FDCPA Lawsuits Outpace last Year

Total lawsuits filed in the U.S. this year citing alleged Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) violations reached 10,402 through mid-October, well ahead of last year's pace.  The article is here at the link:


For more on the Fair Debt Collection Practice act you can find it here at the link FDCPA.  

FDCPA protects consumers as it dictates to debt collectors what they can and can’t do when collecting a debt from a consumer. The United States Congress has found that there is ‘abundant evidence of the abusive deceptive and unfair debt collection practices by many debt collectors. Abusive debt collection practices contribute to the number of personal bankruptcies, to marital instability, to the loss of jobs and to the invasion of individual privacy’s.

For more on the FDCPA to discuss Credit Repair Services. Visit Consumer Credit Capital.at the link. 

Bankruptcy: Largest Ever Municipal Bankruptcy

Alabama county filed for bankruptcy over a $3 billion dollar sewer project.  The bottom line here is the county over extended itself, borrowed a boat load of money, putting their taxpayers on the hook, to build a sewer system.  While those that entered this deal, on the county side, are obviously grossly incompetent local governments across the country are facing similar stresses.  While this case can be blamed on a sewer project - -how apt-- the underlying problem is local governments with promises to pay pensions and healthcare obligations that their now stressed out tax base can not afford-----less income and estates to tax, coupled with a substantially lower expectation of ROI on investments, given the FED's zero interest rate policy.  Alabama is the largest bankruptcy today, let's see how long they hold the title.

72% of loans in foreclosure Not Paid in over 1year

The guys over at LPS Monitor have an interesting report out that will disabuse anyone of the notion that the housing market is significantly better now even more than 5 years after the first cracks started to show. According to their report, more than 4 million loans are more than 90 days late.

This report coupled with foreclosures picking up pace--- now that legal hurdles have been cleared--- spell trouble for the housing market for years to come. By some counts, there are nearly 12 million homes in trouble--- characterized by either being underwater or at some level of current or past default.

If you have credit issues related to the downturn in the economy give the folks at Consumer Credit capital, credit repair houston, a call for a free credit repair evaluation.

Texas Foreclosure Fraud

let's take a look

________________

Bank of America, JPMorgan Get Texas Subpoenas on Foreclosures

Bank of America Corp., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and seven other banks or loan servicers were subpoenaed by Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott for information about their foreclosure practices, a spokesman said.

“The state is subpoenaing information and documents,” Jerry Strickland, the spokesman, said yesterday in an interview. He didn’t elaborate. The state also subpoenaed Ally Financial Inc., CitiMortgage Inc. and Wells Fargo & Co.

Abbott began investigating foreclosure practices in Texas following the disclosure of a December deposition in which an employee of Ally’s GMAC Mortgage unit testified that his team signed about 10,000 documents a month without verifying their accuracy. On Oct. 13, all 50 state attorneys general announced a joint investigation of foreclosures.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-10-25/jpmorgan-bank-of-america-subpoenaed-by-texas-attorney-general.html

Interest Rates Continue Lower

let's take a look

________________

Plunging Rates for Refinancing Aid the Thrifty

For those sober souls who were thrifty long before it became fashionable, the last few years have been intensely aggravating

They did nothing to cause therecession, but they absorbed the pain. Their stock portfolios languished. The values of their homes skidded. Their savings still do not earn enough interest each month to buy a pack of gum.

Now, at last, the frugal are celebrating. With a leg up on their less creditworthy neighbors, they are qualifying for refinanced home mortgages at interest rates that in any other recent era would have been considered stealing. And unlike in late 2008, when rates started their plunge to historic lows, many lenders say they are rushing to accommodate the influx in applications.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/23/business/23refinance.html?_r=1&src=me&ref=general

Credit lines continue to decline

Consumer credit falls $3.34 billion in August

(Reuters) - Total consumer credit outstanding declined for the seventh straight month in August as credit card debt continued to fall.

The Federal Reserve said on Thursday total outstanding credit, which covers everything from car loans to credit cards, fell by $3.34 billion after dropping $4.09 billion in July.

Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast consumer credit contracting $3 billion in August.

So-called revolving, or credit-card credit, fell $4.99 billion in August after a $4.98 billion fall the prior month. That marked the 24th consecutive month credit-card debt decreased.

Non-revolving credit, which includes closed-end loans for big-ticket items like cars, boats, college education and vacations, increased $1.65 billion after increasing $888.59 million in July. It was the fourth straight month of gains

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6964N420101007

Banks Commit Mortgage Fraud

let's take a look. / more a the link

snip

In a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder, Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke and U.S. Comptroller John Dugan, the lawmakers said recent reports that Bank of America,J.P. Morgan Chase and Ally Financial may have improperly approved thousands of foreclosures "amplify our concerns that systemic problems exist."

