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Over the past four years, Bruce Marks has been on a traveling road show to help people avoid foreclosure. He says his nonprofit, the Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America, has helped more than 200,000 people get their payments lowered so they can afford to keep their homes.
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When Davelle Reggans heard that her former lender had settled a federal lawsuit claiming discrimination against African-American and Latinos for $335…
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A federal regulator is blocking the government-owned mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from reducing the principal that homeowners owe on their mortgages in order to avoid foreclosures.
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Bank of America is giving about 200,000 homeowners a chance to wipe out a big portion of their mortgage debt. It's part of a settlement the bank and others reached with state and federal regulators earlier this year.
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Earlier this month, a judge approved a $25 billion settlement between five major banks and nearly all of the state attorneys general over shortcuts lenders took to push through some foreclosures. Housing counselors say the deal has yet to make an impact in communities around the country.
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Some economists say the government-run enterprises should be allowed to help distressed homeowners by lowering their loan principals to reflect today's lower values. But critics of the move say it would cost taxpayers money and encourage strategic defaults.
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Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have concluded that giving homeowners a big break on their mortgages would make good financial sense in many cases, NPR and ProPublica have learned.
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The nation's five largest mortgage lenders recently pledged to start writing down the principal on mortgages that are underwater. But mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac aren't part of the agreement and don't plan any big changes in the way they do loan modifications.
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Borrowers claim Quicken charged them "something for nothing" when it included a loan discount fee, even though the borrowers did not receive a lower interest fee. At issue is whether that charge violates a a 1974 federal law aimed at preventing abusive practices in real estate closings.
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Joseph Smith Jr. has been chosen to oversee the multibillion-dollar national mortgage settlement announced earlier this week. Smith is described as a man who understands the plight of the homeowner without forgetting what makes a successful banking industry work.