Mortgage Debt Consolidation

March 26 (Bloomberg) — Clear Channel Communications Inc. plunged as much as 20 percent in New York Stock Exchange composite trading on investor concern that the radio broadcaster’s $19.5 billion buyout may fail.

Senate bill offers tax relief to some strapped Calif. homeowners (San Francisco Chronicle)
The state Senate has approved a bill to help California homeowners whose lenders have forgiven part of their mortgage debt. The bill would end a requirement that homeowners report that part of the loan that was forgiven as income on their tax returns.

Bank of England and Fed say they have no plans to buy mortgage debt (International Herald Tribune)
The British central bank did say it was in discussions with other central banks about how to “ease the strains” in financial markets.

California gives mortgage debtors a tax break (CNN Money)
State senate approves a bill providing tax relief to strapped homeowners. SACRAMENTO (AP) — The state Senate has approved a bill to help California homeowners whose lenders have forgiven part of their mortgage debt.

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NEW YORK For months, Americans have been subjected to a sort of economic water torture _ a maddening drip of bad news about jobs, gas prices, sagging home values, creeping inflation, the slouching dollar and a stock market in bumpy descent. Then came Bear Stearns. One of the five largest U.S. investment banks nearly collapsed in a single day before the government propped it up by backing emergency loans and a rival stepped in to buy it for a paltry $2 per share. To the drumbeat of signs tha

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The Fed’s move and even the housing figures appeared to alleviate some of Wall Street’s concerns about souring mortgage debt and lenders’ resulting hesitance to grant loans of any sort. The latest Bear Stearns deal signals that investors’ losses might not be as sizable as feared.

Housing debt is expected to soar (Belfast Telegraph)
Mortgage debt in Northern Ireland is rising faster than anywhere else in the UK, the Belfast Telegraph can reveal today.

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GAINESVILLE, Fla. Florida s consumer confidence fell five points to 68 in March, reflecting growing pessimism about the national economy in the midst of the housing and credit crisis, a new University of Florida study reports. The overall index is two points below its January level, which then marked its worst record in 16 years, said Chris McCarty, director of UF s Survey Research Center at the Bureau of Economic and Business Research. In February, it rose three points to 73 before dropping

Bear Stearns shareholders don’t like “The Deal”
They want more. Well, too damn bad I say, let the damn bank collapse then. Gawd this crap is jacking my jaw, would they rather get nothing? From the NYT: The sweetened offer is intended to win over stockholders who vowed to fight the original fire-sale deal, struck only a week ago at the behest of the Federal Reserve and Treasury Department. Under the terms being discussed, JPMorgan would pay $10 a share in stock for Bear, up from its initial offer of $2 a share a figure that represented a m

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Stocks opened higher Monday as investors were upbeat over a report that Bear Stearns could fetch more money than the $2 per share announced in a buyout deal a week ago.

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There has been a sharp increase in the ranks of borrowers seeking help with their mortgage debts. Citizens Advice says the number of people coming into its bureaux asking for guidance was up 35 per cent to 215,000 year-on-year during January and February. “It is a worrying trend that our bureaux are reporting very sharp rises in the number of mortgage0arrears problems they are dealing with,” …

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There has been a sharp increase in the ranks of borrowers seeking help with their mortgage debts. Citizens Advice says the number of people coming into its bureaux asking for guidance was up 35 per cent to 215,000 year-on-year during January and February. “It is a worrying trend that our bureaux are reporting very sharp rises in the number of mortgage0arrears problems they are dealing with,” …

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Headlines about breadlines may be making a comeback As the temples of Mammon crash around us, even the BBC is getting up to speed with the lingo of financial distress. The other morning I even heard them gleefully discussing deleveraging, and how it’s driving the cataclysm. Anyone who’s read the property supplements knows how leverage works: borrow as much as you possibly can to buy a portfolio of off-plan executive flats in Liverpool Waterside, 10% upfront and the rest on completion; by the

Expect Property Value Drops
From our sister publication, NREI. If credit is significantly constrained, we may see properties trading at a discount relative to their underlying worth, Chandan says. People who are going to be selling over the next 12 to 24 months are largely people who need an exit strategy. Chandan s remarks came during a gathering Wednesday of the Southeast chapter of the Real Estate Investment Advisory Council (REIAC), where nearly 300 members voted electronically on current economic topics, offer

Layman’s Guide To The Credit Crunch [Subprime Meltdown]
So you understand how homeowners took out risky mortgages and such, but what about C.D.O’s, liquidity puts, and how they all play into the global credit crunch? If you’re still scratching your head, this article breaks it all down and puts it into perspective.But it turned out that many banks had also sold complex insurance policies on the mortgage debt. That left them on the hook when homeowners who had taken out a wishful-thinking mortgage could no longer get out of it by flipping their house

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Two mortgage-elimination scam artists were sentenced this week for their roles in tricking clients into believing that the scammers could rid them of their homeowners’ mortgage debt.

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Seventy-eight per cent of Canadians who recently purchased a new home intend to pay off their mortgage as quickly as possible, and many have already taken steps toward that goal, according to a new survey from Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. (CMHC).

Fed Expands Collateral for TSLF, Sets $75 Bln Auction (Update1) (Bloomberg.com)
March 20 (Bloomberg) — The Federal Reserve expanded collateral eligible for its auction of Treasuries to include bundled mortgage debt and securities linked to commercial real- estate loans.

Union City man gets jail in mortgage fraud case (The Daily Review)
Two mortgage-elimination scam artists, including one from Union City, were sentenced this week for their roles in tricking homeowners into believing that the scammers could rid them of mortgage debt.

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