Free Republic

The Supreme Court’s ruling on student loan forgiveness cannot be the last word. Congress and President Biden must overturn this supreme injustice to student borrowers and address the student debt crisis. This damning ruling exposes a stark reality — a tale of two Americas, one with limitless opportunities for the privileged few, and another where hardworking Americans, burdened by overwhelming student debt, flounder in a post-pandemic economy. The rejected plan highlights systemic inequities perpetuating an unjust society where financial barriers hinder success — a deafening call for action. In 1963, when I attended Fisk University, college cost $1,248, equivalent to...

Borrowers who put down less than 5 percent on their mortgage are having their fees reduced, no matter their credit score.For all the talk about a potential recession, the Biden administration doesn’t seem to care much about damaging the economy. Witness the latest attempt to impose “equity” that will only raise costs, while hurting the housing market in the process.Beginning today, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), which governs Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, is changing the fees those enterprises charge on new mortgages. FHFA claims the changes will “more accurately align pricing with the expected financial performance and risks...

Borrowers with limited or troubled credit histories are defaulting on credit cards, car loans and personal loans Consumers with low credit scores are falling behind on payments for car loans, personal loans and credit cards, a sign that the healthiest consumer lending environment on record in the U.S. is coming to an end. Delinquencies on subprime car loans and leases hit an all-time high in February, based on Equifax’s tracking that goes back to 2007. (Subprime defined as credit score below 620). [Snip] The jump in subprime delinquencies could reduce lenders’ willingness to make loans to riskier borrowers. [Snip] Fewer...

In one of his many campaign ads airing across California, presidential candidate Tom Steyer has touted the work of a nonprofit-owned bank he founded, portraying it as a counterweight to Wall Street corruption. But while the Oakland-based institution has a well-regarded record of making socially responsible investments, its auto loan program has left behind a long trail of defaults and lawsuits against low-income borrowers in the state, a Bay Area News Group review of financial and legal documents found. Beneficial State Bank — which Steyer co-founded with his wife, Kat Taylor, and served as board chairman until joining the presidential...

Mortgage-backed securities legend Lew Ranieri made an impassioned plea for regulations to loosen credit standards on home loans at the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) annual conference in Washington D.C. The U.S. mortgage market has experienced an “irrational restriction” of credit as lenders and regulators overreact to the loose lending during the bubble that burst in 2007, mortgage-bond pioneer Lewis Ranieri said. mtgvol1998 “If this legacy persists the consequences will be more profound for the country than the economic losses” caused by the bust, Ranieri said today at an annual conference hosted by the Mortgage Bankers Association in Washington. Ranieri, the...

WASHINGTON – The Obama administration is trying to jump-start its sputtering attempts to tackle the foreclosure crisis with an effort to assist homeowners who owe more on their properties than their homes are worth. The Federal Housing Administration will allow lenders to give these borrowers refinanced loans if the lender agrees to forgive at least 10 percent of the original mortgage amount. The plan, .. announced in March, .. available starting Tuesday. The FHA said .. between 500,000 and 1.5 million homeowners are projected to be helped.

Nineteen months after the catastrophic failure of one of Sacramento's top lenders, Pasadena-based IndyMac Bank, a flurry of local lawsuits alleges that the bank's successor – OneWest Bank – is systematically working to push home loan borrowers into foreclosure. The allegations filed in the Eastern District of U.S. Bankruptcy Court claim that OneWest can make more money by foreclosing than by keeping borrowers in their homes. That's due to its so-called "shared-loss" agreement with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., at least 10 local lawsuits allege. A video made in Fairfield and circulating widely on the Internet also alleges that OneWest...

WASHINGTON – Just over 31,000 homeowners have received permanent loan modifications under the Obama administration's mortgage relief plan, a big setback for the government's embattled effort to stem the foreclosure crisis. Lenders blame the low success rate — only about 4 percent of the nearly 760,000 borrowers who have signed up — on borrowers who don't return the necessary paperwork to complete the process. Bank of America Corp., for example, had only completed 98 modifications at the end of November, far fewer than several smaller rivals. GMAC Mortgage completed 7,100, the most of any lender in the program, which was...

A massive $8.4 billion homeowner rescue plan announced Monday by the Bank of America will provide some relief for an estimated 125,000 Californians who are having trouble making payments on sub-prime loans and other risky mortgages from Countrywide Home Loans. Bank of America bought Countrywide for $4 billion July 1 after the Calabasas-based home loan giant, among the largest sub-prime lenders in the state, collapsed under the weight of mounting defaults and foreclosures. The bank's "Home Ownership Retention Program for Countrywide Customers'' was devised by California and 10 other states to settle predatory lending lawsuits filed against Countrywide. The plan...

Despite the vote by the House of Representatives yesterday, the fact remains that America desperately needs a bailout - a massive rescue plan for an institution vital to our nation and its economy. My bailout target? Personal responsibility. America is experiencing a collapse of the ethics market. Belief in the notion that people should be responsible for their own actions, or pay their own bills or keep their promises has plummeted. It’s time to pump moral and ethical capital into the idea of individual responsibility. Is it any wonder that Wall Street is waiting for a bailout? After all, we’ve...

The Bush administration yesterday unveiled a plan to rescue 100,000 homeowners at risk of foreclosure by relaxing eligibility standards for government-backed loans and encouraging lenders to forgive a portion of their debt. The proposal was quickly criticized by consumer groups, who said it would do little to slow a mortgage meltdown that last year threw more than 1.5 million households into foreclosure. But it was embraced by key Democrats, who said the White House is acknowledging that more aggressive government action is needed to help the most hard-pressed borrowers who owe banks more than their homes are worth because of...

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...

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...

Rising interest rates will likely increase the payment shock risk for borrowers in the burgeoning U.S. option adjustable-rate mortgage market, which may lead to higher defaults and losses on option ARM pools compared to interest-only or hybrid mortgage pools, according to Fitch Ratings in its revised option ARMs rating methodology report. Fitch's analysis of the option ARM product shows that the degree of payment shock risk and loan balance growth is largely determined by the initial teaser rate, volatility of a particular index, and balance caps. "Payment shock risk is higher for option ARMs under Fitch's cash flow stresses compared...

The letter was entirely polite and businesslike, but something about it chilled Wilhelm Zeller, chairman of one of the world's largest insurance companies. Moody's Investors Service wanted to inform Zeller's firm the giant German insurer Hannover Re, that it had decided to rate its financial health at no charge. But the letter went on to suggest that Moody's looked forward to the day Hannover would be willing to pay. In the margin of the letter, Zeller scribbled an urgent note to his finance chief: "Hier besteht handlungsbedarf." We need to act. Hannover, which was already writing six-figure checks annually to...

<p>United Rentals, Bank of America Lead Issuers of $8 Bln in U.S. Jan. 25 (Bloomberg) -- United Rentals Inc., North America's largest equipment-rental company, and Bank of America Corp. led borrowers of almost $8 billion in the U.S. last week, benefiting from the lowest interest rates since October.</p>