MORTGAGE

U.S. home loan demand slid for the third straight week, the Mortgage Bankers Association said on Wednesday, with purchase applications the weakest since mid-May and refinancing requests at a two-month low.

U.S. mortgage defaults ebbed in some hard-hit cities in the third quarter, but unemployment created new trouble spots as foreclosures set a record in the quarter, real estate data company RealtyTrac said on Wednesday.

Sun Valley, a sun-baked and struggling corner of Los Angeles, is fertile ground for mortgage rescue scams with its high proportion of subprime borrowers, Spanish speakers and a sharp drop in home values.

As Los Angeles housing advocates launched a campaign warning of mortgage rescue scams, a couple hit by foreclosure are charged with torturing two loan-modification agents they suspected of fraud, authorities said on Monday.

A bankruptcy judge appointed a trustee to take over the liquidation of Thornburg Mortgage after it was discovered former executives were using staff and equipment to launch a start-up venture.

While obstacles to short sales remain, real estate practitioners say the process is becoming more efficient. Rather than waiting six months or more to push through a deal, agents say banks are more willing to negotiate prices up front.

U.S. mortgage applications fell for a second straight week, led by a plunge in demand for home refinancing loans as interest rates climbed, data from an industry group showed on Wednesday.

Britain's financial regulator plans to force mortgage lenders to check the income of all borrowers, scrapping so-called liar loans blamed for helping to fuel bad debt problems at the heart of the credit crunch.

Britain's financial regulator plans to force mortgage lenders to check the income of all borrowers, scrapping so-called liar loans blamed for helping to fuel bad debt problems at the heart of the credit crunch.

There is something about coming to this sun-baked corner of California that feels like inspecting the scene of a crime.

U.S. authorities charged 41 people in a suspected mortgage fraud scheme that cheated lenders out of more than $64 million on more than 100 New York state properties, prosecutors said on Thursday.

U.S. authorities charged 41 people in a suspected mortgage fraud scheme that cheated lenders out of more than $64 million on New York state properties, prosecutors said on Thursday.

U.S. mortgage rates rose for the first time in four weeks but remained below 5 percent, a key level that may spur home loan demand and help the hard-hit U.S. housing market recover.

U.S. mortgage foreclosure filings fell for a second straight month in September, but remained near a record high, amid ongoing and sweeping efforts to keep borrowers in their homes, a report released on Thursday showed.

U.S. mortgage foreclosure filings fell for a second straight month in September, but remained near a record high, amid ongoing and sweeping efforts to keep borrowers in their homes, a report released on Thursday showed.

One American industry is booming amid the slump and job losses: mortgage rescue scams that prey on homeowners in financial straits.

The seven-bedroom, three-bath house in this city's West Garfield Park neighborhood had once been someone's American Dream.

U.S. mortgage foreclosure filings fell for a second straight month in September, but remained near a record high, amid ongoing and sweeping efforts to keep borrowers in their homes, a report released on Thursday showed.

Describing the proliferation of fraudulent mortgage rescue schemes as an epidemic on Sept. 17, the U.S. Treasury, Department of Justice, the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the FTC announced they would work together to target investigations and increase their efficiency.

U.S. mortgage foreclosure filings fell for a second straight month in September, but remained near a record high, amid ongoing and sweeping efforts to keep borrowers in their homes, a report released on Thursday showed.

Despite some signs that the worst of the U.S. residential housing crisis may be over, many wealthy homeowners are still being squeezed by the combination of weak home prices and the stock market crash.