Banks "have repeatedly misled and obstructed homeowners from receiving the help Congress and the Administration have sought to provide," they wrote. "The excuses we have heard from financial institutions are simply not credible three years into the crisis."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/05/AR2010100503969.html?hpid=topnews

foreclosures just keep coming

let's take a look

_______________-

APNewsBreak: BofA delays foreclosures in 23 states

By ALAN ZIBEL (AP) – 31 minutes ago

WASHINGTON — Bank of America says it is delaying foreclosures in 23 states as it examines whether it rushed the foreclosure process for thousands of homeowners without reading the documents.

Bank of America is not yet able to estimate how many homeowners cases will be affected, a spokesman for the nation's largest bank says.

A bank official acknowledged in a legal proceeding in February that she signed up to 8,000 foreclosure documents a month and typically didn't read them. The Associated Press obtained the document Friday.

The executive's admission adds the nation's largest bank to a growing list of mortgage companies whose employees signed documents in foreclosure cases without verifying the information in them.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jKkgz2hAAZZAeRlJNBmM31MPUnhgD9IJ4SP00?docId=D9IJ4SP00

2011 The year of the Re-finance

let's take a look

______________

snip

After helping corporations issue over $1 trillion of debt a record-low yields, the Fed is now turning its attention to consumers' balance sheets, says John Lekas, senior portfolio manager at Leader Capital where he runs theLeader Short-Term Bond Fund.

"They're going to continue to buy" Treasuries until the yield on the 30-year bond hits 2.75%, Lekas predicts. That, in turn, will drive 30-year fixed rate mortgages to around 3.75%, which "reloads the consumer with a 30-year stream of income," he says, estimating savings of about $400 per month for the average U.S. household.

snip

http://finance.yahoo.com/tech-ticker/2011-outlook-deflation-and-dow-4200-followed-by-%22wave-of-refinancings%22-535470.html;_ylt=Alsw3.Ta2MT8fZ3L2VFX6JVk7ot4;_ylu=X3oDMTB2ZDUzYTg0BHBvcwMxNQRzZWMDYXJ0aWNsZUxpc3QEc2xrA2hlcmU-?tickers=^DJI,TLT,XHB,UUP,UDN,^VIX,DBC

Housing Crises through 2012

JPMorgan Suspends Certain Foreclosures As Doubts Grow Over Legality

Even as August saw more Americans lose their homes to foreclosure than in any other month on record, there are growing concerns over the legality of many of those proceedings.

JPMorgan Chase has suspended legal proceedings on 50,000 foreclosures, due to concerns about the validity of the foreclosure documents, a spokesman for the bank toldCNBC Wednesday (hat tip to Zero Hedge).

JPMorgan spokesman Tom Kelly confirmed to the AP Wednesday that "employees signed some affidavits about loan documents without personally verifying the files."

The decision is the latest signal of a potentially massive stall in the nation's foreclosure process. Last week, after GMAC Mortgage halted its foreclosures in 23 states, the Washington Postreported that one of GMAC's employees hadn't read the roughly 10,000 foreclosure documents he approved each month (and now Coloradowants to be added to that list of states). It then turned out that the "robo signer" might not have been alone.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/09/29/jpmorgan-suspends-foreclosures_n_744289.html

It's your credit score dummy

le't take a look

Huge Gap in Mortgage Availability: 1/3 of Americans Highly Unlikely to Qualify for a Mortgage Today, While Less Than Half Qualify for the Best Rates

.........................- Nearly one-third of Americans are unlikely to qualify for a mortgage because their credit scores are too low, making homeownership out of reach for many. This is according to an analysis of more than 25,000 loan quotes and purchase requests onZillow Mortgage Marketplace during the first half of September.................

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/huge-gap-in-mortgage-availability-13-of-americans-highly-unlikely-to-qualify-for-a-mortgage-today-while-less-than-half-qualify-for-the-best-rates-103849853.html

foreclosures will continue unabated

let's take a look

_________________

Obama Homeowner Program Hits 10-Month Low As Prices Drop And Foreclosures Surge

The number of homeowners receiving permanent relief under the Obama administration's primary foreclosure-prevention initiative hit a 10-month low as home prices dropped and repossessions jumped, threatening more homeowners just as the administration's aid program winds down.

Just over 33,000 homeowners had their monthly mortgage payments reduced in August for the next five years as part of the administration's Home Affordable Modification Program, Treasury Department data released Wednesday show. Obama promised in 2009 that some 3 to 4 million homeowners would be helped. About 449,000 borrowers have thus far received mortgage modifications.

The program, sold as a $50-billion effort, is unlikely to spend that much helping delinquent homeowners keep their homes. Nearly one and a half years into the program, only 1 percent of that money has been spent.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/09/22/hamp-obama-homeowner-program-hits-low_n_735720.html

Bank gets caught lying in court filing.

let's take a look

-------------------------

Saving Americans Requires Sticking It to Them: Jonathan Weil

The banks were saved by the American people. Now who will save the people from the banks?

Last week, in a rare and possibly fleeting victory for the little guy, Ally Financial Inc.’s mortgage-servicing unit temporarily halted evictions tied to foreclosures in 23 states. This came after some attorneys for homeowners caught the company saying things that weren’t true in its court filings.

There’s no sense complaining to the federal government about Ally’s conduct, though. That’s because the Treasury Department is the company’s majority shareholder, after spending $17.2 billion of bailout money on Ally under the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-09-23/saving-americans-requires-sticking-it-to-them-jonathan-weil.html

Fort Worth Pension "trending toward Insolvency"

We are all California. let's take a look

__________________

Fort Worth pension bubble will blow up in our faces

By MITCHELL SCHNURMAN

You don't have to be an actuary to know that this pension plan will end badly. The technical phrase is "trending toward insolvency."

Except that the city is on the hook for all the promised benefits. Taxpayers will have to pony up hefty contributions for years, even generations, and the city may have to cut services to afford it. The pension for city employees is currently projected to pay out $432 million more than it brings in over the next 30 years.

And that's the optimistic scenario. If investment returns average 7 percent, rather than the dreamy 8.5 percent in the assumptions, the unfunded liability could approach $1 billion.

The pension will require $60 million in city funds next year, and it's already a drag on a strapped city budget that has to close swimming pools and libraries and impose furloughs. Every year, the pension hole grows, because the benefits keep piling up.

"This is the elephant in the room," Mayor Mike Moncrief told the council in late July. "Not only for this budget, but for all the budgets to come."

http://www.star-telegram.com/2010/09/04/v-print/2445012/fort-worth-pension-bubble-will.html

Shadow Housing Inventory Weighs on Market

let's take a look

_____________

U.S. Home Prices Face 3-Year Drop as Inventory Surge Looms

The slide in U.S. home prices may have another three years to go as sellers add as many as 12 million more properties to the market.

Shadow inventory -- the supply of homes in default or foreclosure that may be offered for sale -- is preventing prices from bottoming after a 28 percent plunge from 2006, according to analysts from Moody’s Analytics Inc., Fannie Mae, Morgan Stanley and Barclays Plc. Those properties are in addition to houses that are vacant or that may soon be put on the market by owners.

“Whether it’s the sidelined, shadow or current inventory, the issue is there’s more supply than demand,” said Oliver Chang, a U.S. housing strategist with Morgan Stanley in San Francisco. “Once you reach a bottom, it will take three or four years for prices to begin to rise 1 or 2 percent a year.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-09-15/u-s-home-prices-face-three-year-drop-as-inventory-surge-looms.html

States cutting Pension benifits

let's take a look

___________________

States cutting benefits for public-sector retirees

snip

Since 2008, New Jersey and at least 19 other states from Wyoming to Rhode Island have rolled back pension benefits or seriously considered doing do — and not just for new hires, but for current employees and people already retired.

It's not just a U.S. phenomenon. In France on Wednesday, lawmakers voted to raise the retirement age from 62 to 65. If the measure wins final approval, France will become the latest European Union country to require workers to stay on the job longer because of a deficit-plagued pension system.

New Jersey's governor spelled out the details of his proposal Tuesday after telegraphing his intentions for months. They include: repealing an increase in benefits approved years ago; eliminating automatic cost-of-living adjustments; raising the retirement age to 65 from 60 in many cases; reducing pension payouts for many future retirees; and requiring some employees to contribute more to their pensions.

"We must reverse the damage caused by fairy-tale promises that have fattened benefits and pensions to unsustainable levels," Christie said.

snip

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100915/ap_on_bi_ge/us_pension_headaches

Housing Crisis

EXCLUSIVE: Fannie and Freddie's Foreclosure Barons

— Illustration: Lou Beach

How the federal housing agencies—and some of the biggest bailed-out banks—are helping shady lawyers make millions by pushing families out of their homes.

http://motherjones.com/politics/2010/07/david-stern-djsp-foreclosure-fannie-freddie?page=1

Really good article. If the housing crises has hit home credit repair Houston has experience working with credit bureaus collectors and original creditors.

Home Buyer tax credit really a loan

lets take a look:

By Martin Vaughan

Snip......

More than 2.6 million have claimed the first-time home-buyer tax credit since it was enacted in July 2008, for a total of $19 billion in tax breaks.

At first, the credit was structured like a no-interest loan of up to $7,500, and required taxpayers to pay it back over a 15-year period.

Congress later eliminated the repayment requirement for homes purchased after 2008. But taxpayers who claimed the credit for homes purchased in 2008 will still be required to repay it in 15 equal installments, beginning when they file their 2010 income tax return. That will apply to about 950,000 taxpayers, TIGTA said.

snip

http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2010/09/09/irs-needs-strategy-to-recoup-home-buyer-tax-credit/

Bank Closures Continue to pile up

Problem bank list climbs to 829

http://money.cnn.com/2010/08/31/news/companies/fdic_problem_bank_list/index.htm?source=cnn_bin&hpt=Sbin

Banks up to their old tricks

Beware That New Credit-Card Offer

................"Professional cards aren't covered under the Credit Card Accountability and Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009, or Card Act for short. Among other things, the law prohibits issuers from controversial billing practices such as hair-trigger interest rate increases, shortened payment cycles and inactivity fees—but it doesn't apply to professional cards........................

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704913704575454003924920386.html?mod=WSJ_hp_mostpop_read