Mortgage, Foreclosure | featured news

As foreclosure casualties mount, the Obama administration Monday is expected to announce additional steps to get long-term help for borrowers, CNNMoney reports.

Daverena White took a chance on the American dream of homeownership -- and lost big.

After a slow start, the Obama administration's mortgage relief program has reached one in five eligible homeowners, a government report says.

Last month a study from the credit reporting agency Experian and consulting outfit Oliver Wyman estimated that close to a fifth of troubled mortgages involved borrowers who were "strategically" defaulting--walking away from mortgages they could pay but decided not to because they owed more than their houses were worth. Self-assigned guardians of financial ethics see the willingness of borrowers to abandon their mortgage debts as a sign of the "erosion of social and moral standards." The aim of these critics is to shame debtors into sticking with their mortgages.

The Obama administration’s effort to help homeowners avoid foreclosure may not achieve its goal of helping 3 million to 4 million borrowers, a government watchdog group says.

With foreclosures rising and mortgage companies flooded with borrowers in trouble, is it a good idea to just pay the thing off if you can afford to? The Answer Desk, by John W. Schoen.

U.S. home loans failed at a record pace in July despite ongoing federal and state programs to avoid foreclosures, which have severely strained housing and the economy.

Many mortgage companies are reluctant to give strapped homeowners a break because the companies collect lucrative fees on delinquent loans.

Policymakers have argued that it is a good deal for lenders to cut borrowers a break on mortgage payments, but foreclosing can be more profitable, experts say.

U.S. officials are weighing a plan to let borrowers who have fallen behind on mortgage payments avoid eviction by renting their home instead, sources familiar with the administration's thinking said on Tuesday.