Lenders, Foreclosure | featured news

Lenders initiated foreclosure proceedings against more U.S. homeowners in May, setting the stage for increases in home repossessions and short sales - scenarios that could further weigh down home values in coming months....

California's attorney general said on Thursday her state will receive up to $18 billion in benefits under a federal-state mortgage settlement to be announced later today.

The nation’s biggest banks and mortgage lenders have amassed a glut of foreclosed homes that threatens to deepen the housing slump.

Officials in 49 states have launched a joint investigation into allegations that mortgage companies mishandled documents and broke laws in foreclosing on hundreds of thousands of homeowners.

Lenders took back more homes in August than in any month since the start of the U.S. mortgage crisis.

The number of U.S. homes taken back by banks through foreclosure hit a record high in the second quarter, even as lenders delayed more homes from entering the process through short sales and loan modification efforts, according to data to be released Thursday.

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.