| Madigan sues Advantage Mortgage for deceptive practices
Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan filed a lawsuit against Chicago-based mortgage broker Advantage Mortgage Consulting accusing the company and its president, Robert Enright, of engaging in deceptive lending practices that have led to the loss of at least one consumer�s home. The suit alleges the defendants employed a variety of schemes to convince consumers, many on the brink of foreclosure, that they would pay lower monthly mortgage payments. But, instead their monthly rates later increased significantly, the state claims. The lawsuit accuses the defendants of using deceptive refinancing schemes, and alleges they padded loans with higher than stated fees, failed to disclose prepayment penalties and brokered adjustable-rate mortgages with consumers who believed they were agreeing to fixed-rate mortgages.
Jobless Claims Likely Higher Again, UBS Says
(RTTNews) - The housing affordability index probably rose again in February (forecast: 135.5) after a large increase in January (to 130.3 from 123.0 in December), reflecting lower home prices and mortgage rates. Although the index does not reflect the extent to which affordability has been lowered by tighter lending standards in recent months, the pattern makes recent signs of stabilization in home sales credible, say the analysts at UBS in the firm's daily U.S. economic comment. We forecast new jobless claims at 380k (cons: 370k) in the week of March 22 after 378k in the previous week. The upcoming reading will cover the week including the Good Friday holiday. If anything, that holiday has been associated with a rise in claims, even with seasonal adjustment. The upcoming report will also incorporate the Labor Department's annual re-estimate of seasonal adjustment factors.
Governor Randall S. Kroszner
At the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals Legislative Conference 2008, Washington, D.C. March 27, 2008 Protecting Homeowners and Sustaining Homeownership The mortgage market has long been a source of strength in the U.S. economy, but it is facing significant challenges, especially in the subprime segment that serves consumers who have shorter or weaker credit records. As of January 2008, the most recent month for which data are available, about 24 percent of subprime adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) were ninety or more days delinquent, twice the level one year earlier.1 Roughly 190,000 foreclosures were started on these mortgages in the fourth quarter, up 11 percent from the previous quarter.2 The significance of the problems with subprime loan performance is evident in the unusually high rate of defaults within a few months of loan origination, known as early payment defaults.
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