| Obama's backyard economics session
Barack Obama sat in registered nurse Mimi Vitello's sunny backyard in Van Nuys and listened as she and three other local voters talked about their worries over home loans and credit card debt. The presidential hopeful listened intently and said the mortgage and credit card industries were skewed against working Americans.
"The deck has been stacked in favor of the big banks and the big financial companies and not for the consumers and homeowners," he told the residents.
They sat around a table outside Vitello's modest home, which she bought with an interest-only loan. Now that loan worries her. "My income is not going to jump ahead, and here comes my interest-only [payment hikes] in a couple years," Vitello said.
Obama noted that foreclosures could cost California's economy $23 billion, and he blamed the federal government for not regulating lenders.
Montana escapes subprime meltdown
Thousands of people at risk of losing their homes. Mortgage lenders going out of business. Home sales slumping. Such is the nationwide fallout from the subprime mortgage market meltdown. But here in Montana, and particularly Gallatin County and the surrounding area, the good news might be that there is no news.The financial crisis that hit states such as California hasn't had much of a visible impact on the local housing market. The number of local foreclosures is low and consistent with what the area has seen in recent years, and local lenders say many people can still qualify for home loans at reasonable interest rates.“The fallout of the subprime market has not truly had much of an affect on my clientele or my community," said Cyndy Rigler of the Livingston-based Western Home Mortgage.Subprime mortgages have never been a big part of what Western Home Mortgage does.
Creditor wants Turtle Bay under court control
As the governor has proposed buying the Turtle Bay resort, the property owner is fighting legal efforts to place the sprawling North Shore resort under control of a court-appointed receiver. Mortgage holder Credit Suisse has asked the courts to take control of the facility from owner Kuilima Resort Co. and place it in the hands of a California businessman while a $283 million foreclosure case is pending. Kuilima Resort opposes that. Credit Suisse asked the court to appoint California businessman Douglas Wilson as receiver. Since August 2007, Kuilima Resort "has not provided a scintilla of evidence that (it) has any ability to repay" an outstanding loan of $270,875,000 or accrued interest and late payment fees of $12,824,818, Credit Suisse lawyers argued.
FHLB 11th Dist Cost-Of-Funds Index Dn To 4.172% In Nov
NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--The cost of funds in the 11th District, a gauge of thrift deposit and financing costs and a key benchmark for adjustable-rate mortgage securities, was down to 4.172% in November. The rate was 4.233% in October and 4.383% in September. The cost-of-funds index measures deposit and financing costs for thrifts in California, Nevada and Arizona. The data are reported by the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco, which compiles the data on a monthly basis. (END) Dow Jones Newswires December 31, 2007 18:27 ET (23:27 GMT) Copyright 2007 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. .
Bank of America to buy struggling mortgage provider
Bank of America announced yesterday that it is buying Countrywide Financial Corp., the largest mortgage broker in the United States, in an all-stock transaction worth about US$4 billion. The takeover by the largest US consumer bank could help save the California-based company from bankruptcy, but possible impact on jobs was not immediately detailed, observers said. A statement from Bank of America's headquarters in Charlotte, North Carolina, said the acquisition will make it the nation's largest mortgage lender and loan service provider. Countrywide, the subject of widespread talk about possible impending bankruptcy in recent days, "will benefit from the stability of being part of the largest and one of the most financially strong financial institutions in the United States," the bank said in the statement.
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