Congress reluctant to act on mortgage lending issues
As 2007 came to a close, Congress had done a lot of talking about cracking down on unfair and deceptive mortgage lending practices, but didn't deliver on any major legislation. Although there's some consensus that tighter regulations or new laws governing lenders are needed, some lawmakers have been reluctant to impose restrictions that might worsen the credit crunch and the housing downturn. In the meantime, the Federal Reserve has proposed strengthening its implementation of the Truth in Lending Act, through new regulations that would require subprime lenders to verify a borrower's ability to repay a loan after a payment reset; document income and assets; and establish escrow accounts for taxes and insurance for a minimum of one year.

The Ten Best Public Policies of 2007
The Arbitration Fairness Act, proposed this year in the United States Senate by Senator Russell Feingold (D-WI), protects against clandestine decision-making and corporate favoritism by invalidating pre-dispute BMA "agreements" between parties of unequal bargaining power. For safeguarding the right to trial by jury, where a body of law protects the rights of producer, consumer, employer, and employee alike, the AFA is one of the best policies of 2007.

America's Housing Troubles Won't End with 2007
"The bottom has nowhere near been reached," said William Wheaton, an economist with MIT's Center for Real Estate. Wheaton said there was a great deal of overbuilding, driven in part by speculators. The result, he said, is that there are now more than 1 million extra homes sitting on the market. That's even after home-building had been cut by 50 percent and massive layoffs. Economy.com says when it's all added up, there will be 750,000 foreclosures in 2007. Looking forward, he said, "I think we're in store for at least a million lost properties in '08." "The average household size is a couple [to] three people," Zandi said, "so you're talking 3 million people actually lose their homes."

When a short sale isn't a short sale
What is there to gain by marketing a property as a short sale that isn't a short sale? Serious buyers are a rare breed in some market areas these days, and many of them are looking for bargains. Short sales can in some cases sell for a lower amount than comparable properties that are not similarly distressed, as there is urgency by sellers to get out from under the properties and by lenders that wish to avoid costs associated with foreclosure.

How arbitration steals your day in court
If I told you there was a courtroom in America where consumers lose lawsuits to businesses 94 percent of the time, and there is no chance to appeal, you'd probably never want to go there.While you may have never heard of binding mandatory arbitration, it is part of nearly every significant transaction you engage in now. It's also become a controversial battleground over consumer protection in America, and on Thursday Congress held hearings debating legislation that would largely nullify many arbitration agreements. Binding mandatory arbitration clauses crept into consumer contracts during the late 1990s and are now standard practice. They arrived in the name of efficiency and tort reform... Public Citizen found one arbitrator had ruled 1,292 times during the span -- and only 21 times for the consumer. On one particularly busy day, he ruled on 68 cases -- all in favor of companies.

Controversy surrounding Mirasol homes continues
Controversy continues for the very unhappy people living in the Mirasol Homes. They now want Gordon Hartman out as chairman. They're upset that he allegedly told the SAHA and city leaders last week that everything was going well for the homeowner…Henry Rodriguez who was on the Task Force says, these people continue to suffer and I don't see the end of it.  See News 5 Video Report

Developer of 3 Burned Homes Missing
The developer of three houses that were destroyed over the weekend by fires authorities have called suspicious has not been seen in recent days.State Bureau of Investigation agents said in a search warrant that fires at three houses on Rivercliff Road were intentionally set early Saturday. Two homes were next to each other on a cul-de-sac overlooking the Cape Fear River, while the third was down the street.

Bills aim to get consumers their day in court
Just a few years ago, Congress, then controlled by Republicans, made it a priority to limit litigation against businesses, expressing concerns about the costly burden it imposed. Now, with Democrats in charge, legislation is advancing that could lead to more court fights between consumers and businesses.

Mortgage-Relief Plan Divides Neighbors
The state's highest number of foreclosures is in the Inland Empire, a region of 4.1 million people. The area might seem ripe for the mortgage-rescue plan, which would freeze interest rates for certain borrowers who have kept current on their loan payments but can't afford scheduled interest-rate increases over the next two years. The Inland Empire was a builder's delight in recent years as middle-class families increasingly were priced out of Los Angeles and Orange County. Giants such as Lennar Corp., KB Home and Beazer Homes USA Inc. uprooted citrus groves and paved over dairy farms to blanket the area with tract housing and upscale developments.

Business Fights for the Tilted Arbitration Field: Susan Antilla
At a hearing in Washington yesterday, consumer advocate Richard M. Alderman sat before a subcommittee of the Senate Judiciary committee and quoted from a grade school textbook: The legislative branch makes the laws, the executive branch carries them out, and the judicial branch explains what they mean.

Mandatory Binding Arbitration Means Alleged Halliburton Rapists Could Go Free
A woman who filed a civil lawsuit against Halliburton for being the victim of a gang rape by her coworkers in Iraq will have her day in court, kangaroo court, thanks to the mandatory binding arbitration clause in her employment contract. Jamie Leigh Jones says she was drugged and raped by her fellow workers, then imprisoned inside a shipping container and left without food or water until the US embassy came to rescue after the State Department got calls from her father. She says she was told she would be fired if she sought medical treatment.

The Calabasas lender says California and Illinois have issued subpoenas
The nation's No. 1 mortgage lender, Countrywide Financial Corp., is under investigation by California Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown and the attorney general's office in Illinois, the Calabasas company said Thursday. The investigation in Illinois, which was first reported in the New York Times, grew out of a probe into broker One Source Mortgage, which the state has charged with luring borrowers into loans they couldn't afford.

Pulte Homes pulling out of Kansas City
Pulte Homes, the metro's largest developer, confirmed they are withdrawing from Kansas City. Company spokesman John Conley says sluggish home sales are to blame. "Ultimately we were unable to achieve a consistent sales volume that would allow us to operate as profitably and efficiently as we would like to. So we are going to start redeploying capital to other markets," he explained. The phased withdrawal will being in about three weeks. It is expected to be complete in September of 2010.

The Quest for a Car, Sans Arbitration Clause
The car salesman warned us that we wouldn't be able to buy a car anywhere without signing a contract containing this arbitration clause, as it's known. Even so, we were indignant and vowed to shop on Craigslist... I contacted a half-dozen car dealerships in the Washington, D.C. area and asked them in advance if their contracts included an arbitration clause, and if so, if they'd take it out. All the dealers used the clause, and none would remove it...The bank agreement was worse than the sales contract we'd walked away from a month earlier at the dealership.