www.cnbc.com)

Japan estimates subprime losses at $8 billion - (www.chicagotribune.com)

Pay It Back if You Didn’t Earn It - (www.nytimes.com)

Oil price crisis: world powers trade blame, skirt responsibility - (news.yahoo.com/s/afp)

Trail of Bad Loans Leads to the Couple Next Door - (www.nytimes.com)

Famous in foreclosure, too - (www.sfgate.com)

Dollar dilemmas - (www.economist.com)

No comments: