Free Republic

Remember 2007? Glory days, right? Everything was booming, and nothing was booming quite as much as real estate — especially commercial real estate. Malls, hotels, warehouses, industrial parks: Everything was being built, and everything was being financed on ridiculously generous terms. Remember interest-only loans? Good times. But commercial real estate is different from residential in one important way: Your standard residential mortgage goes 20 to 30 years. Your standard commercial loan goes for five years, at the end of which you either make a big balloon payment (what it is that balloons remind me of?) or you refinance, the idea...

Attorney General Eric Holder says the government is looking into allegations that mortgage lenders in the foreclosure crisis have been evicting homeowners using flawed court papers. At a news conference, the attorney general said the Justice Department is aware of the accusations that have surfaced and that the government is examining them.

Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray announced a lawsuit Wednesday against GMAC Mortgage LLC and its parent Ally Financial Inc., accusing the loan servicer of filing fraudulent documents "to mislead courts in hundreds of Ohio foreclosures."

Txas Attorney General Greg Abbott called for a halt on foreclosures Monday amid nationwide scrutiny over the way they are processed. Notices to suspend foreclosures were sent to 27 loan servicers doing business in Texas, including Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase, the attorney general's office said. It did not have the full list of companies available late Monday. The office also called for a halt on the sales of properties previously foreclosed upon, which might affect auctions scheduled today, and on evictions of people living in such properties.