Has your community group signed up for the Fall “Redd Up?” happening October 15-17 in neighborhoods throughout the region? Contact your neighborhood organization to find out how you can participate. More info here.
Oct
07
Oct
02
State budget deal collapses
House Democrats tonight rejected a tentative $27.9 billion budget deal that had been reached with the Senate, which could cause additional lengthy delays in resolving the state’s 2009-10 budget situation. The Democrats, who control the House by a 104-99 margin, rejected two key revenue-raising elements in the 2-week-old budget proposal. They rejected a proposed 20… Continue reading »
Oct
02
Homeowners in financial trouble often redefault
Lenders are ramping up efforts to avoid home foreclosures, but a report by bank regulators says more than half of borrowers who get help fall behind again. More than 50 percent of homeowners with loans modified in the first half of last year had missed at least two months of payments a year later, the… Continue reading »
Oct
02
Second quarter home foreclosures, mortgage delinquencies up
The number of home foreclosures in process and delinquent mortgages rose during the second quarter, while home retention actions also increased, U.S. bank regulators said on Wednesday. Foreclosures jumped 16 percent to 2.9 percent of serviced mortgages, while home retention actions such as loan modifications rose 21.7 percent, the Office of the Comptroller of the… Continue reading »
Oct
02
1 in 3 Loan Applications Denied
Nearly one in three borrowers who applied for a mortgage last year was denied as lenders kept their standards tight as the mortgage crisis accelerated, the government reported Wednesday. In its annual look at mortgage practices among lending institutions, Federal Reserve said the denial rate for all home loans was about 32 percent last year… Continue reading »
Sep
22
Homeowners who ‘strategically default’ on loans a growing problem
Who is more likely to walk away from a house and a mortgage — a person with super-prime credit scores or someone with lower scores? Research using a massive sample of 24 million individual credit files has found that homeowners with high scores when they apply for a loan are 50% more likely to “strategically… Continue reading »
Sep
16
Pennsylvania budget stalemate called worst ever
Pennsylvania’s 78-day budget impasse is the longest the state has faced in modern history, and it is having the most impact on groups that receive state money. “This is much more intense, and it’s much more prolonged” than a 1971 budget stalemate and another budget battle in 1977, said Vincent Carocci, former press secretary to… Continue reading »
Sep
11
Foreclosures Stay Near Record Highs, Won’t Peak Until Late 2010
The carefully watched monthly RealtyTrac data on foreclosures was released earlier today and it paints a picture of a national foreclosure situation that is not improving and is not likely to improve until a year from now. The new data from the service shows foreclosure filings were reported on 358,471 U.S. properties during August, a… Continue reading »
Sep
11
Rendell rejects legislative budget compromise
Gov. Ed Rendell cannot support the proposed $27.9 billion budget that Senate and House leaders outlined today, his chief of staff, Steve Crawford, said. The spending proposal by Senate Republican and Democratic leaders and House Democrat leaders — which is already more than two months late — fails on three key criteria, he said. It… Continue reading »
Sep
09
G-20 Sets Broad Bank Pact; Finance Officials Still Working on Likely Sticking Points, Such as Bonus Caps
Officials from the world’s largest economies broadly agreed to rein in bonuses for bankers and to set higher balance-sheet standards for banks, but missing details left the potential for differences in the weeks ahead. Finance officials from the Group of 20 Saturday also pledged to maintain policies designed to support economic growth, but left open… Continue reading »