Early CFPB Reforms Disappoint Activists
When the framers of the national mortgage settlement agreed to let the deal expire in three-and-a-half years, it was with the assumption that the Consumer...
Mortgage Settlement Monitor Wants To Hear Your Gripes
Have a complaint about the bank managing your home loan? Joseph Smith, the former North Carolina banking commissioner charged with enforcing the national mortgage settlement,...
Ben Hallman: New York Property Taxes Unfair To Renters, New Evidence Shows
New Yorkers don't agree on much, but the 68 percent of us who rent our homes or apartments can usually find common cause on at least one issue: The rent we pay each month, as one perennial political candidate often says, is too damn high.
Shocker: $25 Billion Mortgage Settlement Expires
The promises made by five of the nation's largest banks under the much-ballyhooed $25 billion mortgage settlement have a surprisingly short shelf life. Under the...
Loophole In Bribery Law Leads To Confusion, Abuse
A loophole in a U.S. anti-bribery law, the same law that Walmart's Mexico subsidiary reportedly violated again and again, actually allows companies to offer bribes....
In Widely Published Photo, A House That Illustrates The Foreclosure Crisis
ISLIP, N.Y. -- Photographer Spencer Platt spotted the small white house with boarded-up windows and doors a couple months ago, when he was out here...
Walmart Likely To Escape Criminal Charges In Mexico Bribery: Experts
Despite public embarrassment and blistering headlines, Walmart will likely escape criminal charges over allegations the retailer bribed officials in Mexico, according to an examination of...
Obamas Claim Tax Break That Most Helps The Rich
President Barack Obama didn't benefit last year from the huge break in the tax code that allows his presumptive rival, Mitt Romney, to pay taxes...
‘I Don’t Trust A Word They Say’
Bob Hale nearly lost his Concord, Mass., home to foreclosure in 2010 as a result of what he claims were bank errors. That would make...
Home Insurance Abuse Will Survive New Fannie Mae Rules, Critics Say
New Fannie Mae rules meant to lessen the cost of expensive bank-imposed home insurance would fail to curb some of the most abusive industry practices,...
How Do I Get Rid Of My Crap Mortgage?
How many hoops do homeowners have to jump through to shake off a bad mortgage? This question is at the heart of a growing area...
They’re ‘Not Aware’ Of Mortgage Settlement?!
Mira Tanna, a housing advocate in Orlando, Fla., doesn't expect everyone to know the details of the recently announced $25 billion mortgage settlement, but she...
