Giant mortgage lender's third-quarter results will offer a view into the depth of the problems facing lenders, housing industry and the economy as a whole
The company has already disclosed some of the bad news. It will take a charge of $125 million to $150 million in order to cut staff and close offices as it scales back the business. The number of mortgage loans and their value during the quarter are both down by more that 40 percent.The lender's downturn is stunning nonetheless. The drop in loans is the equivalent of General Motors selling 40 percent fewer autos or American Airlines carrying 40 percent fewer passengers. Even in the difficult periods that both of those companies went through earlier this decade, neither approached that kind of downturn.

The mortgage lender and a long-time adversary claim they can change foreclosure prevention with a new bailout program
It's an unlikely pairing: the nation's biggest mortgage lender and one of its harshest critics. But with thousands of troubled borrowers facing foreclosure, the two adversaries put aside some of their differences and joined forces. Countrywide Finance, announced it's partnering with the Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America (NACA), a gadfly/community advocacy group that has been its arch enemy for years..."For the first time," he said, "we're going to be looking at the interests of the borrowers first.

Economists offer dour outlook for housing prices and construction, citing continuing credit crisis - weakness is likely to persist into 2009
The battered markets for real estate and home building still have farther to fall, according to a range of economists who spoke Wednesday at a forecast conference sponsored by the National Association of Home Builders. "The fact that building wasn't cut as early as it should have been is one of the reasons that that prices continue to fall,"

MSNBC Special - Home Wreckers
You open your home and wallet to contractors. But do you really know who they are?  MSNBC Undercover investigates this underground economy and finds homeowners who are misled and ripped off. Premiered Wednesday, Oct. 24, 2007 See Video Report

Countrywide: The Good, The Bad, Or The Ugly?
Countrywide's announcement on Tuesday that it was starting a $16 billion program to help borrowers keep their homes landed with a dull thud on Wall Street. Yet even though the preservation program may not directly enhance Countrywide's bottom line it could help boost the health of the U.S. housing and mortgage markets. But investors were not impressed. The Calabasas, Calif.-based company's shares slid 4.0%, or 63 cents, to $15.05 on Tuesday afternoon.

House Democrats unveil anti-predatory-lending bill
House Democrats on Monday introduced legislation that would require all mortgage loan originators to be licensed, and would create new restrictions on their activities -- including prohibitions on steering borrowers into loans that are "not in the consumer's interest." The product of months of hearings, "The Mortgage Reform and Anti-Predatory Lending Act of 2007" would create new minimum standards for all mortgages -- including a requirement that lenders make good-faith determinations of a borrower's ability to repay...The bill introduced today by Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., and Democratic North Carolina Reps. Brad Miller and Mel Watt would stop short of creating full assignee liability.

Make builders, lenders fix the housing mess
So this time around we have home builders admitting that employees regularly lied or broke federal lending rules in order to sell houses to unqualified buyers. That, of course, inflated revenues. For example, Beazer Homes (BZH, news, msgs) has admitted that it violated federal housing rules by arranging for nonprofit organizations to lend potential buyers their down payments -- and then repaid the nonprofit by rolling the "down payment" into the buyer's mortgage. On Oct. 11, the company told Wall Street that it expects to pay about $15 million in fines. The stock actually rallied on that news because Wall Street analysts had been projecting the company would face much steeper financial penalties.

Hackett pleads not guilty to federal corruption charges
Orange Mayor Mims Hackett this morning pleaded not guilty to corruption charges, becoming the first of 11 public officials snared in an FBI sting last month to do so. Hackett's arraignment before U.S. District Judge Jose Linares in Newark came just a few days after former Assemblyman Alfred Steele became the first of the group to plead guilty. Hackett and Steele served in the Assembly together, but both stepped down after their arrests.

Home a $2.2 million wreck, NBA star says
All NBA legend Allen Iverson wanted was a simple home for his family in Atlanta. Instead, the tattoo-covered icon of the hip-hop hoops generation contends he got a $2.2 million dump marred by such shoddy construction, his wife and four children had to abandon the home after just 60 days. Now, Iverson has hired Atlanta lawyer Kurt Hilbert and filed suit against the builder, seeking more than $6.2 million in damages. Iverson wants to force the builder to refund the purchase price of $2.2 million and to pay the family for relocation expenses, custom-built furnishings and other damages.

MSNBC Special: Home Wreckers

Bexar has most foreclosed properties since 1990
Thanks to easy lending standards that gave no-money-down loans to people with questionable credit histories, higher foreclosures likely will be an unwelcome houseguest in Texas for a few years. The foreclosures mostly are hitting those who made small or nonexistent down payments on their homes, and who likely are first-time home buyers. "This is the most we've had since the savings and loan crisis," said Gregg Stanley, owner of Real Estate Foreclosures, a San Antonio-based foreclosure tracking service. Stanley said loose mortgage lending practices and adjustable-rate mortgages resetting to higher "€” more unaffordable "€” rates are to blame.

Beazer Homes faces up to $15M fine for loan violations
Beazer Homes (BZK) said Thursday that some employees at its mortgage division broke federal loan laws from at least 2000 through early this year. The builder said it expects to pay up to $15 million in regulatory fines and losses and to restate its financial results all the way back to 1999.The Atlanta-based company, one of the nation's largest home builders, also said roughly two of every three buyers canceled their contracts from July to September.Beazer is being investigated by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the U.S. Attorney's office in North Carolina on allegations that it broke rules governing down payment assistance, sold homes to low-income buyers who couldn't afford them, falsified documents and charged higher fees than the regulations allow.

Subprime Mortgage Crisis Spurs Formal SEC Inquiry Into Nation's Largest Lending Company
The Securities and Exchange Commission's is undergoing a informal inquiry into Countrywide Financial Corp. Chief Executive Angelo R. Mozilo, sources say, Thursday, Oct. 18, 2007. Mozilo sold some $130 million in Countrywide stock in the first half of the year through a prearranged 10b5-1 trading plan. The plans, popular among corporate executives, allow a company insider to set up a program in advance for such transactions and proceed with them even if he or she comes into possession of significant nonpublic information.

Builder Marks Homes That May Have Bombs On Property
A local builder marked dozens of Orange County houses Monday that may have bombs on the property. Lennar Homes will dig up the yards of the marked houses in the Vista Lakes subdivision, off Lee Vista Road, near Odyssey Middle School...Recently, Lennar Homes sent homeowners letters and hosted community meetings letting folks know that they'll have to evacuate the area from 9:00am through 3:00pm Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. If a bomb is found and too dangerous to move, it will have to be detonated on site.

Home Builder Searching Homes On Former Bomb Range
Work is starting Tuesday morning to dig up dozens of yards in Orange County to search for old bombs... So far, several old live munitions have been found nearby and close to Odyssey Middle School...Lennar Homes told News 13 that they will dig up anything made of metal. The company said they are doing it to bring peace of mind to the people who live in the community.